AN EXPOSITION OF THE Lords Prayer DELIVERED IN two and twenty Lectures At the Church of Lieth in SCOTLAND By Mr WILLIAM WISCHART Parson of Restalrigg LONDON Printed by M. FLESHER for NICOLAS BOURNE at the South entrance of the Royall Exchange 1633. TO THE RIGHT Honorable GEORGE Lord GOURDON sonne and heire to the Lord Marquis of Huntley one of his Majesties most Honorable Privy Councell in the Kingdome of Scotland and chiefe Captaine of the Company of men at armes entertained there by the most Christian King MY LORD AS I love not those rheumatique pens which are alwayes scribling on the Presse for in the multitude of words there must bee much folly no more do l approve those adust complexions from whom no intreaty can wrest any drop of refreshment to the fleece of Gedion for if the one shall bee beaten for the unnecessarie wasting of his masters goods the other certainly shall bee whipt with many stripes for that hee hath hid his masters talent in the earth and not returned his owne unto him with advantage The consideratiō hereof hath made mee the least amongst the thousands of Levi to adventure this small peece to the publique view and censure of the present time a hazard I confesse much greater then I can well sustaine for Ioseph cannot goe to Dothan but hee must bee stript and sold to a Medianite Sampson cannot project a wedlock at Timnagh but hee must bee flouted by a Philistine David cannot congratulate Hanon but his legates must bee dismissed with beards halfe shaved and garments cut to their buttockes yea the very Sonne of God shall not cast out an uncleane spirit but Calumny shall say it was by Beelzebub the Prince of devils What wonder then if these few drops of inke leaping straight from my penne to the publique Theater of the world bee both greedily viewed and roundly censured for amids the beames of so pregnant a light and in the throng of so many learned writings already spred abroad on this subject to see a silly David acoast the Philistine of Gath may justly seeme to deserve the rebuke of Eliah I know thy hautines the pride of thy heart But to this supposed reproch let me answer with David What have I done is there not a cause or rather let mee say with Iesus Christ the true Sonne and heire of David If I have said evill beare witnesse of it but if I have spoken truth why do yee smite mee The God whom I serve in the Ministery of his Gospell doth well know my conscience also beareth me witnesse that as in teaching these few sermons I did not affect popularity nor praise of men but his honour who hath honoured mee with his service and the good of that people over whom hee put mee in charge so now when they shall be published to the eyes of all having before beene delivered but to the eares of a few I am neither ambitious of vulgar applause as being no Camelion to feed on such an aire nor do I much regard the frivolous checks of all that goe by for Falsus honor juvat mendax infamia terret Quem nisi mendosum mendacem Therefore whilst I desire to do some service to the Church of God and to contribute my mite to his treasure or my goates skin to the furniture of his Tabernacle I have presumed to present it to your honour my good Lord not onely to begge Patronage from your greatnes but also that by it I may in some measure render due honour unto you for your goodnesse as one not of their number who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are ready to prate of every thing but able to speake right of nothing No my Lord I know and do fully acknowledge that as there are none more truly learned so there is none more sincerely affected to the truth of God and maintenance thereof Let venemous detracting tongues wound as they list wisedome shall be justified of all her children for you have made it apparent to the world by your losse sustained at home and abroad for the testimony of the truth that you have accounted the reproach of Iesus Christ to bee greater riches then all the perishing treasures of Egypt And if there were no more yet the honourable project happy successe of that late expedition imposed by your Prince accepted and accomplished by your Lordship against the locusts of Rome raging in our Northerne quarters It hath clearly instanced to the world that whilst some of deeper profession like Meroz durst not come to the helpe of the Lord against the mighties of the earth you like another Iael did put your left hand to the naile and your right hand to the workmans hammer you have smitten Sisera you have smitten him once and he hath not risen againe Accept then my good Lord this poore handfull of water unworthy I confesse of such a Persian Potentate yet accept in it not what plenty should offer but what my penury can afford The theam is holy and may serve for vesture to a Prince if it had been wrought in Bezaleels loome yet take it howsoever as an evidence of the love and respect I owe you pardon but the weaknesse and the worke is rewarded and my earnest desire praier to God shall bee for your Lordship that your projects may continue holy your actions honourable your house and estate prosperous your death comfortable and your salvation sure in him who hath loved us and given himselfe for us a sacrifice without spot or blemish our Lord Iesus Christ in whom I am and shall alwayes endeavour to remaine Your Lordships servant in the truth W. WISCHART A Table of the Lectures in this booke Lect.  Pag. 1 Our Father which art 1 2 17 3 In Heaven 29 4 Hallowed bee thy Name 56 5 Thy Kingdome come 84 6 110 7 Thy will 133 8 Be done 157 9 In earth as it is in heaven 174 10 Give us this day our daily bread 200 11 225 12 249 13 276 14 And forgive us our trespasses 301 15 325 16 351 17 As wee forgive them that trespasse against us 376 18 And lead us not into temptation 401 19 427 20 455 21 But deliver us from evill 481 22 For thine is the Kingdome the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen 511 FINIS LECTVRES upon the Lords PRAYER LECT 1. MAT. 6. v. 9 10 11 12. Our Father which art in heaven IT may perhaps seeme strange that in the middest of so cleare and manifest a light and to the view of so learned and judicious a people I should be bold to represent a taske of so homely and domestique a straine for I know that there is not one amongst you who hath not all this Prayer by heart yet wisedome I know is justified of her childrē Let the truth therfore beget my Apologie and you shall finde that my travels will not be intended in vaine To speake the truth then there bee foure things
meaning of the words to bee Let them that are not yet called bee brought within the compasse of thy covenant and the bosome of thy Church that as wee beleeve so they may beleeve also and as thy will is done by us so it may bee done by them Both of these opinions are not only tolerable but also laudable For we are bound by religion not only to subdue the lusts of our flesh and to live after the Spirit but also wee are bound in charity to begge of God that all such as appertaine to his election may be in due time called justified and glorified That so there may be but one shepheard and one sheepfold and God may bee over all and in all blessed for ever But if I may speak it without the prejudice of so great lights Howsoever both these Petitions be requisite for the Christian yet doe not I thinke that either of them be here meant But with Chrysostome I doe thinke that this Petition differs nothing from that precept of the Apostles Collos 3.1 If yee bee risen with Iesus Christ seeke those things that are above By earth then I understand men that are on earth and by heaven the Angels of God and the Spirits of good and just men departed So that the meaning of the petition is Since it hath pleased thee O Father who dwellest in Heaven to make thy name knowne to us and be called upon of us And seeing thou hast honored us by the making us members of thy true Church and thy Kingdome of grace here on earth O let thy Spirit of Grace dwel so powerfully and plentifully in us that as thy holy Angells and glorified Saints doe thy will in heaven So we that are but weake and sinfull men may captivate our wils to thy obedience here on earth Well then by Earth wee must understand not only earthly men but also the place where Even on earth and while we live in it But let us remarke the word for it is generall Our Saviour teaching us the person the time and the place of Gods obedience saith not Thy will be done in the field in the city in the sea or in the dry land but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per universum terrarum orbem Through all the whole world And as David sayes in his 97. Psalme Make thy way knowne on earth and thy saving health to all Nations The persons then by whom he will have Gods will done are men who are of the earth and to the earth returne again And the place where in the earth and whilst wee live in it For unlesse wee doe the will of God here wee shall not enter into our Masters joy hereafter In the second roome wee must looke to the patterne and it is called heaven by the which as I told you already Augustine and Chrysostome do understand the holy Angells of God and the glorified Spirits of men These are said to bee in heaven But by these alone the word is not only understood For as there are more heavens then one so are they more that do the will of God in heaven then those blessed Spirits alone I say there are more heavens then one and it is cleere For it is said in the preface of this prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plurall number and it is knowne and manifest in nature For this expansum or void wherein are the fowles is called a heaven and they the fowles of the heaven Againe these seaven subordinate spheares in the which the seaven Planets doe raigne are called heaven also Againe that place wherein are the fixed Starres is called a heaven also And finally that place of felicity which is above all of these is called heaven and the third heaven and the heaven of heavens and the Paradise of God Now as all of these are furnished with their severall host and inhabitants So is the will of God done in all of these by their severall host and inhabitants For in the lower heavens which we call our firmament the will of God is done by the fowles of the ayre and by the treasures of windes raine snow haile and the thunder In the second heaven the will of God is done by the Sunne the Moone and the Starres In the third heaven also the will of God is done by the holy Angells who have kept their originall integrity and by the congregation of the first born who rest from their labours and have entred into their Masters joy The words then are cleere By earth is meant man made of earth returning to the earth and living on the earth By heaven is meant all the host and inhabitants of the whole heavens of God whether they be the first second or third heaven But chiefly the third Now the resemblance and parallel of the obedience is remarkable As it is in Heaven For it may be enquired how doe the Angells and Saints departed obey the will of God in heaven I answere they obey it five manner of wayes Speedily Cheerfully Fully sincerely constantly and perfectly Speedily and without delay cheerfully and without murmuring fully and without omission sincerely without dissimulation constātly without wearying and perfectly without halting Now is it possible for man so to doe Gods will No certainly wee cannot doe it speedily for like Lot we linger to goe out of Sodome We cannot doe it cheerfully for like Israel wee grudge and murmur in the way to our rest We cannot doe it fully for the good that wee would doe we doe not c. We doe it not sincerely and without dissimulation for although wee honour him with our mouthes our hearts are farre from him We doe it not constantly and without wearying for to day we are fervent and to morrow wee are lukewarme neither hot nor cold Neither doe we it perfectly for we know but in a part and see but in a part and our perfection is laid up for us in the life to come But why doe we then pray for it since wee cannot attaine to it I answere though we cannot attaine to it yet wee should strive after it For there is a time comming wherein we shall obtaine and attaine to that perfection wee aime at And that is our last moment and day of our dissolution Like Israel compassing Jericho And Sampson groaning under his blindnesse Vse Now the use of all this When God made man he made him conforme to his patterne for he made him like to himselfe and to his owne Image When God commanded to build him a Tabernacle he gave a patterne to it in the mount and never a pinne was in the Tabernacle but what was commanded So it is here when Christ Jesus desireth us to doe Gods will he writeth to us a copy doe it in earth as it is done in heaven Not that we are able to attaine to it but that we must strive after it Let us looke but to a naturall Parent Hee calleth upon
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
giveth the increase And as we must deny our selves so we must also follow him because of his sufficiency for hee is all-sufficient in his mercy in his wisedome in his power and in his truth In mercy for where our sinne abounded his mercy hath superabounded In wisedome for hee hath so wisely reconciled his mercy to his Justice that hee is satisfied and wee saved In his power for he dwelleth in the heavens and doth on the earth whatsoever hee willeth In his truth for heaven and earth shall passe away but one jot of his word falleth not to the ground If we seeke him he will bee found of us but if we forsake him he wil forsake us too LECT 4. Hallowed bee thy name AFter the Preface wee come in order to looke to the Petitions which are six whereof three have a reference to God and three unto man and his humane weakenesse In handling of these Petitions this shall God willing be the path wherein wee shall walke Wee will first looke to the order of the Petition and see in what distance it standeth with the rest And then wee will look upon the matter conteined in the Petition and see wherin it doth concerne us The order of this Petition is cleere and easie for if these three Petitions which concerne God bee justly preferred to those which concerne man then of necessity that Petition which doth most truly point out Gods honor unto us should first have place and that is this For it doth most lively represent unto us the care of Gods glory To it therefore precedency is duly given Now that this may be a little more cleere I shall labour to give you the evidence thereof both from the commandement of God and the practise of his Saints Shall we looke to the commandement of God it is more then manifest for amongst those ten Commandements which hee gave to Israel the first foure which concerne himselfe are prefixed to those other sixe which concerne but us And amongst these foure that which doth most eminently and evidently set forth his Glory hath both preheminency and precedency of place Answerable unto this is that direction of Christs Matthew 6.33 Seeke first the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and the things of this life shall be cast unto you As God by the authoritie of his word doth require this of us So also at all times it hath beene the practise of his Saints in whom the Spirit of God hath dwelt powerfully ever to preferre the Glory of God to all things in this life yea to their owne life it selfe Looke to the practise of Moses Exodus 32. And of Paul that elect vessell of Mercy Rom. 9.3 Both of them in a burning zeale to the honor of God did wish themselves to bee thrust out from God that in their overthrow his honor might bee the more manifested Let me yet adde to this another consideration of the order and we shall see that it is not without reason that this Petition hath the precedency For in it I finde a wonderfull strain of the wisedom of our Redeemer Christ Jesus In the preface and entry of this prayer he hath led us to direct our Petitions in the termes of affection in the termes of faith and in the termes of feare In the termes of affection whilst we call God a Father In the termes of faith whilst we call him our Father and by faith make him to be ours in Christ Jesus And in the termes of feare whilst we acknowledge his power in heaven and in earth And then being to order our Petitions either according to the riches of Gods mercy or to the depth of our misery The first thing that we are desired to crave of God is a heart that can be desirous of his Glory For it is impossible that wee should at any time walke in the obedience of the succeeding Petitions unlesse that our hearts be first inflamed with the zeale of Gods glory For if wee consider aright who is hee that can ingeniously say let thy Kingdome come or thy will be done on earth unlesse he bee first enamored with the love of Gods glory Or who is hee that can content himselfe with his Daily bread or hunger and thirst for the Pardon of his sinnes or strive and wrestle against Temptation who hath not his heart inflamed with the sparkes of the Glory of God surely amongst the sons of men there shall not bee found one no not one For we are here In via non in patria Viatores non cōprehensores And therefore it is impossible for us to desire the reparation of the lost image of God in us or to make a right use of the things of this naturall life unlesse God illuminate our eyes and inflame us with the love of his glory who dwells in glory and hath cloathed himselfe with glory inaccessable which no flesh can conceive and live That the Jewes should have had a chiefe care of this glory it was well demonstrated unto them in the motto of their High Priests that was on their frontlets Sanctitas Iehovae The High-priest was glorious every way in the lower hemne of his garment hee had a fringe interlaced with bells and pomegranats of gold in his brestplate he had the Vrim and the Thummim on his shoulders hee had two Onix stones but on his forehead as one consecrated to the service of God hee had engraven Holinesse to the Lord. Wherein hee did both confesse and petition confesse that God was holy and holinesse it selfe and petition him that he would make him holy as he was who had called him and as the Jewe was thus instructed so also are we who are Gentiles not left without instruction For I must say here of this petition what Paul spoke of faith hope and charity in preferring of charity to the other two hee giveth a reason Those two shall evanish but charity shall convey us to the Kingdome of heaven So fareth it with this petition the rest shall all so evanish Thy kingdome come shall cease whē it cōmeth to us by death Thy will be done in earth shall cease when wee shall rest from our labours and our workes shall follow us Give us this day our daily bread shall cease when wee shall eate of the bread of life Forgive us our sinnes shall cease when wee shall enter into our Masters joy Lead us not into temptation shall cease when God shall tread death sinne and sathan under our feete Thus an end of all these petitions shall come only this one shall have no end at all but shall be like to him to whom it is here ascribed for hee in himselfe is A and Ω the first and the last so shall his honour and glory bee also like unto him a new song hee shall put into our mouth and a deepe Hallelujah in the secret of our hearts wherein the heavens and the earth and the hoasts thereof shall onely resound the praise the
of prime honour to the subject of name for it is said Hallowed be thy name For understanding whereof let us remember that the Pronoune thy is possessive and pointeth out to us the chiefe and prime person to whose name honour and glory do chiefly and most duely belong For though there bee many names or rather many things named in heaven in earth and under the earth yet is there not any name to which honour and glory doth of debt and duty belong but onely to the name of God and that in three respects First because by him is named all the family that is either in heaven or on earth Secondly because by his sufferings and victorious triumphs over his adversaries he hath obtained a name farre above all other not onely that is in this world but also in that which is to come Thirdly because there is no other name by the which we can bee saved but by the name of Jesus Christ the just Now then since by the Pronounce thine is understood the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost the whole Trinity whose actions ad extra as they are undivided so their honour quoad nos should bee undivided also For as their essence is one and their majesty coeternall so should their glory bee coequall according to that which is written My honour is mine and my glory I will not give to another Let him bee ashamed that in any wise doth ascribe that which is due to God either to Angell or Saint departed The distinctions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will be no shelter of their errour wee reverence their memory wee blesse God in behalfe of them and wee wish from God the consummation of their glory but to beleeve in them to call upon them or to bow before their images or to adore their relicts as wee have no warrant for it so let us abhorre to doe it lest it be enquired of us Who hath required these things at your hands Esai 1.12 They have already entered in their Masters joy Requiescant in pace Let us labour to follow their example and let us sigh for their consummation as they crie for our addition for they cannot bee perfect in full perfection without us Amen LECTIO 5. Thy kingdome come IN handling of this Petition I will observe the order proposed in the last first I will looke on the reference of the words both with the preceding and subsequent petitions and then on the matter comprised and contained in them The site and posture of this Petition is worthy of remarke first because of the reference it hath with the preceding petition And secondly because of that reference it hath with those petitions which succeed The dependance it hath with the former Petitions is That in the last petition wee craved that Gods name might be hallowed that is to say that the Majestie and holinesse which is in himselfe and is Himselfe for whatsoever is in God is God that Justice Mercy and power that is in his workes that truth righteousnesse and equity which is in his word may not only be knowne and manifested to man but also received honored and obeyed by man in such manner as is fit and due to so great a Majestie and so dread a name So now in this Petition hee sheweth us the way how to doe it Namely by submitting our selves as members of his Kingdome to his supreme Soveraignty for then chiefely and ever till then is the name of God duely honored by man when man by his due and lawfull obedience testifieth himselfe to bee a subject in his Kingdome and a member of his incorporation Againe as this is the reference it hath with the precedent Petition So hath it also a necessary dependance with that which immediately succeedeth For in the words next following we crave that Gods will may be done But it is certaine no man can doe Gods will but hee who is a member of his Kingdome Nor can any man keepe the law of God but by his grace Iohn 3.24 Psalme 119.32 For though our workes should be accomplished from the beginning of the world yet are they all but abomination in the presence of God till our persons be first acceptable unto him in Christ Jesus 1. Cor. 13.3 here then is the true reason of this position he that would either hallow or honor the name of God or desire to performe his will must have a care first to be devised and made a member of his Kingdome for the name of God can never bee truly honored nor his will truly obeyed by any but those who are true members of his Kingdome But it may bee enquired cannot a wicked man doe the will of God I answere that a wicked man may doe the thing that is good as Ioab may give good counsell Iudas may remember the poore A Hypoerite like Achab may be humbled A vicious man may cite and speake Scripture but all is abhomination for two causes First their persons are not acceptable they have no portion in David nor inheritance in Iesse Secondly whatsoever they doe they doe it not in that sincerity nor right intention towards the honor of God as doth become but what they doe is in hypocrisie to be seen of men and to procure honor and glory to themselves and for this cause God casteth backe the dust of their sacrifices in their faces and manifesteth their wickednesse both to men and Angells Then O man if thou dost desire that the name of God may be hallowed and honored by thee Or desirest that his will bee done in thee or by thee Labour then I pray thee that thou maist be made a member of his Kingdome for as many as are called by the Spirit of God are the sons of God and if the Spirit of him that raised JESVS from the dead doth dwell in our mortall bodies our mortall bodies shall then also be raised by it But if this incorporation shall bee wanting though we should give our bodies to be burnt in the fire yet shall it not availe us For as we live strangers from the life of God strangers shall wee likewise die and rising strangers to his Grace we shall be thrust out as strangers from his Glory to the suffering of that worme that dyeth not and of that fire that never is extinguished Now let us come to the words and consider what is contained in them I finde in them three things a Subject an Attribute and a Copulation The Subject is a Kingdome the Attribute is a comming and the word of Copulation Thy. Kingdome For understanding of this we must know that there is a threefold Kingdome Of man of Sathan and of God The Kingdome of man is that preheminency and soveraignty which God in his wisedome hath established amongst men giving to some authority to command and to others a commandement to obey and that for shunning of confusion and disorder amongst
the sonnes of men and the children of nature And to testifie that God is the God of Order and not of confusion he hath in his wisedome set a distinction amōgst his creatures by way of soveraignty three manner of waies 1. He hath given a Kingdome and soveraignty to the celestiall bodies 2. He hath given and established a Kingdome and soveraignty in man 3. Hee hath given a Kingdome and soveraignty to man The soveraignty and Kingdome given to the celestiall bodies is two-fold Of influence and of dominion The soveraignty of influence is acknowledged in nature and by all the children of nature For not only doe these celestiall bodies expresse their influence on the earth the sea and the fruits thereof But also on man and the naturall body of man For man having his body composed of the temperature of the foure Elements Fire Ayre Earth and Water it doth sensibly feele the influence of these celestiall bodies in the mutation and alteration of his health and constitution And as God hath given a soveraignty of influence so hath he likewise given a soveraignty of dominion For it is written Gen 1.16 Hee made two Great lights the Sunne the greater light to rule the day and the Moone the lesser light to rule the night As he gave a Kingdome and soveraignty to the celestiall bodies So did he also establish a soveraignty and Kingdome on man For hee gave unto him soveraignty and dominion over the fishes of the Sea the fowles of the Ayre and over every living thing that moveth on the earth Neither did hee alone subjugate the unreasonable creatures unto him But what is more hee did by his wisedome establish a soveraignty to man amongst men and the sonnes of men For amongst them he hath in his wisdome appointed some to be Masters some to be servants some to be Parents some to bee children some to bee husbands some to bee wives some to bee Judges some to be people some to bee Ministers some to be hearers some to bee Princes and some to bee subjects And in all of these what hath hee done but imprinted in man the Characters and vestiges of his owne primacy and authority For as he is God ouer all and in all blessed for ever So hee hath given unto man as the chiefe and soveraigne of his creatures a chiefe and soveraigne authority not only over his fellow creatures but also over his fellow Brethren that in man as the little world man might perceive the soveraignty of God the creator and Soveraigne of the whole world Last of all he hath set and established a Kingdome and soveraignty in man and that was the Kingdome and soveraignty of the image of God in man For as some celestiall bodies have a Kingdome over the inferiour bodies As man hath authority over the creatures and his fellow Brethren So God hath a Kingdome in man wherein the soule of man is that throne whereon he doth sit The conscience is Gods immediate deputy his assessors are the light of knowledge and understanding writing out a law his Sheriffe or Justice of peace is the will The common people whom he ruleth are the affections Now in all of these being composed and drawne up to an universall bulke and incorporation the image of God stood in man For as man was created the immediate King of the world So God did let him see that hee was his immediate King and Superiour And least that at any time hee should waxe proud and evanish he established a spirituall Kingdome in man Both that he might bee subdued to him that made him and that he might learn to rule aright the Kingdome concreded unto him This then is the Kingdome of man a Kingdome over his fellow creatures a Kingdome over his fellow Brethren a Kingdome over his innated affections Sathan also hath a Kingdome now will you enquire what that Kingdome is It must be answered it is no true Kingdome it is but a tyrannick usurpation like that of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebot who made Israell to sinne or like that of the Bramble who became King of the trees of the forrest That it is no true Kingdome it is cleere out of these severall instances And the instances of his usurpation are foure 1. His inauguration 2. His Vassalls 3. His government 4. His remuneration or reward His inauguration in the first place doth cleere this For he is neither borne to bee a King nor chosen to bee King Not borne a King for hee is but a creature and there is no true King but the Creator who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords And as he is not a King by birth so also he is not a King by election for none have chosen him to be King over them Yea all that he possesseth he doth possesse by Tyranny Hee said to Christ in the day of his temptation All these are mine But he lied for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof in it Sathan hath not one foot breadth but what hee either robs or usurpes 2. His Vassalls shew also his illegitimation for as it is in the Kingdome of God so is it also in the true and lawfull Kingdomes of men In Gods Kingdome as he giveth a law so they obey and say Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven He is the shepheard they are the flock His sheep heare his voice and they will not follow a stranger In the Kingdome of Sathan it is otherwise they are all children of disobedience howsoever conspiring an evill yet unto every good worke they are reprobate Of whom the true Christian may say as Iacob said of Simeon and Levi They are brethren in evill but in their secret let not my soule come and my glory be not thou joyned with their Assembly 3. In his government how ruleth he I pray you Not as a true soveraigne but as a trecherous usurpator Hee hath no part in man but that which he hath stolne For he steales First light out of the understanding then true desire out of the affections and thereafter full authority and commandement out of the will Where I pray you had hee ever place since his fall but what he stole He stole away by a lie the heart of Eve from God the heart of Cain from his brother the heart of Cham from his father the heart of Esau from his blessing the heart of Ieroboam from his God and the heart of Iudas from the Saviour of the world Yea now he is amongst us and he is likewise stealing either our hearts from the word by sleepe or the seed of the word out of our hearts that it may not take root and bring forth increase to our peace 4. His usurpation is knowen in his remuneration and reward A true King rewards answerably the service of a good subject and when hee findes his coffers emptie hee will coyne occasions to gratifie his faithfull servant God acclaimes this to himselfe as a
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
sole title and precinct of his endowment but also the title and sole reciprocation hee craves of us and that both in the matter of his obedience and of our content and desires In the matter of our obedience hee will have it to day To day if you will heare his voice harden not your hearts And of our desires Give us this day our daily bread and reasō good it is that it should speake so for by so saying first hee pares the covetous mans nailes Secondly hee bindeth up the prodigalls hands and cutteth downe the Epicures vaine hope I say First by this word hee pares the covetous mans nailes for hee will pare them himselfe hee lets them grow that hee may scrape and scratch and gather together without satisfaction of desire without wearying in travell He riseth early in the morning and goeth late to bed at night and all the day long eates the bread of sorrow as if his belly was like his heart triangular and uncapable of satisfaction but foole that he is what is this he doth knoweth hee not that wee are but here to day and away to morrow for All flesh is grasse Care not therefore for the morrow but let the morrow care for it selfe for this day hath enough of its owne griefe Et magno apparatu breve iter vitae non instruitur sed oneratur Secondly God by this word bindes up the prodigals hands for it is the desire of many men in the world to have God giving them not one peece this day and another peece to morrow as we stand in need of it but wee will have al our portion together as the prodigall child said Father give mee my portion that befalls mee and when hee got it you know what became of it God therefore being wiser then wee will not cast all our patrimony in our lap together but like a wise father will give us our estate but peece peece and will see how we imploy the little hee lendeth us that hee may make us Lords over much and wee may every day honour him in the suit and request of his supply Lastly hee cutteth the vaine hope of the Epicure who like an atheist makes covenant with death and an agreement with hell and saith with the whore in the Revelation I am a Queene and shall see no mourning To this man God cries here as hee cryed to the rich man in the Gospell saying Foole this night they shall take thy soule from thee so here hee cryes to the Epicure This day thou shalt dye and shalt not see the morrow by one dayes disease I will beat that soule of thine out of her cittadell Watch therefore and pray for yee know not at what houre the theefe will come One day is too long to dwell in the tents of Kedar but in the presence of the Auncient of dayes there is fulnesse of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore LECTIO 14. And forgive us our trespasses IN handling of this Petition wee have two things to consider the coherence or dependence of this Petition with the former and next the tenour and force of the Petition it selfe The coherence is evident in the conjunctive particle and. For whilst in the last petition Our Redeemer Christ Jesus teacheth us to begge of him things meete for the maintenance of this our naturall life hee packed up the Petition in some few words of necessitie so here knowing that man is too much addicted to set his heart and fixe his affections upon the earth and the things thereof in a snatch as it were hee recals us againe to the consideration of the soule and teacheth us to hunger and thirst for righteousnesse and the life and well being of the soule For what shall it availe a man if hee winne the whole world and lose his owne soule In a word by the conjoyning and tying of this petition to the former I can resemble our Saviour to nothing better then to a wise and skilfull Pylot who seeing his company sicke and weary with continuall stormes at sea when he knoweth hee is neere any land letteth his sick and faint hearted company go on shore to refresh themselves to get the aire of the land to take in new victuals and provision to serve the necessitie of their succeeding voyage but if hee finde them to begin to be enamored with love of the land and the pleasures thereof straight wayes hee sendeth a boat on shoare reclaimes them frō the surfet of their pleasures telling them that if any amongst them would bee at home at his owne Countrie hee must come aboard againe for it is not the dallying with the pleasures of a strange country that will bring him home to his owne soyle It is even so with our Saviour in these words for in the first three Petitions wee were set to sea and commanded to saile home to heaven for whilst man honours Gods name advanceth Gods kingdome and doth Gods will what is hee doing but sailing through a stormy sea to a good harbour and a quiet haven of rest now because while men have lanched out to the sea of the world and are sailing homeward many crosse windes and boisterous stormes hinder them by the way Christ like a discreete and mercifull pylot and master of our ship in the last Petition giveth us this day our daily bread sets us on shoare and lets us play a while in the free aire and refresheth us with the pleasures of nature giving us leave to satiate and satisfie our selves with such provision as the necessity of this our naturall life required at our hands but knowing very well the nature of man that when hee getteth leave to play with the world hee will take a large inch to the ell and that in stead of satisfying his necessitie hee will inebriate and surfet himselfe therefore in this Petition And forgive us our trespasses hee shootes a boat after them and calls them to come home and to come aboard againe for feare that by playing too long with the world and the pleasures of the shoore they lose the opportunity of their voiage homeward for as the wisdome of the world is foolishnesse with God so the love of the world is enmity with God and whosoever is a friend of the worlds is an enemie of God Iames 4. vers 4. And this I take to bee the reason of the coherence of this Petition to the former Vse Let us now looke upon this tye and particle of conjunction that wee may learne something from it The uses and observations which arise here-from are these First it teacheth how to use the things of this world Man since the fall of the first Adam hath brought nothing into the world with him but an uncircumcised heart and a body of sinne dwelling in his flesh and from thence as from a bitter roote of corruption floweth nothing in all his conversation but fearfull and rebellious transgressions amongst the which
upon the Sunne in his strength doe usually call for a vessell ful of water wherein they may boldly behold his Image without dazeling of their eyes so we cannot fully know how God is our father unlesse wee looke on our earthly fathers and from them draw some weake resemblance of the expression so farre as a finite creature may expresse an infinite Creatour To understand this amongst the sons of men there bee three sorts of fathers naturall civill and ecclesiastique A naturall father is he of whom wee have our naturall being from whose loynes wee are powred out like milke and of whose substance we are crowded together like Cheese The civill fathers are those Magistrates whom God hath set in place and preferment above us and of those it is said Honour thy father and thy mother The Ecclesiasticke fathers are the Ministers and Preachers of the word by whom as being the Instruments of Gods worke the life of God is begotten in our soules and of this sort it is that the Apostle sayes Though you have many fathers yet I have begotten you to bee the sonnes of God by the Gospell Now all of these wayes God is our father our naturall father by creation our civill father by providence and sustentation our spirituall and ecclesiasticke father by adoption God from the beginning of time hath beene the father of mankinde but the nearer it drew to the fulnesse of time he became the nearer and the dearer father unto us He was Adams father was knowne to him by his name Gnaliion The most high a comfort answerable to Adams fall He was Abrahams father and knowne to him by his name El-shaddai The all-sufficient and this was a corroborative against Abrahams doubting Hee was Moses father and knowne to him by his name Iehovah which signified a being for in his time hee begun to give a being to his promises made to Abraham Isaac and Iaco◠under this name he was knowne to the Iudges Kings and Prophets of Israel but when the fulnesse of time came God sent his owne Son made of a woman and made under the law and to him hee is made knowne by the name of a Father This is my beloved Sonne and in him our Father also his by nature ours by adoption as it is written Because you are sonnes God hath sent the spirit of his Sonne in your hearts whereby you cry Abba Father And againe To as many as come to him hee gave this prerogative to bee called the sonnes of the living God The knowledge of this that God is our father teacheth us foure things affection faith obedience and true understanding First affection for now I pray not to a severe Iudge nor to a cruell Tyrant nor to a mercilesse stranger but by the contrary to my kind and gracious father who knoweth my neede before I aske and prevents my suite by his favour for he meeteth me kisseth me clotheth me and killeth the fat Calfe for me Secondly faith for what will a kinde father refuse to his begging child The Prophet Isay telleth us 49.15 Although our father that begot us should forget us and our mother should not remember us as the fruit of her wombe yet I will not forget thee for I have graven thee on the palmes of my hands and thy vowes are alwayes in my sight Let us therfore goe boldly to the Throne of grace we shall surely bee heard in that which wee feare for as Ambrose telleth us Dum ex malo servo factus sum filius praedicare quid acceperim fides est non arrogantia non est superbia sed devotio Thirdly obedience For whilst hee sheweth himselfe our mercifull father hee tyeth us to be dutifull children else even then when wee call him father if wee doe not intend a filiall obedience in stead of a father we provoke him to become our Iudge as sitters in the chaire of the scorner for it is written If I be your father where is my honour and if I be your master where is my feare for there is mercy with me onely that I may be feared Fourthly true understanding of two things 1. To whom wee should direct our prayers 2. In whose name To whom not to Angels in heaven nor to Saints departed nor to any Image of wood or stone whatsoever but to him who being the father of eternity is become our father in time and whilst wee doe invoke him it should not bee by the intercession of any Angel or Saint departed or in the name or accompt of our owne merit but onely in the name of Iesus and for his merits sake who not knowing sinne was made sinne for us that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him LECT 2. Our Father which art in heaven IN our last Sermon wee looked on the person upon whō wee call in that reference wherein wee call him Father We come now to see by what reason we call him Our That wee may understand this the better know this I pray you that our Redeemer Christ Iesus comming into the world not for himselfe nor for his owne sake but for us and ours who were by our sinnes estranged from him hee hath taken our burden upon him that by his super-abundant satisfaction our ransome might be fully satisfied and by the blood of his Crosse all things might be reconciled againe to the Father even all things in heaven and in earth But because there is nothing done by God in time which was not preordained to bee done before time That Christ Iesus should bee our head in time could never have beene duely accomplished unlesse before time he had beene preordained to be our head and we the fellow members of his body Now as in the fulnesse of time he came in our flesh to be our head so here by his example he teacheth us how to carry our selves as dutifull and decent members of his body The truth of this is cleare out of all these Petitions which Christ hath registred to us in his Word before hee suffered in Iohn 17. when hee suffered when hee rose againe and ascended In this hee was our true high Priest carrying our names into the holy place and there preparing a place for us that where he is there we may be also The Vnion therefore of the which he was ordained to be the head before all time made him carefull in time to recollect and gather together the lost and straying members of his incorporatiō and by his example teacheth us not onely to adhere to him by faith as our head but also by love to adhere to others as members of one body But thou wilt say to mee O man where in doth this Vnion consist or how shall I know if I have part in this Vnion For answer hereto let mee tell thee O man What was before the world but Vnion what is in the world but Vnion what shall bee after the world but Vnion Before the world nothing but Vnion one God
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
power and the glory of God for whom and by whom all things were made to him bee glory for ever Amen Now after the order let us come to the words of the Petition It hath three things considerable in it First a subject secondly an attribute thirdly and a word of copulation tying the Attribute unto the Subject The Subject is Gods name the Attribute is in the word Hallowed The tye of copulation is Thy To speake somewhat more fully of this purpose it shall not be amisse to follow the order either of the civill or common law both of them referre the whole body or bulke of of their law to these three Ad Personas Res Actiones Iustin lib. 1. Instit titulo 2. in fine Lancelot institut Iure Canon lib. 1. Titus 3. in fine Pardon mee a little to invert their order and it shall serve for the better illustration of our matter In handling of this petition three things are to be cōsidered some things some actions some persons in peculiar The thing proposed is Gods name The action concerning it is the fanctifying or hallowing thereof The peculiar person whose name should be sanctified is Gods name beyond all other name or things in heaven in earth or under the earth Let us now come to the Subject of this Petition Gods name For understanding hereof know that names of things are the notes and demonstrations of the true beeing of them and serve to represent unto our understanding the true knowledge of the things themselves by the assistance of voice and aire This made Aristotle in his book of interpretation to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is cleare by the denomination of all the creatures of God for as the folly of a foole is knowne in nothing more then in denominating of things amisse so is the wisdome of man knowne in nothing more then in the true denomination of things presented before him This being the sole and absolute difference betwixt them that as a thing doth give essence to the name so the name giveth a declaration of the thing Res est nominis ratio nomen est rei signū But lest in stead of playing the divine I should seeme to play the Philosopher let mee shew you that names are of three sorts First some givē to the creatures by man Secondly some given to man by God Thirdly some given and ascribed by God to himselfe I say first some names were given to Gods creatures by Adam for it is written As Adam called every living creature so was the name thereof This was a part of that image of God imprinted in Adam in the beginning that as the Parent the Master and Conquerour of all Gods creatures he imposed names unto them yet was not this his soveraignty absolute but subordinate for though the name was Adams yet the workemanship was Gods God made the creatures Adam onely was the godfather unto them and therefore wee see that Adam who gave a name to every creature yet did not assume a name to himselfe hee named the creatures but God named him and called him Adam Secondly I say that as man gave names to the creatures so God giveth a name to man as is evident not onely in that which he gave to Adam and Evah his chiefe creatures but also in those which hee hath sometimes given to men before they came from their mothers belly as to Cyrus Iosiah Iohn the Baptist and to Iesus Christ and in those names which hee did change from a naturall to a spirituall signification as Abram to Abraham Sarai to Sarah Iacob to Israel and Ieconiah to Coniah shewing us that as our parent our Master and our Conqueror he both gives and changes names unto us at his pleasure Thirdly I say God taketh a name to himselfe for since names are but the signification of things that are and of that which they are none can give a name to God because none doth know what hee is for he is infinite and wee finite he is incomprehensible and all our judgement may bee comprized within a spanne onely he himselfe who hath his beeing of himselfe and giveth a beeing to all things that are can of himselfe and by himselfe declare what hee is and make his name knowne unto man according to that which is written No man hath seene the Father at any time save the Sonne who is in the bosome of the Father neither hath any man knowne the Father save the Son and hee to whom the Sonne reveales him And now this being spoken in generall concerning names it rests that wee looke in particular to the name of God And if any shall aske the meaning thereof I answer that three things are signified by it his essence his workes and his word for the name of God is two wayes taken in Scripture First essentially secondly with relation Essentially it is taken for himselfe as in the 20. Psal The name of the God of Iacob defend thee that is to say the God of Iacob defend thee And againe 10. Ro. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved that is whosoever shall call on the Lord relatively the name of God in Scripture is three wayes taken for his attributes his workes and his words For his attributes of justice or of mercy looke to Pharaoh I will get my selfe a name of him The second relation of it is to his word and the truth thereof and of this it is said that Ierusalem was the place which hee had chosen for his name for as the Law was given from Sinai so the grace of the Gospell went first out from Ierusalem And lastly his name is relative to his workes for so is it written God is knowne in Israell and in Iudah hee hath manifested his name Vse Now having in some measure delineated unto you him that is invisible not as he is knowne of us but as he manifesteth himselfe unto us in his attributes his word and his workes let us stay a little and draw from thence some comfort to our owne soules which surely is here in great measure to bee found for whilst wee looke on the manner of the revelation how God hath made himselfe known to us by his name who is hee that cannot nor will not infinitely rejoyce therein For it is true indeed that many times and in divers manners God made himselfe knowne to the world of old yet all were but clouds in respect of our light all was darknesse in respect of our day and all were but shadows in respect of that sweet Sun-shine that hath now appeared unto us in Jesus Christ his Sonne in whom hee hath made his name fully knowne and to whom in our flesh hee hath given a name farre above every name that is named that at the name of Jesus made manifest in our flesh every knee should bow both of things that are in heaven and in earth But thou wilt inquire of me O man Did not God make himselfe
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
this that God demonstratively teacheth us how wee shall know whether wee bee members of his kingdome or not I finde that there is a lesson requisite to every Christian to be learned to salvation to wit That hee should try and examine himselfe in what measure of grace he standeth For many times our hearts flatter us and we cry peace to our selves when God meanes us no peace Yea many times wee condemne our selves in the sense of our sinnes when God condemneth us not nor mindeth any thing but our excitation from security Least therefore that we should mistake looking upon a flattering security as a true peace And least in the day of our visitation wee should mistake the arrowes of Ionathans advertisement for the arrowes of Sauls malice and destruction God hath given us here a touchstone to know both the nature of our peace as also of our correction which is this Looke to Gods will and what thou hast done concerning it Whilst thy soule speaks peace to thee and sayes with the Publican I thanke God I am not a sinner as this man content not thy selfe with that naked and generall verdict for it may deceive thee as it did him For he went away unjustified But draw rather home to the conscience of thy obedience and see how thy will hath beene subdued to Gods will and thy affections captivated to his obedience and from thence draw home in a practicall Syllogisme the true assurance of thy joy For as by faith in Jesus Christ wee have peace with God so on the other part nothing is more sure then that faith worketh by love that faith without workes is but a dead faith and he that brags of it may well have a name that he is living but in effect he is dead Againe on the other part it is as requisite for our comfort in the day of our troubled conscience by sinne that wee looke to the care of our obedience to Gods will for as the Apostle Paul telleth us Of my selfe I know no evill yet by this I am not justified And againe Of my selfe I know no good yet by this I am not condemned So it is with every Christian as he hath not so much good in him as by vertue of his merit may make him looke to get heaven So hath hee not so much evill in him as can sequestrate him from heaven if he have but a will and desire to doe Gods will For the best of Gods Saints may bee justified but are not in this life sanctified wholly There is in them two men the old and the new the flesh and the Spirit and these are so contrary one to the other that wee cannot doe the things which we would Yet in the middest of this our defect if wee have a delight in Gods law concerning the inner man all is well for by this we may know that hee hath begunne and will accomplish his work in us Yea what is more since the first Adam fell never man was able to doe Gods will Jesus Christ being excepted Not Abraham David Salomon nor Sampson Only Jesus Christ the second Adam hath fully done it and in his perfect obedience hath covered our defects and imperfections Two documents and evidents whereof wee have in Scripture One in the Epistle to the Collossians cap. 1.19 Another in the fourtieth Ps I desire to do thy will ô God saith David But in the tenth to the Hebrewes Loe here I am For in thy booke it is written of mee I come to doe thy will O God To come now to the Petition it selfe the parts thereof are two The first is simple and positive The second is comparative or set downe with a reference The simple and positive part is Thy will be done The comparative part is In Earth as it is in Heaven To returne to the first part In it three things are remarkable 1. What is the Object we looke to and it is a Will 2. Whose will it is wee should have respect unto and it is Gods Thy. 3. What way should wee be exercised after the knowledge of his will And that is wee should obey it Thy will be done Will. To speake of these things then as they lie in order Of the object of our Petition Gods will Wee must know that by the learned the will of God is diversly taken and considered Sometimes it is distinguished in an antecedent and consequent will So Damaseen lib. 2. cap. 46. Sometimes they distinguish it in the wil of his good pleasure and the will of his signification So Lumbardus Scholastici lib. 10. destinctione 45. Sometimes they distinguish it in an effectuall and ineffectuall Will. So Augustine in his Manuall 102. 103. But the Church in her latter times looking on the will of God hath found it taken three manner of wayes 1. For that faculty of power and willing which is in God And this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. For the act of his willing and this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. For the thing which he willeth And this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for the first signification whilst it is taken for the power of willing In that sense it is one with the essence of God For as God in himselfe and by himselfe understands and knoweth and is wise so also he willeth For whatsoever is in God is God and that neither by way of accident or composition but by way of essence and essentially As to the second for the act of his willing Wee must understand that God willeth not as man willeth For man being but a finite and temporall creature willeth but in time and that in variety alteration and change But God being infinite and unchangeable hath willed from eternity that which is done in time or shall bee done after all time and nothing is or shall bee done for ever but that which in eternity hee both willed and decreed And in this sense the will of God is one with the essence of God also For as he is eternall and immutable so is also his will As to the third and last signification to wit the thing which God willeth For understanding hereof know that the object of Gods wil is three-fold First hee willeth himselfe and his owne glory Secondly he willeth something concerning the end of his creatures these are called his decrees Thirdly he willeth something concerning the way to that end and that is either obedience or disobedience Now it may bee enquired what is meant here by the will of God I answere not the first not the second but the third And that in all the three acceptations thereof both that which concerneth himselfe and his glory in that which concerneth the end of the cretures and in that which concerneth the way to that end But if these bee too deepe for thee I will speake more plainly and point out to the will of God concerning us for thy better understanding
life of the Christian as by his patience under the Crosse Looke to Ely to David to Iob to the Disciples and Martyrs who suffered not onely the losse of their name and the spoyle of their goods but also rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the testimony of Jesus Looke to Jesus Christ in his agony Not my will c. Last of all because these things O man cannot be gottē nor made so perfect in thee as they should be yet if thou canst sigh for thy deliverance and groane under the burthen of thy imperfection it is an evident assurance that hee who hath begunne that work of grace in thee will in due time perfect it for these sighs are not from nature but from the Spirit of grace for of our selves wee know neither how to pray nor what to pray but the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh request in us with sighs which cannot be expressed But thou wilt say to mee I have sighed and groaned yet I have had no audience I answer thee there is no reason why thou shouldest bee so heard thy sinne hath dwelt long in thee and thou art but chastised of late and from yesterday Is it reason that when thou cryest in the anguish of thy soule either for health or heaven that thou shouldest bee immediately obeyed No no God called long at the dore of thy heart but thou wouldest not heare him why then should hee so suddenly heare thee I tell thee it is not onely patience but exercise in patience that doth the turne Againe he hath more then reason to refuse thee for thou seekest to him not so much for the desire of glory as to bee eased of thy smart and therefore hee dealeth with thee as with Ionah that thou mayest say with Simeon Lord let thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene my salvation LECT 9. In Earth as it is in Heaven IN the handling of this Petition wee have already spoken of two things first of the word Will and secondly bee done Wee must now come and looke to the word Thy and in it consider whose will must bee done For understanding hereof wee must know that will is only truly properly attributed ascribed to three to sathan to man and to God I speake of will as it is a faculty of the reasonable soule and so do exclude from it the unreasonable creature to whom appetite and desire may be assigned but a will cannot truly bee ascribed To return then Sathan is the first to whom will is ascribed in Scripture for to him are applyed the words of the Prophet Isay 14.13 I will ascend into heaven and I will exalt my selfe above the starres of God as some expound But by abuse of this his will hee hath captived it both himselfe and his will to evill and in so doing hath lost the true priviledge of his will For howsoever hee willeth nothing but that which is evill yet he getteth not done all the evill that he willeth for God hath so thrust a bridle in his lips a hooke in his nostrels that without the bounds and limits of his chaine he neither dare nor can go 2ly Man hath a title of a will ascribed to him for as hee is a reasonable creature consisting of a soule and a body so also in his soule there are these three things An understanding holding forth light to him some affections delighting more or lesse in their object according to the light which is premonstrated thē And a will chosing or refusing freely the object set before him both according to the light of his understanding the delight of his affectiōs I have said that man willeth freely for unlesse will had the liberty free scope thereof it were no more a willing but a nilling power it were not voluntas but noluntas Now concerning this liberty or freedome in mans will the Church of Rome and we have had and do still as yet maintaine a long and serious debate yet not concerning the freedome and liberty of the will but concerning the object which the will of man chuseth or refuseth It is their errour to alleage that man in the state of corruption can will good and will it freely But wee on the contrary do averre that man in the state of corruption can onely will evill and that continually For clearing of this truth and that wee may bring the light of God out of this darknesse Wee must first consider the severall and different estates in the which man hath lived doth live or shall live Secondly wee must consider how farre his will did freely extend it selfe to good or evill in these severall postures or conditions of estate When I looke on the estate cōdition of man I find it threefold First an estate of integrity Secondly an estate of corruption Thirdly and an estate of reparation His estate of integrity is that in the which he was created to the image of God being perfectly righteous and holy in soule and body His estate of corruption is that wofull estate of sinne and misery in the which hee involved himselfe by his apostacie from God His estate of redintegration is that happy estate to the which hee is exalted in Jesus Christ whilst by the vertue of his death and the power of his resurrection hee is made partaker of the grace of God in this life and shall be also of his glory in the life to come Now these being the severall estates and conditions of man the question is what is the true onely or adequate object of the will of man good or evill To this I answer good is threefold There is a naturall good a morall good and a spirituall good The naturall good is that which serveth for the preservation of the naturall life such are eating and drinking sleep rest or refreshment The morall good is that which preserves the morall life or civill society of men such are to be a Judge to bee a Magistrate a Merchant an Artisan a Trafiquer c. The Spirituall good is that which serveth for the begetting and preserving of a spirituall life in man Of this sort are the preaching of the word the administration of the Sacraments prayer meditation c. Now if it shall be enquired which of these goods the naturall man by the power of nature can freely will I answer that in the estate of integrity hee willed them all In the estate of his corruption he may will and do the first two but not the last In the estate of grace he willeth the last yet not freely for God must first renew his will before hee can will any spirituall good And when hee hath willed it it is not fully and absolutely willed or done as it becomes him for the law of his body striveth against the law of his minde and captivates him to death In the estate of glory wee shall onely and continually will that which is good and spiritually good
for there wee shall bee exchanged into his image c. Thus the truth stands cleere That the naturall man as a naturall man and before hee bee renewed by grace can and may will both naturall good and a morall good But to will a spirituall good in that measure as that it may bee acceptable to God hee neither can nor may For howsoever he may preach distribute the Sacraments give almes pray and meditate yet are these not acceptable For the naturall man knoweth not the things that are of God 1. Cor. 2. Hee is dead in his sins and trespasses Ephes 2. Hee hath not the sonne of God and therefore can have no life in him 1. Iohn 5.12 Hee hath not the spirit of God in him and therefore cannot be the child of God Rom. 8.14 And finally although his workes were finished from the foundation of the world yet is hee but a stranger from the life of God For till his person bee first acceptable in Jesus Christ his workes shall never be approved Last of all a Sathan hath a will and as man hath a will so God also hath a will And to him chiefly and above all yea most truly and most properly is the liberty of will ascribed For hee willeth that which is good and that most freely most solely most absolutely and most perfectly because continually Gods will then yea and his revealed will being holy righteous and just in it selfe and of it selfe is that only which wee crave in this Petition But thou wilt perhaps aske me may I not say my will be done No no for as God is primumens primum agens so is he also Liberrimumens Liberrimum agens Hee is the first essence and the first agent and hee is the freest essence and freest agent that ever was No creature in heaven or in earth hath either a being action or will but that which is duely and truely subordinated to his Essence action or will Wouldest thou then crave a reason why thou must not intermixe thy will with Gods will The reasons are these 1. As thou art a naturall man there is great enmity betwixt thy will and Gods will The Apostle tells us this Rom. 8. The wisedome of the naturall man is enmity with God Hee saith not only that it is an enemy to it but enmity it selfe Now we know that it is more to be enmity then to bee an enemy for an enemy may bee reconciled but enmity never 2. It is not good that wee say my will bee done For if we get our will wee would many times will the things which would tend to our destruction Thus the children of Israel willed and desired Quailes in the wildernesse and they got their will but not their well For when their meat was in their mouth it came out at their nostrels 3. If wee got all our will wee should many times sinne against God willing the things which hee willeth not and nilling the things which he willeth Thus did Israel will their returne to Aegypt against the will of God leading them to the land of their rest And thus they would have a King and got one in Gods anger Thus I may say boldly that mans will should not bee sought but Gods For mans will differeth more from the will of God then the heaven differeth from the earth For it is mans will to live in wealth and prosperity but God willeth it not knowing that want is better for us For when wealth maketh mans wit to waver and prosperitie maketh him to misknow God want maketh him wise and with the prodigall child reclaimeth him from his errour Secondly wee would alwayes live at randome and be free from the Crosse but God willeth it not for hee knoweth that without the yoake we are but wilde heifers But when the Crosse is on our backe it will teach us to keepe his law Finally wee desire to live long and see many dayes God willeth it not And therefore cutteth off the thred of our life sometimes in the morning sometimes in the noone-tide and sometimes in the evening of our dayes And by so doing preventeth the growth of sinne in us Sometimes shutteth our eyes from seeing the evil that is to come and sometimes draweth us away from the love of the world that wee may bee invested with our Masters joy Thus by all these palpable documents hee cleerely teacheth thee to submit thy will to his and both in wealth and in want to say Not my will but thy will be done And truely till this time come and till thougrow up to this measure of grace A Scholler thou may be in the Schoole of grace but a perfect man in Christ Jesus thou art not For he that would be his Disciple must deny himselfe and take up his Crosse and follow him dayly The totall summe then of this part of the Petition is this O Lord since by nature we are created to thy image and since in that estate of our integrity we were sufficiently enabled to doe thy will But now since by our fall wee are so debilitated weakned as that we can neither know thy will nor doe it Wee runne to thee in the secret and sincerity of our soules And we begge of thee that by the grace of thy spirit thou wouldest so reenable us and strengthen us againe that thy will may not only bee done by us but also upon us That is to say that we may not onely doe that which thou commandest us in thy word but also patiently beare whatsoever crosse or calamity thou shalt bee pleased to exercise us with And so having ended the first part of the Petition wee come to the second The first part was materiall the last is formall Formatur we craved that Gods will might be done in us and upon us For manner we crave that his will may be done in earth as it is in Heaven To come then to the consideration hereof Whilst our Redeemer prescribeth unto us the matter of Gods obedience he prescribeth it in two subordinate periods of consideration 1. In the place thereof 2. In the patterne thereof The place hee will have it done on earth The patterne As it is in heaven We will first looke to the place of this obedience And it is earth By earth many divers men have meant many things diversly Tertullian by earth said our body was meant and by heaven our Soule Because our bodies are of the earth and earthly and our Soules a spirituall and celestiall substance And the ordinary glosse following Tertulltan writing on this place by the earth have understood the flesh and by the Heaven the spirit So that they make the meaning of the words to bee Let the flesh and the lusts thereof be subdued to the Spirit and the good motions of the same Cyprian by earth understands the unregenerate and such as doe not know God and by Heaven just men to whom God is knowne and by whom he is obeyed And he makes the
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
livest now and what reason had God to bring them from afarre and take their life from them and to give thee liberty to use them but his mercy and not thy merit his favour not thy deserving that the sense hereof may teach thee that his grace is every way his grace though thy sin be out of measure sinfull Adde hereunto that as prepremeditation is requisite before their use so sobriety in their use for it becomes us not to sit downe and glut with them as if wee had nothing to do but to fill our bellies and satisfie our desires No no meat is ordained for the belly and the belly for meat but God will destroy them both And he that hungers but for the food that perisheth may satisfie himselfe for a while but in the end hee shall both hunger and thirst and shall not bee satisfied at all This was the advertisement that our Master Christ Jesus gave to his Disciples Take not care for your belly what you shall eate or for your back what you shall put on for your heavenly Father knoweth whereof ye stand in need before you aske and he will not suffer you to want the thing without the which you cannot serve him Use then the things of this life soberly for thou hast more thē thou broughtest into the world with thee thou hast more then thou usest well and thou hast more then thou canst take out of the world If thou get therefore food and raiment learne therewith to be content Thirdly before thou rise from the table examine thy selfe and see wherein thou hast made thy selfe unworthy of the succeeding use of his creatures by the abuse of those which thou hast received For I will assure thee when man is full hee waxeth wanton and the plenty of his table maketh him oftentimes fall into those sinnes which the hungry heart falleth not into Is was not in the time of Noahs sobriety that his nakednesse was discovered but in the time of his excesse It was not in the time of Lots sobriety that hee fell into incest but in his excesse It was not in the time of Ammons fasting that hee fell before Absolon but in the time of his feasting When God therefore hath filled our bellies with good things let us not rise without due examination of our owne hearts to see wherein wee have sinned Let us with Iob sacrifice every morning after our festivities for it may bee that the fulnesse of our cups hath made us blaspheme our God as it was with Israel they sate downe to eate and to drinke and rose up to play and they felt the wrath of God upō thē in the fatnes of their bodies in the leannesse of their soules Since therefore God hath coupled these things together let no man put them asunder but let all flesh in trembling examine himselfe and when hee hath said Give us this day our daily bread let him withall adde And forgive us our trespasses Now I feare I spend too much time in the description of the dependance and coherence of this petition with the former and of the uses arising therefrom It resteth now that wee come to the Petition it selfe In which two things are remarkable a supplication and a covenant or condition by which the supplication is sealed first the supplication is Forgive us our trespasses the condition sealing the covenant is As wee forgive them that trespasse against us We must return to the supplication it selfe in which five things do subordinately offer themselves to our consideration First what wee are by nature sinners Gods debters Secondly what wee aske concerning our naturall estate in sinne and that is pardon and forgivenesse Thirdly from whom it is that wee aske this pardon and it is neither from Angels in heaven nor man on earth but from God our Father in Jesus Christ whose habitation is in heaven and who hath given us in his Sonne the hope of the same inheritance Fourthly wee have to consider the interest wee have unto this sinne that wee crave to be pardoned and it is Ours Fiftly and lastly wee must consider the extent of this our supplication and it reacheth not onely to our selves alone but also to all our brethren and fellow-members of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ and therefore wee say not Forgive mee but forgive us and this I thinke is the true and lively anatomy and opening up of the first part of the Petition the other wee shall weigh and examine when we come to it The first thing considerable here is our estate condition by nature which is two waies expressed first in the essence thereof next in the denominatiō the one privatly couched in the bosome of the other the other publique manifesting the death of mans misery the essēce of his misery is that hee is a sinner The true title indigitatiō of that his estate in sin is that it maketh him to be Gods debter But to return our estate by nature is not essentially set downe here but by way of denomination for here Matthew saith Forgive us our debts while St Luke saith in his 11. Chap. Forgive us our sinnes Now to returne to the consideration of this our naturall estate it is here set downe two wayes first by denomination and then by confession It is denominated a debt it is confessed whilst wee begge pardon for it The denomination is a debt many titles and names of signification are given to sinne in Scripture Sometimes it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and here it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All of these words important enough to signifie and expresse the depth of that misery into the which man by sinne hath fallen Yet none doth more truly expresse his misery then this that by sinne hee is become Gods debtor but thou wilt say O man How comes it to passe that by sinne man is made Gods debter seeing God neither requireth sinne of man nor is sinne a debt due to God But to answer this I would have thee to know that there are divers sorts of debts which man oweth there is a naturall debt which man oweth there is a spirituall debt and there is a civill debt which hee oweth The naturall debt is that which hee oweth to death and shall pay it will hee nill hee for wee came all of us into the world but upon this condition that wee shall goe out of it againe for dust wee are and to dust wee must returne for it is appointed for all men once to dye and after death judgement shall come Our earth must returne to earth and our spirit to God that gave it Finally this earthly house of our tabernacle must bee dissolved c. And this is called the first death which is nothing else but a separation of
it unto you The world and the children of men when they pardon their pardons are faulty three wayes they are not totall but partiall not free but constrained neither finall but for a time not totall for if they can forgive one fault another is impardonable not free and voluntary but forced and constrained either by reason of the importunity of friends or hope in expectation of gaine not finall for though they forgive for a time yet their wrath and desire of revenge is renued with any occasion whatsoever It is not so with our God for what he easeth of that he forgiveth when hee forgiveth hee forgiveth ingenuously that is freely fully finally freely without any merit or occasion on our part fully for hee forgiveth both the sinne and the punishment thereof And finally for hee forgiveth us both in this life and that which is to come What hath man then wherein hee can rejoyce nothing but in the mercy and free favour of God for as St Bernard duely and truly acknowledgeth Meritum meum est miseratio Domin so may all the sonnes of Adam cry out and say Not unto us O Lord not unto us and with the Apostle St Paul O the deepnesse of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his wayes and his judgements past finding out LECTIO 16. And forgive us our trespasses HAving already handled of the word debt and the word forgive that which remaines of the text offereth it selse to our consideration for though the gleanings of Ephratus bee better then the vintage of Abiezer yet must the gleanings have their owne roome also and every one in their owne order must be considered which in number are three 1. for whom it is that wee put up this supplication of pardon the word is plurall not singular Vs 2. The reason why we poure out our supplications in this plurall signification and it is because it is wee not I that have sinned alone nor thou only nor any other alone but all of us and therefore in a communicative appropriation wee call them ours Thirdly it is to be considered of whom and from whose hands it is that we are bold to begge this our release and pardon If in any of these particulars wee can make any further point of instruction to result by the grace of God it shall be made knowne unto you The first thing then wee have to speake of this day is the persons for whom and in whose favour this petition and supplication is formed It is cleare and evident out of the words themselves that the petition is not made for mee alone nor for thee alone nor for any man or woman in the world alone but in common thou for mee and I thee and every one of us for our selves and each of us for our neighbours as for our selves for as Omnis orainata charitas incipit â seipso sic etiam omnis regulata charitas terminatur in socio wee have reason then to looke first on our selves with the eyes of pitty and from our selves with the eyes of cōmiseration on our neighbours knowing them to bee men of the like infirmity to which wee our selves are subject Remember brethren that God in his word hath taught us two severall sorts of communicative contemplation the one pointing at our selves from the consideration of our brethren the other pointing at our brethren from the consideration of our selves the pitty that wee owe to our selves from the consideration of our brethren is recommended to us in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Galathians Brethren if any man bee fallen amongst you of infirmity restore such a one in the spirit of meeknesse considering your selves lest you also be tempted The pitty that wee owe to our brethren from consideration of our selves is mentioned in many parts of the law wherein we are commanded not to hide our eyes from the necessities of any stranger because wee our selves were sometimes strangers in the land of Israel it is so here with us God will have us to remember and pray for our necessities not in our owne name alone but also in the name of our brethren and fellow members Vse In handling of the words the order is remarkable and next to the order the communion and fellowship that is couched up in the bosome of that order First I will looke upon the order which is very remarkable for hee is teaching his disciples to pray for the pardon and remission of sinnes but hee will have them first to looke on themselves and their owne necessities and from themselves not onely to consider but also to commiserate the necessities of their brethren this is the path and the true straine in the which God walkes for our God is the God of order and not of confusion And for cleering hereof that order is first and originally established in God himselfe and then from him a shadow of that order which is in him is derived to his creatures I say first order is positively and cheefly established in God himselfe for hee who is one in essence is distinguished in three persons the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost who being individually one in themselves by vertue of their individuall essence yet are distinguished by order of personall existence the Father being in respect of order distinguished and preferred to the Sonne and the Father and the Sonne both to the holy Ghost Now from this chiefe and prime distinction of order which is amongst the persons of the blessed Trinity there is made manifest amongst the creatures a shadow of this order also and that in five severall points of contemplation First in the frame of the heavens and earth Secondly in the civill societies of men on earth viz. Commonwealths Thirdly in the spirituall societies of men his Church Fourthly in the homebred and domesticke families of men And last of all in the private carriages of man in his life and conversation I say that God hath established order in the frame and combination of heaven and earth together for there hee hath placed light and darknesse that for the day this for the night there hee hath set the Sunne and the Moone that by the heat of his influence to exhale this by her moisture to water and refresh there hath hee placed the clouds the bottels of raine wherewith in due season hee watereth Gedions fleece there hath hee placed the wardrobe and storehouse of the tempests of snow haile and winde and all for the use of man and those other sublunary creatures that live and move on the face of the earth that in thē all of thē the footsteps of the order of the God of order may be seen acknowledged next to this celestiall order subordination of the Spheares and Celestiall bodies behold hee hath fixed an order and subordination also amongst the sonnes of men in their secular and civill conversation and commercement for there hee hath placed
of the Church which is in heaven is in patria in her country That part which is on earth is but in via upon the way when wee enter into heaven wee are comprehenseres whilst wee are on earth wee are but viatores they that are in heaven are called the triumphant Church they that are on earth the militant Now by both of these it is cleare that the Church here on earth hath much adoe for will you looke upon her as a pilgrim she hath enough to doe with all her wits to keepe the right way for though the way bee patent enough yet because it is thorny wee had need of a guide to lead us in it that when wee fall and stumble hee may lift us up againe For this Iacob confessed Few and evill have beene the dayes of my pilgrimage Again will we looke upon the Church here on earth as upon an army for so Iob confessed Iob 7. Mans life is a warfare on earth There we have need of a head and a leader too for unlesse there bee Captaines over hundreds and over thousands it is impossible that we can either fight in order or report a due victory and there shall nothing bee heard in our campe but confusion and the voice of him that is overcome so that howsoever the metaphor standeth it is cleare that wee are by nature weake and fraile creatures subject to many wandrings and many assaults under and against the which wee can neither stand nor prevaile unlesse our Leader and Captaine bee with us and in his power make us victorious The metaphor therefore serving equally to present unto us both our pilgrimage and our warfare I would rather lay hold on the last and shew you what are the references of our spirituall warfare in which wee stand seeing the matter is so clearly displayed and pointed out to us elsewhere for in the Epistle to the Ephesians the Apostle telleth us that wee must not onely fight against flesh and blood but also against principalities and powers and spirituall wickednesse and the Prince of darknesse and the god that ruleth powerfully in in the children of disobedience That wee may therefore hold still the allegory of our warfare and from thence attaine to the scope and meaning of these words let us now looke upon them both and see how the one keepeth correspondence with che other In a carnall and bodily warfare wee know that three things are chiefly remarkable 1. The fight 2. The enemies 3. The Captaines charge All of these wee shall finde here set downe unto us in these few words as in a mappe our spirituall warfare for never did any Generall on earth decipher better the severall periods of a pitched battell then our Redeemer Christ Jesus doth here wisely both set us in order of battell and providently tell us both how to fight and how to retire And that this may bee cleare looke to the words in which hee foundeth to us our alarum and commandeth us fight for as it is in the earthly combate so is it in the spirituall in it wee have five things considerable 1. The fight it selfe temptation 2. The enemies and these are all those who have a part in this temptation 3. The souldiers and these are wee who are the children and servants of God 4. The Captaine God our Father who is in heaven 5. And last of all what is his charge hee must bee our leader All of these packed up from their severall places make up to us this maine charge Lead us not into temptation Wee will returne now to the first thing considerable in the words and that is our fight proposed to us in the word Temptation For the better understanding whereof wee must know that as there is Multiplex pugnandi genus so there is Multiplex tentandigenus For Aliter pugnatur in schola aliter in praetio wee fight one way in the fencing schoole another way in the field Whilst wee are in the fencing schoole our master fighteth against us his strokes are soft and for our instruction But when wee come to the field our enemie fighteth against us his strokes are furious desperate and his end is to destroy us We have need then to watch over our selves guard our selves well lest by our negligence security we fall and cannot rise againe Yet to make the word more cleare wee must labour to distinguish tempters in their severall sorts and from thence know what temptation is truly and what is the nature thereof For understanding of which wee must know that there are three sorts of tempters God man sathan God tempteth man man tempteth man man tempteth God sathan tempteth man also God tempteth man and his temptations are but tryalls of man not that it is requisite for God to trie what is in man for he knoweth already what is in mans heart his mouth workes and wayes But when God tryeth and tempteth a man it is to make man knowne to himselfe to those with whom hee lives in the world Thus he tryed and tempted Abrahams faith Iobs patience Davids love Peters perseverance and Pauls sincerity Abrahams faith in offering up of Isaaek Iobs patience by his multiplyed afflictions Davids love in Absolous persecution Peters perseverance by a damosell and Pauls sincerity by a buffer of Sathan Now as God tempteth man not for that he is ignorant of what is in man but that he may make him know himselfe that his graces in man may be knowne to the world as the Apostle writing to the Corinthiās telleth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they who are approved may bee knowne so also in the second place man tempteth God and as God tempteth man and is free of sinne so man when hee tempteth God is never void of it for whilst man tempteth and tryeth God it is a faithlesse and distrustfull tryall hee maketh of Gods power So Israel tempted God sinfully in the wildernesse whilst by tenne severall tēptations they forced God to make knowne unto them his omnipotencie and all-sufficient power Can God prepare a table to us in the wildernesse or can hee give flesh to the thousands of Israel to eate Thirdly man tempteth man and that diversly for there is a temptation and a tryall whereby man tempteth man approved of in Scripture and there is a temptation whereby man tempteth man condemned and dis-allowed in Scripture Of the first sort of temptations and tryalls are those which man useth for clearing of controversies As Salomon tryed the harlot by her unnaturalnesse to the child which shee claimed Or then for trying or examining the knowledge and grace of God in man so ministers are bound in duty to try their flocks masters their servants parents their children in the progresse and growth of Christianity Lastly Sathan is a tempter and that a chiefe and maine one For as all his temptations are to evill so are they all sinfull and that in two respects both in respect of
it for us hath set us free and this hee did in the fulnesse of time for when that fulnesse came God sent his owne Sonne made of woman and made under the law that delivered us that were under the law that wee might receive the adoption of sonnes For Gods sake therefore seeing whilst we were Captives hee hath done so much for our deliverance forget not the captivity of thy soule thy selfe and first when thou hearest it told thee in the word of God pittie it Secondly at all occasions offered not snatched knock at thy dore and goe in and visite it Thirdly when thou hast seene it cry with Israel to Rehoboam to make thy yoke lighter and in the end though thou cannot procure by thy selfe an absolute deliverance yet come to him that poured out his heart blood for thee runne and cry for thy deliverance and dissolution sigh and groane for it and in due time if thou faint not thou shalt bee heard in that which thou fearest These things being thus cleared to you the third thing that wee are to remarke in the words is our deliverance or release in this word Deliver now that wee may know this deliverance the better it shall not bee amisse to distinguish deliverance into three severall sorts First there is a deliverance à toto Secondly à tanto Thirdly à tali Our deliverance à toto is a perfect deliverance both from temptation to sinne practice of sinne and punishment for sinne A tante is not perfect but partiall from so much of temptation practise or punishment as God thinketh meete and expedient A tali is that whereby wee crave exemption and protection from sinnes of grievous qualities Such as we call presumptuous enormious heinous and crying sinnes And from such kinde of punishments as are not the testimonies of Gods love but rather the effects of his wrath and indignation Now seeing deliverance in effect and properly is an actuall release from evill what sort of deliverance do wee crave here is it that wee call â toto No no wee cannot expect a totall and perfect deliverance in this life for so long as this life lasteth wee can neither be totally free froÌ„ sinne nor from punishment notwithstanding because of this same possibility wee are bound to cry for our perfect deliverance by death Secondly as for that deliverance which is â tanto that is to say from so much as will make us slaves to sinne or punishment for this wee cry in these words and this deliverance we are commanded to desire and by this desire wee are distinguished froÌ„ the reprobate for whilst we are led captive to Sathan at his will sinne ruleth not though dwelleth in our mortall bodies And for the punishment the Lord hath promised not to tempt us above our power but so farre onely as wee may bee able to beare it Thirdly as for the deliverance à tali that is to say from blasphemous presumptuous and crying sinnes which are the effects of the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience from these and such as these we cry and must cry coutinually Lord deliver us from evill Vse Know further that whilst wee begge of God a deliverance from evill wee do not pray against all evill of sin and punishment but so much of punishment as wil or may overwhelme us and such sins as are raigning and crying in us shall one day cry against us to our perpetuall confusion One thing remaineth to wit who is our deliverer and that is neither man nor Angell but hee who is both God and man by nature and the great Arch-angell of the Covenant by office In whom three things are considerable His right and title to do it His wonderfull power in doing of it And lastly the exceeding benefit arising from it LECT 22. For thine is the kingdome c. VVHen I did first undertake the explication of this prayer I told you they did resemble a house or edifice For as in the Courts and Palaces of Princes there are first Courts and Porches serving for entrance into the royall presence Secondly there are roomes and places of rest Lastly posternes and passages of retiring serving both for pleasure necessity so is it in this building spirituall edifice of prayer For in it there are three distinct and severall stations A preface serving for the porch Sixe severall Petitions serving for roomes of court And finally a conclusion serving for a posterne or tarras from whence wee may in a view behold the glory and beauty of the whole palace Of the Preface and of the Petitions wee have spoken already according to the measure of grace given us from above It resteth now onely that in this Sermon we take a view of the conclusion and from it draw up the full and finall seale of all the prayer And from both their edification When I looke on the words I finde in them three things remarkable First their inference Secondly their tenor and scope and thirdly their seale The inference is in the word for the tenor is Thine is the kingdome power and glory for ever The seale in the word Amen Let us returne then to their inference in the word For. Here it is evident that this conclusion or last part of the prayer is knit and tyed to the former Petitions with a causall particle for For the better understanding whereof let us know that against the necessity and use of this prayer prescribed unto us an objection might bee moved by the weaknesse and infirmity of man For let us looke on the best of the children of God when hee censureth and examineth his owne soule and paralleleth his practise with the desire of these petitions and wee shall finde that hee shall come farre short of that which is required of him For when wee looke on the three first Petitions which concerne God the honour of his name the advancement of his kingdome and the obedience of his will who is able to give that due obedience thereunto which is required of him Not one for God himselfe hath thus complained against man The Lord looked downe from heaven and beheld the actions of men to see if there were any that would seeke after him and do good and hee could finde none no not one Against this it is that the Prophets complained in the name of God and for his sake Who hath beleeved our report and to whom is the arme of God revedled Finally it is against disobedience and rebellion that the Saints of God have so deeoply sighed and groaned for their deliverance David could say Alas I have dwelt toe long in the valley of Mesech and tents of Kedar And the Apostle Paul could say Miserable man that I am who shall dâ—…ver mee from this body of death Againe if from these wee shall withdraw our eyes to consider that Petition wherein wee crave for our selves the release of our temporall casamities How many have called upon the Lord and have not
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
on our travels all should bee in vaine For wee may eate and not be satisfied wee may cover our makednesse and not be warme wee may sow much and reape little we may earne wages and put them in a bottomlesse bagge except hee open his hand and fill us with his blessing for then and no otherwise are wee satisfied And thirdly whilst wee begged of God the meanes of our satisfaction so also wee begged them of him in a moderate manner and measure not to give us over-little lest wee should for want steale and Gods name should bee dishonoured by our practice Nor yet over-much lest by reason of our plenty wee should waxe wanton forget the rocke from whence wee were hewen and so in our presumptions perish say Who is the Lord Now having begged these things in that Petition this Petition is duely conjoyned unto it by this particle of conjunction And for since it is certaine that man is a weake and fraile creature in the day of his want ready to runne an ill course and in the day of his prosperity ready to grow proud and mis-know God there can nothing bee better said then Lead us not into temptation that is to say since Sathan is ready at all times in all places and by all occasions to tempt us to sinne Lord watch thou over us by thy grace and good spirit that in the day of our want wee sinne not against thee by despaire and in the day of our wealth and abundance wee sinne not against thee by presumption but learne in whatsoever state wee bee therewith to be content for naked wee came into the world and naked we shall returne againe Again by the same cōjunctive particle And this Petition is duly tyed to that wherein wee begged of God the remission and pardon of our sinnes and that for three severall causes or respects first to teach us to avoid security Secondly to teach us the truth of Gods covenant and thirdly to teach us to submit our selves to the condition of the covenant It teacheth us to beware of security for after the remission of sinne temptation followeth and hee is a great foole who having once gotten the victory over sinne cries to himselfe a perpetuall and permanent peace yes furely for the estate of the servant is not above his master Whilst Sathan dealt with our head Christ Jesus in tempting him though hee mightily declared himselfe to bee the Sonne of God by resisting and repelling his temptations yet in the end it is said that Sathan left him but for a season If then this hath beene the lot and portion of the head what shall become of us that are members If hee dealt so with the greene tree what shall become of us who are withered branches And finally if this hath beene the portion of him who was the cedar of Lebanon what shall become of us who are poore bushes of Isop at the foot of the wall No no O man deceive not thy selfe and after the foile of a sinne over which it may please God in his mercy to give thee victory and peace of conscience in the blood of Jesus dost thou thinke that Sathan can bee so cowardly that after one foile hee dare no more to assault thee No be sure of this so long as the strong man keepes the hold all things are in peace but if with Iacob thou shalt labour to returne to the land of thy nativity Laban shall pursue thee and unlesse the God of thy fathers make his fall upon him hee will not onely kill thee but also the mother upon the young ones For though for a while hee seeme to leave his habitation yet if thou do not watch over the house of thy soule hee shall returne and bring with him seaven other spirits worse then himselfe and the last estate of thy soule shall be worse then the first Secondly it serves to teach us the truth of Gods covenant under which we have not onely cause of joy and spirituall rejoycing but also reason to serve the Lord in feare and walke before him in trembling For the covenant of mercy that God maketh with man in the blood of Christ hath two parts the first carryeth a promise of the remission of our sinnes the second a promise that hee will write his law in our hearts Now this is that new covenant which God promiseth to make with us under the Gospell of which the Apostle Paul writing to the Hebrews tells us that the tenor thereof is not formed according to the tenor of a carnall commandement but according to the power and law of an endlesse life For to what use I pray you shall the remission of our by-gone sinnes serve us if when we are once washed and cleansed wee shall straight with the dogge returne to our vomit or with the sowe to the puddle of our transgressions againe It is well added by the wisedome of God for mans instruction to say no sooner Forgive us our sinnes then straight way to subjoyne And lead us not into temptation for by this meanes wee get the covenant of God made sure and perfect to us whilst hee first sealeth in us the oblituration of the old hand writing of sinne that was against us and in the next roome writeth his law in our hearts and captivateth our affections to his obedience Lastly by the addition of this Petition to the immediately former we were taught to serve the Lord in feare for if this be our misery that our enemies are watchfull and malicious omitting no occasion of snares and temptations that can entrap and if this bee our infirmity and weaknesse that of our selves wee cannot stand one moment in the grace received why should wee not serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce before him in all trembling For as this is the comforr of comforts for a Christian to heare this said to him Sonne bee of good comfort thy sinnes bee forgiven thee So let this bee the square by which hee ruleth and squareth his future obedience Sinne no more lest a worse thing befall thee Thus having cleared to you the dependence of this Petition with that Give us this day our daily bread and with that also Forgive us our sinnes It resteth now that wee consider the words of the Petition it selfe and first those which are deprecatory and then those that are supplicatory First Lead us not into temptation and then But deliver us from evill Lead us not into temptation For the better understanding of the words wee must remember that they are metaphoricall and propounded unto us by way of a figurative translation for in them God teacheth his Church to put up her supplications to God Now wee must understand that although the Church bee but one in her selfe as her God head and husband is one yet is shee alwayes proposed to us under the shadow of two severall considerations For sometimes shee is considered as in heaven and sometimes as shee is on earth that part