other fond reformations aimed at in this Age rich Amen was reduced to a beggerly So be it when yet there was as great difference betwixt them as between the garments of Tamar the harlot whom Iudah defiled and the Virgin-like apparel of Tamar the Princess whom Ammon ravished It is the only Hebrew word in this Prayer and not interpreted by our Saviour nor the Evangelist nec Graecus interpres neither durst the Latine nor Greek Interpreters translate it lest it should be contemned by being made naked since no Language can express its full sense whereof almost all Nations as they say Jesus Christ though Originally Greek and Hebrew sayes Amen as sufficiently understood Is is an oath that what you pray for is your hearts desire it is a wish that what you pray for may be your portion it is your assent that what you hear prayed for it your judgment and therefore in Amen we wish swear believe that the Prayer for forgiving sins of deliverance from evil of giving daily bread is from the power and goodness of your Father and that the Kingdom of his glory and grace is to be advanced by the same power and when by it you are brought to do his will you resolve to hallow his Name in the first and give him the glory in all for ever through Christ who is the Amen and therefore when you pray mind Heaven with Moses let all the people with you say Amen And I say To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ for ever Amen After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven c. HAving viewed at a distance the out-works and general form of Prayer it is now seasonable to enter in and behold the special rule of Prayer and the several parts of that called the Lords Prayer unto which the unseasonable and cloudy weather that may be both felt and seen in the Firmament of our Church urgeth our meditation having visibly as once in Egypt in it showres of hail and fire mingled with the hail hence prudentially we are enforced both to make more haste to it and carry longer in it It is called the Lords Prayer because by our Lord composed in this expression After this manner pray ye and by him also imposed in this Precept when ye pray say Our Father c. and to difference it from the Prayers of other holy men as of Moses David Asaph Heman from which it is as really diversifi'd as a week day from the Sabbath for though the Spirit of God made both yet the Holy Ghost hath eminently sanctified and commanded us in Prayer to remember it in this Mandat When ye pray say Our Father c. We have by our Saviour a living and new way a new Command it was thought also by his inscrutable wisdom fit to give us a new Prayer as new Wine for our new Bottles Pray after this manner As the Temple of old so this Gospel-structure consists of three parts 1. a porch or gate which may be called Beautiful in the words of the Preface Our Father which art in Heaven 2. A holy place consisting of the several Petitions in the Body of the Prayer as Hallowed by thy Name Thy Kingdom come c. In which the lights of the Lamps lead us orderly from one Petition to another from wherein his Kingdom is concerned to that in which our obeying the Laws of that Kingdom is related in Thy will be done by which we see the Table of the Shew our necessary bread whence we go forward to the brazen Altar whereon we lay our sin-offering in Forgive us our debts c. and having sanctified our selves as Priests we ascend to the third Part the Holy of Holies For thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory for ever at the end of which or rather the head we have the glory of the Lord in a cloud in this word Amen filling it self and the whole house with the light thereof Of the Preface then next of the Petitions and lastly of the Conclusion let us treat CHAP. I. Our Father which art in Heaven IN these words we have goodness Our Father next greatness which art in Heaven They are the head of the Christians Prayer and like that of the Spouse it is as the most fine Gold and weighs thus much that we should be so circumspect in our walking and living upon earth as to be accounted worthy to posses our Parents Inheritance in Heaven unto whom we pray whence ariseth those duties of lifting up of the heart of the voice of the soul of the eyes unto God They have also in them the Person we pray unto Father the relation we pray under Our Father the place we pray unto which art in Heaven all ushering-in the several Petitions Our Saviour more boni Oratoris as an Orator here patterns and becomes a Patron unto goodly Prefaces whereby our Petitions are proposed with greater gracefulness and sweetness and what shall more readily procure affection than Praise and Praise is placed upon the Porch of this Prayer in that our Lord will have us begin to beg no otherwayes then by calling the great God our Father insinuating praise and love which rule had the Gadarens observed they had not so prophanely besought Christ his Son to have departed from their coasts To have our Prayers quadrat and conform to this holy Preface We shall discover 1. What lyeth couched under this Name Father 2. What reasons might induce our Saviour to give him that Name 3. The special excellencies by which most eminently he merits that Name In beholding the first both thee and I Reader are to behold What astonisheth Angels What makes the Heavens to wonder and the Earth to tremble which flesh cannot express And I said A great Preacher dare no utter yet dare not be silent The Lord grant that I may speak and you may hear this great thing viz. Gods giving himself to the Earth and we our selves to Heaven Both which is granted to be done in these words Our Father which art in Heaven Our Father c. THis Name Father is as the Angels name Secret and wonderful yet with Moses we shall view its back-parts And first of all we may perceive the whole Trinity in nature For the Lord God is a Father God the Son is a Father God the holy Ghost is a Father Or without errour we may understand the first person of the Deity in order sometime called the Father of Rain of Iesus Christ and again the Father of Grace the first having in it some vestigia of his power the second being the express image of his person the third the similitude of his nature and holiness And to him we may cry as to the first person with David Be merciful unto me O God be merciful unto me and also in the same phrase Father We may call to
for that is contrary to our Lords own practice in his deprecâ—ting the Cup and his precept in his enjoyning prayer that our flight might not be in the winter nor on the Sabbath day yet both these and all other Scriptural prayers are acâ—â—â—ding to this prayer as it is in Matthew pray afteâ— this mâ—nner and since the command in 〈◊〉 it is to be made a prayer as it is required in that Evangelist When ye pray say Our Father which we are no more to doubt of its being done by the Apostles then to doubt of their baptizing in the Name of Father Son and Holy Ghost though we read of neither the Law for both being evident and the Law of Amen is equally Scriptural as Lead us not into temptation though some boldly expunge it the Text and exclude it their moâ—ths because it s not to be found in St. Luke though in our Saviours first and famous Sermon in St. Matthew it is clear and in other Scriptures evident each Evangelist and Apostle having his own peculiar excellency and giveth by brevity in some places and by prolixity in others light glory and beauty to each other Before we close let us give thanks to the memory of that learned Divine and in this whereof we are to speak Anagramatist who by a more then ordinary because religious fancy and judgment finds in the word Amen this word Mane and cleareth hiâ— Mane thus Thereis Mane the Verb signifying to tarry pressing constancy in prayer and importuning of God as the importunate Widow did the unjust Judge There is Mane the Adverb by interpretation the morning urging earlinesse at the duty that at the rising Sun if not before we are to be at this exercise of prayer and praise to cleâ—r which Reader accept of a good note though at a great distance of â— famous English Iew let me go said the man to Iacob for the day breaketh that is tempus est ut â—antem Dei laudes cum aliis Angelis let me go for it is time I were among my fellow-Angels glorifying God as if even to those blesâ—ed Spirits a new morning a fresh Sun a day-star were arguments exciting them to magnifie God for his Providence unto us poor and dark mortals All this considered how wise are they who in the shutting up of their prayers neglected Amen or abused it in a curtail'd So-be-it or this we desire or so let it be or said Mumm whereas Amen had even sounded better and really was better and ought to have been used propter reverentiam salvatoris out of reverence to our Lord who in this Greek and Syriack prayer retained the Hebrew word Amen that Amen might not be slighted or mocked for its poornesse nakednesse or emptinesse for which reason the Ancients translated it not there being in no Language able to discover in many words its ample meaning in its own one for which cause the Churches of old in what language soever they prayed concluded with it though Hebrew decet sane verily in supplications it it most seemly for all Amen Afferre to utter Amen the custom of the Churches which if harmless is good to observe craving that from us who confirmed all that was asked communi consensu with one consent by hearkening I might say by tarrying untill the Preacher in his blessing said Amen O magnificum eâ—â—â—acissimum verbum AMEN O powerful and wonderful Amen God is Amen Christ is Amen O good O blessed Saviour the Word and Amen cryed one perfect my prayers in Amen Amen let it be done Amen let it be done and in my mouth let thy words be fulfilled thy prayer compleated and say Amen to which I add the Rabbins proverb he who saith Amen in this life is worthy to say it in the life to come understand the Christian expression worthily It is written in the life of that great light of the reformed Church of France Beza that his last Sermon was upon the third Petition of this prayer Thy will be done ceasing here to preach it that he might go to Heaven for to do it But God our Father and our Lord Iesus Christ hath conducted us through the land from the Dan to the Beersheba of this prayer and hath let us see both the rising and setting of the Sun of this most perfect plat-form and two Novembers betwixt which there were seen many and unusual Funerals Trains and Mourners going about the streets we still surviving for which and all other his mercies blessed be his glorious Name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Amen and AMEN Errata sic Corrige IT is a certain truth laid down amongst disputable things That it is a good Book and well Printed that hath but one or two or but ten Errata's from first to last And Printers in their common talk I might say in judgment not only condemns a faultlesse Book but summarily adjudgeth it to the flames immediatly as monstruous In this there are Literal Marginal and Textual escapes among others let these few be thus corrected Page 18. line 11. for pound read pownd p. 77. l. 33. for us r. O. p. 100. l. 18. for possibility r. possibly p. 207. l. 10. for sin is r. finis p. 301. l. 9. for tasting r. fasting p. 379. l. 7. for thou only r. not only p. 442. l. 1. for that this r. that is p. 452. l. 19. for opposit r. apposit Marg. p. 2. for 2. 11. r. 2. 2. for 24. r. 34. sic de ceteris Sea Mirrour lib. 1. Demonstrat 4. Wither Cant. 4. â— Full. Holy State lib. 2. c. 9 Tolbootâ— Church Novem. 17. 1667 Dan. 8. 1â— Heb. 13 15. Num. 28. 3. Acts 3. 1 Acts 10. 3. Ionah 2. 11. Luke 11. 2. Alsted Theol. Cat. S. 3. c. 13. Gen. 24. 17. Psal. 51. 11. Aquin. 2 2dae Q. 83. Art 1. Art 10. Chrys. de O. rand lib. 2. Iohn 15 16. Rom 8. 26. Iona. 3. 8 Rom. 12. 1 Chrys. de Orand lib. 1. Bucan loc Com. 35. Luk. 1. 28 Greg. Moral lib. 32. c. 27. Psal. 32. 3. Luk. 13. 4. Mark 7. 3 Heb. 10 21 Mat. 6. 5 Mat. 22 12 Iudg. 16 15 Ier. 18 12 Eph. 6. 6 Chrys. Hom. 30 in Gen. Bucan loc Com. 35 Areâ— loc Com. 72 Lonicer Theat Hist. in Exempl tert praecep Hos. 11. 8 Psal. 5. 1 Gen. 18 â—7 Beda Expos. 1 In Sam. c. 12 Mat. 6 6 2 〈◊〉 Quaest. 8 Art 12 Psal. 100 10. 1 Cor. 6 20 Isa. 38 3 1 Cor. 11 1 Psal. 46 1. 1 Tim. 6 16 Mat. 4. 10 Mark 4 â—9 Val. Max. lib. 7. c. 2. Exter Brom. Summ Praed de orat Damas. orth fid lib. 3. c. 24 Psal. 90 12 1 Kings 10. 14 Hilar. in Psal. 53 enarr Ib. in Psal. 54 Ber. in Quad. Ser. 6 Matth. 6 33 Hug. Card. in loc Gen. 41. 20 Byerl Prom. Moral in Fest. S. Cath. Ioh. 6. 27 Cajet
age and upon an Altar made him swear irreconciliable enmity and hatred to the Romanes which fastned so much upon him that being demanded concerning the end of the Carthaginian War with Rome made no reply but struck the ground and made a dust denoting thundering-war untill either Rome or Carthage were levelled which happened accordingly What ever Heathens did to wed themselves to contention though even among them such courses were condemned by the most refined yet for Christians to betroth their issue unto hellish debates is not only a scandal in this present age to our adversaries but a reproach to our selves being dedicated to God by our Baptism and by it vowed charity to the body of Christ upon earth which vow ought to be observed if we expect to enjoy the benefits conveyed mystically to us in that blessed Sacrament Hast thou an enemy in point of opinion or practice love him doth he curse thee bless him doth he hate thee do him good and pray for him though he despitefully use you and what is that pray for him but that God would give them repentance and bring them out of the snare of the devil by which alone we evidence that as the elect of God we have put on bowels of mercy A Temple said that Heathen Phocion is not to lack an Altar nor the humane nature to be without compassion which indeed beautifies and maketh fragrant all our other endowments 2. From our Gods universality good meaning or intention His Sun shines his rain falls his corn grows equally on good and bad just and unjust his fish is taken in the net as well of the churl as of the liberal his water cools the reprobate as well as sleep refresheth him who is upright and though God do as sometimes he makes a difference yet every one who is even holy ought not by and by to execrate such whom they suggest to be in evil courses since the prayers of a dying Stephen may be so prevalent as to prove instrumental in snatching a persecuting Saul both from the counsel and doctrine of the Pharisees And to cause the soul to take wing for the practice of this Doctrine of Charity consider 1. The certainty we have of Gods willing all men to be saved What meant providence to move Pilats hand for this inscription upon the Cross in Latine Greek and the Hebrew Tongue IESVS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE IEWS but to cause all of these Nations read and be assured that unto all of them there was a Iesus a Saviour even Christ the Lord then dying for them and afterward to be believed upon by them His endowing his Apostles with the gift of Tongues was but to learn every man that heard the wonderful works of God to believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his only Son is as clear as the fire the Spirit came down in Why then should dust and ashes cross the purpose and good will of God in endeavouring a blasphemous opposition by and wishing him ill unto whom God hath sent Ambassadors beseeching him to be reconciled to God Put up O man thy desire for the same end and be not surly for thou knows not but that thy prayer may prosper Ac primum noverimus know this that nothing is more profitable then love and nothing more hurtfull or unprofitable then to malign sedulously therefore study a good opinion a placid mind and benign affection toward all men There is no sinner ordinarily so perverse but hath so much of the Image of God that under the greatest conflicts with revealed wrath we may without sin both shed tears and offer up prayers for him as Samuel did for Saul yea nature it self teacheth us to love our friends and grace commands us to bless our foes and we see children either have or study to have some property of their father and let this be aimed at to imitate our Father rather in doing good then in uttering curses for that is his strange work and beseeching good for them since we behold God hath good thoughts towards them 2. The uncertainty of our being first placed In the Register of Gods future purposes one may be intended his daily bread before another be remitted of his debts one possibly is to be brought within the body of his Kingdom before another have his heart screwed up to become pliant to his Law and Will since therefore thou knows not where thy action is enrolled nor when it shall be called observe the proposed rule and pray for all men of which thy self is ever to be understood one Abraham did earnestly desire and sollicitously beg a son by Sarah and had one yet before his birth he had a son of Hagar this in providence being to precede was to come out first And so it may fare with thee in thy pressing suits The words Our Father leads us to the consideration of a great mystery of our faith an Article of our Belief the communion of Saints making us pray for them that hears us not and leads our eyes to behold as many objects as there are letters to give nos we or our being making us look 1. visione reflexiva upon our selves nos alwayes includes me and noster supposeth meum Our speaketh alwayes mine and give us our bread intimats thou art hungry 2. Visione collaterali side-wayes and that both to the right hand upon our brethren by grace and to the left hand upon our brethren by nature compassion working for both 3. Visione recta ascendente to behold directly God himself From my Author I infer he that looks not to the other two shall never beholds this last Prayer shewing love to God which is shown purely by demonstrating love to men and though in the contrary passion he deceive himself yet he cannot delude his Maker none being admitted into his house but whom he finds charitably qualified that being the place where men must live together before they enter they must pray together And none knowing who shall first enter let us call Our Father 3. The probability of the souls being the more enlarged As the bigger the Star the greater is the shine so the broader the soul be the more beaming is the glory and the better service the better wages They that be wise shall shine as the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever holding forth degrees of glory for a reward to them whose lives are more eminently holy which is in no one thing more elucide then in charitable praying for that Petition whose rise is necessity doth not so sweetly relish with our God as that doth whose basis or foundation is love and charity Yea hâ—c est Christianorum bonitas it is the beauty glory and splendor or Christianity to walk as Christ walked in relation to enemies persesecuters and
full of saith and fear of God dare not open his mouth to sin against him which alone constitutes true wisdom and with these being replenished with hope and charity and and all other vertues Iesus Christ may reign in him and in all other that the Lord Iesus Christ being known of all to be the only begotten Son of the Father and whom they shall visibly perceive coming from Heaven to judge quick and dead and upon that score ought to be known feared obeyed and worshipped of all by addressing to his Kingdom in their belief of the Gospel and swearing allegiance to his Crown in receiving the Sacraments thereof 2. For the Saints felicity eternal Labouring in the earth causeth weariness and makes the work-man eye the Sun to behold its hight there being no cloath capable to dry the eyes of the penitent save the Robe of glory It is here intreated for that tears not only in themselves but in their causes and occasions may for ever be removed from them and never admitted where they are to the interruption of their joy Alexander hearing Anaxagoras evincing the existency of many worlds wept because he had conquered scarce one The believer from the principles of eternal wisdom hath collected the being of a world where shall be no night neither properly nor metaphorically understood the want of which considering his present habitation causeth him with Mary weep yet looking up with a phosphere redde diem Come Lord Iesus come quickly All the possessions Abraham enjoyed were but poor in his eye so long as Childless give any of his faithful sons an extract of earthly pleasures they are contemned because heavenless and St. Paul's Cupio dissolvi I desire to depart senseth this Petition Though this Pronoun THY give the property of this Kingdom unto God yet as the bread we eat is His first and next by saith Ours so is this Kingdom the truth of God having engaged it self in a promise to us that we shall possess it both as his and our inheritance The other Petitions admitt of no demurr no delay and are therefore in our faithful arguing attended with a desire of dispatch for his will must be done now and this day we must have our daily bread but this alone hath the continuation of days in the Court of Conscience and therefore may be called a Petition of hope living in hope yet such an one that maketh not ashamed in regard it is for a Kingdom which will come though for a while it may tarry 3. For our Fathers Kingdom universal When the end cometh Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom unto God that is the Kingdom of his Mediator-ship at which the Kingdom of Grace shall end the Son himself as man becoming subject to the Father that God may be all in all then Heavens Gates shall be shut there being no more to enter and Hell shut Devils rambling being no more to be tolerat the harvest being then gathered and no more seed to be sowen the elect glorified there being no more to be called but God ruling having brought into subjection all that either denyed him or defyed him where begins his Kingdom of Glory For that time wherein God is enjoyed without Ordinances and praised without adversaries sin and death being abolished and an immediat union with God acquired is this Petition offered that the supream dominion of the great God may be hastned and a final close put to all things by folding up of the sheets of time where ends the Kingdom of Providence The changes and mutations the framings as we may call them which attend the Kingdom of Grace have caused it to be called Regnum lapidis the Kingdom of a stone the fixedness perpetuity of the Kingdom of glory is called Regnum montis the Kingdom of the Mountain the other being but as a stone hewen or hewing for that immovable and eternal Kingdom therefore its approaches this Petition is numbred among our dayly prayers Yet for a caution it may be added that this is necessary to be heeded viz. that their cause had need to be good who long for and presse after the coming of the Iudge Remember thy faults therefore implore a pardon be circumspect in thy way purifying thy soul by faith abiding in hope dwelling in love and then call Thy Kingdom come and the Lord will hasten his word to perform it for his own glory to thy comfort Thy Kingdom come WE are now to examine the steps and methods by which this Kingdom comes for coming denots a progressive and an advancing motion our Father having authority over it as the Centurion if he say go it goeth if come it cometh Prepare ye therefore the way of the Lord and make his paths straight In our endeavouring to clear first its motion next uses from that motion Man being in Scripture interpretatively every creature we shall not speak much of his Kingdom of providence wherein his regiment over the creatures is manifested but eying especially that of his Grace and Glory which his goodness is pleased to represent in this prayer with its face and favour towards us c. The coming and compleating of his authority by grace ought to be prayed for upon many considerations its regiment being as yet imperfect impeded and ost obnubiâ—ated It s regiment is imperfect The tallest Christian is but of a low stature and the wisest studieth most to increase in wisdom the utmost that St. Paul could reach unto was with his mind to serve the Law of God his flesh still observing that of sin and every good man being two men and divided in himself ought to endeavour more and more freedom from that law of death There is no Wheat without its Chass nor Rose without its Thorne nor saith without its doubt nor heart without its lust yea the Moon wants not her Spots nor the Sun its Eclipses unto which the Church is compared when in her greatest beauty nor army even with banners without its own care and fear unto which she is also likened when she is most terrible It s regiment is also impeded There are enemies in the coasts possessing strong sorts hindering grace in her noble atchievments Schisms Divisions Heresie Idolatry Scandals Prophanness hinder the marches of the King of Saints as craggy rocks do the passage of Kings of the Nations Saying depart from us that is turn from us which includes a removing of him intended by them that they may remain free This people hath a revolting heart saith the Prophet they are revolted they are gone They say go the other sayes depart both being against his approaches and dominion Pardon the application if we take the wings of the morning and flee to the uttermost parts of the earth Satans power sins law lusts dominion is resisting Christs nearer communion with his Church There shall be sound Pride in Armour
pardon but Gedd replyed Dico tibi I shew thee because thou refrainest not from the house of that prosane wretch thou shalt for thy punishment die in it which fell out accordingly the Earl and others treacherously killing the King at a solemn treat Pyrrhus Sons demanding to which of them he would leave his Kingdom Answered To him who had the sharpest sword Let the swords either of Gideon or of God be viewed Gods is the sharpest and therefore to be most â—eared of all who believes the coming of that Judge who commands his Anointed not to be touched By Baptism the Professor takes pay from Jesus as the Captain of his salvation and by scandalous behaviour he as it were runs from his Colours and by censure is he brought back and placed again in his rank that men beholding may fear and say that God is in her viz. the Church of a truth As Lycon the Philosopher had Ambitio pudor shame and honour to goad his Schollars forward in the practice of vertue so the Church hath honour and a Rod to excite to good behaviour restraining the vicious and encourageing the vertuous 4. By finishing and perfecting the just number of the Elect. Scripture sheweth that the Kingdom of glory shall not come untill the number of these appointed for Salvation be compleated not to speak of that great mystery of the Jews blindnesse untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles be brought in the Elect whether Jew or Gentile are gathered 1. At their natural dissolution 2. At Christs publick manifestation 1. At the Saints natural dissolution Every soul here uncased and divested of the body is a stone added for the perfecting of that house which is above and when the Quarry of eternal appointment hath been hewed out by the Gospel and fitted by death the roof is laid on and the work is finished for time shall be no more and Graces government over the soul is perfected then in glory If that Prayer be a reall History which is recorded for Ieroms and in his works which he made a little before his death for hastning of his glory how pithy is it but the Conclusion much more comfortable there appearing on a sudden after his communicating so beautiful and glorious a light in his Chamber that the sick could hardly be seen and a voice heard saying Come my beloved the time is now wherein thou art to receive a reward for these labours which manfully thou hast undergone for me to which he replyed Behold I come Lord Iesus unto thee receive my soul which thou hast redeemed with thy blood which words though thus uttered by him are still expressed as oft as we say Thy Kingdom come Not that death is to be simply called for or out of impatience as did Iob or Ionah but as Moses desired a sight of God but could not perfectly get it untill he went up to die so we are to understand that Pauls Cupio dissolvi his desire to depart upon saving knowledge is the most speciall comfortable text to a man in his departing said a reverend Prelat in his own Funeral for know we not that every day we breath here we lose one days sight of heavens beauty which we may justly pray to see not to alter Gods purpose but to manifest our longing desire 2. At Christs publick manifestation At Jesus his coming in the Clouds with the train of his holy Angels who are to gather his elect from the four winds from one end of Heaven to the other the dead in Christ rising first then those that are alive caught no all allarmed by a mighty shout with the voice of the Archangel and Trump of God shall the accomplishment of the full â—â—lly or number of the elect be finished At which time the Saints of their prayers of this prayer shall say consummatum est it is come the Kingdom is come the King of glory comes Arise let us go hence and enter into our Masters joy for the Kingdom is come c. But alas how unprepared are we for its coming for the dead consciences scandalous lives malitious complotters the medlers or busie-bodies about other mens matters the hatred and envy that appears in the actions of too many professing Christianity may cause remembrance of that old complaint sine Martyrio persequeris thou persecutes without blood-shed and thou kills under the mask of Religion and thou destroyes the saith of Christ by speaking of him c. This Kingdom hath come before day as upon Iacob and Iohn the Baptist before they were born and at the dawning of the day as upon Samuel and Timothy at noon-tide of the day as on Paul and Elisha and sometimes at the setting of the Sun as upon the converted thief but as it were dark night with us we sleep and fatten in our sins neither fearing nor desiring our Lords coming and though it be come to our Iudah this part of the world yet as the Gergesens we seek by our carefulness its removeal from us Be intreated therefore to throw away our old sins while we have time wash away our spots unravel the knots of our lives study purity that the King may have pleasure in our beauty and let us be the more earnest that the coming of our Lord is nigh He stood before the doors in St. Iames his time we have reason now to apprehend he is is half over the threshold In thy Kingdom come we shew eagerness to be under his dominion subject to his power censured by his Gospel yet by our carnal divisions we evince our aversness unto all and certainly by Amen we confirm our hearts in their rebellion against his Supremacy refusing to be under him for though both Devils and sinners be under the Dominion of God yet because they will not obey they are not said to be in his Kingdom We also bewail in it our straitnesse This world is a prison at best but an Inn wherein the beautifulest Chamber even a Kings presence is so incumbred we may say of it as Seleucus of his Crown that if people knew the vexations under it they would not deign to list it from the ground yet our deeds make apparent that this world is our rest and our choice not the Kingdom of our God having no respect to its government evident in the loosness of our lives and scandalousness of our divisions O God thou hast hardened our hearts against thy fear turn thy self to us again bless our provision satisfie thy poor with bread and cloath thy Priests with righteousnesse that thy Saints may shout for joy expecting the new Ierusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband Thy Kingdom come THere are three graces mainly to be exercised in our petitioning viz. Charity Humility Fervency the first is found in each Line Word
those above-mentioned we surcease from more particular designation Four brethren visiting one Pambus discoursed of some special duty wherein they had exercised themselves One had been much in fasting another had so slighted the world that he had nothing of it nor in it a third professed he had studied that eminent grace of charity the fourth had lived two and twenty years in obeying the will of another to whom Pambus gave the crown of superexcellent commendation in regard he had quitted his own will and served anothers whereas his companions had chosen what their own wills had beheld as delectable and though we sacrifice our selves by giving our bodies to be burned yet obedience is more acceptable with him with whem we have to do and more performable shall his will be to us if we reflect that he wills only what is profitable and all his will is profitable for us in that he wills them to us It is to be adverted that God wills only good let none therefore be harsh it is by accident if he wills ill the means that leads to glory be more lucidly discovered and most pathetically press'd Samuel wept for Saul and David harped for him though both knew God had left him It is a scandalous practice of some to wish either the means or tendencies towards hell or to presume at first Gods final determination and accordingly with delight wisheth not to say prayeth ill for their brethren It is the will of God that all Israel be saved let it not be thy will to have any Edomite damned left thou curse thy self He wills moreover the doing of his will by thy self also be not an hypocrite exclude not thy self from this service for it is not let thy will be done by these or these or by him but let thy will be done that every where throughout the earth Errour may be eradicated and Vertue planted and in worshipping of his Name Earth may not be different from Heaven which cannot be if thy own soul be not by thy self weeded from vice and his will performed to thy power It is Storied of religious Borgia of Guant that he said the furious Dog in hunting would be commanded from the Hare at the command or hollow of the Hunt-man yet man would not abandone his lusts his sinfull projects his fleshly and hellish designs at the voice call yea thunder of God But let it not be so with thee beating up thy soul to that degree of conformity that the very whisperings of Gods Spirit may command practice and be obeyed without recoyling that God may as it were wonder at thy servency as Christ did once at a womans humility with an O man great is thy obedience Yet in applying this Petition to our selves it is good to remember his advice who propofeth this three-sold rule in and about the will of God that his will if we be particular be done 1. With a si vis as the leper Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Moses prayed for entrance into Candan but finding it not to be the will of God he desisted from that suite 2. There must be a sicut vis a deliverance any way he will David desired to behold both the Ark and its habitation but if it were otherwise determined in the Council of God he was content 3. There is a quando vis when he will he hath called upon thee and thy Fathers house oft but his offers and his invitations have been oft rejected and Iosephs brethren flighting the anguish of his soul when they told him made Ioseph unknown to them untill the second time they went down to Egypt Wait upon the good pleasure of God therefore There were two wayes in the opinion of Poets and Philosophers in which all men walked and was thus figured â— one leading to bliss the other to sorrow the one was called the way of vertue the other of vice Christianity in its Law shews the disparity betwixt a licentious and a regular life neither is there any other path for happinesse and glory then obedience obedience obedience Wait then upon God and the God of peace that brought again our Lord Iesus from the dead shall in his own good time make you perfect in every good work to do his will Thy will be done on Earth c. THE will is the souls hand for applying to its self such things as appear useful helpful and convenient but heavenly things as most necessary must be reached unto yea violently attracted left as disobedient to Law it be stigmatized as rebellion and restrained in its other attempts all other designs saving those of piety which have the promises of both Earth and Heaven proving abortive in themselves and destructive to the brain wherein they are bred for prevention whereof we must have the earth qualified with obedience by good will and our selves upon earth to have heavenly wills that we may glorifie God in the lowest earth as he is in the highest Heavens betwixt which that there be an holy conformity pray that his will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven On Earth a real limitation and properly a boundiary unto all supplications for all Saints yet of so large an extension as includes all that are afar off upon the Sea and signifies that of David God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us Selah That thy way may be known upon earth thy saving health among all Nations On Earth as it is in Heaven hath received different and various senses from the Ancients by Heaven some understanding the Saints and godly by Earth the sinner and unbeliever making the Petition this Let thy will be done by the wicked of the world as truly as sincerely as it is by the righteous and religious Again by Heaven is understood the Spirit and by Earth the flesh or body of man which is a servant to the law of sin and then the Petition signifieth this Let all the members of my body wherein sin dwells be made by thy power as easily induced to the obedience of thy will as is my spirit by which I serve the Law of God Further by Heaven may be understood the Church and by Earth the unbaptized multitude and then the Petition speaks Let all Atheists Iews Turks do thy will as it is done in the Congregations of those professing thy Name Two Fathers will have us by Earth to understand our enemies and that here we pray against their earthly-mindednesse which being removed they and we may live in heavenly concord confirming this position from the Apostles their not being called earth but the salt of the earth yea Non abhorret it is not absurd to understand saith one by Heaven our Lord Jesus Christ and by Earth the Church who as a wife is desired to be like the Spouse her Husband in obedience There are that think by will peace is signied and then the prayer may be thus understood let the peace of God be on Earth as it is in Heaven Yet
ground withering being scorched with the suffocating heat of intestine supposed heavenly yet really hellish broils In spight of that Gospel-rule of Amity we can curse backbite accuse those that are of not only the same Countrey but of the same Faith with our selves believing in the Lord Jesus that they may be saved from hell which is below yet this is not a guard sufficient to blunt the edge of those deadly arrows even bitter words which from the bent bow of studied malice and the most exact aim of time probability and place is from the arm of prejudice caused to flee to the very whit to the very heart of them whom contrary to the character of a good man they love to malign Because they cannot have the Kingdom of God come according to their vitiated platforms prays not for its advance at all and because of that will pray for their daily bread that they may live to revenge conceited faults purposing never to forgive groaning under a surmised evil so heavily that God hath not nor shall not have any glory by its sending in regard they suffer not patiently nor soberly because they walk not charitably as the Primitive Christians did when they had really Heathens to be their persecuters at which time pro omni statu they prayed for all men How much better Raimundus who dwelt so much about and delighted so much in love that he answered all questions by it as whence he came from love Whither he was going to love c. O! let us desire that brotherly love might begin O! let us desire that brotherly love might begin and next study that it might continue I may say with one Iam saepe dixi fratres frequentius dicere debeo I have often said and must oftner attest let none defraud let none deceive himself he who hateth any one man in this world let him do for God what he pleaseth all is in vain For Paul did not lie when he professed though he gave his body to be burned it should profit him nothing if he wanted charity without which neither Alms nor Prayer doth avail For in Prayer we must observe the pattern in the Mount and say not my but Our Father which art in Heaven which as the rule of all Prayer is next to be enstated in your meditations SECT V. THe Precept being to pray after this manner we must eye our copy and he hath no eyes that seeth not or covers them that perceiveth not by this rule that we are to pray pertinently modestly briefly and Heavenly 1. Pertinently for matter Observe this Prayer and there is not only no superfluous word but each syllable beautifies and every Petition depends upon another First we ask for our Fathers glory in Hallowed be thy Name and then for our own salvation in Thy Kingdom come which shall come to our comfort when we do his will on earth as it is in heaven which we shall have strength to do when we have our daily bread and having been refreshed thereby there is a necessity of praying against sin past in Forgive us our trespasses and in regard the vessels of uncleanness will or may fill as soon as any other it is expedient to pray against sin to come in Lead us not into temptation which may avail much to deliver us from much evil and all this is a reasonable service because it is the Father we pray unto whose prerogative is the Kingdom that should come and the power by which we must expect it shall come for our delivery and therefore the glory should be his for applying all these things unto us Thus hath he shewed thee O man what is good nothing lawful nothing needful nothing honourable is here comitted More then these we should not ask and less then these we ought not to ask being to pray after this manner 2. Modestly for expression The word Fathers the phrase Kingdom have couched in them great mysteries the small expression bread comprehends many different things according to the supplicants place station and calling With a Souldier it will signifie victory with a Traveller safety with the weary rest with the feeble strength with a King Majesty with a Counsellour wisdom with the fruitful it will signify good children and with the barren it imports a fruitful womb Study then the meaning of the words first and the application of them unto thy case next and in the enlargements of thy soul let thy words be alwayes modest and moderat lest in asking abundance thou be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness Neither limit the Holy One of Israel by asking thus much or thus much now and then but be content with the portion given and satisfied with the quantity and quality thereof 3. Briefly for time Our Saviour in this form adviseth against two faults espied in the prayers of some viz. Hypocrisie and Verbosity and had Solomon been in our dayes and had heard the tedious length unto which some Zelotes had drawn their impertinent prayers and the vain repetitions with which they were filled with the vain bablings to which they were to a nauseating length extended to pass their other scandalous behaviour he had enlarged himself upon that advice Let thy words be few the obeying of which may prevent those heartless digressions wilde and idle discourse of such pretended extempore petitioners who were forced through emptiness to go backward and forward like Hounds at a loss and being word-bound knew not how to make an end Be not therefore as that babler Battus non-sensically reiterating the same words again and again unto whose practice in probability the Holy Ghost hath an excellent allusion discharging vain repetitions or more wording then matter requireth and therefore dischargeth an imitation of him in his loquacity Not but that the zealous may his heart not staggering or recoyling mount further that is nearer Heaven by extending his prayers the length of a winters night or Summers day as David or Christ did But the distinction betwixt privat and publick Prayer may inform the intelligent that this rule is necessary in requiring short and full petitions before others but with themselves they my use long yet ought to offer still hearty servent and pertinent supplications For when words perturb the spirit of man it is more than time to break off Sed doles animo c. the groanings of the soul making the more ehement cry as did the heart of Moses the lips of Hannah the blood of Abel 4. Heavenly-mindedness all along From the Dan to the Beersheba of this Prayer there is nothing minded but Heaven from Our Father to its Amen there is nothing as earthly suggested Our daily bread not being asked but as it relates to the doing of his will the coming of his Kingdom the hallowing of his Name of his Name on earth as it is in Heaven we begin at Heaven and end at glory by our Amen Among
hands the presented morsel of whatsoever kind Knowing that like an indulgent parent if we receive this or that contentedly from him he may give us choice and liking in all other matters and study like a father to please us being obedient in cloaths or money He that peruseth Solomons Dream with the Response thereof may understand the meaning of this rule Christ prayed to his Father for deliverance from the bitter Cup and though S. Matthew shews he drank it yet S. Paul relates he was heard in what he asked but how he submitted to his Fathers will and Angels comâ—orted and strengthned him so against fear that with a daring Majesty he faced those murtherers with an I am he Behold the Handmaid of the Lord said Mary Be it unto me according to thy word Let us be ready for service and we shall be crowned with the reward In all things let it be according to his Will with us and it shall be his will to do great things for us and as Holy is his Name so holy and just are all his purposes and then are we holy when we know it 4. Father is a more comprehensive stile and so fitter for our weakness As every word in this Prayer hath an ample sense and each Petition of an enlarged nature so this word Father though short in Letters yet of so huge bulk in sense as would puzle Angels to expound When we pray for daily bread we also intreat an easy bed good rest for wholesome meat at home and kind friends without a fair way when we travel for a good horse when we ride sound Ship when we sail and for seemly cloaths when we visit our acquaintance so that the word bread is of a copious nature and this word Father not short of it in signification comprehending Creation Regeneration Preservation Discrimination 1. Our Creation Each son of man is a son of Adam who was the son of God so that our radical being was from him and stamped at first by the hand of his power being Earth with Life Reason and Religion which not only as brethren binds us in affection to one another but as children units our tongues to express this word Pater Father all of us being created by him I have somewhere read that in a firait Lady Elizabeth afterward Queen of England cryed Lord look upon the wounds of thy hands and be merciful to the works of thy own hands 2. Our Regeneration Christ having taught us now under the fall to call Our Father minds us not only that he did make but hath also re-made us At first indeed in Adam we had great possessions and our service altogether praise but by his not paying the contracted fore-quit-rent of exact obedience forefeited his priviledges and we as heirs of his body lost our inheritance and being filii diaboli sons of the devil we are born again and become a-new filii Dei In evidence whereof the eternal Son of the same Father teacheth us confidently in Prayer to call his Father and God our God and Father Iesus the Mediator of the new Covenant having procured peace in Heaven for a re-admission into our heavenly Paradise hath given us power to become the sons of God in our consciences and by the the testimony of the Spirit knowing he came from the bosome of the Father shewing the good Fathers good pleasure of our addressing our selves to him though we have back-slidden with love confidence and joy in our Father Thy Kingdom come c. This to the reprobate cannot be affirmed God in this last sense being no more his Father or they his children spiritually then David the son of Goliah when he sought against him or Pipes and Organs the off-spring of Iubal because he made them 3. Our preservation We can speak and call for help hope look and rejoice in the very expectation of our Fathers succour yea benefactors are called Fathers and where there is a personal agreement to perform all offices of love the recipient from respect may use the appellation Father He gave us milk and life and cloaths appointed for us the weeks of the harvest numbreth our hairs preserveth our bones It s true his Angels have charge over us yet as a Father he hath his eyes upon us though those Angels as servants have a command to lead us sor our greater security Our good things he giveth us as his glory and kingdom evil things he puts far from us as our necessities and debts all desirable things he hath promised us and we believe him because the Kingdom and Power and Glory is his of all which we are to have a share being his off-spring 4. Our Discrimination It is a compellation differencing us from Heathens who know not God the Father from Jews and Turks who believe not in the Son and from all who fight against him as an enemy Tremell that famous Jew and Translator of the Syriack-Bible being at his death asked concerning his faith answered Vivat Christus pereat Barrabas Let Christ live and â—arrabas be crucified Distinguishing himselâ— by this from his blood-thirsty fore-Fathers and numbering himself among those whose confidence was in Jesus which Our Father also doth he adopting us only in his Son 4. Father is a more aluring stile and so more conformable to prayer In our Petitions we are to exercise the Graces of Hope Faith and Charity unto which this title brings in singular supports on Gods part upon mans account 1. On Gods part For we in Prayer can lay hold upon his affection Though we be as grashoppers and unworthy to be admitted to glory yet worthy is the Lamb his Son our Saviour who hath procured it for us in whom his providence saith of us to all his creatures what David said of Absalom to all his Commanders Deal gently with the young man with the old man with the sick person and tender infant for my sake though the Prodigal had spent his All yet because he confides in his Father and returns bemoans and repents he is arrayed with honourable raiment entertained with delicious sare and honoured with melodious musick to chear his heart to beautifie his countenance and attract respect from beholders 2. On our part for we in this life ought to have filial conversation This Prayer is not for dogs and therefore taught only to Sons which we are when we obey reverence and walk in our Fathers footsteps The debauch'dnesse of Angustus Daughters made him call them not children but imposthums boils of his body Shall not God much more reprove reproach them who give out they are begotten of him when the seed of the Serpent remaineth in them and the poyson thereof spreading to the infection of others contrary to duty nature and profession because they confess our Father Our Father THe eminent and transcendent acts by which the Name of Father is assumed by
abode which must be eyed in Prayer It is fit to notice this word Art which though darkly yet truly intimats Gods constancy or our Fathers immutability Others change their affection their opinion their scituation but the Lord changeth not and therefore we are not consumed Yet this is not objective to be understood as though he changed not things before him for that belongs to his free-will and can alter them as he pleaseth but in sensu composito he determining his will to one thing is unchangeable in that there being nothing that can perswade him to desist alter his purpose heighten his reason or remove his habitation he wanting the very shadow of changing his understanding being perfectly clear Queen Elizabeth her motto of England was semper eadem his is semper idem being still the same to day yesterday and for evermore This of old was expressed in his Name I AM THAT I AM Ehejeh Asher Ehejeh I shall be what I shall be referring to his will his nature his purposes his intentions his love his mercy his word his promises are everlasting and therefore is his Covenant called a Covenant of salt that is firm in it self and preserving others So that in Prayer to cut off all Satans discouragements we may competently be furnished with strength in questioning our inward part what is written in the Law how readest thou and finding there the expressions of everlasting kindness boldly concur to thy Saviours precept and say Our Father which art in Heaven Other fathers moving from and to other places from the Streets to their Tables thence to their beds whence may be they are shifted to their graves but this Father in Heaven abides the same for ever I AM WHAT I AM is like that which is which was and which is to come denoting both eternity and immutability and though St. Paul said once I am what I am yet as Kings their coin he circumscribes his performances Gratia Dei by the grace of God Cyrus dying endeavoured a diversion to his childrens sorrow and his friends malady in discoursing about unity and vertue and the gods and closed his eyes commanding that none should behold his soul-less body but that the Persians being invited to his Sepulchre all should rejoice that Cyrus was with the gods and secured for ever against suffering of any evil May not the Christian concluding from the paternal relation God beareth unto him secure his soul from all damping considerations which can arise from his perplexed heart upon the entertaining thoughts respecting Gods immutability and sublimity he being in heaven eternally ruling and unchangeably abiding to award entanglements Father gives of it self significant and apt succours to virtuat the practice of Prayer but a more manifest vigour is acquired when this qui es which art is reflected upon Which expression being read backward maketh se hinting his being his immutable being his unchangeable being is altogether of himself whence the supplicant may irrefragably infer that though he hath changed possibly to sin since the last Prayer yet God is not altered and therefore may be addressed unto for pardon vigorously in assurance It is to be noted that the word art is not expressed in the Original but implyed only yet it is manifest that it is not idle in the Translation but operats upon the duty of Prayer 1. Shewing Gods presence in it and therefore our awe It is used of them only who are before us for of the absent we say not quiâ—es which art but which is And therefore if the women of Corinth were to be covered because of the Angels how much more ought all to have a holy modesty when they call upon God lest eying him too sawcily he make ready his arrows against our faces the visible seat of our shameful impudence Take heed therefore not only to thy foot but to thy knee thy tongue thy face thine eye when thou enterest into the house of God or to thine own prayer-house lest thou be accounted hasty sawcy and malapert by asking of him wherewith to nourish thy lust Thou mayst offend in thy lofty looking with the Pharisee much speaking with the Heathen much repeating with Battus for one saith Battology is inarticulata vox like the talk of young children Study thou therefore to be manly and pray with understanding 2. Our confidence in it and therefore let us be open in Prayer The Sun never fails for all the light he transmits unto the world the Sea is not diminished notwithstanding the moisture it affords Gods Store-house will not empty though he enrich the world with his substance while therefore thou art with him in thy house or closet ask enough ask that thy joy may be full Illi enim 〈◊〉 exaudiri merentur he is heard aâ—â—â—ably of God who being heated with 〈◊〉 zeal asks and doth what good possibâ—â—â—y is within the sphear of his activity Ask therefore and ask again and ask more still capacitating for more good that thy own joy and the joy in others may yet be more full Et ne demittas eum and let not him go untill by love thy soul be joyned unto him which shall corroborat and yet more accumulat thy joy Alexander ordered his Treasurer to give Anaxagoras as much treasure as he pleased to demand he asked a hundred Talents each Talent valued 375 pound sterling at which the Treasurer wondering Alexander gladned saying Recte facit He doth as he ought knowing he hath a friend who can and will give him so much Be not sparing in thy requests but beg the utmost for the discharging of all thy debts the assurance of all his possessions thy Father can do it thy King will do it the glory of Christ nor of the Angels nor of the Saints being not all diminished by thy accession to those heavenly Mansions 3. Our chearfulness therefore let us not be disheartned in Prayer That God should come and stand before us with sealed pardons ought to conciliat us to all heavenly exercises but more singularly to this personal treaty to this intercourse of Prayer wherein we can look God in the face and he behold our tears when both are beyond the possibility of other Fathers What could Amittai have done for his beloved Ionah when in the Whales belly yet this Pater in Coelis God in heaven delivered him from all his distresses It is to be noted that though God be often in Scripture said to repent which implyes a change of and mutation in mind yet it is to be understood rei mutatio not Dei A change there was in the Ninivites first and after in God in the language of men that not being executed which was threatned we call it repentance when God repreived their destruction for to speak properly God hath in himself no umbrage of a change but as the Stars of Heaven
are free from turbulency of the Airs mutations so is their Maker from mans tumultuous conceptions his not their abode being in Heaven In Heaven that is in the Saints saith a Father by a harmless mistake concluding that because wicked men may and are termed Earth so just men may be designed by Heaven they being the Temples of God which Heaven is also said to be yet not in a Figure but in a proper sense is he said to be in Heaven as a King is said to be in his Court that being the most glorious ample magnificent part of the created world discovering to us power quietness observance in God when we are at Prayer 1 His power to grant what we ask This word in Heaven prevents any harsh constructions flesh could make of his delay in answering our suits by letting the greatest infidel know since he can rule and doth reside in Heaven he hath power authority omnipotency to avert from us what ever we fear and bequeath unto us what ever we demand being there as a Father in his Cellar as a parent in his Buttry as a King in his Exchequer as a Prince in his Council as a Merchant in his Counting-house ready to perform the requests made by us proper to those offices There can none ascend thither to assist him in his designs he there stands in awe of none to impede him in his purposes we need not say if thou canst do any thing help us for there he hath done and will do whatsoever he pleaseth holding all under and in subjection laughing at those who obstinatly seek to make resistance against his dominion 2 His blessed quietness to hear us when we ask Heaven is remote from that noise and garboil with which our Earth and Sea and the inferior Regions are infestred It 's true it is compared to a Sea but it is of Chrystal solide bright and pure God is said to have two dwellings and they both evidence composure 1. the Heavens 2. the Humble In both which he is in so serene a Region that if he can be said to have any work it is to look down and see who seeks after him 3. Observance where ever we ask As Heaven is above us so are we thankfully to acknowledge that our prayers be not hindered neither by the roof of the house nor space of the Air nor the thicknesse of the clouds from appearing before God and from being under his eye The pilgrimages of Rome are but pilgrimages and their pennances not very comfortable since we are by precept and example to lift up our eyes to the hills whence our help must come and disdaining such fruitless wandrings let us look up to Heaven which the Moralist had some sense of when he protested his knowledge that the whole world was his Countrey the gods governing above him and about him censuring that is judging his words and actions Put God in the place of gods the saying is divine and the practice thereof in every place will make us holy Again Pray after this manner Our Father which art in heaven Enforceth our souls to collect that in Prayer God expects from us Pureness Zealousness Sadness Reverence 1. Pureness of soul in not minding the Earth is scarce good enough for us to look upon or think upon at any time but in prayer it ought to appear singularly despicable our appetite ought to be where our eyes are fixed and they by this precept are extended toward heaven at which they ought to be intensely viewing that it may be demonstrated our affections are above 2. Zealousness of Spirit for the things of Heaven It supposeth the eye thitherward and implyeth the heart to be already in love with glory Man having one Muscle more then any other Creature by which he can and doth look directly upward ought to be as a Pully fixed in his soul to draw it Heaven-ward for the attainment of heavenly bless for which even nature intimats a great respect in affording man proper Organs to behold it that beholding may cause wondring and wondring may effectuat a desire to possess Do not you therefore value or cleave to the Earth having found a Father which is in Heaven 3. Sadness of heart for being out of Heaven The fiâ—st and second Petitions irreâ—ragably clear this to have been in our Lords eye Hallowed be thy Name bemoaning the profaning thereof by wicked men and let thy kingdom come regrating the delay thereof from good men A child in a ditch will cry for help and a Saint in the pit will call for deliverance out of heaven the possession whereof being enjoyed by the glorified Angels Earth beholding him but as a stranger passionatly invits him to beg its festination or appearance There is Heaven where there is no sin where no wickedness is wrought where death is not felt saith one pointing toward Heaven and say thou because of that Thy Kingdom come 4. Reverence of the whole man It is said of holy Basil that in sancta sanctorum non semel quotannis sed quotidie ingrediens appearing before the Lord in the holy of holys he used it not only once in but every day of the year Imitating Moses Aaron Ioshua Elias Iohn the Baptist Paul c. whose respectful and religious life whose awful and religious reverence unto God in Prayer hath produced and obtained much mercy for themselves and revoked many menaceing Edicts against offenders There are two vices especially make our prayers not only wearisome to our selves but odious to God 1. Nimia trepidatio Much fearfulness 2. Nimia oscitatio Much boldness The soul when too much dejected with the dreadful apprehensions of incensed wrath by sorestalled imagination the fancy for reiterated offences only representing hell is curbed by this Phrase Our Father And when self-confidence makes us more daring in our behaviour being stout before God projecting rather how to be homely not to say clownishly familiar then how to be holy or savingly sprinkled we are chastised by this expression which art in Heaven that making us serve with fear and rejoice with trembling not presuming upon any works of our own but solely depending upon Christs merits the only golden Vesture wherein we shall be accepted Our Father which art in Heaven OF all that â—eap of Accidents by which one thing is distinguished from another God can and is only differenced by his countrey and his name two remarks communicable to none are here designed to guide us in our addresses to him All Translations read it Heavens the Hebrews for Heaven having no singular number In the first Language here it is thought to be denominated from its clearness to be seen others will have it so called from its betokening a mark bound or limit Coelum is derived by some from Covering others from Engraving because of the lustre of those Stars that seem
holy Trinity being taken not so much from nature as from holy works we shall observe some letters of this Name that we may be careful of giving him in it that due respect which belongs unto his greatnesse since the secrecy and mystery of his being dischargeth our srailty and ignorance curiously to pry and behold his Name in his works of mercy of wonders of patience of comsorts of veracity the first respecting the miserable the second the despicable the third the scornful the fourth the mournful the fifth the doubtful 1. One great letter in his Name is mercy promised to the miserable and may be as clearly seen as Pilats inscription over Jesus by this as well as Paul all are delivered from the body of death and the mercy shown to the Prodigal by the Father discovers the tenderness of God towards a sinner when becoming which yet is through grace flexible and penitent In this the Saints rejoiced and for this God is feared that is hallowed and intreated his heart being affected with the miseries of poor man he stands at their hand to save him from those that would condemn his soul Christ pleading out of compassion and procuring not a repreive but a pardon And when men neither do nor will implore his Omnipotent aid for deliverance from evil nay when they reluctat against his severe threats either that they be superceded or omitted his mercy passing over all neglects presseth in upon them dilating it self so far that no faculty of the soul more cordially entertains the thoughts of any thing save those of Mercy Mercy Septem in me video misericordias Domini A holy man viewing the experiences of Gods love finds a seven-fold mercy graciously afforded to himself The first was that God had preserved him from many sins in his generation another was that he had highly and often offended yet had not been plagued A third was that in visiting his soul God had made him know that sin was bitter A fourth was that he becoming peâ—itent had felt the blessedness of him whose tranlgression was covered A fifth was that after his recovery he was kept from sliding back into his old fins A sixth was that he had grace given him to promove and advance in a holy conversation And the last was in which he highly magnified God that he had gotten the assurance of acquiring Heavens Kingdom It was said by them of old time the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you that he is merciful and gracious speaks his mercy to be Speciosa beautiful but that he waits to be gracious upon you shews that it is Spatiosa exceeding large and universal 2. His wonders performed to the despicable is another Letter and may be as clearly seen as the Prophets vision upon Tables he that runs may read it and who reads it ought to fear before it That which he hath done for his little Benjamin for and by Moses in the land of Ham and the terrible things by the Red-sea should make the whole earth tremble before him and how twelve fishermen from Ierusalem have brought the greatest Princes and most refined part of the Universe to imbrace the truth of Christ and him crucified in so ample and honourable manner that their Crowns hath not its chiefest Jewel if it want a Crosse nor themselves accounted of but as Barbarians if not christian is strange wherefore hallow his Name sing unto him talk you of all his wondrous works That famous Christian and woman-Martyr Blandina being by tormentors tormented by turns wearied and not able to plague her with renewed tortours having her body rent yet as oft as she pronounced I am a Christian and have committed no evil was refreshed and felt no pain Tyburtius the Martyr compelled to offer Incense to idols or walk bare-foot over hot Iron boldly undertook the last with these words Depone O Fabiane renounce thy unbelief and do as much in the name of thy Iupiter as I in the Name of my Iehovaâ— and if he can let him save thee from pain or torment How did he secure the Children in the Furnace Ioseph in the Prison Iob in the Dung-hill wherefore glory ye in his holy Name There are three great wonders should cause men revere and stand in awe at Gods Name and power 1. Christs rising from the dead 2. His ascending up to Heaven 3. Converting of the world by twelve men by the contemning of wealth despising of glory refusing of government and enduring of torment which was wonderful 3. His patience protracted to the scornful is another Letter and may be as evidently seen as on the thigh of the WORD of GOD KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS They who are as smoak to his eyes are yet admitted into his Temple and how ost would he have gathered Ierusalem yea our selves when the Sun riseth may learn that the goodness of God leadeth us to repentance It is true the Axe of his justice is laid at the root of the tree but mark it is but laid to see if fruit by consideration and contrition will come and though he be broken with our whorish hearts yet he â—aith How long or when shall it once be We believe Gods power and have heard of his thunder yet how few faith as Adam was afraid when I heard thy voice in the Scriptures but after all our roavings rather impudently say with Gehazi Thy servant went no whither and because we are not sentenced to judgment infer either that he is like our selves or mocks the promise of his coming both which is endured through his ineffable patience to reduce us at last to more sober apprehensions that is repentance contrition 4. His comforts exhibited to the mournful is another Letter as clear as the name Iohn upon Zacharias Table he is called sometimes the God of Abraham and sometimes the God of Heaven as also of grace and consolation His Spirit the Comforter drying the eyes of all who discerning their crimes and dangers sanctifie his Name by calling for a pardon against those defections they have made from the way of his holiness and peace What high revelations had Iohn the Divine in Patmos what comfort had Iacob in his stone-pillows and may we not appeal to many if in providence by Prayer it hath not been said Be it unto thee according to thy faith when they have been perplexed by the cold blasts of temporal or spiritual calamities and as Nehemiah been made to stand to blesse the Lord for ever and his glorious Name which is exalted above all blessings and praise It is the worlds design to delude the soul the fleshes purpose to betray it and Satans to destroy it but Christ resolves to protect it and checks our unbelief to the end of the world with
worthy of glory but God so they only give to him their praises and their prayers and that upon good reason For 1. Angels will not have his glory and they are intelligent An Angel in the Old Testastament refused an offering and another will not have thanksgiving in the New both commanding them to be performed to God expounding these to be prayer and praise what is Romes meaning or to what purpose are those Prayers and Letany's in that Church Sancte Gabriel Sancte Raphael omnes Sancti Angeli Archangeli orate c. O thou Angel Gabriel Raphael and all ye Angels and Archangels pray for us I like that part of another office better and shall subscribe unto it O Sancta Immaculata Virginitas quibus te laudibus efferam nescio O thou blessed Virgin in what words to praise thee I know not the same I say of praying as either are interpreted Adoration This is not said to infringe the glory of these holy and glorified Saints who are to be honoured with great reverence and their names to be mentioned with great respect and their vertues to be imitated with all indutry but to hallow their names or thier vertues with a remitte or an ora pro nobis we have no warrant because no rule of faith The ground of Romes Doctrine touching the worshipping of Angels is so beastly that it is shameful to publish aâ—resh yet so irrational that it may be profitable to reprint it it was this as we read from a learned venerable Doctor of the English Saxon Church In Apulia vulgarly Puglia a Provicne in Italy in the Kingdom of Naples near the City of Siponia there was a rich man called Garganus having much Cattel which fed in a Mountain of the same name in which herd there was a wanton proud Bull which could not be got home with the rest but still kept the Mountain for which the owner resolving to kill him provided Bow and Arrow but in shooting at the beast the Arrow reverted and turned upon himself at which being amazed he tells his Bishop who did appoint a three dayes fast that God would discover what was signified by the wounding of Garganus when the Arrow was levelled or aimed at the proud Bull On the third night the Archangel Michael told the Bishop scias quia à voluntate Dei hoc factum est that all was done by the appointments of God and commanded the ground whereon the Bull stood to be consecrated and set apart for prayer shewing them under it there was a Cave and in the Cave an Altar and upon the Altar a red Pall or Cloak ibi facite orationes vestras hebete memoriam meam auxiliabor vobis there say your prayer call upon my Name and I shall help you all was searched and all was found and all was done accordingly Haec fuit saith my Author prima causa and this was the first cause or rise that Angels were remembred or worshipped upon earth he must mean by Romes authority for otherwise the same doctrine was taught in but exploded the Church before and from that time to this present are they remembred in the Church c. This is such a Cock and Bull story as the proverb hath it that it needs nay deserves to have no answer but a his And the ground of it being ut legimus as we read so that it may be ture or false and if true nothing in it but what might have been done by the devil and therefore in all respects such practices are to be shunned by worshipping of God for which we have a sure foundation I pass the Fables for so let me call them which the same Author throngs the proper festivities withall for were Peter or Mary upon earth they would undoubtedly blush at the absurdities of their zealous though ignorant prayers and cause Iohn comment upon on his old text Babes keep your selves from idols And Paul upon his let no man beguile you of your reward in worshipping of Angels and not holding the head c. 2. Saints will not have this glory and they are prudent When read we that a Noah prayed to Enos though his piety and translation were notour or that a David prayed to an Abraham or that any Israelite unto or obtained mercy by his holy Ancestors Nay contrary they urged that because of Abraham's being ignorant of them and their being not regarded by Israel God would be their Redeemer his Name being from everlasting 3. The other creatures will not have his worship or his glory and they may be observed Every pile of grasse hath a finger to point up to its Maker in Heaven and day unto day uttereth speech and readeth Lectures of Gods wise government powerful providence and rich mercy At Madrid the upper Rooms of Houses belongs by Law to the King and are not to be used untill they be compounded for by the Inhabitant and to this only wise God the King eternal not only the upper Room which is Heaven doth belong but the lowest pit also for in his hand are the deep places of the earth and ought not to be used by us before we satisfie the Law by praying and praising in doing which we add to the revenue of his glory Ezekiel saw his glory in Heaven Isaiah saw it upon earth and we ought to study the beholding of both for though his heavenly glory we cannot see with that Prophet yet we may perceive something of the appearance of it in his holy Word Heavenly Motions divine Commandments at which sight we are with the other to â—all down upon our faces and with loud cryes bemoan our infirmity vilenesse and uncleannesse His glory upon earth is so clear that he who hath eyes may see it in the clouds which are his Chariots our ears can hear the birds warble in their way the praises of their Maker the fields clap their hands in contemplation of which we are to cry Vnclean unclean for this said Isaiah when he spake of him and saw his glory and thereupon was comforted and purified 4. If we consider either our good or duty we shall own him only for God Reason leads many but profits command all persons it is rational it is profitable to ascribe only glory and honour to our Father For If you eye Conscience he can only quiet that if the Church absolve and the Spirit thereby settle doth the Word of Christ apply and the soul therupon rejoice It is but in his Name they acting but in deputation from him It is he that discovers sin that we may be in our selves nothing It is he that makes us hate sin that before him we may be holy If you eye dependence he only maintains you At first Heaven was made by him the Earth the Sea and all the Creatures therein because saith Nehemiah thou preservest them all the host of Heaven worshippeth thee
Lord and therefore let us stand upright and not flectere ad ima as bowed down behold the things of this carnal and perishing world lest we be accounted unfit to approach unto or enter in the Kingdom of God Exoneremus ergo let us therefore cleanse our hearts from the contagion of unclean cogitations and fit our selves for a daily offering up unto Christ prayer and praise as Priests separated by the Spirit for that good work and office and particularly to offer bread I mean the remembrance of the whole Tribes the whole earth for their good It was Sauls question whether the promise or hopes of fields or vineyards made his Guards not inform him of Davids supposed conspiracy and consederacy with Ionathan and truly the largeness excellency the Vineyards and fields the riches and the glory of the Kingdoms of grace and providence ought to provoke us to be earnest for the advancement of the Kingdom of God the protection we have from Angels the heat we receive from the Sun the light we have from the Heavens the prospect we have from the Hills the Flowers we behold from the Valleys the Commodities we have from the Sea the comforts we draw from the Beasts the spiritual consolations we receive from the Gospel shew the advantages we have by his Government and therefore ought to endeavour the removing and fight for the departing of Saul's the sense is easie and the coming of David's Kingdom in pressing for the enlargement of the Kingdom of grace under our Lord Jesus Christ. For though in the Kingdom of his providence we possess such a lot or portion as his wisdom or power giveth and judgeth convenient for us yet remembring that these things we enjoy common with the Swine in the field and the Raven of the air the Fort-royal of our affections are not to be possessed much less commanded by the desire of enlarging temporalities being given but as apt means to uphold our otherwise frail Tabernacle but collecting all our strength animat our zeal for a studious striving for and earnest thirsting after the beautifying confirming enlarging and adorning of our inward man by grace against the approaching of the Kingdom of glory This Age hath many who slight this Prayer in their practice as well as neglect it in their religious exercise they desire the coming of his Kingdom limiting their thoughts to that of Providence desiring the hastning and advancement of those good things they desire to possess yet not contented with their portion by stealing cheating robbing they snatch it impudently out of his hands being impatient that he brings it not unto them and grumbleth that he makes not speed whereas Thy Kingdom come implyes modesty and our waiting upon Gods leasure Let pilfring sinners therefore know that not a snatching but a mannerly receiving is contained in this Petition Hasten not therefore to be rich Eye his Kingdom of Grace we have those so pure in their own eyes so holy in their own conceits that they behold no urgent cause for its more evident appearing Let such know that not sufficiency but a daily exuberancy is contained in this Petition Say not therefore I have enough It is obvious that many concludes the coming of this Kingdom to consist in such tenets or opinions they have imbibed from the Rabbies of some saction to them beloved Let such know that not the following of mens opinions but the knowledge and owning of Gods heavenly dominion is contained in this Petition the great Officers therein under himself being Magistrats and Ministers c. both which are prayed for in Thy Kingdom come Thy Kingdom come THe Kingdoms of Grace and Glory as they are united in this Petition are now to be explicated and first of Grace whereby Christ reigns in the soul which by having the Gospel is nigh unto us and next that of Glory prepared for us before the foundation of the world yet these are not so much two as one differing only as the light conveyed by the window differs from that immediatly flowing from the Sun In the Kingdom of Grace Christ is compared to a Roe standing behind the wall looking forth at the window shewing himself through the lattess the wall is our flesh the window is his Law the lattess is his Prophets but in the Kingdom of Glory the wall is pellucide the window and lattess both removed and the immediat beams i. e. glory of the Father by the Saints viewed and respected By Grace here he hath Servants Kings and Teachers in his Temple and Throne but there in glory there is no teaching because no ignorance no King because no offence and Kingdom implying government and that under a King Christ is King and Head of his Church and God the Father as Jesus is man is the head of Christ Hence we pray Our Father which art in Heaven Thy Kingdom come In which Petition there is something we pray against and something we pray for the latter is for the Churches and our guidance into the Holy of Holies the former is for subjugating Gods and our enemies and all pernicious lusts obstructing our glory to come We pray against the dominion of sin the darkness of nature the prevalency of Satan and the delay of the Saints reward 1. The dominion of sin that its head which is as a Serpents may be bruised and its reign which is tyrannical may be ended all lust being base and ignoble and ineffably cruel domineering more over the soul and making it suffer more from it quam corpus c. then the body doth from diseases for it reigns and brings into eternal death at last fascinating in the mean time and bewitching mens hearts so that but few are sensible of that danger which these Ammonites will bring upon them if longer tolerated and those few again have their souls so entangled that though they have no love to embrace yet they want power to extricate themselves out of sins snare or force to drive it from exercising dominion over them Therefore calls for help against that strong man that by the power of grace and strength of faith and ardency of zeal all from the Spirit of God he may be bound as a rebel against heaven and an usurper over man in forcing obedience to his lusts and rigidly exacting what was never his due viz. love and subjection Thy Kingdom come as it eyes the Church imports that it might be manifest among men and that it might be known to the ignorant but eying Grace it respects the extinguishing of all vice by the power of God that neither devil nor world nor carnal lust nor any sin might have dominion over us but God alone For if we study good works and shine in vertue lust and iniquity shall never overcome us nor the power of hell suppress us restat ergo we ought therefore as in all
Covetousness in Buff Oppression watching Lust posting Fury thâ—â—tning Malice contiriving and Policy uniting to suppress the Gospel and though it get ground in the conversion of some to the saith of Jesus yet what Hanibal said of the Roman General Marcellus may the Church say of them and the devil their Captain that neither conquered nor conquering will they be quiet yea her case must be sad since the very liâ—e of her peace consists in fighting against these restless adversaries and where overcome yet so desperate is their wrath they with the Gadarens beseech Christ to depart It s regiment is likewise often obnubilated Grace now and then is put to the flight by an army of lusts The Church is said to be a Woman cloathed with the Sun the Moon under her feet that she is a Woman betokeneth her weakness her fruitfulness cloathed with the Sun her protection by and obedience to Jesus Christ the Moon under her feet signifyeth her contempt of all earthly because mutable enjoyments yet for all this pompous equippage she is forced to go to the wilderness for shelter against the Dragons rage and fury The feeling the beholding the hearing of these things will cause sorrow and what consolation is that offered by an Ancient comforting a Christian in sad times It was Pia tristitia beata miseria a blessed melancholy and a pleasant misery to behold the sins of others and weep and to another Plangenda sunt haec non miranda these things are to be be 〈◊〉 for not wondred at yet adds that prayer ought to be made I shall not say that after the fall God appointed our flesh our sinful lusts to rule overus for our punishment as he appointed thorns to arise out of the earth for mans vexation but since the fall lusts and corruption overshadow grace within us to that hight that Peter will curse David fall and Iacob lie to his Father and these weeds are permitted to abide in all until the Kingdom of God come with power which made David call but thou O Lord how long that is in the new Testament-stile Thy Kingdom come The Gospel in its progress is compared by our Saviour to leaven and that workes gradually regeneration to a new birth and man is perfected by degrees the Church to a builing and that advanceth by rule and measure and Wisdom is said to have hewn out her seven pillars which implies addition the new man hath not his proportion by years but by degrees and comes to perfection by distinct gifts and graces he first learns as a child to read the good examples of others then advancing forward he comes to live according to divine Law then he is so in love with Christ that marrying himself to him he would not sin though there were no Law against it growing now strong he can endure and stand out against the worlds troubles and vexations and then growing rich in the abundance of the things of the Kingdom of God he leads a peaceable and contented life then he comes to forget that is not to heed transitory things being wholly intent as aged in grace upon life eternal and now there remains but one step more that is the Kingdom of glory which advanceth towards us by the grace of faith illumination of the soul Discipline of the Church and by finishing the number of the Elect. 1. By the hearing of faith This eyes all the Kingdoms we have spoken of for as by faith we believe that Jesus came to save sinners so we believe by â—aith that the world was created and yet preserved the Father Almighty hitherto working and darkly hinted at in the conclusion of this Prayer For thine is the Kingdom power and glory All that we know of Hell his prison of Earth his Foot-stool of the Clouds his Chariots of Man his Image of Angels his Hosts of Heaven his Pallace of Christ his Son is by the doctrine of Faith for untill it come we are not savingly sensible of the Kingdom of God And the doctrine of the Worlds Creation Mans fall and Christs coming are recorded to have been the Principles of Religion taught in Adams Temple Oratory or place of worship where God dwelt from whose face Cain departed all which shew that it is necessary to believe as firmly that God the Father Almighty made the Heaven and Earth as it is to believe in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. The grace of faith is said to be the Kingdom of God within that Kingdom being spiritual and reigning in the hearts of the faithfull while they are in the Kingdom of providence and by which they are nourished and protected untill they arrive at the Kingdom of God in glory where they shall reign as Kings and Priests unto God for ever 2. By the enlightning of the mind This peculiarly eyes his Kingdom of grace As Moses face shined when he was with God under the Law so now God shines in the hearts of his friends under the Gospel he saith now not Let there be light but is himself a light unto his people The Gospel puts a Key in the Converts hand to intuat and behold the mysteries in Christ crucified which others cannot see and also a Lamp to know how far and in what kind for what use and for what end they appertain to him As at the Creation there was a fiat lux Let there be light so in Conversion there is a scias fu thy sins are forgiven thee which is that unction of the Spirit by which all things are known as the Eunuch knew and believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and by which also their Conversation is in Heaven having security by God and joy in him for which cause also it is the highest stone in Wisdoms seven Pillars upholding the house that is the Conscience or Soul of man The first whereof being good Will next a sanctified Memory the third a clean Heart the fourth a free Soul the fifth a right Spirit the sixth a devout Mind but the last and highest is an enlightned Understanding By the discipline of the Church Admonitions Reproofs Censures are as military weapons used by the Church for the upholding of this Kingdom of Grace yea a delivery over unto Satan by excommunication which if justly duly and compassionatly done is and hath been found instrumental for the stirring up the authority and power of Grace in the soul of some obdured shame and fear being very efficacious motives where other means are less effectual to perswade a soul to cry Peccavi Father I have sinned as did the incestuous Corinthian One Sigbert King of the East Saxons keeping society and familiarity with a Count or Earl whom holy Cedd had excommunicated for unlawful marriage once by accident met with Cedd as he journeyed to the Counts house and being smitten with shame and fear alighted from his horse and craved
affaires and they take up a great deal of time against our own wills that this must be done against the spring that this is fit for such a countrey and this is suitable for such a coast gives us no time to study the will of God As fishers have several baits for different fishes so the world hath variety of snares for its multitude of traders Demonaae when questioned if the world had a soul then if it was round With indignation answered you are very carefull about the world yet about your filthiness contracted in the world you are carelesse Here this man is settling his heir there that man bewailing his poor crop he casting up his accounts and a fourth is preparing for a forreign plantation because of all which there is such a bumming in the ears of man that with the maniest the sound of the words carrying the sense of the will of God hath not admittance into that gate of the soul the ear which if it had we should not be so far embased about the drudgery of this pelf but write with a holy man for direction and instruction about sub jugating our wills to the will of God and what we ought to do therefore It is desired on earth though to our sorrow we know it will never be there exactly done suppose our hearts for once holy ground yet the Rod of Moses I mean the Law when cast thereon becomes a Serpent and we are scarce able to endure the sight of the just holy and good commandment sin by it taking occasion to work in us all manner of concupiscence sed hic inter in ex parte oramus we pray for some measure of obedience here that we may be perfected in all obedience hereafter God crowning in heaven with perfection our sincere service performed on earth though through weaknesse imperfecte clamemus igitur in Coelum we therefore list up our voices to Heaven because under it there is nothing but labour sorrow vanity and vexation The earth hath its heats and colds according to the cloudiness of the air or distance of the Sun obedience likewise hath her colds and heats her workings and faintings her runings and stumblings and sometimes a great intermission of her spiritual pulse On earth Faith hath her distrusts Hope her doubts Charity her damps there this opinion raiseth Choler that doctrine provoketh Rancour he caufeth offence by an ill example these are scandalled through supposed mistakes whereby the Earth that is the best of its inhabitants is but a bad copy yea indeed no copy at all hence our Lord teacheth that not Earth but Heaven be the rule for doing our Fathers will Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven THE rule of our obedience is now before us and the mould in which all actions are to be cast for Heavens that is for Gods plaudit As it is in Heaven is a Doctrine of comparing qualities not substances it respects neither Earth nor Heaven Physically but Morally pressing a conformity in the inhabitants of either to the will of the Lord of both and grand Master of each It is also a doctrine of holinesse among Spirits that the souls of the righteous here Militant may in vertue and well-doing totally resign themselves in imitation of the Spirits Triumphant for the will of God that they may be found without fault before the Throne of God That their conversation may be in Heaven by contemplating the things which are not seen here and affecting the things that are only there by working all things according to the Angels Samplar Yea even to follow God himself it being not unlawful per divina ire vestigia to walk as Christ himself walked The word is singular Heaven not Heavens as in the Preface excluding all but the very in-side of Heaven the interior parts of the Heaven of Heavens there being there exactness in opposition to Earths crookedness and stateliness against its baseness 1. Exactness Examples are to be eminent and as far as possible contrived above the censure of ordinary operators in things wherein honour is concern'd but in things divine wherein are couched the most pressing interests of the souls eternity patterns ought not to have so much as an umbrage or shadow of sensuality which not being sound on earth a David will trip a Iacob will halt and a Noah lye uncovered we are to eye Heaven for acquiring of righteousness and ture holiness 2. Stateliness How slovenly so to speak do we handle the mysteries of God Is not a trembling hand a glazy eye a blubred face commended in the approaches of the devout to the greatest pledges of their salvation and yet in these addresses not only faith but their love to God is then more sublimely to be acted that it may be felt heard and understood so that the highest raptures and most ravishing transportations like high Steeples are not without their Cob-webs whereas in Heaven the divine beams of glory shining upon the faces and hearts of the Elect both heats their souls and beautifies their exercise to that degree that with redoubled acclamations of ineffable joy they stand before their Saviours Throne and go about their Masters errant in a Royal Majestick and Authoritative deportment These are so well known to be in Heaven that good men do not only mistrust others but fear themselves pray against themselves ask forgivenesse both in and for their most religious undertakings which must cede to the performance of those Sainted above they being incapable of pollution laxation or heâ—itation through the spiritualizing of all their faculties In this Prayer there are two sicuts two as-es one is As we forgive our debters forgive us in which Earth draws a pattern from Heaven to follow sets it a copy to write a pardon by the other is this Petion As thy will is done in Heaven let it be done in Earth in which Heaven is recommended as worthy for imitation of Earth and sets before it a picture for Earth to draw the lively features of exact and acceptable duties For note in Heaven there are three whom we must imitate and follow viz. Christ Angels and the Saints glorified Behold Christ as man and as when upon earth it was meat to do his Fathers will for himself giving us in that consideration an example to prevent sin and as God a remedy against it from which it is deducible that our eyes feet hands and tongue are to be observant observers of the whole Law and will of God as Christ was we making his life our book our glass our rule our way his present residence in Heaven and work there is the Churches salvation in general thy soul Reader and that other mans in particular for it is the will of the Father that none of these little ones perish hence Christ becomes their Advocat that they all may
scarce an Asper to lengthen the phrase viz a time to be born and a time to die with rioting and drunkennesse chambering and wantonnesse strife and envy and accounting it a magnificum to reiterat such impieties that becoming expert in sin we gradually advance in the prophane legion and pointed at for eminent fighters against Heaven How severe therefore must our punishment be when untomb'd of our carnal security we stand naked of all excuse and accused as infringers of the Laws of the omnipotent God this if really reflected upon in the privat sanctuary of our own breasts would in tears make us cry Thy will be done the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart as did Monicha for her son Augustin because of his lewdnesse and had this answer a son of so many tears could not perish as he did not But what shall become of so sinful a world of so few yea of no tears but a fearful expectation c. For prevention whereof implore mercy deprecate wrath in Thy will be done for a world a kingdom of so few prayers so few tears is not far from destruction 3. Ardency for perfecting It is evident by this that the byass of all our contrivements ought to be for a more closs full and proximat conformity with the holy Angels and if by heedlesnesse we rub that is mistake or be impeded in this grand scope we are to cast our eye upward that by his Omnipotent arm we may again be reduced to this ultimat of Angelical perfection being afterward the more warry that formerly we were in Jeopardy 4. Fervency for knowing A holy hand can never be directed but by a sanctified head and heart and in order for the accomplishing the will of God we are to improve our knowledge in and of that will a due management thereof depending upon the right apprehension of the same otherwise a pursuit of such heavenly exactnesse is but vain it making us but almost Christians that is altogether miserable since eternal life consists in knowledge and in that we are commanded to increase yea in that the Angels desire more and more to have inspection stooping down as it were to have a clearer and more naked sight of the ground of that salvation shown to man If it be here objected that the will of God being powerful and irresistible cannot be frustrate or obstructed by creatures and therefore this Petition as redundant in regard of Gods alsufficiency to effectuat any undertakings might have been spared Besides what hath already been said it is replyed that the will of God in the Scriptures revealed here chiefly understood hath ever for its end obedience trial or conviction and hath alwayes in all a powerfull effect but not in all alike in some it works obedience as that of the circumsion the Sabbath c. Others it puts to a search whether the existence of that or this grace be with them as that command to Abraham about sacrificing his Son the event whereof shewed that Gods end was but to try Abraham in others it mounts no higher then meerly to convince them as was the commandments to Pharaoh His secret purpose we are not therefore to pry into but accept the duties of the Gospel as precepts propounded unto us for obedience that to our power they be performed and where that fails to our utmost they be bewailed wishing or doing the fulfilling of his will as it is in Heaven that is cheerfully not by constraint as did Pharaoh that is lovingly not by haughtiness as did Senacherib For God expects to have and loves to see voluntary service and he hath it from the glorified Saints and Angels whose practice man asâ—â—duously must follow Restat ergo it is necessary therefore diligently to regard this will making it our guide in all our actings and undertakings and the impossibility of obstructing it ought somewhat to move us for coming under its protection for bearing patiently its Laws with a willing heart and mind Let Jesuits follow Ignatius and his way of living the Franciscans Francis and his way of mortifying the humorist his Patriarch and his way of opinionating Let us aspect Heaven for a Peter upon earth by dissimulation may ensnare us that Elect vessel being but an earthen vessel is not perfect enough for discovering the infallible rule we ought to walk by and in this sense call no man father upon earth Let it not seem strange that our Father is not here our example but our fellow-creatures since other Scriptures presse our holiness and perfection from his perfection and his holiness for this Prayer eyes chiefly obedience and God having no superiour is not within the verge of this request In holiness God is above the Angels and in that He not They is to be our pattern but in service the Angels are above us and They not Men to be our pattern is here intended for as in Heaven is to be expounded as the Angels that is sine dolo in charitate without Hypocrisie in servent charity and holy purity Hitherto of the matter of this Petition the order is most excellent Obedience to his will in this Petition being the means of attaining his Kingdom prayed for in the second as if we should say Thy Kingdom come that is to our comfort for which effect Thy will be done In the first Petition we aim at the hallowing of Gods Name which to accomplish we pray in the second for the enlargement and establishment of his Kingdom and in this we pray for our own subjection to it Again in the first Petition we are assured of Eternity by the second of a Kingdom by the third to be like the Angels Or by the first we are informed what we shall be that is as the Angels by the second what we shall have that is a Kingdom by this third what we shall do that is the will of God And after this manner pray ye that God may be glorified by us as in the first that Satan may not rule over us as in the second and that we rule not over our selves as in this Petition but that by us with us about us and in us the will of the Lord be done as it is in Heaven CHAP. V. Give us this day our daily bread THIS is a Petition offered by the soul for sustenance for the belly and that in the throng of those sublime supplications for propagation of the Gospel and imitation of holy Angels Gods goodness stooping to mans pinching necessity knowing that the belly hath no ears to receive counsel when it is empty to perswade it to patience and that it hath a mouth which will open and bawl to the souls disturbance untill it be filled with bread which indeed is its due bread being made for the belly and the belly for bread yet it is considerable that
in this unite bread Zenodochus was seen to weep frequently at Table and gave this reason that being a reasonable creature he should feed upon unreasonable bruits was shameful and was it not more dashing to gnaw insensible Beings being designed for the delights of Paradise what a pinch was here He cryed because he eat and eat in his crying and had he not eat he could not have cryed and the want of these things would have forced him to cry each misery becoming a doleful Nurse to subside another yet all shewing meats that is breads necessity 2. They are comfortable during life Pestilence Blasting Mildew Locusts Caterpillers are prayed against by Solomon Nehemiah prayed for savour of the King Ezra for direction in the way Abrahams servant for a wiâ—e to his Masters Son and Isaac prayed for children all these suggaring the tart potions wherewith this life treateth her enjoyers the affections of the holy are more inflamed with an exhilerating zeal in their addresses unto God their Father 3. These are helps to a godly life Warrs crosses vexations tumults are Remora's to devotion whereas peace tranquility plenty sufficiency cause it make way they like the purest Oyl making the Lamps both of Soul and Sanctuary to give the brighter shine and make the heart for Gods service many pounds lighter Sampson's thirst and Abraham's being childless made some heaving in their otherwise becalmed souls 4. These are craved and enjoyed by godly men even in this life Hezekiah prayed and health was restored and a son given him the sick is to call the Elder and he is to pray and health and salvation is the return the Disciples prayed against shipwrack and were safely landed Our life is the only season we have to manure our hearts to do good to others and what may conduce to that great end in a natural way may be reduced to this head BREAD whether in prosperity or adversity Once more slice this bread and in its perceptible we are to pray against poverty idleness apostacy and verbosity 1. Against poverty Let the belly want its due supply the ears will hear from all quarters ill tidings of certain dissolution and when the shadow of death is drawn upon the eye-lids the nose will soon scent the turff the Raven hath an inauspicat voice and though by no Law save that of Nature it calls for food yet when it cryes it gets meat out of the earth Give us bread is give us not poverty lest we sin or be ensnared but a sufficiency for encouragement O Lord in thy service Were every man righteous wealth would be profitable and riches were truly goods conciliating to our selves friends by that mammon to receive us to everlasting habitations they would ballast the soul which otherwise like a light Ship is in danger of over-setting they would be Bladders facilitating our swiming through the Sea of this wearisome world yea they would make that Sea pacifick our pillows would be soâ—ter to sleep upon our cares would be less and our other enjoyments more comfortable It is not easie to find out that competency at which we might lay down our staff travelling no further asking no accrument to our Fortune but only a peaceable possession and continuation thereof yet Plato came near it who being asked what wealth was sufficient answered so much as did not ensnare a soul by abundance nor angust or straiten it in the want of necessaries But let God carve or cut out thy quantum let convenient food terminat thy desires and thy prayer is sinless 2. Against idleness This Prayer supposeth work and work done it not teaching us to call for bread simply but for OVR BREAD that which we have already by us in our Cupboards in our surrows give it us that is sanctifie it unto us Our Saviour dischargeth taking thought for to morrow what ye shall eat but forbids us not yea rather commands us to work but not to take thought against to morow that we may eat for from labour Adam in inocency was not exempted Hence Gamesters Dicers Lotterers c. dare not behold their gains and beg Sanctification in a give us our daily bread there being nothing in a holy sense to justifie any possession but prayer and labour labour and prayer Love not sleep Reader least thou come to poverty open thy eyes and thou shalt be satisfied with bread What! Love not sleep is it not a necessary act of Nature and an humane passion Yes Sleep is but the love of it is a vice and cometh of evil Nurse of idlness and that the mother of theft drunkenness tale-bearing and uncleanness and the predominancy of these sins in our dayes as they are palpably known to be the cursed daughters of sinfull idlness it is as evident they issue from the matrix of our shamefull beloved Sloath c. To exclame against the perpetual poverty sworn at Rome or against the boasted-of oscitancy of many in the monastick life is not my purpose but to either of the Perswasions let me offer what I find recorded was from heaven charged upon an Hermite when in perplexity about many thoughts he saw one in the habite of a Monck sometimes working and sometime praying at last heard a voice saying tu fac similiter do thou the like The application whereof to persons of both or of any Religion is so easy that there needs no descant upon the Story save this O man pray and worke that with quietness thou may eat thy own bread 3. Against apostacy This is cast in out of respect to the ancient Fathers of the Church Christ being named the bread of life and in a Scripture trope he being our necessary food our damnation being a consequence of receding from him they make the dayly bread in the Text to signify not that which enters into the body but that which nutriats the substance of the soul as Christ in the Gospel by saith in the Sacraments which daily profiting ought to be daily received whereas we onely annually communicat It is the Gospel of God by which men lives and ought to be received by continual meditation growing sat by the good things of the world to come which becometh ours by acceptation applying Christ himself to us being that seed that was grinded in and under the Law knead in his Cross and Passion leavened in the great mystery of godliness viz. the flesh baked in the oven of his sepulchre made ready and drawn forth in his refurrection set on upon the Table of the Church and daily broken in the remission of sins nourishing the eaters to eternal life For by a daily asking we demonstrate our willingness to be alwayes in Christ and united to him And indeed both Christ and bread may be truly called bread and our bread Not that it is not God's for even when he hath given
we are thankful It is ours when sanctified unto us by the Word of God and Prayer and not only our bread but our board our bed are not ours untill they be blessed in the Name of the Lord as Boaz did his Reapers in the Harvest Field Hence may be defended that pious practice of blessing the table before and after meat a duty among many others thrust from the houses of some impiously a practice put to attend too base services in the Chambers and Halls of others ridiculously yet used Apostolically is a soveraign sawce to help concoction and prevent crudities in the Conscience and belchings arising from an oppressed soul. To leave such whose hateful acts in this kind denominant them either Swine arising from sleep and eats and from eating goes to sleep again or which is more troublesome Rats their whole time being consumed in running up and down the world making a hideous noise tearing cloaths and eating victuals I say to leave them condemned by the old Jews our blessed Saviour our Religious primitive Predecessors let others do it with the sign of the Crosse let us blesse our meat as did our Saviour with lifted up eyes and a Father we thank thee remembring that it is his bread by gift and ours only by acceptance and only then received when we are blessed 1. By owning him the giver of all our bread 2. In receiving it soberly not as wanton children crumbling it down for it is bread 3. In dividing it charitably for there are at thy door who want bread 4. In admiring his wisdom in fitting thee with bread As meat it is nomen officii and imports similitude to the eater otherwise it is not meat hence it is said that mans bread is a Hawks poyson 5. In not binding our affections to earthly bread Of all Petitions relating unto man this is first and immediately before that for remitting sin shewing saith one it is the first sinners care fâ—â— yet following all those which relates to Heaven it being the least that Saints regard It is said of a holy man that he saw four sorts of men glorified in Heaven one was the obedient man another was the self-denied man and the fourth was the thankful whether this sight was seen or not I dispute not but this from the Scriptures may be seen that the thankful man shall be glorified An Hosaunah in the Hall or Temple for the bread sent us a moderat use and eating of the bread before us it being just to say of it as the Apostle orders of wine a little for we are to eat for our infirmity and not for our lust and walking to the glory of God in and by the strength of our bread and sending a portion to the hungry of the bread left us in regard our Lord Iesus Christ must not be put away without a quantum for if we be not nigards our Lord will not be far from us yea so near us that we shall know him in the naked in the blind in the hungry or in the crying man and of their sadness thou art bound to say as did Socrates of Aristarchus melancholy What aileth thee make this trouble known to us thy friends it may be we can relieve thee All this being thus done maketh all thy other enjoyments as well as thy bread thy OWN Yet further and for caution Our bread it must be not anothers our Prayer being limited to our own portion as well in our affection as in the Petition Take heed and beware of covetousnesse by expounding our bread to be that upon our Table when by oppression stealth or plunder it hath been taken by force or fraud from another Knowing that good men with Socrates hold him the richest who is most contented with his own just gotten goods and purchased bread though sruall which is implied in the word bread in which he is rich in the judgment of the same Philosopher who hath a competency for himself and a modicum left for others implied in the word our bread another mans bread being one of those many things whereby this world this life is accounted miserable comfortlesse despicable and angust Liberius being banished under Constantius from his Episcopal Chair of Rome when offered money for supplying his necessaries by Eusebius the Eunuch Tu Ecclesias orbis terrae expilasti c. thou lives by robbing of the Churches of Christ and dost thou think I though condemned shall prove thy Beadsman Say the like to thine own soul when rape becometh thy husbandry and work to eat thy own bread Give us this day our daily bread THis day denoting the time wherein this Petition is offered and the term unto which it is limited is this hour cum Deo to be opened and for our entry know that though day and night be set opposite in Genesis yet not in Matthew day in the Hebrew hath its name from stirr and business or motion and flying in the Greek from its light and shining and in it we must labour for our bread that we may have food for our bellies the English Saxon expressing it Dag as is thought from Dego to live as if in nights darkness our spirits being lock'd vitality may be questioned this is clear that meat for our bellies cloaths for our backs bed for our bodies drink for our throats whether day or night are even pleasant to think upon and in the light as the light delectable to behold Let us see the import of the word day and its influence on Prayer as it respects the rule so pray ye In the light of DAY we by this Sun of Righteousnesse can clearly read these four following particulars 1. Contentednesse with our enjoyments though little we ask not store for years months or weeks neither are our bellies as insatiable as the grave but satisfied if we have for it this day that is in the Proverbs Language from hand to mouth so that at first dash that improbitatis metropolin that elementa malorum that fountain of wickednesse that ground-stone of all evil covetousnesse either in desiring more then enough or retaining what is left of enough is here dam'd up and removed We may be cold hungry and sick yet we are still to be content with the cloaths meat or portion God gives he best knowing what when or how much is best for us and most for our good Here are saith one six words eying the Roman tongue all speaking in grosse content Let us be more particular then he and shew how in the English here are seven words including that vertue particularly GIVE by this we shew our content to be begging VS by this we shew our content to be sharing THIS DAY by this we shew content with our living and if he please with our removing OVR by this we shew content to be working DAYLY by this we shew content upon his providence to be depending
debt This Petition hath a peculiar respect to the Preface Our Father because none can forgive but God it being his Law his Grace his Son his Gospel we sin against Hence the Indulgences to be bought at Rome and the Pardon 's even for sin not yet but to be committed a greater grace then ever God promised two whereof King Iames of blessed memory upon this Petition doth protest he saw are to be detested this being a more sure word of Prophesie I even I am be that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake mark for mine own sake neither for Peters nor the Virgins c. 5. His Iustification though he should make us stand to those debts They are our debts and though he delay to acquit us his Throne is to be frequented Petitions to be iterated and forgive us our debts importunatly to be demanded untill the vigorous exaction of the Law be repelled by the mellifluous sentence of the Gospel Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven Not intending to pose any with that question whether they could be content of damnation if God so pleased God putting no such question to us but joyning his will and our salvation together we affirm that in Gods demurring to answer or delaying the assurance of remission notwithstanding of our prayer he is not to be deemed severe nor imputed unjust but in his seeming greatest rejectment of thy petitions let Enter not into judgment with thy servant O Lord be the burden of thy devotion Forgive As it eyes our selves in this Prayer is not limited to the strict sense of the word forgive but hath a greater latitude evincing sorrow confession inability 1. Sorrow for our wantonnesse The debts our fathers left us are great and many but how prodigiously prodigal have we been in spending that little nature by them gave us defacing Gods Image so much the more earnestly by how much we have acted against the principles and light of a natural conscience This Petition saith Woe is me my mother thou hast born me a man of strife of a hard heart yet harder by custome of loose principles yet more loose by obstinance distant from God yet further off by rebellion deformed by sin but more monstruous by delighting in ungodlinesse Woe is me calls the Prophet Be merciful to me calls the Psalmist O Lord hear O Lord forgive calls the relenting penitent They say a man is once miserable if twice rich and all of us had once enough and most of us had more then we have Adam and we also by receiving from the devil that which was not necessary became a debter but Christ hath made us free Abstulit debitum reddidit libertatem bertatem by paying the debt restored our priviledges with the price of his own blood for which expence the soul in a holy ingenuity is angry at sin and sorrowful for its own miscarriage 2. Confession of our own loosnesse By this Forgive us our debts we acknowledge our delinquency for qui petit veniam delictum confitetur Petition for implyes confession and that includes action of sin and mark this it is not debt but debts insinâ—ating long Bills of Account for which the word Pardon is used as if we should say do it or fogive them throughly sensed by per and dona the Germains say Verâ—geven the word Ver incomposition very much hightning the sense and the word Forgive flowing thence shews how far that is how infinitly we desire the remission to be extended Man hath a five-fold act about sin I mean the impenitent man comprehended in this verse Laetatur silet extenuat tremitatque laborat For doth he not delight in it or boast of it as did Doeg or hides and conceals it as Cain or lessens and extenuats it as Saul or stâ—rtles and despâ—irs because of it as did Iudas or though in vain labours in some unprofitable work to be rid of it as did the Iews but the Saint takes a far better course which is this of confession complicated with that other superadded grace of forsaking sin as did the Prodigal true confession in prayer being ever accompanied with mortification of heart In relation to the progresse or ingresse of sin it is observed that it enter'd man pep saggestionem Diaboli nostram liber am admissionem by the Devils sugestion and our own consent so for sins egresse or removing there must be the spirits compunction with our own assent that the guilt of it be not imputed by a cordial rejectment which cannot be without an open acknowledgment of its iniquity and our folly not only when called upon by Authority as was Achan but when goaded unto it by Conscience meditation Scripture or the Spirit as Peter In this word Forgive there is a general implicit confession of all our sins and so pray ye preventing Satan who will with a hellish noise bawl them out before God except we our selves say thus and thus have I done which will remove a thousand sins yea millions God never refusing the humble soul how criminous soever confessing of sin being an exalting of his Name 3. Inability for our own release If a man have Cash it were both sin and shame to beg either for composition or remission but poor Adam having nothing involved in desperate difficulties by ommitting good committing evil is introduced by Jesus and by him so placed before the Father that forgivenesse is promised yea sworn The great Lucifer fell from Heaven but could not for all his Angelick nature recover himself again he is very subtile yet never could invent a proper mean to discharge that debt his sin contracted Arrest the dead man yet cannot he redeem himself we as dead in sin yet alive to suffer are taught to plead in forma pauperis or sue out a billa bonorum being poor blind and naked What can we do can we either obtain the Spirit of God to sin no more can we believe in his Son and fear no more can we keep our selves from Gods hand and procure some time more to shelter us from his wrath or can we say unto death we will not be arrested to the grave we will not be imprisoned For know that death is in this Petition and where is there a Pent-house or To-fall untill he passe by Verily verily it is as if a man should flee from a Lyon and a Bear met him or went into the house and leaned on the wall and a serpent bit him being one degree beyond the misery of that monster Nero who in desperat rage cryed out at his death nec amicum nec inimicum habes have I no friend to help me nor enemy to kill me for of â—oes we shall have legions and though we strugle from one or two solvi in Gaehenna necesse est we must begin payment of our debts in hell And quid boni operari
evil for evil yea of not for evil good Christianity is so denominat from Christ and the Christian being oblidged to walk as he walked he is to go about doing good healing the very ear of a Malchus and though reviled answered not again as he is called a Ciceronian who imitats a Cicero in his style not otherwise so he is not to be termed Christian who giveth his tongue to evil speaking his heart or hand to revengeful re-acting that being contrary both to the practice and command of Jesus Behold nature her self and this hare-brain'd fâ—llow is condemned should the pile of grass wither when trod upon or every excessive heat creat a fever in the body or should the heavens thunder at every overclouding what â—â—ights would be in the world As Chirurgions have unguentum Basilicon to cause matter so they have Apostolicum to cleanse the wound Album to expel the heat and Desiâ—â—â—tiuâ—m rubrum to dry and skin it As there are provocations to choller so there are Gospel documents which as spiritual Artists we must have ever in readinesse to apply to the place affected for curing as proper medicaments for the souls ease That advice of one Philosopher is good that when any reports thee to have been slâ—ndred say thy adversary knew not all thâ—y vices or then he had not spoke â—o little and though the world talk of honour and courage magni animi est injurius despicere It is the symptome of a large and noble soul to despise contempt or disdain revenge said another Philosopher albeit he knew not at least prosessed not the Gospel nor perchance ever saw that of the wise King he that is slow to anger is better then the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit then he that taketh a city for he sub dueth himself and possesseth himself the greatest vertue among morals It was among the Scythians a mark of insamy and dishonesty if any man had not killed some man where this bâ—dge was put upon innocency among Barbarians how mutually would they go about and prey upon one another to purchase reputation but good men detesting the procurements of such honour entails same upon themselves and their successors by their warrinesse of goring their conscience imputing it grandour to be affraid of sin and reputation to walk without offending God In that Dialogue betwixt Philosophy and her Beloved it was held as a sound advice in point of calmnesse of spirit of one Canius who being informed of a conspiracy against himself answered if I had known it I had not told it you Not to presse this on all four or every way Christianity dischargeth credulity to slanderous reports orders a check and no more to be owing the relater Moses the meekest man of the earth could bear personal calumny and before him Isaac only pleaded but scolded not for his wells and after them Paul wished no more hurt to his â—oes but that they were as himself in every thing his bonds excepted It is true these Diamonds had their flaws these Pomgranats their rotten kernels David curses and Sampson prays for the ruine of the Philistines yet these Prophetick impulses are not to be the ordinary Standart of our converse with men for Paul though sharp to Elymas prayed over the Jaylor as though he had never scourged him he gave place to wrath and adviseth like a good Preacher a good practitioner to be followers of him as he follows Christ who is maximè imitabilis most to be followed 1. For piety 2. For zeal 3. For humility 4. For patient suffering 3. From the obstruction the contrary vice bears to goodness that being by it hindered Sullenness and rancour impeding prayer from having entrance into the earâ— of Heaven the Laws whereof requiring prayer to be maâ—e every where without wrath implying frequency in that duty and composednesse of mind at it evidenceth this conclusion bottomed upon infallible verity for if Family-contentions prove obstacles to Family-duty shâ—ll not that particular Petition be doomed by men to be condemned by God whose flames are excited by the billows of fury envy hatred and passion and not by those of the Sanctuary charity love and concord The same is to be said of Sacraments spleen hindering thereby spiritual influx 〈◊〉 how can they be beneficial to him who not only is not injured but himself by ill-wishing is injurious to his brother Not to reflect it is to be feared many of our supplications because of this vanisheth into air and Sermons become unprofitable because of this unfruitfull work of darknesse malice for 〈◊〉 home understand Reader the Basis or Ground-stone of Gods forgivenesse is fixed only on the ground of thy brotherly forgiving And in spiritural conflicts allow hatred to plead its old supposed plea viz Love not him who walk's contrary to thee who derogats frâ—m thee who complains of thee and insults over thee Let love reply That the love of Christ constrains me and that quam diu so long as I keep at distance from man in point of charity so long detain I from my self the good of all my sacrifices and make my prayers yea the praying of this Prayer do me more hurt then good so much the more as this command is easie I am prone to conjecture should Christ have said Fast pray read fight kill burn and lie and be forgiven there are in this age had embraced the doctrine but to forgive is durus sermo an hard saying and cannot be digested It were some excuse if any lived and transgressed not for in many things we offend all and as a stone cast into the water creats a circle and that another and a broader so anger if tolerat will naturally kindle a fire in one mans breast which shall blow up anothers into a flame which may endanger an house and that a street and that a town and therefore happy is he first stifles it in the hearth of his own bosome lest by its heating the flesh of another be scorched in his re-offending or tart replying There was a breach made of the Kings peace in the Kings own house after the cruel servant had imprisoned his fellow for an hundred pence that is in our coyn three pound two shillings sterling when his Lord had forgiven him ten thousand talents which in our vulgar account is eighteen thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds sterling six thousand times more then was owing him yet charged upon him afresh though poor for not having mercy upon his debter when humble The stormiest man in his age it seems was Celius who was so testy though an Orator that at his own Table he avoided peace and there meeting one for patience was offended checking his guest with an aliquid contradict oppose me in something that we may discourse as if quietnesse and calmnesse in conferring had made his Table solitary yet
there are who give better rules about converse recommending if our company be better then our selves to learn if inferiour to be modest and learn them if our equals to assent to all proposals that relate to good which eminently will keep alive charity in Families and Corporations without which vertue neither of them can even in the brain of a learned States-man be fancied to subsist so great is the power even of a fancied Amnestia or brotherly forgivenesse It was the wonder of a Father writing to an holy man from Mount Sinai that he was not moved irritated perplexed or any way afflicted with the reproaches of men and forgive Vs is not meant Vs here but Vs all wheresoever we be whatsoever we are Us predicats of all people kinds nations sexes languages and proclaiming every soul to be a sinner all should be tender and make as God the scarlet offences of their brother to become by their forgivenesse white as wool that God by his may make their crimson-sins become as snow Revenge flows from a conceit of some abused excellency which we conjecture to be in our selves and though it were yet know that self and self-opinion is to be mortified In order to which let me impresse a story printed by a Modern expounding this Petition wherein he shews he was once demanded by one who was troubled in his mind for this viz. he suspected himself guilty of not forgiving injuries and affronts and was desirous to know of this clause as we forgive our debters might be ommitted in daily prayer for he trembled to think of it I answered him saith that reverend and learned Doctor with St. Chrysostoms answer The work was of old thought his but now generally known by the name of Author Imperfect in Matth. he not ending his Comments upon Matthew as Chrysostome doth 1. Qui non sic orat ut Christus docuit non est Christi Discipulus he who prayeth not after Christs manner is none of Christs Disciples 2. Non exaudit Pater orationem nisi quam Filius dictaverit the Father heareth not that Prayer which the Son hath not commanded Which answer was somewhat more refined then that supposed Father his Author gave it for it is prefaced with this word stulti O fools accounting them such who will not say as I forgive yea such do say in their heart either that there is no God or that they have no sin which if they thought they had Nullam rationem habes there is no reason to complain of mans rising up against thee when thou hast exalted thy horn against God It is not with the soul of man as it is with the setting of the Sun that prognosticating a fair morning if there be a red cloud for he that would arise and wake in mercy and who knows how soon he may fall asleep must not ly down with execration for so did not Christ whose doctrine as well as profession or name thou must take upon thee or then in vain are all thy pretences to Religion and thy usurping the empty title without the substance of it Love evidenceth that not the being but being thought a Christian is all thy care Death and sicknesse humble us and at that time chiefly we are to ask what an Expositor says we here beg that is Spiritum scientiae wisdom to know our offences against God which when acquired the offences against our selves shall never be weighed in the ballance It is said the scobs or powder of a mans scull is soveraign for curing the Epilepsie a disease strongly vitiating and impeding the sense and understanding sure it is as when Bees fight the throwing dust among them causeth a truce so the thoughts of death is a season for the absolute crossing the day-book of our remembrance and quitting to our brother whatever upon the account of injury he is indebted to us suddenly heartily freely which shall so clear the soul in beholding his own remission therein that without tergiversation or lingring he may confidently say Lord forgive me my debts as or for I forgive my debters As the tree falls so it lies whether to the south the warm gates of mercy or to the north the freezing blasts of provoked indignation to ly down in wrath anger spite is to begin a fire yea wilde fire that shall never consume yet burn and make thee feel what Guntherus Chancellour to Henry the third Emperour saw and heard when beholding miraculously the Heavens opened and God in his Majesty extending his Arm wherein was brandished a sword and saying I will render vengeance to my enemies and will reward them that hate me after which many Princes of the Empire dying he saw God again the sword sheathed and heard a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell hereby we know we love God if we keep this command of forgiveness but if we as enemies kindle a fire in our wrath there is a sad conclusion to be deduced which is that God shall kindle another in his And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debters MAny are the inferences might be drawn from this Doctrine and Text of forgiveness so principal a point and so material that it is the only Petition in this Prayer observed by St. Mark in his Gospel he suo more comprehendit abridging after his usuall way of writing the whole Prayer into this one in regard whoso hath it granted hath not much more to demand save grace for perseverance in the consolations which by that he hath attained so that this may be reckoned inter preces armatas among commanding prayers by it asking forgivenesse but with this burden that we forgive first The advice being King-like enforcing the thing advised Our meditations shall eye such as go to Law towards Magistrats that put malefactors to death towards Creditors that do trust and lend and touching dying Malefactors who do ordinarily forgive Concerning the first it may be questioned whether such as pursue by legal decreets or executions the reparation of damnages losses hurt they have received from the frowardness or untowardness of their neighbours can say in such pursuits and claims Forgive us as we forgive or for we forgive the whole process bearing a contradiction to this Petition hence it is that Anabaptists and other Hereticks revived this old condemned Doctrine in our dayes that no Christian ought to go to Law and that none ought to be a Magistrat To which it may both truly and briefly be replyed that it is not only lawful but absolutely necessary since the fall for the preserving of mankind in orderly society for to have Laws and Government whereunto the oppressed may run for shelter and protection As for those abused Texts Iudge not that you be not judged Resist not evil My Kingdom is not of this world c. They strike not in the least against Magistracy but privat