Almighty God in the entrance into our Prayers And because our thoughts are easily taken off from these considerations and like Moses Arm our Faith soon declines and our light soon burns out and because there is an equal necessity of Intention of spirit as well in our last request as in our first our Saviour teacheth us to remind those considerations that may support and fortifie our Souls in the close of our Prayers as well as in the beginning that so the consideration of Almighty God his Power and Goodness who is the Beginning and the End the First and the Last may be also the Beginning and the End as of our Prayers so of all our Services Thine is the Kingdom Thou art the only and absolute and rightful Soveraign of all thy Creatures and to thee do all the Creatures in the World owe an Infinite subjection for by thy Power and Goodness they were created and are preserved and yet if it were possible that Infinitude could admit of degrees the children of Men owe a more Infinite subjection unto thee than any of the rest of thy Creatures for thou yet sparest unto them that being that by sin they have forfeited unto thee and yet more than this those whom thou hast redeemed by the Passion of thy Son and sanctified owe thee yet a more Infinite debt of subjection than the rest of the Children of Men and because thou art our King whither should we go to make our requests but unto our King in whom all Authority is justly placed and if thou art our King it is but reasonable for me to desire That thy Name may be glorified that all the subjects of thy Kingdom according to their several conditions may Magnifie and Glorifie the Name of their King That thy Kingdom may come with evidence and demonstration of it self and that all thy Creatures as they owe a just subjection to thee so they may duly perform it that those that have rebelled against thee may return and be brought into subjection to thee that though other Lords have had an usurped dominion over us yet that thy Kingdom may break in pieces all Usurpations and recover thy revolted subjects unto their just Allegiance That thy Will the only rightful Law and Rule of Justice may be done in all places of thy Dominion in Earth and Heaven and that all thy Creatures may submit freely to this thy Will which is the only rule and measure both of their perfection and obedience The Wills of Earthly Kings are subject to Error Oppression and Injustice and therefore thy Providence hath regulated their administrations by Laws and Rules but thy Will is the only Rule Exemplar and Foundation of Justice therefore let thy Will be done That thou wouldest give us our daily bread when the seven years of plenty had filled Pharaoh's store-houses and were after entertained with seven years of Famine the Egyptian's cryed unto their King for bread Gen. 41.55 And whither should we go for Bread for our Bodies but to our King who is Lord of all the store of the World and gives meat to all his Creatures in their season and feeds the young Ravens when they cry And whither should we go for bread for our Souls but to Thee our King who hast intrusted this Bread of Life under the hands of our Joseph our Saviour that thou wouldest Forgive us our sins For our sins are as so many Treasons against thy Majesty and thou alone canst remit against whom alone we can offend the pardoning of Sins as it is thy peculiar Prerogative for who can forgive sins save God only so it is thy Property a part of thy Name pardoning iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.7 That thou wouldest deliver us from Temptation the cause of sin and from Evil the fruit of sin from the incursions of that Rebel against thy Majesty the Prince of Darkness for whither should the Subjects fly for Protection but to their King and though that Prince hath a Kingdom too yet it is regnum sub graviore regno the very Kingdom of Hell is subject to thy Authority and therefore as thou art our King we beseech Thee Protect and Deliver us And the Power There may be a lawful and a just Authority where yet there wants Power to act it but as thou hast a just Sovereignty and Authority over all thy Creatures so thou hast an Infinite Power to do whatsoever thou pleasest nothing is too hard for thee Evil Men and evil Angels though they resist thy Authority cannot avoid thy Power My requests that I have here sent up unto thee they are great requests but yet they are all within thy Power to grant Sin hath drawn a cloud and darkness over our understandings that we cannot see thee It hath infused a malignity into our wills that we cannot abide thee and how then shall we sanctifie that Name which we know not or if we know yet we hate it But thou hast Infinite Power to scatter this darkness that we may see thee to conquer this perversness that we may love and glorifie thee The Prince of darkness hath set up his usurped power and is become the Prince of the World and sets up strong holds in our hearts and mans them with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness but thou hast Infinite Power even by a poor despised Gospel to pull down these strong-holds to subdue those Principalities and Powers to bind the strong man that keeps the House and to set up thy Throne and thy Kingdom even where Satan's seat is The state of our nature is so changed that we that were once fitted for an obedience to thy Will are now become enemies to it resisters of it dead to the obedience of it but thou hast infinite Power by thy very Word of Command to quicken us as well as to create us to change our Natures to conform our Wills to the obedience of thine that so thy Will may be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Sin hath put a curse into the Creature that it hath lost much of that effectual power to support and to preserve our Nature that once it had and it hath put a disorder into the whole Creation so that it is a wonder to see that such a World of men and Creatures amongst whom sin hath sown such a disorder and enmity should be one able to live by another yet thou hast power to remove that curse to provide for the several Exigencies of all thy Creatures according to their several conveniencies to feed us in times and places of necessity to make a Raven our purveyor a Cruise of Oyl or a Barrel of Meal to be a supply for three years Famine Our daily sins committed so often against so great a duty against so many Mercies so much Patience so much Love so much Bounty received from one that owes us nothing are enough to sin away any stock of Pardoning Mercy and Patience below Infinitude But thou hast
this God published in the infancy of the World Gen. 4.7 If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou dost not well sin lyes at the door Psal 62.12 Thou rendrest to every man according to his works Disobedience to this Law of God obligeth to Punishment upon a double ground 1. As a natural and a Just consequence of an unjust violation of a Just Duty in as much as every Creature owes an infinite subjection and obedience to the Soveraign Commands of him that gives it Being 2. As a consequence of that Sanction that is expresly annexed to the Law so given In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Obedience on the other side is followed with a Reward not out of a natural consequent or a proportion between the Obedience and the Reward for every Creature owes obedience to God though there were no reward at all we have therein done but our Duty and God cannot be a debtor to the best of his Creatures for their best works Job 35.7 If thou be righteous what givest thou him but out of the Free Goodness and Bounty of our Law-giver who is pleased to make himself a debtor to his Creatures obedience by his Free Promise of a Reward and annexing of it to the Obedience of this Law Psal 62.12 Also to thee O Lord belongeth Mercy for thou renderest to every man according to his works As if he should have said O Lord all thy Creatures owe an universal Subjection and Obedience to thy Command and when they have done what thou commandest they pay but the just tribute unto Thee for their Being and therefore when they have done all that thou requirest they must sit down and say We are unprofitable servants we have done but what was our duty and cannot challenge any reward at thy hands They owe thee more for their Being that thou hast already given them than all their service and obedience can amount unto It is thy Mercy not thy Justice that hath annexed any further Reward to that Duty which we owe unto thee All the challenge that thy Creature can make to any Reward of his choicest Obedience is still founded upon thy Mercy who though we are in all this but unprofitable Servants art pleased to be to us a Bountiful Master in giving that Reward to the obedience of thy Creature which only thine Own Free Goodness did at first freely promise Even so Lord because Mercy pleaseth thee 3. In his most Wise and Special Providing for them Disposing of them and Protecting of them The General Providence of God reacheth every Creature but if that Infinite Wisdom and Power can admit of any degrees in the way of its execution it is more eminently at least acted in his Kingdom over his reasonable Creatures Luke 12.7 Fear not ye are of more value than many Sparrows Matth. 6.30 Shall he not much more cloath you And this Special Dispensation of this Kingdom is seen in more especially disposing and ordering of the ways and events of Particular men 2 Pet. 1.11 Prov. 20.24 Man's goings are of the Lord. How can a man then understand his own way of Societies or Companies of Men. Acts 17.26 hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitations in protecting them against the power and malice of Evil Angels restraining them from those Evils that their malice and natural power is able and willing to Effect Job 1.12 3. His Kingdom over his Church and this in a more special manner is the Kingdom of God And herein we consider 1. The King of this Kingdom God by an Eternal Decree hath appointed his Son our Lord Jesus Christ the King of this Kingdom Psalm 26.7 I have set my King upon my holy Hill Psalm 110.2 Rule thou in the middest of thine Enemies And hence it is called frequently the Kingdom of Christ Colos 1.13 the Kingdom of his dear Son 1 Pet. 2.11 the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and sometime the Kingdom of Christ and of God Ephes 5.5 The Kingdom of Christ in the immediate administration of it and the Kingdom of God who hath delegated and substituted him unto this administration Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him 1 Pet. 3.22 first the Kingdom of Christ till he shall have Judged all men and then the Kingdom of the Father when he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15.24 28. And the Regal Office of Christ over his Church principally respecteth these two things 1. In conquering to himself a people The whole World was by Sin reduced under a subjection to an Usurper the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience And this Kingdom of his was a Kingdom of darkness Colos 1.13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness And the Subjects of this Kingdom were a People of darkness Ephes 5.8 Ye were sometimes darkness And by the advantage of this darkness this Prince of darkness governed the World as he pleased for they knew not whither they went and by and from this darkness this Prince led them into another Continent or rather condition of his Kingdom a Kingdom of Sin and Sin as the Vice-Roy of this Prince of darkness did reign in the World and had dominion over it Rom. 6.12 14. and by Sin he led his Subjects into another Region of his Kingdom into the Kingdom of death Sin reigned unto death Rom. 5.21 and then death reigned Rom. 5.14 Now as God was pleased by a Mighty hand to go and take him a Nation from the mid'st of another Nation Deut. 4.34 So Christ redeems him a People out of every Tongue and Kindred and People and Nation Revel 6.9 out of the mid'st of his Enemies He came to destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 binds this strong man that kept the house and rescues his prisoners from him 1. He came a Light into the World and dispelled and scattered that darkness which was the principal Engine whereby the Prince of this world did rule John 1.5 The Light shined into darkness and the darkness comprehended it not And at the very dawning of this Light into the World the Prince of darkness falls from Heaven like Lightning Luke 10.18 And this was that whereby the Prince of this world was Judged that is all his deceits and methods and wiles and abuses of Mankind were discovered and detected John 18.11 And by this Light we are translated from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of his Son Colos 1.13 are become partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 are become light and children of the light Ephes 5.8 And as he came with Light to take away that Egyptian darkness which overspread the World Isa 9.1 So 2. he came with a Treasury of Merit to expiate the guilt and a Treasury of Righteousness to cover
which hath overspread the whole race of Mankind and of the Truth and Efficacy and sufficiency of that Redemption which came by Christ and is published in that Word striving and contending with and mastering and over-ruling the opposition of the will against it Calming and quieting and rectifying the distempers and disorders and misplacings of our affections opposing and subduing the lusts of our sensual appetite inlightning and quickning and cleansing the conscience and bringing it about to take part with God and the actings of this Spirit upon our Souls mingling the word of the Gospel conveyed into the Heart with a secret and powerful Energy whereby it becomes a Seed of Life in the Heart growing unto Eternal Life And thus as at first the Motion of the Spirit of God upon the face of the waters and the powerful word of Command produced the several Creatures so by the like Motion of the Spirit upon the Heart and the powerful call of the Word of Christ by the publication of the Gospel is wrought this Second Creation of the new Creature Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest stand up from the Dead and Christ shall give thee life And these two great Instruments produce in the Heart two active or operative Principles which after they are produced are not only an Effect of the work of God but also become instrumental for the increase of it viz. Faith and Love Faith whereby we receive this Message of Salvation and entertain it and rest upon it and Love whereby out of the apprehension of this great Love of God to us we love him again we love him because he loved us First And this Love of God ingageth the Soul to a Sincere Obedience to the Will of God The Misery from which we are redeemed is so great the Price by which we are redeemed so invaluable the Glory and Blessedness to which we are redeemed so full and all these appearing so to the Soul by Faith that the Soul can think nothing too much to return to that God that hath so freely done so much for it Thus Faith worketh by Love And this is that Kingdom of God that is within us Luk. 17.20 the subjection of the whole Soul to the Scepter and Rule of Christ If he command Purity of Life forsaking of all things denying our selves crucifying our Lusts laying down our Lives the Soul is tutored to that subjection unto the Will of Christ that it chearfully obeys him in this and whatever he commands This is that Kingdom of God Rom. 14.17 consisting in Righteousness a full Conformity of the Soul to the Will of God the only and absolute Rule of Righteousness Peace upon the sense and belief of reconciliation with God through him that is our Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost upon the apprehension of the Protection and Love of Christ our King and that Glory which he hath most assuredly prepared for all his Subjects 3. We have the Degrees of the Manifestation of this Kingdom Here and Hereafter the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of Glory both making but one Kingdom of God under different degrees of manifestation God by his Word and Spirit casts into the Soul a Seed of Life like that grain of Mustard-seed whereunto the Kingdom of Heaven is resembled Matt. 13. And this seed of Life abideth in the Heart 1 John 3.9 And there it quickens and fashions and moulds the Heart to the Image of God it opposeth and struggleth against Lusts and Temptations which labour to stifle and to kill this Seed of Life and like the leaven that was hid in the 3 measures of Meal Mat. 13.33 It doth by degrees assimulate the whole inward Man to this living principle and conforms the Life unto it Now though this principle of Life is thus operative yet in respect of the outward view it is a hidden Life The External appearance of this Life is reserved till Christ who is our Life shall appear and then shall that hidden Life be revealed Colos 3.4 Behold now we are the Sons of God 1 John 3.2 But it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him By this seed of Grace sown in our Hearts we become the Sons of God and of this Sonship we have a secret Evidence in our own Souls but there shall be a fuller Manifestation of it when Christ who is our Life shall appear So then the Kingdom of Grace and of Glory are the same Kingdom but under a different manifestation that a concealed Kingdom a seed in the ground this the Manifestation of that Kingdom a seed in the Tree To conclude When thou prayest Thy Kingdom come let thy Soul enlarge it self in these or the like desires O Lord I know thou art King of Heaven and Earth and the least of all thy Creatures in their most seemingly Casual and inconsiderable events and motions are under thy most certain and powerful Providence Yet such is our blindness and so mysterious are the ways of thy Providence that sometimes we are at a loss and desire with thy Prophet Jer. 12.1 to expostulate with thee touching thy Judgments If it stand with thy Glory and Will I beseech thee let all the events and occurrences of the World appear to be under thy Administration and Government that all may see thy Wisdom and thy Power and thy Justice and thy Goodness in all the passages of it and that all men may be convinced that thou the most High rulest in the Kingdoms of Men and that all thy Works are Truth and thy ways are Judgment and those that walk in pride thou art able to abase Dan. 4.32 37. That they may all acknowledge he is a God that Judgeth in the Earth Psal 58.11 And because thou hast a more peculiar Kingdom even those that thou hast given unto thy Son let that Kingdom of thine come do thou send out thy Spirit and thy Word into the World and subdue the Hearts of all People to the Belief and Obedience of the Gospel of Christ that all the Kingdoms of the World may be the Kingdoms of God and of Christ Bring in the Jews and the fulness of the Gentiles that there may be one Fold and one Shepherd and let thy Son ride on victoriously conquering and to conquer and preserve thy Flock from the mischiefs that are from without Oppression and Persecution and from those that are from within Divisions and Heresies Let them walk as becomes the Subjects of the Prince of Peace Purity and Truth in Unity Holiness and Truth that they may appear to be the People of thy Holiness Rule every Member thereof by thy Grace preserve them from their Enemies within them Lusts and Defections from their Enemies without them the Incursions of Satan Make hast to fulfill the number of thine Elect and when thy Kingdom of Grace is consummate then let thy Kingdom of Glory come the day of the manifestation of thy Righteous
reject those Requests which he himself hath Commanded thee to make 2. As thou prayest in the first place that his Name may be sanctified so let that be the End of all thy Requests Be sure thou ask not any thing which may not be sutable to that End much less contrary to it And in what thou askest agreeable to that End let it be likewise for that End Ask not thy daily Bread for thy Lusts but that thou mayest Glorifie him by it and for it Ask not Pardon for thy Sin barely for thy ease from Punishment much less to make room for new Offences but that thereby his Mercy and Truth may be magnified and his Creature restored to a condition actively to serve him and glorifie him The End is first in intention and is it that draws out all the Actions and orders and directs them to that End and every Action tasts and relisheth of that End Since therefore the Sanctifying of the Name of God is or should be thy chief End and therefore is first in thy Requests Let all thy Requests and Prayers be primarily and chiefly directed to this that is or should be thy chiefest End 3. As the Glory of God should be the chief of thy desires so consequently must it be the Measure of them That which is the chiefest End must control and over-rule all other subordinate Ends if they come in competition with it For as it is of greatest value so it is of greatest force Whatsoever therefore thou askest let it be still with subordination to the Glory of God and be rather contented to be disappointed in thy other inferiour Ends than that this should in the least degree be disappointed Only know and rest assured of this truth that such is the great Goodness and Wisdom of God that he hath placed all those Requests which are of absolute necessity to be granted thee in such an order and path that the granting of them always consists with his Glory and whil'st thou seekest them thou canst not miss of glorifying him and therefore thou mayest be sure the making of his Glory the measure of thy Request shall never disappoint thee in them such as are the pardoning thy sins the delivering thee from being finally overcome with spiritual Evil but thy other requests for temporal Benefits or Deliverances or the particular Circumstances of those other as the manifestation or assurance of Pardon the degrees of spiritual Blessings or the seasons of granting them these may not always lie in the Road-way of his Glory Be content in these to wait upon him and let them still be asked with subordination to this great End but be assured that by preferring his Glory as thy chief End and subjecting the fulfilling of thy Request to the Glory of God thou shalt be no loser in the end Never any man was a loser nor ever shall be that principally intends the Glory of God though to the disappointment of his own particular Ends. Thou hast done thy duty in asking and in asking with this restriction if it tend most for the Glory of God And thou hast done thy Duty in being contented and rejoycing that thy very request is disappointed if God receive Glory thereby for thou hast that which thou diddest in the first place desire and had thy particular Request been granted and the Glory of thy Maker suffered thereby thou had'st been disappointed in this first and great Petition Sanctified be thy Name which thou hast carried along with thee as the qualification of all the rest of thy Requests and as that which thou hast as it were prayed over again in every other Petition thou hast made Assure thy self if thou canst take delight in the Glory of God though to thy own particular damage God will more abundantly recompence thy seeking of his Glory than that very Petition which is denied could have done if granted Thou servest a Bountiful Master that will surely recompence thy Love of his Glory above thy own particular advantage And thou servest a Wise Master that will recompence thee in such a kind or at such a season as shall be more sutable and more comfortable than if thou had'st been thy own carver And this thou shalt clearly and sensibly find that which thou did'st in the first place ask is granted in kind viz. the Honour of God and that which thou did'st ask for thy self though denied in kind is the more granted in value thy own particular benefit Our Saviour prayed that that bitter Cup of death might pass from him yet with submission to the Will and Glory of God Matth. 26.39 yet his Soul must be made an offering for sin and it was so The Glory and the Truth of God required it yet he was heard in that he feared Heb. 5.7 he suffers him to dye but raiseth him from death and he saw of the travail of his Soul and was satisfied Isa 53.11 Thou prayest for deliverance from any affliction from a Disease from Poverty for knowledg or Assurance in such a degree It may be it will not be so much for the Glory of God to grant it or to grant it yet as for the present to deny it First therefore pray Thy Name be hallowed and though I am for the present denied it is enough I am abundantly answered if God be glorified though I be denied Thou shalt find that none that waits upon him shall be ashamed if he grant thee not deliverance he will give thee sufficient Grace if he deny thy recovery he will give thee patience if he deny thee Riches he will give thee Contentedness If he deny thee that measure of Grace he will grant thee Humility If he deny thee that degree of Assurance he will give thee Dependance So that though thou walk in darkness for a while and hast no light yet thou shalt trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon thy God Isa 50.10 such is the Goodness of God that while we seek his Glory in the first place and other things with subordination to it our other request shall be granted either in kind or compensation Thy Kingdom Come The Kingdom of God hath several acceptations 1. His Universal Kingdom The Kingdom of his Providence which extendeth to all the Actions and Events of all his Creatures Mat. 10.39 Luke 12.6 even to the falling of a Sparrow Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in Heaven his Kingdom ruleth over all Psal 66.7 He ruleth by his Power for ever his Eyes behold the Nations And this he doth by planting originally in his Creatures their several Laws or Rules by which they move by a derivation of a continual Influence whereby they are supported and preserved in their several Motions Operations and Beings which if he should withdraw but one Moment all things would return unto their Nothing by correcting and over-ruling of all things sometimes contrary to their Nature to shew his freedom and Sovereignty but always by the mingling
and interweaving of the Actions and Motions of one Creature with another by which conjunctures though to us accidental he brings about most Wise and various Events according to his own Counsel So that while Natural Agents move necessarily according to their Natures Voluntary Agents move freely according to their liberty Contingent Agents move and are moved contingently yet every one of them apart and all of them together are guided and managed to the most infallible fulfilling of his most wise and free Counsel And by this Kingdom all things in the World though to us seemingly casual and confused are led to Ends and by Means which they themselves neither see nor intend But the same is most admirably Evinced and Discovered in the Sacred History wherein we see how his determinate and positive Counsels are most infallibly and yet most strangely brought about through divers varieties of Actions and Events seemingly most casual sometimes expresly contrary but always besides the Minds Intentions or Designs of the Instruments and Means as is evident among divers others so especially in these viz. that Counsel of God Gen. 15.13 and the strange conjunctures that were used to effect it that hapned from the dislike that grew between Joseph and his Brethren till the going of Jacob into Egypt and the Prophesie of Gen. 15.16 And the strange varieties that were used to fulfil it from the time that the Egyptian King grew jealous of them till their coming into Canaan That ever to be admired Connsel and Promise of God of sending Christ and his suffering for Mankind first manifested in Paradise Gen. 3.15 And all the several particular Predictions of him and concerning him and the most wonderful Connexion of Millions of Events many of them seemingly inconsiderable all of them seemingly casual through the whole series of 4000 years led on to the fulfilling of it even from the sin of Adam till the death of Christ and the Revelation of that Mercy for the sake of which the World was created To these may be added the Counsels and Prophesies of the Rejection of the Jews the desolation of the Temple the Conversion of the Gentiles for the most certain fulfilling whereof it is most conspicuous that all the Conjunctures of Natural Voluntary casual Agents and Events were most infallibly and certainly managed by the most powerful hand of God And this Kingdom is not that which is principally intended in this Petition for this Kingdom hath been and is come Ever since the Creation only it should be our desire that the true and wise knowledg and observation of this Kingdom may enter into the hearts of all men that thereby we may admire and adore his Wisdom and Power in the governing and disposing of all things that we may depend upon his All-sufficiency submit unto the Dispensations of this Government attribute all the Successes Events and Occurrences in the World to his Justice Power and Providence 2. His Kingdom over his Reasonable Creatures Men and Angels which though they are under the general Kingdom of his Providence in the consideration above mentioned yet they are under a more especial Kingdome then other Creatures To these he hath given Understanding and Will and so they are capable not only of a subjection to the Will of his Counsel as they are Creatures but of an Active Obedience to the Will of his Command as they are reasonable Creatures and so are subjects of his Justice in Rewards and Punishments as well as of his Power And in reference to this Kingdom it is said Psal 89.14 Justice and Judgment are the habitation of his Throne And Psal 45.6 The Seepter of his Kingdom is a right Scepter Now the Administration of this Kingdom consisteth especially in these things 1. In giving the Children of Men a Law to be their Rule 2. In dispensing Rewards and Punishments according to the obedience or disobedience of this Law 3. In Protection 1. As touching the Law given to Man In the first Creation of Man he did acquaint Man with his Will and Mind and surely by some special Manifestation of it did reveal that Law unto him which should be a Rule of Righteousness to him and all his posterity And as he gave to all things propensions inclinations and motions suitable to the several degrees of their beings so to Man he gave a Law or Rule suitable to his Nature and by a Manifestation convenient for the condition of his Nature And though Man by his Fall introduced that disorder and disconformity to that Law whereby he became unable to keep it yet many of those Principles of Righteousness which God had manifested unto him he retained in his knowledge and traduced to his posterity And these as they grew corrupted by the corruption of our Nature and forgotten so he did re-imprint them upon men by the several Acts of his Providence Sometimes by new publication of his Law unto some persons which was by that means traduced over to divers others thus the Law given to Noah the Law given to the Jewes was questionless propagated and derived over to others by tradition and relation Sometimes by inlightning and exciting men of Eminence as divers of the Heathen Law-givers who were Eminent in their generations but most ordinarily and universally sending down into the Consciences of men some discoveries of his Will and inclinations to acknowledg them and to obey them Rom. 2.15 a Law written in their Hearts their Consciences also bearing witness So that there can scarcely be found any time or person wherein God's Providence did not by some of these wayes convey at least some Directions of Righteousness which should be the Rule by which they should live and by which they should be judged So that they that have sinned without the Law should perish without the Law and they that have sinned in the Law should be judged by the Law Rom. 2.12 that is Somewhat of the Will of God touching Righteousness is derived to all men though to some more to some less to some by a more clear Dispensation to some by a more obscure Dispensation yet such is the Exact Justice of God that though he might Judge all Mankind according to the Exactest Rule of his Law given to Man even in his Innocency yet that Every Mouth may be stopped he will Judge them according to so much of his Law as he hath communicated to them He will not Judge the Heathen that never heard of the Law of God so clearly published to the Jewes by that Law but by that manifestation or conviction of Righteousness that he hath Thus if he sin he shall be condemned without the Law that is without calling in any other Law to Judge him by then that Law which hath been in some measure declared unto him 2. As the Administration of this Kingdom over men is by giving them a Law so there is likewise an Execution of that Law by Rewards of Obedience and by Punishments of Disobedience And
Judgment when the Subjects of thy Kingdom shall be delivered from all death and sorrow and shall inherit that Kingdom which thou hast prepared for and from all Eternity And keep all our hearts looking for and hasting unto thy coming passing our time here in all Holy Conversation and Godliness 2 Pet. 3.11 that so when our Lord cometh he may find us so doing and then come Lord Jesus come quickly Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Though the Will of God be one indivisible Act yet in regard of the Manifestation of it to us it comes under a double apprehension 1. The Will of his Counsel 2. The Will of his Commands This is that which he wills to be done by his Creature The other is that he wills shall be done upon his Creature 1. The Will of his Counsel whereby he hath from all Eternity appointed and ordered most Wisely and Infallibly and Irresistibly all the Acts and Events of all his Creatures so that those things that seem to us most naturally or most freely to move are subservient in all their actings to this most free and eternal Counsel of his and all those Occurences which seem to us most inconsiderable or contingent are preordained by the same most Infallible Counsel and make the Instruments of bringing about the greatest Concernments in the world Isa 43.14 I will work and who shall let it Isa 14.24 The Lord of hosts hath sworn saying Surely as I have thought so shall it come to pass and as I have purposed it shall stand Isa 14.27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed and who shall disannul it and his hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back Isa 46.9 10. I am God and there is none like me declaring the End from the Beginning and from antient times the things that are not yet done saying My Counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure Insomuch that those various and instable and free motions of the Will and Mind of Man which seem to come under no Rule nor Government but of himself are most Exactly ordered to the bringing to pass the Purposes of God Prov. 19.21 There are many devices in the heart of man nevertheless the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand Prov. 20.24 Man's goings are of the Lord how can a man then understand his own way Jer. 10.23 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in a man that walketh to direct his steps And herein we may observe the most deep and unsearchable Wisdom Power and Purity of God that whiles Man worketh freely yet therein God worketh thereby powerfully and while Man worketh Sinfully yet God worketh thereby Purely and Justly The freedom of the Will of Man is not controled by the infallibility of the Counsel of God nor can interrupt or disappoint it and the sinfulness of the will and ways of man is not justified by the Infallibility and Purity of the Counsel of God nor doth it pollute it This is admirably set forth in the actings of those two most Powerful Monarchs the Assyrian Isa 10.5 6 7. O Assyrian the Rod of mine anger and the Staff in their hand is my indignation I will send him against an hypocritical Nation c. Howbeit he meaneth not so The Assyrian King did what he did most freely most presumptuously and proudly and arrogantly attributing his Successes to his own Power had no thought of Justice to punish the defections of Judah or vindicating the breach of their Covenant with God but to satisfie his own Covetousness and Ambition Vers 13. For he saith By the strength of mine hand have I done this and by my Wisdom c. Little thinking that the Wrath and Justice of God was the Staff in his Hand the Strength of his Power But in all this God doth most wisely and justly manage the Distempers of a proud ambitious injurious and covetous King to the fulfilling of the most Wise and Just Counsels of his own Will without staining any part there of with the Vices of that person by which they were acted but punishing those Vices in the Instrument which were instrumental in the fulfilling of his Counsel Vers 12. Wherefore when I have performed my whole Will upon Sion and upon Jerusalem I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his high looks And as thus in the Assyrian so after in the Persian Monarch Isa 45.1 Thus saith the Lord to his Anointed to Cyrus whose right hand I have holden to subdue Nations before him Now this Will of Gods Counsel is for the most part a secret Will till it be fulfilling Psal 77.19 Thy way O Lord is in the Sea and thy foot-steps are not known Though sometimes for the vindicating of his own Power and convincing men that he governeth all things according to the Counsel of his Will he is pleased to proclaim it in Prophecies and Predictions the great and undeniable Evidences of his Eternal Counsel and Government Isa 41.23 Shew the things that are to come that we may know ye are gods Isa 48.3 5. Isa 42.9 Isa 45.21 Who hath declared this from ancient time Who hath told it from that time have not I the Lord 2. The Will of his Commands This is the Rule of our Actions Isa 59.21 My words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed c. Deut. 30.14 The word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it Micha 6.9 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God The Will of Gods Counsel is Secret but the Will of his Command is Revealed unto us in these three great Directions of our Lives 1. The Word of Conscience the Law written in the heart or natural Conscience Rom. 2.14 15. So much of his Will is by some means of Providence discovered even to a Natural Conscience as leaves a man unexcusable 2. The Word of the Spirit of God speaking either secretly in the heart or by some occurrence or dispensation of Providence thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying This is the way walk in it Isa 30.21 3. The Word of both Testaments The Natural Conscience is corrupted and many times doth not his duty the word of the Spirit of God is not so easily discerned by our fleshly Nature and many times we mistake the voice of our own spirit for the Spirit of God he hath therefore in his infinite Wisdome and Mercy given us a standing Rule the Rule of his written Word obvious to our sence and whatever other dictates there shall be we are sure not to Err in following it Isa 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony for if they walk not according to that Rule
for Thee Give us a sense of that infinite debt of Obedience that we owe unto Thee for our Being that product of an infinite Power and an infinite Motion for our well-beings our restitution in Christ without whom our very Being would have been our burden Give us a sense of the great imperfections of all our best performances that need no less a Sacrifice than the Blood and Intercession of Christ to wash them from that guilt that would damn us if we had nothing else to answer for Give us a sense of thy Great Condescention to thy weak and sinful Creatures that art pleased to deliver unto us the knowledge of thy Will and when we by Nature are unable to conceive it or to believe it dost give us Light to understand it and Faith to assent unto it that thy Law is Holy Just and Good and when for all these convictions of thy Truth our hearts the seats of Rebellion do oppose it in the love and practice of it thou art pleased to send down a powerful working of thy Spirit to chase out of us those oppositions of our corrupted Nature and to make us willing in the day of thy power and to strive with and subdue our hearts to any measure of the Love of thy Will and when notwithstanding all this our poor and lean performances are mingled with much of our own deadness contrary motions and pollutions yet thou art pleased to sprinkle our Obedience with the Blood of Christ to mingle it with his perfect Righteousness to forgive the defects to cover the imperfections to rectifie the deformities of all our Obedience to pardon what is ours our sins and defects and to accept and reward what is thine own as if it were ours when thou workest all our works in us and yet rewardest us as if we had wrought them And as in the distinct consideration of the Will of the Counsels and Commands of God we are to desire that his Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven so in the conjunct consideration of both these Wills There is not an Action or Event in the world but it falls out by the determinate Counsel and Fore-appointment of God and yet to the production of these Events we find a mixture of actions that expresly thwart the Command of God The greatest Event and of the greatest concernment that the World ever knew or shall know was the Death of Jesus Christ and though he was thus delivered by the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God yet the Jews took and by wicked hands crucified and slew him Acts 2.23 The Counsel of God was a most Wise and Merciful Counsel the action of the Jews that fulfilled this Counsel was a most cruel and unjust action yet the injustice of the instrument did no way affect the Counsel of God nor the Counsel of God no way justifie the action of the Jews witness that heavy Curse that upon their own imprecation lyes upon the actors and their posterity unto this day His Blood be upon us and upon our Children Matth. 27.25 The man sins most willingly and though the Wise God intermingle occurrences that make the sinful actions of men instrumental to his Counsels yet their Guilt is no less and no less their own by being subservient to his Counsel God hath given thee a word of Command He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require at thy hands Micah 6.8 Thou needest not nor maist seek out for a Rule of thy actions in the Secret Counsel of God nor endeavour to justifie thy actions because in order to the fulfilling of those Counsels but keep to that Rule which he hath given To the Law and to the Testimony Deut. 29.29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things that are revealed belong to us and to our Children for ever Therefore O Lord teach me so to wait upon the Will of thy Counsels and to be instrumental in them that I may nevertheless ever obey the Will of thy Command that while I act thy Will as a Creature I may never neglect it as a Man or a Christian Thy Wisdom it is true can bring about thy Counsels by the sinful actions of men and as thou turnest the hearts of men as Rivers of waters so thou turnest the sinful motions of the heart as a skilful workman can turn the streams of water so that whilest it moves naturally it shall bring about Ends that are of a higher constitution But surely if thou canst make those works of disobedience serve thy Providence much more canst thou use such actions to the fulfilling of thy Counsels that are suitable to thy Commands therefore as the Will of thy Counsels is done in Heaven by the Angels and Blessed Spirits in such a way as is suitable to thy Commands So let thy Will be done on Earth that while we serve thy Providence we may nevertheless Obey thy Will and whiles we closely observe what thou requirest that we may Contentedly Patiently Cheerfully and Thankfully submit unto and receive what thou in thy most Wise Counsel dispensest Give us this day our daily Bread Our Saviour directs us Matth. 6.33 to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and then promiseth that the things of this life shall be added to us And according to the Method of this Doctrine and Promise so is the Method of this Prayer first to seek the Glory Kingdom and Will of God and then for those things that are necessary for our selves And though he hath promised that they shall be added to us yet he directs to pray for what he hath thus promised to add And this is the course of God's Will and our Duty that we should begg of God what he hath certainly promised to give The Promises of God as they are the warrants of our Prayers so our Prayers are required though not as causes yet as means of fulfilling his Promises And then a Promise is most suitable and fitly performed when it is sued out by our Prayers When God had promised to build the ruined places and plant that which was desolate and had engaged his own Name and Truth to perform it I the Lord have spoken it and I will do it Ezech. 36.36 yet requires their prayers to precede the performance of it I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them and that amongst other upon these Considerations 1. To shew our Dependance upon him All Creatures as they are essentially depending upon God in their being and preservation so according to the measure of their power they testifie that Dependance Psal 104.21 The young Lyons seek their meat from God Psal 147.9 He giveth the Beasts their food and to the young Ravens which cry Psal 145.15 The Eyes of all wait upon thee and thou givest them their meat in due season There is a secret and unknown testification even in the
an unsearchable bottomless Fountain of Power as well to pardon as to punish Our Temptations unto sin meet us upon every occasion from without us and from within us and we have no wisdom in our selves to foresee them no strength nor yet any will to oppose them but thou hast infinite Power to foresee to prevent to divert them and to deliver from them The least of Evils armed with the guilt of any one sin will like a weight of Lead press us into an impossibility of recovery from it the enemy of our Souls is conversant within us and about us and ready upon every occasion to seduce us into sin and to torment and disorder us for it and his power and strength and subtilty is beyond our power to resist and indeed he finds us willing captives but as thou hast Authority so thou hast Power to restrain him to discover him to fortifie and strengthen us against him and to deliver us from him And therefore I here lay hold of the strength of Omnipotency to grant these my Petitions but this is not all And the Glory Omnipotency though it be one addition of strength to our Prayers yet it is not enough The Leper in the Gospel said truly to our Saviour If thou wilt thou canst make me clean but yet he doth not conclude Thou canst therefore thou wilt but thy Glory is the great End of all thy Works the End of thy great Work of Creation Prov. 16.4 the End of thy Son 's coming into the World to redeem Mankind Luk. 2.14 the End of thy Eternal Counsel in electing some to Life and leaving others Rom. 9.22 It is the only Tribute that all thy Works can give thee for their Being and Preservation and that which thou accountest most dear and peculiar unto thy self Isa 42.8.48.11 I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory I will not give to another And in all these my requests I have sought nothing but what conduceth to thy Glory In granting what I have here asked the Benefit is ours but the Glory is thine In it Thou hast the Glory of thy Mercy the Glory of thy Power the Glory of thy Bounty and Goodness the Glory of thy Truth and Faithfulness thou hast said of old that thy Glory shall be revealed and that all flesh shall see it Isa 40.5 that they shall sanctifie thy Name Isa 29.23 that thou wilt set up a Kingdom that shall never be destroyed and shall break in pieces and consume other Kingdoms and shall stand for ever Dan. 2.44 Dan. 7.27 That thy counsel shall stand and thou wilt do all thy pleasure Isa 46.10 That thou wilt give us a new heart and a new spirit and wilt cause us to walk in thy Statutes and to keep thy Judgments and do them Ezech. 36.26 27. That verily we shall be fed Psal 37.3 That though the young Lions do lack and suffer hunger yet they that seek thee shall not want any good thing Psal 34.10 That if we return unto thee thou wilt have Mercy and abundantly Pardon Isa 55.7 That thou art a God Pardoning iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.7 That thou wilt not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but wilt with the Temptation make a way to escape 1 Cor. 10.13 That if we call upon thee in the day of trouble thou wilt deliver us and we shall glorifie thee Psal 50.15 And yet though thou the great God of Power and Truth hast spoken all this and wilt do it yet that thou maist have the due acknowledgment of our subjection and dependance upon thee thou wilt be enquired of for this to do it for us Ezek. 36.36 37. And although we are so sinful that we cannot so much as deserve thy pity in our greatest misery yet for thy Name 's sake and for thy Glory's sake hear us Psal 106.8 For thy own sake Isa 48.11 And though all the Praises and Acknowledgments of thy Creatures add nothing to thy Glory for thine is an essential infinite absolute independent Glory yet since thou art pleased to accept of this our poor and our only Tribute and to take it in good part from thy Creature we will thankfully acknowledge thy great condescension to us in accepting of our Prayers and granting our Requests giving us liberty through thy Son to be intercessors for our selves for others nay for thine own Glory and Kingdom and the manifestation of it What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Give me Grace in all my wants and necessities to fly to thee by Prayer and in all my supplies and deliverances to return unto thee with Thanksgiving For Ever Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations Psal 145.13 A Kingdom which shall in time break and subdue all the Kingdoms of this World and the Kingdom of darkness Sin Death and Satan And as is thy Kingdom such is thy Power infinite in extent infinitely more comprehensive than the vastest wants or desires of thy Creatures infinite in duration unexhaustible by all the successions of Time and of Eternity it self And as is thy Kingdom and Power such is thy Glory an Eternal and endless Glory before the birth of Time when nothing had a Being but thy self thou had'st Infinite Self-sufficiency and an incomprehensible fulness of Glory Joh. 17.5 And when thou did'st in time create the World it did not contribute unto thy fulness of Glory but thou did'st communicate and imprint some of thy Glory upon it and all the Glory that thy Creatures bring unto thee is nothing else but the reflection of thine own Glory a recoyl of that Beam that came from thy Sun yet though the Glory of thy Essence cannot receive any increase by this reflection yet thou art pleased everlastingly to perpetuate this thy reflexive Glory by the immortal Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect to whom thou wilt unto all Eternity communicate a fulness of the Vision of thy Self according to the measure of their perfected but finite Natures and from that communication of thy Glory to them they shall everlastingly return Glory to thy Name saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Amen Rev. 5.13 THE Lord's Prayer PARAPHRASED Our Father O Eternal and Glorious Lord God for thou gavest at first Being to the Common Parents of all Mankind Thou art our Father by Nature we owe our own immediate Being more to Thee than we do to our immediate Parents for thou art the Father of our Spirits Thou art our Father by our Preservation we could not support our selves in being one moment of time without the uncessant influence of thy Providence and Goodness Thou art our Father by Adoption receiving us in a more special manner to be thy Children in and through Jesus Christ
In all the course and passages of our lives thou hast manifested unto us the Love and Compassion and Tenderness and Goodness and Affection and Kindness of a Father Forgiving our offences Healing our back-slidings Pitying our weaknesses Supplying our wants Delivering us from dangers Accepting our weak endeavours to please and serve thee Providing things necessary for us and an Immortal inheritance of Glory and Happiness Blessed be thy Name that art pleased even from Heaven to commissionate us to come unto thee to call upon thee under that encourageing comfortable and near Relation and Title of our Father which carries in it the most full and ample assurance of Audience and Acceptation for with whom can we expect Acceptation or Access from whom can we expect the concession of what we need if not from Our Father to whom should we resort for supplies but to our Father Which art in Heaven It is true the Fathers of our Flesh did bear to us Tenderness and Affection but alas they were Mortal Fathers Fathers on earth Fathers that either are dead or must dye And besides though their affections might be large to us they were straitned in Power they were Earthly Fathers and possibly their affections to us were larger than their ability But thou art our Father an Abiding Everlasting Father a Father in Heaven As thy Love is abundantly extended to us as a Father so thy Power and Ability to answer us is as large as thy Goodness Thou art an Heavenly Father an All-sufficient Father we are not straitned in thy Love to us because thou art our Father neither are we straitned in thy Power Wisdom Goodness for thou art Infinite in all thy Attributes Isa 66.1 And yet though thou art in Heaven as thy Throne yet Earth is thy Footstool though thou dwellest in the Heavens by the glorious manifestation of thy Majesty yet the Heaven 1 Kings 8.27 nor the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee Thou art in all places by thy Power Presence and Essence Our Prayers have no long journey to thee for thou art near unto us and acquainted with all our thoughts and wants and desires And thou art not only present to hear our Prayers but to Relieve supply support us and art pleased by a special Promise to make the poor cottage of an humble sincere praying Soul to be thy Temple and to be present there Psal 145.18 and to be near to all them that in integrity call upon thee Hallowed be thy Name And since thy Glory and Honour is the great End of all thy works we desire that it may be the beginning and end of all our Prayers and Services Let thy great Name be Glorious and Glorified and Sanctified through all the World Isa 11.9 Let the knowledge of thee fill all the Earth as the waters cover the Sea Let that be done in the World that may most advance thy Glory Let all thy works Praise thee Let thy Wisdom Power Justice Goodness Mercy and Truth be evident unto all Man-kind that they may observe acknowledge and admire it and Magnifie the Name of thee the Eternal God In all the dispensations of thy Providence enable us to see thee and to sanctifie thy Name in our hearts with Thankfulness in our lips with Thanksgiving in our lives with Dutifulness and Obedience Enable us to live to the Honour of that great Name of thine by which we are called and that as we profess our selves to be thy Children so we may study and sincerely endeavour to be like thee in all Goodness and Righteousness that we may thereby bring Glory to thee Our Father which art in Heaven that we and all Man-kind may have high and Honourable thoughts touching thee in some measure suitable to thy Glory Majesty Goodness Wisdom Bounty and Purity and may in all our words and actions manifest these inward Thoughts touching thee with suitable and becoming Words and Actions Thy Kingdom come Let thy Kingdom of Grace come Let all the World become the true subjects of thee the Glorious God And let the Gospel of thy Kingdom the everlasting Gospel run victoriously over the face of the whole World Revel 11.15 that the Kingdoms of the Earth may become the Kingdom of God and of his Christ Let thy Grace and thy Fear and thy Love and thy Law rule in all our hearts and in the hearts of all Man-kind And subdue and exterminate the Kingdom of darkness the Kingdom of Satan the Kingdom of Anti-Christ bring all Men to the knowledge and Obedience of the Truth and let the Scepter of thy Kingdom be set up and upheld as long as the Sun endureth And let thy Kingdom of Glory come Also make us fit Vessels of it and that having this hope we may perfect holiness in thy fear 2 Cor. 7.1 2 Pet. 3.12 waiting for and hastning unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the day wherein he shall deliver up the Kingdom unto the Father 1 Cor. 15.24.28 that God may be all in all Thy will be done And since thy Will is a most Holy Righteous Gratious Just and Wise Will let it be evermore our choice to make thy will to be ours and to resign up our wills unto thee and to thy Will Let the will of thy Counsel be done and although we know it is not in the power of Men or Devils to hinder it yet so we do testifie our duty unto thee in praying that nothing may impede or retard the Will of thy Counsels for thy Counsels are full of Goodness and Benignity and Purity and Righteousness And we beg thee to give us hearts most entirely to wait upon thee in whatsoever thou shall appoint concerning us that if thou shalt give us Prospeirity and success in this life we may receive it with all Thankfulness and Humility and use it with Sobriety Moderation and Faithfulness if thou shalt send us Adversity we may entertain it with all Submissiveness Patience Contentedness chearfully submitting to the Dispensation of our Heavenly Father ever acknowledging thy Will to be the best Will and that whereunto it becomes us with all Humility to submit to and in the mid'st of all to rejoyce that our Portion and Patrimony and Happiness is reserved for us in a better life And as we desire the Will of thy Counsels may be done upon us so we desire the Will of thy Commands may be done by us and by all Man-kind that we may conform our Hearts and Lives to the Rule of thy Blessed Word that we may live in all Piety to thee our God in all Righteousness towards men in all Sobriety towards our selves that we may follow those Precepts and Patterns of Holiness Righteousness Justice Temperance Patience Goodness Charity and all other Moral and Christian Vertues that thou hast in thy Word commanded or propounded for our Practice and Imitation In Earth at it is in Heaven And that this Obedience unto Thee and thy
Will may be performed by us and all Man-kind in some measure answerable to what is done by thy Glorious Angels in Heaven that we may do it Chearfully without Murmuring Sincerely without Dissimulation Speedily without Delay or Procrastination and Constantly and Uncessantly without Deficiency or Fainting And that we may not at all fail in our duty herein be pleased daily more and more to reveal thy Heavenly Will unto us that so our Wills on Earth may answer thy Will in Heaven and keep us alwaies careful and circumspect in sincerity and integrity of heart to keep close unto it that neither the corruptions of our own hearts the seducements of Satan the deceits of this present World may at any time withdraw us from the Obedience of thy most Perfect and Holy Will Give us this day our daily Bread And now most Gracious Father as we have Petitioned Thee for things that more immediately concern thy Glory Kingdom and Will we beg Thee to give us leave to Petition Thee for some things that more immediately concern our selves Blessed Lord thou hast given us our Being and yet when thou hast so given it us we cannot support our selves in that Being one day nay onemoment without thy further Influence and Bounty We therefore beg of Thee our Daily Bread and in that all the Blessings and convenient Necessaries for our support We beg bread for this Life Thou that feedest the young Ravens when they cry we that are thy Children beg of Thee to feed us with food convenient for us Thou that cloathest the Lillies of the field give us cloathing for our covering and defence and all those necessaries and convenient supplies for our wants and conditions And because it is thy Blessing that giveth our Food ability to nourish us our Cloaths to keep us warm and all other outward supplies their serviceableness and usefulness for our Conditions we beg thy Blessing may come along with thy Benefits And because it is part as well of our Duty as of that State and Condition wherein thou hast placed us in this Life that in the sweat of our brows we should eat our bread enable us we beseech Thee for the Duties of our several Callings and Imployments and bless our Labours that we may serve Thee faithfully therein and may be enabled thereby honestly to provide for our selves and Families And as we beg of Thee this meat that perisheth the convenient supplies of our external conditions in this life so we beseech Thee give us that Bread that may feed us unto everlasting life an Interest in the Righteousness and Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ thy Grace and the Direction Guidance and Sanctification of thy Holy Spirit whereby we may be directed strengthned and comforted in a walking according to thy Will here and may everlastingly enjoy thy Presence and Glory hereafter And forgive us our Trespasses Thou art the great Creator Lord and Governor of all the World and art in a more special relation the Soveraign the Father the great Benefactor of Man-kind and therefore may'st most justly expect from the children of Men our uttermost Love and Fear and Reverence and Obedience and thou hast by the Light of Nature and by that greater Light of thy Holy Word revealed unto us a most Holy and Righteous Law to which we owe a most entire and sincere Obedience and yet notwithstanding all these obligations we poor sinful Creatures do daily and hourly violate that Holy Law of thine both in Thought Word and Deed we omit much of what thou requirest of us and we commit often what thou forbiddest us we are deficient in the remembrance of thee in our Love to thee in our Fear of thee We often omit those Duties that thou requirest of Invocation Thanksgiving Dependance and when we perform them they want that due measure of Love Humility Reverence Intention of mind that thou most justly dost require and deserve we omit those duties of Charity Justice Righteousness that we owe to others that Sobriety Temperance Moderation Vigilance that relate to our selves and we daily commit offences against thee the Glorious God against our neighbours against our selves contrary to the injunctions of thy Holy Law revealed to us and these we often reiterate against Mercies Chastisements Promises of better Obedience And although many of our Neglects and Offences immediately concern our selves or others yet they are all offences against thy Holy and Righteous Law and against that Subjection and Obedience and Duty and Thankfulness that we owe unto thee And when we have done all this we are not able to make thee any satisfaction for any of the least of our offences or neglects but only to confess our Guilt and to beg thy Mercy Pardon and Forgiveness We therefore come unto thee who art our Lord and Soveraign whose Prerogative it is to forgive Iniquity Transgression and Sin to thee which art our Father who art full of Pity and Compassion to thy Children though disobedient and backsliding Children to thee who art a Father of Mercies as well as of Men and hast delight in Forgiving thy disobedient and returning and repenting Children and we confess our Sins our backslidings our failings And upon the account of thy own Mercy and Goodness upon the account of thy Son's Merits and Sufferings upon the account of thy own Promises contained in that Word whereupon thou hast caused thy Servants to trust Pardon the sins of our Duties and the sins of our Lives the sins of our Natures and the sins of our Practice the sins of our Thoughts Words and Actions the sins of Omission and the sins of Commission the sins of Infirmity Failing and daily Incursion and the sins of Wilfulness Presumption and Rebellion whereof we stand guilty before thee Our Request we confess is great The Debt whereof we desire Forgiveness is a great and a vast debt but we ask it of the great and glorious Monarch of the World we ask it of our gracious and merciful Father and from that glorious God who rejoyceth more in multiplying Pardons upon repenting sinners than the Children of Men can delight in offending As we forgive them that Trespass against us And besides all this we have been taught by him that knew thy Will to the full that if we from our hearts forgive those that trespass against us thou that art our Heavenly Father wilt forgive us our Trespasses against thee Upon this Promise of thine we lay hold In obedience to thy Commands we forgive our brethren their offences against us and beg thee therefore to make good that thy Promise of Forgive us our offences It is true our forgiving of others cannot merit thy Pardon of us When we forgive we do but our duty because thou commandest it And besides the Trespass that we remit is but to our Brother and is but a small inconsiderable trespass in comparison of those Trespasses whereof we beg the forgiveness of Thee his Trespass not an hundred pence ours