AN EXPOSITION ON THE Lord's Prayer WITH A Catechistical Explication Thereof by way of QVESTION and ANSWER For the Instructing of YOUTH To which is added some SERMONS On Providence and the Excellent Advantages of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures By EZEKIEL HOPKINS late Lord Bishop of London-Derry LONDON Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the Kings-Arms and Edward Mory at the Three Bibles in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1692. EZEKIEL HOPKINS EPISCOPUS DERENSIS Printed for Nathanael Ranew Imprimatur Guil. Lancaster R. P. D. Henrico Ep. Lond. Ã Sacris Domesticis April 7. 1692. THE PREFACE TO THE READER Christian Reader THe following Discourses upon that Excellent and Divine Prayer of our Blessed Saviour contain so much of Practical Divinity necessary to be known by all Christians and are so Solidly and Judiciously handled that they need no Epistle Recommendatory unto the World having the Stamp of the Divine Authority upon the Truths contained in them But if any shall curiously enquire whether this Reverend and Learned Prelate designed and finished them for the Press I may truly return the same Answer that is given in Print by the present Bishop of Cork and Ross to the same Question in his Epistle to the Reader before this Author's Exposition on the Ten Commandments namely That they were Transcribed by himself and by him deposited in the hands of a Minister whom he could intrust to be made Publick after his Decease whose Epistle should have been prefixed hereunto but that he is far distant in another Nation and the Press cannot tarry so long for it the Book being just finished And as a further Confirmation that his Lordship intended it should be made Publick appears by his so often quoting this his Discourse on the Lord's Prayer in his Treatise on the Commandments which could not be seen or read by others but by the Printing of it Vpon which many Persons have been very desirous and inquisitive after it Vnto this large and general Exposition on the Lord's Prayer there is added a brief and short Catechistical Explication thereof by way of Question and Answer made use of by his Lordship for the instructing of the younger and more ignorant Christians in the Knowledge and Vnderstanding of those Divine and Heavenly Truths contained in this most Excellent Prayer And for a Conclusion of all there are added several Sermons Preached by this Learned Prelate upon the Providence of God and on the Excellency and Usefulness of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures All which have been diligently and carefully perused by several Persons of the Author's Acquaintance both of the Clergy and others with very good Acceptance and Satisfaction and the whole is now with Approbation exposed unto publick view And that the present Publication of them may tend much to the promoting of the Honour and Glory of God and the Edification of many Souls in Grace and Holiness is the hearty Prayer of the Publisher Farewell The Vanity of the World with other Sermons in Octavo Discourses and Sermons on several Scriptures in Octavo An Exposition on the Ten Commandments with other Sermons in Quarto All Written by Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry and Sold by Nathanael Ranew A Practical EXPOSITION ON THE LORD'S PRAYER Matth. VI. 9 10. c. After this manner therefore Pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this Day our daily Bread And forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever Amen HAving often seriously considered with my self of the great use that is made of this most excellent Form of Prayer composed by our Blessed Lord and Saviour himself as also of the great Benefit and Advantage that might accrue unto all those that with understanding make a due use of it in their daily Devotions I thought it might be very necessary for your Instruction and greatly conducible unto your Salvation to lay before your consideration as brief and succinct an Exposition thereof as the large extent and various copiousness of the matter contained therein will permit The Blessed Apostle St. Paul in 1 Cor. 14.15 tells us That he would pray with the Spirit and he would pray with Vnderstanding also And indeed when we pray to pray with Understanding what we pray is one great requisite to make our Prayers Spiritual and through the prevailing Intercession of Jesus Christ to become acceptable unto God the Father But to mutter over a road of Words only as the Papists are taught and as multitudes of many ignorant Persons among us do also without understanding what they signifie or being duly affected with those Wants and Necessities which we beg of God the Supplies of is not to offer up a Prayer unto the Almighty but only to make a Charm Now because there is no Form of Prayer that ever we have heard or read of that is deservedly so much in use as this of our Lord's is I shall endeavour in some Discourses thereupon to unfold to you those Voluminous Requests which we offer up unto God when we thus pray as our Saviour here teacheth us wherein as I doubt not but as I may greatly instruct the Ignorance of many so possibly I may bring very much to the remembrance of those who have attained to great understanding in Religion those things which may provoke their Zeal and excite their Affections and both these Undertakings through the Blessing of God upon it may be very usefully profitable to enable them to pray with Understanding and with the Spirit also when they approach the Throne of Grace to present their Petitions unto the Great God as by the Intercession so in the Words of his dear Son In this Chapter which contains in it a great part of our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount our Lord lays before his Hearers several Directions concerning two necessary Duties in a Christian's Practice and they are Alms-giving and Prayer the former a Duty relating more immediately unto Men the latter a Duty in a more especial manner respecting God himself in both which he not only cautions us against but strictly forbids all Ostentation and Vain-Glory Therefore says he when thou dost thine Alms do not sound a Trumpet before thee for this is the Practice of Hypocrites that they may have Glory of Men verse 2. And when thou prayest be not as the Hypocrites for they love to pray in the Synagogues and Corners of the Streets that they may be seen of Men verse 5. Thus must we not do in either of these Cases For as we must not give Alms that we may be seen of Men so neither must we pray that we may be heard and observed of Men For what can be more absurd and ridiculous as well as wicked and impious than to be begging Applause from some when we
Kingdom and then shew you how this Kingdom comes And lastly what we pray for in presenting this Petition to God Thy Kingdom come First We must distinguish of God's Kingdom Now the Kingdom of God is Two-fold either Universal or more Particular and Peculiar The one is his Kingdom of Power the other is his Kingdom of Grace First His Vniversal Kingdom which extends over all things in Heaven and Earth yea and Hell it self And so he is the sole Monarh of the whole World and all the Princes and Potentates of the Earth are but his Vice-Roys and Vicegerents that Govern under and should Govern for him For he is that Blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords as the Apostle Styles him 1 Tim. 6.15 and his Kingdom ruleth over all Psal 103.19 It is true in this Vniversal Kingdom there are many Rebels that would not have him to Reign over them Many that daily rise up in Arms break his Laws defy his Justice and reject his Mercy Many that were their Power equal to their Malice would Dethrone and Depose him from his Sovereignty Whole Legions of Infernal Spirits are continually mustering up all their Forces and drawing wretched sinful Men into the Conspiracy and their quarrel is for no less than Dominion and Empire who shall be King God or Satan yet all their attempts are but vain and frustrate and in spite of all their impotent rage God's Kingdom shall stand and as it was from Everlasting so shall it be to Everlasting for thine is the Kingdom and Power for ever and ever And therefore the most wicked of all God's Creatures are still his Subjects not subject indeed to his Laws for so they break his Bonds asunder and cast away his Cords from them but they are subject to his Power and Providence and that in Three respects As it grants Permission As it imposeth Restraints And as it inflicts Punishments First All are God's Subjects in that they can do nothing without his Permission Neither the Devil that Arch-Creature nor the worst of his Instruments can so much as touch an hair of our Head unless leave be granted them Yea we find that a whole Legion of Devils after they were dispossessed of their usurped abode durst not so much as house themselves in a Herd of Swine without first craving leave of our Saviour Mark 5.12 And all the Villainies and Out-rages that have ever been committed in the World have had their pass from God's Permission without which the Lusts of Men as furious and eager as they are must needs have miscarrying Wombs and dry Breasts Nor is it any taint at all to the pure Holiness of God that he doth thus permit the wickedness of Men which if he pleased he might prevent For though we are obliged to keep others from sin when it lies in our power to do it yet no such Obligation lies upon God though he can keep the wickedst Wretch on Earth from ever sinning any more yet he permits Wisely for the greater advancement of his own Glory and the Exercise of his Peoples Graces and at the last he punishes Justly Secondly His Kingdom is over all in that he can bend in and restrain his Rebellious Subjects as he pleaseth Sometimes he doth it by cutting short their Power of doing mischief He chains up those Mad Men and takes from them those Swords Arrows and Fire-brands which otherwise they might hurl abroad both to their own and others hurt Sometimes he raiseth up an opposite Power against them that they cannot break through to the Commission of their sins so the Jews would often have taken Christ and put him to Death but they feared the People whom his Miracles and Cures had obliged unto him Sometimes Providence casts in some seasonable diversion and thus he over-ruled Joseph's Brethren restraining them from killing him by the Providential passing by of Merchants that way And sometimes by removing the Objects against which they intended to sin So Herod intended to put Peter to death but that very night God sent his Angel to work his escape and prevented that wickedness Many other ways there may be of his Exercising his Sovereignty and Dominion over his most Rebellious Creatures who though they are Slaves to their Lusts yet God holds their Chain in his own hand slacking it by his permission and sometimes straitning it by his Powerful restraints And therefore we find in Scripture that God hath a certain measure for Mens sins beyond which they shall not exceed Zach. 5. There is mention made of an Ephah of Wickedness And this signifies to us that though wicked Men break the bounds of his Laws yet they cannot break the bounds of his Providence God hath set them their measure which they can neither fill without his Permission nor exceed because of his restraint Thirdly God declares his Kingdom to be over all by inflicting deserved punishments on the most stubborn and rebellious Sinners though they transgress his Laws and provoke his Holiness yet they shall never out-brave his Justice but he will certainly humble them if not to Repentance yet to Hell and Perdition Luke 19.17 Those mine Enemies that would not that I should Reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me And therefore we see how God hath erected Trophies and Monuments to the Praise of his dread Power and Servere Justice out of the Ruins of the most Proud and Insolent Sinners Pharaoh who was both the great Type and Instrument of the Devil how did God break that stubborn Wretch with Plague upon Plague and one Misery after another For to this very purpose God set him up that he might shew his Signs and Wonders upon him And thus God deals with many others in this Life by some Signal and Remarkable Punishments making them Examples to deter others from the like Crimes But thus he deals with all his Rebels in Hell for even that is one and a large part of his Kingdom It is his Prison wherein he hath shut up all his Malefactors whom his grim Serjeant Death hath Arrested It is the great Slaughter-house of Souls and the Shop of Justice Devils are there his Executioners and Fire and Rack and Torments the due Guerdon of those impenitent Rebels who shaking off his Yoke and casting of his Cords from them are crush'd for ever under the insupportable load of his Wrath and bound in Chains of massy Darkness reserved for the Judgment of the Great Day Thus we see God's Vniversal Kingdom consists of Three great Provinces Heaven Earth and Hell In Heaven only Grace and Mercy Reigns on Earth both Mercy and Justice in the various dispensations of them towards the Sons of Men in Hell pure and unmixed Justice triumphs in the Eternal Damnation of his Apostate Creatures This is God's Vniversal Kingdom But Secondly Besides this God hath a peculiar Kingdom and that is his Kingdom of Grace which though it be not so large and extensive as the
What is the Vniversal Kingdom or Church of God A. It is a Company of true Believers who have Eternal and Invisible Communion with God by his Spirit and their Faith Q. What observe you of both A. Its Mixture and Imperfection for in the Visible Church there is a great Mixture of Persons the Bad with the Good in the Invisible there is a great Mixture in Persons of Evil with Good and Sin with Grace Q. You have formerly told us that the Church of Christ in its Progress is the Church Militant either Visible or Invisible and that the Church of Christ in its Consummation is the Church Triumphant What is this Church Triumphant A. The general Assembly of such glorious Angels as never fell and such glorified Saints as are raised from their Fall Q. What is that Kingdom which in this Petition we pray may come A. Not the Universal Kingdom of God which is the VVorld for his Dominion therein is always the same but onely the peculiar Kingdom which is his Church and more especially that part of it which is Militant on Earth Q. In what Respects may God's Kingdom be said to come A. In Three 1. First In respect of the Means of Grace and Salvation which are the VVord and Sacraments for where these are dispersed there God's Kingdom is erected 2. Secondly In respect of the Efficacy of this Means in the Conversion of Sinners whereby they are brought into the Invisible Kingdom of Christ 3. Thirdly In respect of the Perfection of this Kingdom for then God's Kingdom comes when the Saint's Graves are increased when their Souls are received into Heaven and when both Souls and Bodies are consummated in Glory Q. What do we pray for when we say Thy Kingdom come A. 1. First That God should plant his Church where it is not That all the Kingdoms of the Earth may become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ 2. Secondly That his Ordinances may be purely and powerfully administred his word truly preached which is the Law of his Kingdom and his Sacraments duely dispens'd which are the Seals of it 3. Thirdly That God would send into his Church able and faithfull Ministers to be faithfull Stewards of the Mysteries of the Gospel 4. Fourthly That the Ministery of the Word may be successfull to the Conversion of those that hear it 5. Fifthly That all the Churches of Christ may be kept from Errour Schism Superstition and Idolatry and that true Doctrine and due Discipline may be continued in them to the End of the World Q. But may we not pray also for the Church Triumphant in Heaven A. We may for the fulfilling of what is promised 1. First That the Number of them may be compleated 2. Secondly That their Persons may be compleated That the Bodies of those Saints which now sleep in the Dust may be raised united to their Souls and both made Eternally glorious in the Kingdom of Heaven Q. Is not this praying for the Dead so justly condemned of Popish Superstition A. No for we pray not for another State as the Papists do when they pray for Souls to be delivered out of Purgatory but we pray for the Perfection of the same State in which the Souls of the Faithful already are we pray not for their Release out of Torments but for a joyfull Resurrection which both they and we expect and whatsoever may be the Object of our Faith and Hope may well be the Subject of our Prayers Q. Which is the third Petition A. Thy VVill be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Q. How is the Will of God distinguisht A. Into the Will of his Purpose or the Will of his Precept or into his secret and revealed Will. Q. What is the Will of God's Purpose A. His Eternal Counsels and Decrees whereby he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass Q. What is the Will of Gods Precept A. His holy Laws contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament wherein he hath revealed to us the Duties we ought to perform for the obtaining of Eternal Life Q. How do these two Wills differ A. 1. First In that there are many things which God wills by his VVill of Purpose that he hath not willed by his VVill of Precept For God commands nothing but what is Holy yet he purposeth to permit many things that are Evil. 2. Secondly In that we may effectually resist his Will of Precept so as to hinder the Accomplishment of it as we do whensoever we sin but we cannot resist the Will of God's Purpose though many times to endeavour it is our indispensible Duty Q. Ought not the Will of the Creature to be conformed to the Will of God in all things A. Yes to the Will of his Precept for that alone is the Rule of our Obedience But in all things to conform to the Will of his Purpose may involve us in the greatest Guilt Acts 2.23 Being delivered by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain Q. Is there not then a manifest repugnance between God's Will of Purpose and of Precept A. No for the Object of God's VVill of Purpose is Event but of his VVill of Precept Duty and it is no contradiction for God to will or permit that to be which he hath willed or commanded us not to do Q. Which of these do we pray may be done A. VVe especially and absolutely pray that the VVill of God's Precept may be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Q. What considerations may excite us to be earnest in this Request A. First because there is a great reluctancy in our corrupt Nature against the holy VVill of God therefore we ought earnestly to pray that he by his Grace would subdue it Secondly because the Glory of God is deeply concern'd in doing his Will for by this we own his Sovereignty and our Subjection to his Laws and Kingdom Thirdly because our own Interest is deeply concern'd in it for it is onely by doing his Will we can inherit the Promises Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his Commandments Q. Ought we not absolutely to pray that God's Will of Purpose may be done A. No And that because many things are brought to pass by this Will which we ought to pray against as Temporal Evils and the Permission of Sin Q. How then do the Saints in Scripture pray for the Accomplishment of this Will of God as in 1 Sam. 3.18 And Samuel told him every whit and hid nothing from him and he said It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 2 Sam. 15.26 But if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him Acts 21.14 And when he would not be perswaded we ceased saying The Will of the Lord be done And our Saviour Luke 22.42 Saying Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless
former yet is it far more excellent and the Royalty of it is God's singular Delight Now this Kingdom of Grace is his Church and may be considered Two ways First In its Growth and Progress Secondly In its Perfection and Consummation In the former respect it is the Church Militant here upon Earth and in the latter it is the Church Triumphant in Heaven for both make up but one Kingdom under divers respects First Let us a little consider God's Kingdom here upon Earth or the Church Militant and that is Two-fold Visible and Invisible The Visible Kingdom of God upon Earth are a company of People openly professing the Fundamentals of Religion and those Truths necessary to Salvation which God hath made known unto the World and joyning together in the External Communion of Ordinances The Invisible Kingdom are a company of true Believers who have Internal and Invisible Communion with God by his Spirit and their Faith The Visible Church is of a much larger extent than the Invisible for it comprehends Hypocrites and Formalists and all those who have given up their Names to Christ and listed themselves under his Banner and make an outward profession of the Truth although by their Lives and Practices they contradict and deny what they own and profess with their Lips These belong to the Kingdom of God's Grace as to the External Dispensation and Regiment of it because they profess obedience to his Laws and live under the means of Grace by which many of them through the efficacious concurrence of the Spirit of God are translated into the Invisible Kingdom of his dear Son Now this Visible Kingdom of God upon Earth is but an imperfect State and Condition for though all that are Members of it are selected and taken out of the World yet there is a great deal of Mixture and Dross and many things that do offend For First There is in it a mixture of Wicked Persons with those that are really Holy Many are of this Kingdom only because their Consciences are convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion although their Lives are not subject to the Power of it and these are taken out of the World only as they are brought into the Pale of the Church and profess the Name of Christ and his Religion as distinct from all other Religions in the World And therefore we find the Church or the Kingdom of Heaven in Scripture frequently compared to a Net cast into the Sea gathering every kind of Fish both good and bad Matth. 13.47 both sorts are embraced in the Bosom of this Net and no perfect Separation can be made until it be drawn to shore at the Day of Judgment and then the Good will be gathered into Vessels and the Bad cast away as it is there expressed Again it is compared to a Floor wherein is both Chaff and Wheat Luk. 3.17 and these will be mix'd together until the last discriminating Day and then shall the Wheat be gathered into the Garner and the Chaff burnt up with unquenchable Fire Again it is compared to a Field wherein there grows Tares as well as Corn Matth. 13.24 which must grow together until the Harvest and then shall the Tares be bound in Bundles to be burnt and the profitable Grain be gathered into the Barn This hath still been and will be the mix'd condition of God's Church on Earth wherein through Hypocrisie and gross Dissimilation many that are Enemies to the Cross of Christ will yet go under that Cognisance and keep up a Form of Godliness though they deny and hate the Power of it Secondly There is even in the Invisible Church here on Earth a great mixture too those who have a real and vital Union to Christ and maintain a Spiritual Communion with him yet even they have a sad mixture of Evil with all their Good of Sin with all their Grace and Holiness so that the Church is still imperfect not only from a mixture of Persons but from a mixture in Persons As we know but in part so we love but in part we fear we obey God but in part And with our Profession of Faith we had need also to prefer that humble Petition Mark 9.24 Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief Secondly The Kingdom of God may be considered in its Perfection and Consummation and so it is Triumphant in Heaven And this consists of such Glorious Angels as never Fell and of such Glorified Saints who are raised from their Fall and restored to a far better Condition than what they lost This is the most Glorious part of God's Kingdom here is his Throne especially established and here it is that he displays himself in the splendor of his Majesty being surrounded by innumerable Hosts of Holy Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect who continually Worship before him with a most prostrate Veneration and give Honour and Glory and Praise to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Now this Kingdom is altogether free from those former Imperfections and Mixtures There is no mixture of good and bad together neither is there any mixture of bad in the good but all are Holy and all as compleatly Holy as Creatures can be for into the New Jerusalem shall no unclean thing ever enter There are neither Temptations to try us nor Sins to defile us nor Sorrows to afflict us but perfect Joy and perfect Purity Where all Tears shall be wiped from our Eyes and all Sin the Cause of those Tears rooted out of our Hearts And yet if Heaven it self may be liable to any Defects or capable of any Additions there seems at present to be wanting in it these Two things First The Kingdom of Glory is not yet Full nor shall it be till the whole Number of the Elect shall be called and the whole Number of the Called Glorified Many as yet are conflicting here below and fitting themselves for their Eternal Reward many yet lie sleeping in their Causes unborn whom God hath Foreknown and Predestinated unto Eternal Life all of whom he will in his due time bring unto the Possession of his Heavenly Kingdom to compleat the Number of his Glorious Subjects And therefore it is said concerning the Saints that are already in Heaven that white Robes were given to every one of them and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their Fellow-Servants also and their Brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled Rev. 6.11 Secondly Those Glorified Saints that are now in Heaven though their Joys be perfect yet their Persons are not but one part of them their Bodies continue still under the arrest of Death and the Power of the Grave but yet they sleep in Hope and through that Mystical Vnion that there is between Jesus Christ and every scattered Dust of a Believer they shall obtain a Glorious and Joyful Resurrection and then shall this Heavenly Kingdom
and be planted where it is not to a perfection of Number and may gain more Proselytes and Converts where it is planted to a perfection of Establishment that they may not be rooted out by the Violence of Men nor abandoned through the Judgment of God And to a perfection of Purity and Holiness by the powerful Dispensation of Gospel-Ordinances attended by the Efficacious Concurrence of the Holy Spirit But Secondly This Petition likewise respects the Church Triumphant in Heaven Nor is this praying for the Dead a thing justly condemned of Superstition and Folly for we pray not for them to alter their State which is impious and ridiculous and a Foppish Consequent upon the Figment of Purgatory But we pray for the Church Triumphant only in general that those things which are as yet defective in it may be supplied for certainly wheresoever there is any kind of imperfection we have ground to pray for the removal of it especially when God hath encouraged us to it by promise that he will remove it And therefore First We may well pray that the whole Body Mystical of Jesus Christ and every Member of it may be brought to the full Fruition of Heaven and Happiness that daily more may be admitted into the Heavenly Fellowship till their Numbers as well as their Joys be Consummate And Secondly We may pray that the Bodies of all the Saints that have slept in their Beds of Earth from the beginning of the World may be raised again out of the Dust and united to their Souls and for ever made Glorious in the Kingdom of Heaven for both these things are absolutely promised the one Rom. 8.29 30. that those whom God hath Called and Justified he will likewise Glorifie And the other is 1 Thessal 4.16 The Dead in Christ shall arise And certainly whatsoever may be the Object of our Faith Hope may be the Subject of our Prayers And this every true Christian longs and breaths after that these Days of Sin and Misery may be shortned that Christ would come in his Glory that his Mediatory Kingdom being fulfilled it might be delivered up unto the Father and that we all might be one as the Father is in him and he in the Father Even so come Lord Jesus come quickly And thus I have finished the Second Petition The Kingdom come The Third follows Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven This now follows upon the former in a most rational and admirable method for as before we pray that the Kingdom of God might come as the best adapted means to Hallow his Name so now we pray that his Will may be done by us as the clearest Declaration that we are the Subjects of his Kingdom Now here are considerable First The Petition it self Thy Will be done in Earth Secondly The Measure and Proportion of it as it is in Heaven I shall begin with the Petition in which every Word carries great Weight and Moment and therefore in the explication of it I shall shew you First What this Will of God is Secondly How his Will may be said to be done Thirdly What force this Particle thy thy Will carries in it and what it denotes Fourthly What is meant by God's Will being done in Earth And all these with all perspicuity and brevity First What this Will of God is Now the Will of God is commonly and very well distinguished into the Will of his Purpose and into the Will of his Precept his Decrees or his Commands The former respects what shall be done by him the latter what ought to be done by us Both these in Scripture are frequently called the Will of God First God's Purpose is his Will yea it is more properly his Will than his Precepts are for by this God doth absolutely determine what shall be and what shall not be and all things in the World take their Place and are ranged in their several Stations and the whole series of Causes and Effects are governed by the Ordination and Appointment of this his Sovereign Will And therefore it is said Eph. 1.11 that God worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own Will And Psal 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven in Earth in the Sea and in all deep Places This is God's Will of Purpose whereby he guides and governs all Events whatsoever so that there is not the most inconsiderable Occurrence that happens not the least flight of a Sparrow nor the falling off of an Hair nor the motion of an Atome in the Air or a dust or a sand on the Earth but as it is effected by his Power and Providence so it was determined by his Will and Counsel Secondly The Precepts and Commands are likewise the Will of God but they are improperly so called because these concern not neither do they determine the Event of things but only our Duty not what shall be but what ought to be and it is called Rom. 12.2 The good and acceptable and perfect Will of God This is all contained in the Holy Scriptures which are a perfect Systeme of Precepts given us for the Government of our Lives here and for the attaining of Eternal Life hereafter and therefore it is likewise called his Revealed Will whereas the other namely the Will of Purpose is God's Secret Will until it be manifested unto us by the Events and Effects of it Now concerning this distinction of God's Will of Purpose and Precept we may note that though there be a great deal of difference yet there is no contrariety or opposition between them First They differ the one from the other not in respect of God for his Will is one infinitely pure and uncompounded Act but only in respect of the Object for there are many things which God wills by his Will of Purpose which he hath not willed by his Will of Precept His Precepts are all holy and command nothing but what is holy and acceptable This is the Will of God saith the Apostle even your Sanctification 1 Thessal 4.3 It is the highest degree of Blasphemy to impute unto God that he hath commanded us any thing but what is Holy Just and Good This were to make him the Author of Sin who hath declared himself the Punisher of it But his Will of Purpose is not restrained within bounds and Limits but extendeth it self to all Events whatsoever whether Good or Evil. And as Evils are of two sorts either the Evil of Punishment or the Evil of Sin so is God's Will of Purpose two-fold effective of the one and permissive of the other but in both most certain and infallible 1. God's Will of Purpose doth effect and bring to pass the Evil of Punishment Amos 3.6 Shall there be any Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it For he doth both in Heaven and in Earth whatsoever pleaseth him Were it not the Will of God the World had never groaned under so many Miseries and Calamities
thou canst but get an Attribute to take thy part when thou comest to the Throne of Grace and if thou canst but rightly use and fit it to thy requests thou may'st be sure of speeding for God will not nay he cannot deny himself In us there can be nothing found to move him nor any where out of himself and where we find as very often we do in Scripture that the Miseries and Afflictions of God's People are made use of as a Plea for Mercy yet this Plea it self which is usually most winning and most affecting can no otherwise prevail with God than as his Pity and Compassions engage him to relieve those that are in Misery And to speak properly they are not our Afflictions but the Glory of his Power and Mercy in delivering us from them that is a motive unto God Only it is the art of a Praying Christian aptly to represent himself as an Object for God's Attributes to be exercised about And if he can but interest any Name or Attribute of God in his behalf he may be confident of the success of his Prayer and that he shall not return ashamed These two Observations I gather from the illative Particle for For thine is the Kingdom c. Concerning the Kingdom of God I shall speak but very little now having already treated of it in explaining the Second Petition of this most excellent Prayer Thy Kingdom come Certain it is that God's Vniversal Kingdom is here understood as he is the High Creator and Supreme Lord of all things both in Heaven and in Earth yet not so as to exclude his peculiar Kingdom of the Church And this is an excellent Argument to confirm our Faith for the obtaining of those things which we pray for because the Kingdom is Gods and he is the absolute Sovereign over all and therefore all things are at his dispose As for Spiritual Blessings which we seek he hath the Power of bestowing of them for he is King of his Church and bestows the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit upon the Faithful Subjects of that his Kingdom And as for Temporal Blessings that we beg he likewise can readily bestow them upon us for he is the Universal Monarch of all the World a King to whom all other Kings are subject and all other Thrones are but the Footstool of his And therefore in the general whatsoever we want be it Protection or Provision our Faith in the Sovereignty of God may encourage us to ask it with an humble boldness and confidence for it is the Office of a King to give both unto his Subjects But let us more particularly consider how God's Kingdom may be accommodated to all the Petitions of this Prayer of our Lord as a strong Argument and Reason to prevail with God for the obtaining what we request in each of them First The Kingdom is God's therefore he will see that his Name be hallowed and glorified in it Kings are jealous of their Honour and it is a great Offence either to speak or do any thing that may redound to their discredit It is fit and decent for a King to have the highest Name and the greatest repute among his Subjects And therefore we may be sure God will maintain this in the World yea so jealous is God of having dishonour reflected upon him that he hath forbidden not only the profanation and trivial mention of his own Name but the profanation of that which doth but belong unto him Matth. 5.34 35. Swear not by Heaven for it is God's Throne neither by the Earth for it is his Foot-stool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the Great King Heaven is the Throne of his Majesty the Theatre of his Power Jerusalem and the Temple the Seat of his Worship And therefore as Kings and Princes have respect shown to their presence Chamber So God because he is the Great King of Kings and Lord of Lords requires to be reverenced in all that doth appertain unto him and he will be sanctified in all that draw near unto him Those who will not actually hallow him by their Obedience on them God will be hallowed passively by their Punishment And because he is a King he will maintain the Honour of his Majesty and Royalty And therefore we may with Faith pray Hallowed be thy Name For thine is the Kingdom c. Secondly The Kingdom is God's and therefore this Kingdom shall come it shall be maintained it shall be established it shall be enlarged and increased Is it not the highest concern of a King to look that his Kingdom be not overthrown and himself deposed and outed of it So is it God's interest and concernment to preserve his Kingdom from the incursion of Enemies and the sad consequences of the Rents and Divisions of his Subjects He hath promised that the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against it that he will enlarge the Borders of it and give all Nations unto Jesus Christ for his Inheritance and Possession And therefore when we pray Thy Kingdom come we may very well expect that our Requests should be granted for the Kingdom is God's and we do but pray that he would regard his own Interest and Concerns that he would look down from Heaven and visit this Vine which his own Right Hand hath planted that neither the Wild Boar out of the Forest may root it up nor the cunning Foxes pluck off its tender Grapes Thirdly The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may well pray That his Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven For what is Sovereignty without Obedience to it but a mere Pageantry a mock-shew of idle Royalty It is but fit and rational to pray that his Will should be done whose the Kingdom is And whilst we thus pray we may be confident of being heard and accepted since the Reason we urge is so natural and pressing Fourthly The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may with great encouragement to our Faith pray for Our daily Bread and all those Temporal Accommodations that are needful and expedient for us For it is a Kingly Office to provide things necessary for their Subjects to protect and defend them to supply and relieve them and therefore Psal 72. where we have a perfect Character of a good King it is said verse 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass and as showers that Water the Earth That is he shall be to his People as soft Showers to the sprouting Grass kindly nourishing it and making it grow and flourish And certainly God who is the greatest and best of Kings will be so much more to his People and Subjects and since he hath assumed to himself the Style and Name of King he will provide abundantly for their Peace and Prosperity Fifthly The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may well make our applications to him for Pardon and beg of him the Forgiveness of our Offences since it is the Prerogative Royal of
the one is whether God will the other is whether he can grant us what we ask And that our Faith might not boggle at either of these our Saviour hath as it were hedged in and inclosed all our Prayers with these two great fences for our Faith God's willingness and his Power to help the Preface to this excellent Prayer contains the one and the Conclusion of this Prayer the other He is our Father and therefore if Earthly Parents whose Bowels of Mercy are but finite are yet so tender over their Children and ready to do their utmost to contribute what assistance they can towards them much more will our Heavenly Father whose Mercies and Compassions are infinite and boundless But lest our Faith should yet stagger and suspect the Power and Ability of God to relieve and help us the Conclusion of this Prayer puts in a caution against all unbelieving scruples in this case Thine is the Power So that we have abundant security for our Faith in whatsoever we desire of God because he hath declared himself both willing and able to supply our wants and satisfie our desires Indeed the Power of God alone is not a sufficient plea for we have before seen that God is able to effect infinitely more than he will but then the Power of God is a strong and forcible plea when it is joyn'd with his Will And when we are once assured by the Promises of his Word that God is willing to bestow upon us the Blessings that we ask then to bend the force of this plea towards him that he is likewise able will most certainly prevail And that Prayer that is directed in Faith and winged with both these motives shall never return into our Bosoms in vain and ineffectual Thus have I finished the two first Attributes of God made use of by our Saviour in this Prayer his Sovereignty and his Omnipotency It remains now that we speak something to the third Attribute of God which our Lord here teacheth us to make use of in praying to him and that is the Glory of God For thine is the Glory But this is an Attribute so bright and dazling so surrounded and fring'd about with Rays of inaccessible light that the Holy Angels themselves cannot stedfastly behold it but twinkle and glimmer yea vail their Faces at the full Beams of that Object the Vision of which is yet their Eternal Joy and Happiness And therefore whensoever weak or vile Man can either speak or conceive of the infinite Glory of the great God will instead of exalting debase it and we shall but defame while we attempt to celebrate it so infinitely do the Perfections of the Deity surmount our most raised Affections that our very Praises thereof are but lessening of it And whatsoever we ascribe unto God is but detracting from him Think with your selves a little if two blind Men that never saw the Sun were discoursing together about it what strange uncouth and improper fancies would they form of its Light and Splendour Surely such yea vastly more confused and disproportion'd are all our notions and conceptions of the Glory of God which is a Light that is invisible obscurity that is dazling and whatsoever else is most inconceivable to humane capacities For the Scripture sometimes describes God's dwelling-place to be in that Light unto which no Mortal Eye can approach And sometimes that his Pavillion is dark Clouds which no Eye can penetrate And both to signifie how impossible a thing it is to search out God and to find out the Almighty to perfection Yet since he hath been graciously pleased to give us some refracted and allay'd Rays of himself such as we are able to bear both in the Works of Creation and Providence and likewise in his Holy Word let us with all humble modesty take notice of those discoveries which he hath made of his Glory wherein we shall find enough if not to satisfie our curiosity yet to excite our veneration and by seeing some glimpses of his back-parts which he causes to pass before us our desires will be made more earnest after that Estate of consummate Happiness where we shall for ever behold his Face where we shall no longer see him darkly through a glass but shall see him as he is and know him as we are known by him Glory therefore according to the true and genuine import of the Word signifies any Excellency or Perfection in a Subject that either is or deserves to be accompanied with Fame and Renown And hence we may well distingiush a Two-fold Glory in God the one Essential the other Declarative The Essential Glory of God is the Collection and System of those Attributes which Eternally and immutably belong unto the Divine Nature The Declarative Glory of God is the manifestation of those his Attributes so that his Creatures may take notice of them with Praise and Veneration Both are here intended by our Saviour when he teacheth us to ascribe the Glory unto God God is Essentially Glorious in all those Attributes which appertain unto his infinite Being for each of them is infinitely perfect in its self and the complexion and concentring of them altogether make up a Glory infinitely great and incomprehensible Thus his Holiness is Glorious Exod. 15.11 Glorious in Holiness His Power is Glorious 2 Thess 1.9 They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power Col. 1.11 Strengthened with all Might according to his Glorious Power His Majesty is Glorious Psal 145.5 I will speak of the Glorious Honour of his Majesty His Kingdom is Glorious Psal 45.11 They shall speak of the Glory of thy Kingdom His Grace and Mercy is Glorious Ephes 1.6 To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved And from all these result the Glory of his great and terrible Name which hath in it an excessive brightness and lustre from the Constellation of so many Glories united in it Deut. 28.58 That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God Yea so infinite is this Essential Glory of God that it diffuseth and sheddeth abroad its Light and Glory upon those things which have but Relation to him therefore the Church is said to be Glorious because made in some faint resemblance like unto God Psal 45.13 The King's Daughter is all Glorious within Ephes 5.27 That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle The Gospel is therefore Glorious because it is that Glass wherein we see the Glory of God by a reflected Light And as the Beams of the Sun falling upon a Glass make it shine with an exceeding brightness So the Glory of God striking upon the Gospel and from thence re-bounding off to us hath stampt it with an excellent Glory and Lustre 1 Tim. 1.11 According to the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God His Throne is Glorious Jerem.
Motion or such like Qualities that do not belong unto the Divine Nature Yet all these are Eminently in God for he is the Prime and Original Cause from whom they derive their Being and Perfection so that all Glory is his his incommunicatively from any other communicatively from him Secondly All Glory in respect of God is but darkness and obscurity And so it was both a True and Divine Conception of Plato when he said That Light was but a shadow of God for as Shadows are vastly dark when the Light that surrounds them appears So God is infinitely brighter than Light it self Yea the Sun that Created Fountain of Light is but a black coal compared with this Eternal Father of Lights This is well expressed by Job 25.5 Behold even to the Moon and it shineth not and the Stars are not pure in his sight As the Light of the Sun when it ariseth drowns and extinguisheth all other Lights for its brightness as it brings a Day to all the rest of the World so it brings a a Night to the Stars So the infinite brightness of the Glory of God over-casts all other Glory whatsoever with Night and Obscurity Hence it is said That God chargeth his Angels with Folly Job 4.8 So that if those Wife and Intellectual Creatures be compared with God they are but foolish and ignorant for the Glory of his infinite and unsearchable Understanding so far transcends their reach that they know nothing in comparison with him who knoweth all things The two chiefest Glories of Men are Wisdom and Strength Wisdom to contrive and Power to execute these perfect him as he is a Man But yet see how the Apostle undervalues both these when compared with God 1 Cor. 1.25 The foolishness of God is wiser than Men and the weakness of God is stronger than Men. And therefore because God's Glory is infinitely surpassing all others our Saviour ascribes it to him peculiarly Thine is the Glory Thirdly Because all other Glories in the Creatures serve only to illustrate the Glory of the Great God Seest thou any Excellency and Perfection in any of the Creatures God hath so endowed them with it not that thou shouldest fix there and make that thy Idol but that thou mightest have a hint from thence how much more perfect he himself is and take thy rise from visible Excellencies to admire those that are invisible Is there so much Beauty and Harmony in the Frame of Nature Think then how much more Harmonious and Orderly are the Counsels and Designs of the Great God who hath contrived and disposed the whole course and circuit of second Causes Is there so much awe and dread in the presence of an Earthly Majesty to daunt all that are not impudent and profligate Offenders Think then how infinitely venerable is the Face of the Great God since it is only some Ray of his Authority and Majesty shining in them that makes them so dreadful Is it such a pleasant thing to the Eye to behold the Light raise then not thine Eye of Sense but thine Eye of Faith to consider how infinitely Bright and Glorious that Light is that is never Clouded that Light which though it infinitely diffuse it self yet resides always in its Center For God is Light and in him there is no darkness at all 1 John 1.5 Thus you see that God hath therefore made any Created Being Glorious and Excellent that it might serve as a Monitor to put us in mind of his greater Glory and the more Excellent any Perfections are in the Creature the greater advantage have we from them to raise our Meditations unto God And having thus shewn you why Glory is in such an especial manner attributed unto God Thine is the Glory it reremains now to consider what force this Plea hath to confirm our Faith that we shall obtain from God those things which we pray for and here let us see its influence upon every Petition First The Glory is God's therefore his Name shall be Hallowed For his Declarative Power consists in the Hallowing of his Name since to Hallow is nothing else as I shewed you in the Explication of that Petition but to declare God to be Holy and this is to give Glory unto God Hence we have them both joyned together Levit. 10.3 I will be Sanctified by them that come nigh unto me and before all the People I will be Glorfied To Sanctifie is to Glorifie God And therefore what better Argument can we urge that God would provide for the Sanctifying of his Name than this that the Glory is his and if his Name be prophaned in the World his Glory needs must suffer How can the World know that God is infinitely Glorious in all his Perfections and Attributes unless he take care by his own methods to have his Name Sanctified among his People in their Expressions and Actions and to have it Sanctified upon the Wicked in their Plagues and Punishments Therefore we may well pray in Faith Hallowed be thy Name for thine is the Glory Secondly The Glory is God's Therefore His Kingdom shall come For where should he be Honoured but in his own Kingdom God is greatly dishonoured and his Glory traduced in the rest of the World And therefore if he will have any Glory secured and maintained he must take care of his Church to maintain and propagate it Psal 76.1 In Judah is God known his Name is great in Israel The Glory of a King falls together with his Kingdom and it lays a blot upon his Honour if he should suffer his Enemies to overthrow it while he hath Power to defeat their Enterprises since therefore the Glory is God's we may be confident that he will provide for the security and wellfare of his own Kingdom and will for his Honours fake establish it so sure that the Gates of Hell all the Power and Policy of Men and Devils shall never be able to prevail upon it to its extirpation Hence then whensover we see the rage of the professed Enemies of the Name of Christ incroaching upon the Borders of his Dominions when the State of the Church Militant seems visibly to impair or when the Hypocrisie and Wickedness of those who are the professed Enemies of Christ seems to eat out the very Heart and Power of true Godliness we may well pray in Faith Thy Kingdom come Lord raise Lord enlarge Lord establish it For thine is the Glory and unless thou wilt confine thy Glory only to Heaven and account the Praises and Eternal Hallelujahs of Saints and Angels a sufficient adoration for thy Great Name Lord have regard to this thy poor decaying Kingdom for only in it and in Heaven is thy Glory Celebrated And if thou leavest this thy Kingdom to be over-run by the Agents and Ministers of the Devil if Prophaneness and Idolatry gain ground in it so as to thrust thee out of the Throne What were this but to give thy Glory to another which thou hast
Power in it self infinite A. It is for his Power is his Essence Q. How doth it appear that God's Power is infinite A. 1. By the Works of Creation for it requires an infinite Power to bring something out of nothing 2. By the many Miracles which have been wrought in the World above and contrary to the Course of Nature Q. How then have many Men wrought Miracles as Moses Elijah and the Apostles A. They wrought them not by any proper Vertue of their own but onely as the Moral Instruments at whose Presence or Intercession God was pleased to manifest his Power as a Seal to that Commission they had received from him Q. Is God's Power infinite likewise in the common Effects of Nature A. It is for it is no less Power that preserves and moves the Creatures than did at first Create them Q. Is there nothing impossible with God A. Yes there are several things which God cannot do because he is Omnipotent Q. What are they A. Such as in the General the doing of them would deny him to be God or to be holy or to be wise Q. What are they more particularly A. God cannot do things that are contradictory or rather such things cannot be done as to make the same thing to be and not to be at the same time or that the same Body should at once have quantity and extension in Heaven and no quantity nor extension in the Host as the Papists affirm of their breaden God for this were contrary to his Wisdom 2. God cannot do any thing that may justly bring upon him the Imputation of Sin for this were contrary to his Holiness 3. God cannot do any thing that may argue him mutable and inconstant for this were contrary to his Being 2 Tim. 2.13 If we believe not yet he abideth faithfull he cannot deny himself Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye Q. Is it not a Diminution of the Power of God that he cannot do those things A. No for these things argue Weakness and Defect not Power Q. Why hath our Saviour taught us to subjoin this Acknowledgment of the Power of God to our Petitions A. To encourage our Faith by considering that whatsoever we ask we ask it of a God who is able to give it us yea and to do for us abundantly above whatsoever we are able to ask or think Q. What is the third Attribute ascribed to God in the Doxology A. Glory in these words And the Glory Q. What is Glory A. Glory is any Perfection or Excellency that either is or deserves to be accompanied with Fame and Renown Q. How is God's Glory distinguished A. Into his Essential and Declarative Glory Q. What is the Essential Glory of God A. All those Attributes which Eternally and Immutably belong unto the Divine Nature So Holiness is his Glory Exod. 15.11 Glorious in Holiness His Power is his Glory 2 Thes 1.9 They shall be punished from i. e. by the Glory of his Power His Majesty is his Glory Psal 145.11 I will speak of the glorious Honour of thy Majesty His Grace and Mercy is his Glory Ephes 1.6 To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace And from all these united results the Glory of his Name Deut. 28.58 That thou mayest fear this Glorious and Fearfull Name the Lord thy God Q. What is the Declarative Glory of God A. The Manifestation of his Attributes so that they are observed to his Praise and Honour Q. What is it to glorify God A. To glorifie God is to admire and celebrate the Divine Attributes shining forth in those ways and works wherein he is pleased to express them Q. Do we by glorifying God add any thing to his Glory A. We can neither add unto nor diminish from the Essential Glory of God for his infinite Perfections are the same for ever But we may add to his Declarative Glory by setting forth his Attributes and we detract from it by hindering the Manifestation of them Q. By what Means doth God declare his Glory A. By three especially 1. By his Works Psal 19.1 The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy Work 2. By his Word which discovers to us those Attributes which we could never have known by the Works of Creation and Providence and therefore both Law and Gospel are said to be glorious 2 Cor. 3.9 For if the Ministration of Condemnation be Glory much more doth the Ministration of Righteousness exceed in Glory 3. By his Son who is the Brightness of his Glory Heb. 13. Who being the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person And in whom the Perfections of the God-head are most visibly displayed Q. Why doth our Saviour in the Doxology peculiarly appropriate Glory unto God Thine is the Glory A. For three Reasons 1. Because all that is excellent and glorious in the Creatures is in God infinitely more perfect than in them being neither limited by his Nature nor allayed with Contraries 1 John 1.5 That God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all 2. Because all Glory in respect of God is but Darkness and Obscurity Job 25.5 Behold even to the Moon and it shineth not yea the Stars are not pure in his Sight 3. Because all the Excellencies and Glories of Creatures serve onely to set forth and declare the Glory of God Q Why hath our Saviour added the Acknowledgment of God s Glory at the End of the Petitions he hath taught us to present A. That the Consideration thereof may be a Means to strengthen our Faith for the obtaining those good things which we pray for Q. How is the Consideration of the Glory of God an Argument to strengthen our Faith in Prayer A. Many ways according to the Petitions we prefer 1. The Glory is God's therefore his Name shall be hallowed for to sanctifie the Name of God is to glorifie him Lev. 10.3 I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the People I will be glorified 2. The Glory is God's and therefore his Kingdom shall come for where should a King be honoured but in his Kingdom 3. The Glory is God's therefore his Will shall be done for our Obedience is the greatest Glory we can give John 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much Fruit so shall ye be my Disciples 4. The Glory is God's and therefore he will provide for us daily Bread for it is not God's Honour that any of his Family should want things convenient for them Exod. 16.7 And in the Morning then shall ye see the Glory of the Lord. 5. The Glory is God's and therefore he will forgive our Trespasses for it is his Honour and Royalty to pardon penitent Offenders Prov. 19 11. And it is his Glory to pass over a Transgression Ephes 1.6 7. To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace Vers 7. In whom we have Redemption through his
and for a pretence made long Prayers Matth. 23.14 yet certain it is that it was not their long Prayers that he condemns but their Pretence and Hypocrisie Thus much I thought fit to observe from the Context Our Saviour having thus cautioned his Disciples against the Sins of the Pharisees and Heathens in their Prayers comes in the Words I have read to instruct them how to pray After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father c. Some taking advantage from these Words deny this to be used as a Prayer it self but only as a Model and Platform to direct us how to pray But if we consult not only the practice of the Church of Christ in all Ages but the Scripture it self we shall find it to be both the one and the other for it is our Saviour's express Injunction Luke 11.2 When ye pray say and what should they say but the Words immediately following Our Father which art in Heaven c One Evangelist says Pray after this manner the other saith When ye pray say from both which compared together it is easie to collect that it is both a Pattern for us to form our Prayers by and that it is a Prayer it self which our Saviour in condescention to our Infirmities hath framed for us putting Words into our Mouths to beg of God those Blessings which through his most prevalent Intercession shall not be denied us And indeed of all Prayers this is the most absolute and comprehensive containing in it not so many Words as Petitions for there is not any one thing that we can pray for according to the Will of God but it is summarily couch'd in this And yet this Comprehensiveness which is the admirable Excellency of this Prayer hath been the only Reason why some of late have scrupled and refused to use it because they cannot pierce through all that is signified by these substantial Expressions they think they should take God's Name in vain in uttering that before him which they do not understand the utmost extent of But if they did but consider their own Prayers the same doubts would still remain When they pray that God's Name may be glorified can they comprehend in that short time while they are uttering those Words the infinite Latitude of that Request Is it unlawful at the close of our Prayers to desire that God would give us all good things which we have not mentioned before him And yet who of us can conceive how large an extent that Request may have May we not say Amen and Seal up our Prayers with a So be it though while we are speaking it we cannot presently recollect all that hath been mentioned before God in Prayer And for any to say that the Lord's Prayer is a Morsel too big for their Mouths as some have done I have always accounted it a most unworthy and unsavory Speech Certainly Christ thought it not too big for his Disciples whose Capacities at that time were possibly none of the largest as appears in many instances particularly in the Nature of Christ's Kingdom which he taught them to pray that it might come which they thought to be Temporal and Earthly And those who refuse the use of the Lord's Prayer as too big for them would yet think themselves much wronged if we should but suspect them as ignorant in that and in many other points of Christian Doctrine as the Disciples were when our Saviour instructed them thus to pray It being therefore as I hope clear and evident that we may often pray in these Words and that we must always pray after this manner let us now proceed to consider the Prayer it self in which there are these Four parts First The Preface or Introduction to it Secondly The Petitions or Requests we present to God in which the greatest part of it consists Thirdly the Doxology or Praise-giving for Praise is a necessary part of Prayer Fourthly The Conclusion or Ratification of all in the Sealing Particle Amen I shall speak somewhat of these briefly in the general and then more particularly of each as my Text directs me First For the Introduction or Preface unto the Prayer and that is contained in these Words Our Father which art in Heaven This is used as a preparative to Prayer And what greater inducement can there be to dispose us into a holy awe and reverence of God than to set before us the Greatness and Glory of that Majesty before whom we prostrate our selves And therefore we find that the Saints in Scripture in all their approaches to the Throne of Grace were wont in the beginning of their Prayers to affect and over-awe their Hearts with the humble mention of God's Glorious Attributes Thus Solomon 1 Kings 8.23 O Lord God of Israel there is no God like unto thee in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath who keepest Covenant and Mercy with thy Servants Thus Jehosaphat 2 Chron. 20.6 O Lord God of our Fathers art not thou God in Heaven and rulest not thou over all the Kingdoms of the Heathens and in thy Hand is there not Power and Might So Hezekiah 2 King 19.15 O Lord God of Israel who dwellest between the Cherubims thou art God even thou alone who hast made Heaven and Earth And so the Prophet Jerem. 32.17 Ah Lord God behold thou hast made the Heaven and the Earth by thy great Power and stretched-out Arm and there is nothing too hard for thee The great the mighty God the Lord of Hosts is his Name great in Counsel and mighty in Working And thus our Saviour himself Matth. 11.25 I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth And so the Apostle Acts 4.24 Lord thou art God that hast made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is And thus to consider seriously of and reverently to express the infinitely Glorious Attributes of God is an excellent means to compose us into a holy fear and awe of God such as becomes vile Dust and Ashes to be affected with when it stands in the presence of its great Lord and Creator Only here let us remember that we dwell not so long upon the Titles and Attributes of God nor run so much out into Preface as to forget our errand unto him Secondly Next after the Preface we have the Petitions following in their order Of these some reckon six others seven but which soever we take the matter is not great They may all be reduced under two General Heads First Such as respect God's Glory Secondly Such as respect our selves and others The Three first respect God's Glory and the Three or Four last our own Good and that either Temporal or Spiritual Temporal in begging at God's Hands our daily Bread Spiritual in desiring both the Pardon of and Deliverance from Sin And here again we may observe the admirable Order and Method of this Prayer in that our Saviour hath placed the Petition which refers to our Temporal Good as it were in the very midst
unto others that they may observe and admire them with us and give unto God that Holy Veneration which is due unto him Thus we see what the Name of God is and what it is to Sanctifie or Hallow this Name Thirdly Let us now consider what is contained in this Petition Hallowed be thy Name And here First In that Christ hath taught us to make this the first Petition in our Prayer to God we may learn that the Glory of God is to be preferred by us before all other things whatsoever And indeed that which God hath made the last and utmost of all his ends and hath appointed to be the highest and utmost of ours should be the First of all our Thoughts and Endeavours and preferred before whatsoever else is dearest unto us yea before our very Lives themselves This was our Saviour's Practice John 12.27 28. Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour Father Glorifie thy Name As if he had said Though Life be naturally dear and the Cup which I am to drink very bitter and the Wrath that I am to undergo heavy and infinite yet all these things are not so considerable to me as thy Glory and therefore though it be by Agonies by Death by the Cross yet Father Glorifie thy Name The same mind should dwell in us likewise and we should hereby be instructed to desire and pray for other things with limitations and restrictions but for the Glory of God absolutely and simply Father Glorifie thy Name and if in the Counsel of thy Will and the course of thy Providence it cannot be otherwise than by my Suffering or Sorrow yea or Death it self yet Father even in this Glorifie thy Name and out of my very Ruins erect thou a Trophy and Monument to thy Praise Be thou Hallowed and Sanctified although at my cost and with the loss of all Secondly In that this Petition is placed in the beginning of the Lord's Prayer it intimates to us that in the very beginning and entrance of our Prayers we ought to beg assistance from God so to perform Holy Duties that God may be Glorified and his Name Sanctified by us in it It is a good and needful request to beg of God the aid and help of his Spirit to enable us to Hallow his Name in the succeeding requests we are to make Thirdly Observe that when we present this Petition before God we beg Three things of him First Such Grace for our selves as may enable us to Sanctifie and Glorifie him Secondly Graces likewise for others to enable them thereunto Thirdly That God would by his Almighty Providence direct and over-rule all things both good and evil to the advancement of his own Glory First We beg of God that he would bestow upon us such Graces as are requisite to Glorifie him in the World We beg Knowledge and Understanding of him of his Nature of his Will and of his Works for we cannot Glorifie that God whom we are ignorant of We beg likewise Patience and Contentment in all Estates thankfulness for every Providence Graces that do highly tend to the Promoting of God's Honour and Glory We beg Faith likewise whereby we give the highest and greatest Glory to God that Mortal Men are able to ascribe for to trust upon his Word and to build upon his Promises is to Honour his Truth and Faithfulness And therefore we have that Expression Rom. 4.20 That Abraham was strong in Faith giving Glory to God We beg also that our Speech may be Savoury and such as may Minister Grace to the Hearers And lastly a humble blameless and exemplary life for by our good Works we are to Glorifie our Heavenly Father I cannot stand to insist upon these things particularly because my design is only to give you briefly and summarily an account of what is contained in this most Excellent Prayer that you may understand what you Pray for when you present these Petitions before God Secondly We herein beg of God That he would so over-rule all things whatsoever that his Glory may be secured nay promoted by them and therefore whatsoever falls out we ought to say Hallowed be thy Name by it Hereby we Pray that the Gifts and Eminent Graces of God's Children may redound unto his Glory that they may not be puffed up with them nor ascribe the credit of them to themselves That the Peace and Prosperity of the Church of Christ may turn to the Glory of God that outward Mercies may not make them careless and forgetful of his Service and Honour That the sins and failings of God's People may eventually turn to the Glory of God which seem directly to blot and stain it And that by their Repentance and Confessions they may give Glory to him whom they have offended and Satisfaction to them whom they have scandalized that all the Afflictions and Troubles of his People may in the end tend unto his Glory as well as their Good by declaring his Power in supporting them and his Goodness and Mercy in delivering them That all the Devices and Conspiracies the Rage and Fury of the Enemies of his Church may contrary to their intentions be overswayed to advance his Honour and that the Wrath of Man may praise him by shewing forth his Power Wisdom and Goodness either in restraining or overturning it And finally that all Creatures both in Heaven and in Earth yea all the Works of God's Hands should Glorifie God in the several Stations in which he hath set them Some by being the Manifestations of his Attributes and some the Manifesters of them Brutes and Senseless Creatures passively declaring the Glory of their great Creator and rational and intelligent Creatures shewing it forth actively and all concurring in this great Work for which all were made even the Glory and Praise of God Thus we see what a large and copious request we present before God when we pray that his Name should be Hallowed which that it may be let us our selves endeavour to be Holy for it is impossible that an unholy Heart or Life should Sanctifie a Holy God Whilst we persevere in our wicked Conversations we do but mock God and our selves when we desire to Sanctifie that Name of his which we daily prophane and pollute nay indeed we do but Pray for our own Destruction even that God would Sanctifie his Name part whereof is his just and dreadful severity upon all those and consequently upon our selves who defile and prophane it And thus I have finished the First Petition Hallowed be thy Name The Second Petition follows Thy Kingdom come This now very aptly succeeds upon the former because this is the best way and means to Hallow God's Name by enlarging his Kingdom and bringing in many to submit to his Scepter and Government For Praise waiteth for God in Sion Psal 65.1 And his Name is great in Israel Psal 76.1 Now here for our clearer proceeding we must distinguish of God's
be every way perfect perfect in the full Number of its Subjects and every Subject perfect in his entire and compleat Reward his Soul made for ever Blessed in the Beatifical Vision of God and his Body made unconceivably Glorious by the redundancy of that Glory that fills his Soul and both shall remain for ever with the Lord. And thus you see what the Kingdom of God is both universal and peculiar the Kingdom of his Power and the Kingdom of his Grace and that as it is Militant here on Earth both Visible and Invisible and as it is Triumphant in Heaven The next thing in order is to shew how this Kingdom of God is said to come This Word come implies that we pray for a Kingdom that is yet in its Progress and hath not yet attained the highest pitch of that perfection which is expected and desired for that which is yet to come is not as yet arrived to that State in which it is to be And therefore we do not so properly pray that the Vniversal Kingdom of God should come for his Dominion over the Creatures is actually the same and shall be so for ever But more especially we pray that the peculiar Kingdom of God should come and that as to both parts of it Militant and Triumphant Now this peculiar Kingdom is said to come in Three respects First In respect of the means of Grace and Salvation for where these are rightly dispensed I mean the Holy Word and Sacraments there is the Kingdom of God begun and erected and therefore we find it called the Word of the Kingdom Matth. 13.19 Secondly In respect of the Efficacy of those means when all ready and cordial Obedience is yielded to the Laws of God then doth this Kingdom come and the Glory of it is advanced and increased Thirdly In respect of Perfection and so it comes when the Graces of the Saints are strengthned and increased when the Souls of the Godly departing this Life are received into Heaven and when the whole Number of them shall have their perfect Consummation and Bliss in the Glorification both of Soul and Body after the General Re-surrection And thus we have seen how the Kingdom of God may come In the next place we must enquire what it is we pray for when we say Thy Kingdom come I Answer There are various Things lie couch'd under this Petition as First We pray that God would be pleased to Plant his Church where it is not according to his Promise giving all the Nations of the World to his Son for his Inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession That the dark Places and Corners of the Earth that are yet the Habitations of Cruelty may be illustrated with the Glorious Light of the Gospel shining into them That God would reveal his Son to those poor wretched People that sit in Darkness and in the Region of the Shadow of Death and would rescue them from their Blind Superstitions and Idolatries and from the Power of the Devil who strongly works in the Children of Disobedience and would translate them into the Kingdom of his dear Son especially that he would remove the Veil from the Heart of the Jew upon whom a sad Judicial Hardness hath long lain that they at length may be brought into the Unity and Fulness of Christ's Body We pray that all the World both Jews and Gentiles may be gathered into one Sheep-fold under Christ Jesus the great Pastor and Shepherd of Souls so that as God is one so his Name and Service may be one throughout all the Earth And thus we pray that Christ's Kingdom may come in respect of the means of Grace and Salvation Secondly This Petition Thy Kingdom come intimates our earnest desire that the Church of Christ where they are planted may be increased in the Members of the Faithful That those who are as yet Enemies to the Name and Profession of Christ may be brought into the Visible Church and that those in it who are yet Strangers to a powerful Work of Grace may by the effectual Operation of the Holy Ghost be brought in to be Members of the Invisible Church And thus we pray that God's Kingdom may come in respect of the Efficacy of the means of Grace Thirdly We pray that all the Church of Christ throughout the World may be kept from ruine that they may not be over-run with Superstition or Idolatry That God would not in his Wrath remove his Candlestick from them as he hath in his Righteous Judgment done from other Churches which were once Glorious and Splendid We pray likewise that God would make up all Breaches and compose all Differences and silence all Controversies and cut off all those who trouble the Peace and rend the Unity of the Church breaking it into Factions and Schisms which are the most fatal Symptoms and Portenders of God's withdrawing himself and carrying away his Gospel and giving of it to another People who will better bring forth the Fruits of it which are Peace Meekness and Love And if in any thing Christians be diversly minded that God would be pleased to reveal it unto them and that whereunto they have attained they may walk by the same Rule and mind the same Things And thus we pray that Christ's Kingdom may come in respect of its perfection and entireness Fourthly It intimates our humble Requests to God that his Ordinances may be purely and powerfully dispensed Hence as I noted before the Word is called the Word of the Kingdom Matth. 13.19 that is the Word whereby we are brought into the Kingdom of Christ here on Earth and fitted for his Triumphant Kingdom in Heaven It is the means of our New Birth the Seed of our Spiritual Life And as a Kingdom cannot be well established or governed without good Laws so for the Government of his Kingdom Christ hath established Laws which are contained in the Records of the Holy Scriptures And as his Word is the Law so his Sacraments are the Seals of his Kingdom for so every believing Partaker God doth under his Seal confirm the grant of Heaven and Eternal Salvation And therefore in this Petition we pray also that God would give his Church able Ministers of the New Testament that may know how rightly to divide the Word of Truth and to give every one his Portion in due season And that he would be pleased to accompany the outward Administration of his Ordinances with the inward Operations of his Spirit which alone can make them effectual to turn Men from Darkness to Light and to bring them from the Power of Satan unto God That the whole Number of God's Elect may in his due time be brought in by the means which he hath appointed and sanctified for their Conversion and Salvation These are the chief and principal things that we beg of God for the Church Militant when we say Thy Kingdom come viz. that it may attain a perfection of Extent
for ever The Kingdom is thine for ever The Power is thine for ever The Glory is thine for ever For so this Particle for ever is to be distributed unto each of the foregoing Attributes Now in ascribing unto God these Attributes we may consider the Eminency and the Propriety of them The Eminency of them in the Particle The The Kingdom The Power The Glory denoting to us the highest and the chiefest of all these For his Kingdom is that which ruleth over all His Power that which no Created Power can controul His Glory such as stains all other Excellencies and makes all their Light and Lustre to be only the Shadow of God The propriety of this Attribute in this Particle Thine though others may have Kingdoms and Power and Glory yet these in their Eminency belong only unto God they are thine and thine only Originally Infinitely and Unchangeably Now all these Attributes of God are annexed to the Petitions of this Prayer by the illative Particle For For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory And this carries in it the strength and force of a Reason both why we pray unto God and likewise why God should grant us those things that we pray for First We pray unto God for his is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and therefore he alone is able to relieve and supply us Secondly We plead for the obtaining of those good things which we ask of him therefore grant them unto us For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever This adds strong Consolation and Assurance to our Faith that we shall be heard in these requests that we present to God For First His is the Kingdom and we are his Subjects and therefore we may depend upon him as our King for help and protection Secondly His is the Power and therefore he is able to supply and help us and to do abundantly for us above what we can ask or think Thirdly His is the Glory and therefore since what we ask is for his Honour and Praise we may firmly believe our requests shall be granted unto us And Fourthly All these are his for ever and therefore we may rest assured that at no time our Prayers shall be in vain But as it is the same unchangable God who in former Ages hath done great things for and given great things unto his Servants who have called upon him so he still retains the same Power and the same Compassion his Ear is not heavy nor his Arm shortned nor his Bowels withered and therefore we may with assurance expect that he will supply our wants and grant our desires since the Treasures of his Mercy are for ever unexhausted Thus every word is a forcible Reason both to oblige us to Address our selves unto God and likewise to move him to bestow upon us those good things which we thus ask at his hands And from hence by the way we may observe two things First That in our Prayers we ought to plead with God by weighty and enforcing Reasons Secondly That the most forcible Reasons in Prayer are to be taken from the Attributes of God First That in our Prayers we ought to plead with God by weighty and enforcing Reasons Thus God bids us to Take unto our selves words and to turn unto him Hosea 14.2 And thus if we look into Scripture those Prayers of the Saints which are there Recorded we shall find them Disputes if I may so call them as well as Requests and so many Reasons urged in them as if by dint of Arguments they would constrain God to yield to their desires So in Moses's Prayer Exod. 32.11 Wherefore doth thy Wrath wax hot against thy People which thou hast brought forth out of the Land of Aegypt with great Power wherefore should the Aegyptians say for mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the Mountains and to consume them from the Face of the Earth Turn thee from thy fierce Wrath and repent of this Evil against thy People Remember Abraham Isaac and Jacob thy Servants to whom thou swarest by thine own self and saidst unto them I will multiply your Seed as the Stars of Heaven and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give unto your Seed and they shall inherit it for ever And so Joshua pleads with God Josh 7.8 O Lord what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their Enemies for the Canaanites and all the Inhabitants of the Land shall hear of it and shall environ us round and cut off our Name from the Earth and what wilt thou do unto thy great Name And so Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20.6 O Lord God of our Fathers art not thou God in Heaven and rulest thou not over all the Kingdoms of the Heathens and in thy Hand is there not Power and Might so that none is able to withstand thee And so in the following verses he pleads with God by such powerful Arguments as if he would extort Mercy and Deliverance from him Now although it be true that all the Arguments we can urge and all the Reasons that we can alledge cannot alter the purposes and determinations of God as to any Event that he hath ordained yet there is this two-fold use and necessity of pleading them First Because by considering the Reasons we have to pray for such Mercies our desires will be the more earnest and fervent for the obtaining of them It will put Spirits and Life into our Petitions when we can represent to God the necessity of our asking which to his Mercy will prove a strong motive for his granting Secondly Because Reasons in Prayer do mightily conduce to the strengthning of our Faith and gives us great encouragement to believe that we shall certainly obtain what we have so much reason to ask Now Faith and Assurance of obtaining our Request is a great Condition to the Acceptation of our Prayers And therefore the Apostle commands us to lift up Holy Hands as without Wrath so also without doubting 1 Tim. 2.8 and again Jam. 1.7 Let him ask in Faith nothing wavering for let not that Man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. Now when we can humbly represent unto God both the great necessity that we stand in of those Mercies that we beg and likewise the equity which ariseth either from his Promises past or his Name and Attributes proclaimed that we should receive them What abundant Strength and Confidence may this add to our Faith and make us come to God with an humble expectation that he would either Answer our Prayers or our Reasons And therefore if thou wouldst be sure to have thy Prayers answered pray chiefly for such things for which thou canst produce such Reasons as cannot be answered And therefore Secondly The most forcible Reasons and Arguments in Prayer are to be taken from the Attributes of God These must needs be powerful when they are himself And if
Kings to forgive Offenders Hence our Saviour describing the Process of the General Judgment when he comes to speak of pronouncing the Sentence of Absolution upon Believers styles himself King so we read Matth. 25.34 Then shall the King say to them on his Right Hand Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom So that here our Faith hath a very strong Plea to urge with God for the Pardon of our Sins Forgive us our Trespasses For thine is the Kingdom and it belongs to the Royalty of thy Kingdom to forgive humble and penitent Suppliants Sixthly The Kingdom is God's therefore we may well pray in Faith that he would Deliver us from Evil For this is one great end of Government to protect their Subjects from the Assaults of their Enemies And God who is our King will not neglect this care when we do with an humble Faith urge him to it by representing to him that the Kingdom is his for his interest is involved in the safety and welfare of his People And thus I have briefly shown you in general that all our Prayers ought to be enforced with strong and cogent Reasons which although they are not properly motives unto God yet are they good grounds for our Faith to build upon and therefore a good Evidence when we use them that our Petitions shall be heard and granted And I have likewise particularly accommodated this first Motive and Argument taught us by our Saviour Thine is the Kingdom to each of the Six Petitions which he hath instructed us to present to God The Second Attribute that we are to consider as a Reason and Motive urged in this Prayer is the Power of God Thine is the Power Now Power according to the usual acceptation of the Word is nothing else but an ability to work those Changes and Mutations upon created Beings which were not in them before I speak only of Active Power and the Two Terms of it are either the effecting of somewhat that was not or the annulling and destroying of that which was This is the Notion of Power whether it be ascribed to God or Man and in both it is either Absolute or Ordinate Absolute Power respects the simple ability of acting Ordinate Power respects also the will and determination to act And therefore in God whose Power we are now treating of his Absolute Power is of a much larger extent than his Ordinate for the one relates to all things possible that is to all things whose existence doth not imply a contradiction the other relates only to things future and this likewise such as shall exist according to the common course and method of God's Ordinary Providence for Miraculous effects although they are produced according to the Will and Ordination of God yet they appertain not to his Ordinate but to his Absolute Power So then the Objects of God's Absolute Power are things merely possible or things future which are without the Compass and Sphere of second causes to produce But the Objects of God's Ordinate Power are things future produced according to the Laws of Natural Agents and the Virtue of second Causes Yet both these Powers in God are infinite the one Objectively the other Formally First God's Absolute Power is Objectively infinite that is the Object of it is infinite for all things possible are the Object of this Power and all things are in themselves possible which do not imply a contradiction And Oh how vast and incomprehensible is the sum of these God might have Created more Worlds more Angels and Men than he hath done more sorts of Creatures and more of every sort if he had so pleased Yea and he might have been Creating and Acting from all Eternity to all Eternity and in his infinite duration be still producing new and therefore infinite effects for with God nothing is impossible Luke 1.37 And the only Reason why God hath produced such effects and no other so many and not more is not from want of Power but merely from the free determination of his own Will and Counsel He might have hindred the Fall of Man restored the fallen Angels raised the Stones to be Children unto Abraham brought more Deluges and general Plagues upon the World if he had so pleased Yea and though our fancy and imagination hath a large Empire and seems boundless in these Fictions and Pourtraictures of things which we Paint and Limn there yet God can really Create more than we can only imaginarily Create for we can only patch together those things which we have seen or have otherwise been the Objects of our Senses and by putting together several pieces of things really existing make an Idea of that which never was But God can actually cause those Species and kinds of beings in the World which never were nor ever was there a former resemblance of them and so can infinitely exceed the largest scope of what in us seems most unlimitted even our Thoughts and Fancies for he is able to do above what we are able to think Secondly God's Ordinate Power is infinite formally that is those things which he works according to the Counsel of his own Will they are all effected by infinite Power for tho' the Objects themselves are finite both for nature and number yet the Power that produceth them is infinite for since the Essence of God is infinite and each of his Attributes is his Essence it follows likewise that his Power is infinite even in the production of things that are finite Now it appears that the Power of God is infinite First By the Works of Creation for though the things that are Created are finite and but a few in comparison with those that are possible yet it is no less than the infinite Power of God that can impregnate the vast Womb of nothing and make it bring forth a Being It must needs be an Almighty Word that can call forth a Creature out of non-existence and make it start up into the rank of things that are And therefore we find God often ascribing it to himself as a Glorious demonstration of his Almighty Power that he spreads forth the Curtains of the Heavens that he laid the Beams of the Earth that he hung out those Glorious Lights of the Sun Moon and Stars that he breathed forth all the various sorts of the Creatures which People the Universe and by the commanding Word of his Mouth they were made His Power and his Hand formed all those Beautiful Creatures we behold out of a rude and confused Chaos and that Chaos it self out of the greater confusion of Nothing And although second Causes by their Power and Natural Energy introduce various forms into things yet all the matter they have to work upon was first God's Workmanship and there is nothing made by Man but it is the Creature of God at least as to the matter and first principle of it Now it is only infinite Power that can bring something out of nothing yea
This first Cause of all is God For whatsoever is the first Cause of all things must needs be Almighty in that it produceth them and All-wise in that it Governs and Maintains them and incomprehensible for that Being which hath no Cause cannot be perfectly known since a perfect and comprehensive knowledge of things is derived only from the knowledge of the Causes of them Now whatsoever is Almighty All-wise and Incomprehensible is that God whom we adore Thirdly God being the first Cause of all things and not produced himself by any other pre-existent Being it is impossible that there should be any time wherein he was not For that which once was not either shall never be or must be made And therefore it being wholly inconsistent with the notion of a first Cause to be made or produced it clearly follows that we can never conceive a time wherein God was not Hence it appears that God is Eternal à parte ante or from everlasting And that he is also Eternal à parte post or to everlasting appears Fourthly Because that which hath no beginning of its duration can have no end of it For the first Cause of all not depending upon any for the production of its Being can depend upon none for the continuation of it and therefore of necessity must exist to all Eternity And thus you see how much Reason alone can speak for the Eternity of God The demonstrations which I have now given you are so clear and perspicuous that would those Atheistical Spirits who acknowledge no God but their Reason duly ponder the force of them they would even by their Deified Reason be inforced to acknowledge the Living and Eternal God whom we adore Possibly to some these things may seem difficult to others they may seem needless because we all readily acknowledge the Eternity of God But certainly if ever there were need to confirm the Doctrines and Articles of Faith by arguments drawn from the principles of Reason it is now in these days of ours wherein Atheism hath gotten ground and credit and it is look'd upon as a sign of a pregnant wit and mature and deep judgment daringly to dispute against the Being and Attributes of God and whatsoever is most Sacred and Venerable in Religion But certainly if there be Reason in any thing there is Reason to believe the existence of perfection of the Deity not only from the Oracles of the Scripture which are enough to satisfie a Christian but from the dictates also of natural Light and the evidence that Reason brings in which are so cogent and demonstrative that he that will notwithstanding be an Atheist must also be irrational and whosoever will say in his heart there is no God or that God is not Eternal or that God is not infinitely perfect we may well say of him as the Psalmist doth that he is a fool The fool hath said in his heart there is no God Psal 14.1 And thus I have shewed unto you what Eternity is in its proper notion and have evinced likewise that God is in the strictest sence Eternal And now before I come to the third thing propounded let us here make some few practical Reflections upon this Eternity of God First Glorifie this inconceivable and Glorious Attribute extol and venerate it with your highest thoughts and lowest prostrations sending your adoring thoughts as far into the Eternity of God as possible a humane and finite understanding can dart them For though Eternity be such a deep as can never be fathomed since it hath no bottom yet it is sweet and delightful to lose our selves and be swallowed up in this Abyss of Being Those prospects are most pleasant to the eye that have nothing to bound them no limits to restrain the sight in its free range so it is the most pleasant prospect to the mind to contemplate such an Object where there can be no boundaries set to our apprehensions and where we can see no farther not for want of Object but for want of Sight Secondly Is God Eternal from everlasting to everlasting let us leave then the care of all future events unto him for he is the same unchangable God and although we be but of yesterday and may not be to morrow and when we die then all our thoughts perish with us yet the everlasting God can and will order all affairs for his Glory and carry on our purposes if they be conformable unto his We often-times are anxious and sollicitous about what may happen after our decease either to the World or to those we love best in it but let us commit this care to God he ever lives and hath the same ever infinite Power and infinite Wisdom to dispose of all events as it shall please him Let us therefore cast these burdens upon him who shall still survive as a Father for our Children as an Husband to provide for our Widows as a King and Governour to provide for our Countrey as the Universal Lord and Monarch to provide for the affairs of the whole World according to the All-wise Maxims of his Eternal Counsels Thirdly Is God Eternal Why then should we not give unto him the same Honour Respect and Service that his Saints have done in former Ages and Generations He is still the same God his Holiness and his Justice and his Sovereignty still the same And if the consideration of these his Attributes had such a mighty influence upon the Saints of former times to engage them to a strict and holy life why should they not now have the like influence upon us He is the Lord he changeth not and therefore as absolutely as he required Obedience from them so absolutely now doth he require it from us But the truth is we live as if God were grown old as if his Justice were now out of date or his Power decrepit We live as if there were decays in the Deity yea indeed as if there were no God in the World to take notice of and punish our sins Certainly that God who once lived to denounce threatnings still lives to execute them He is the same Holy the same Powerful the same Just God that ever he was Why then should not we give him the same Honour and Respect and Service Why should we not love and fear him as the Saints of old have done since we have the same God whom they Worshipped and a God who requires from us the same Duties and Observances Let us now proceed to the third and last thing propounded which was to shew you what incouragement our Faith may have from this Attribute of God Eternity to expect the grant of those good things which we pray for For our Saviour hath taught us to use this as a plea with God in our Prayers For thine is the Kingdom c. for ever And indeed this Incouragement is great and manifold For hence we may with confidence rely upon God for merciful supplies in all our wants for
sinceall partake of the same common Nature much more as we partake of the same especial Grace To interest one another in our Prayers and thereby maintain the Communion of Saints Q. But since God is every where present why hath our Saviour taught us to direct our Prayers to our Father in Heaven A. First because Heaven is the most glorious Place of God's Residence and therefore God is represented to us in Heaven to affect us with his Glory and Majesty Secondly Because God no where hears our Prayers with acceptation but onely in Heaven For there onely are they represented by Christ's Intercession which he makes in both Natures Q. What learn ye from our being commanded to direct our Prayers to God in Heaven A. That we should so pray as to pierce Heaven which cannot be done by the strength and intention of our Voice but of our Zeal and Affection Q. Is the Voice necessary in Prayer A. It is onely upon three Accounts 1. As that which God requires should be imployed in his Service 2. VVhen in secret it may be an help to raise our Affections still keeping it within the Bounds of Decency and Secrecy 3. In our joyning with others it is an help likewise to raise and quicken their Affections Q What is the first Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Hallowed be thy Name Q. What is here meant by the Name of God A. First God's Name is himself Psal 20.1 The Lord hear thee in the Day of Trouble the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee and many other Places Secondly The Name of God is any perfection ascribed unto him whereby he hath made himself known unto us Q. What are the Names of God A. His Titles and his Attributes Q. What are his Titles A. They are many as Jehovah which signifies Being and giving being Creator denoting his Infinite Power Lord and King denoting his Authority and Dominion Father signifying his Care and Goodness towards his Creatures Redeemer noting his Mercy and Grace in delivering them from Temporal Evils and especially from Eternal Death Q. What are the Attributes of God A. They are of two Sorts either Incommunicable or Communicable Q. Which are his incommunicable Attributes A. Such as are so proper to the Divine Essence that they cannot in any Measure or Resemblance be ascribed to the Creatures Such are the Eternity Immensity Simplicity and Immutability Q. What are his communicable Attributes A. They are such as may in some Analogy and Resemblance be found in the Creatures As Holiness Justice Mercy Truth VVisdom and Power Q. Since they are to be found in the Creatures how are they then the proper Names of God A. They are the proper Names of God when they are applied to him free from all those Imperfections that attend them in the Creatures Q. What are these Imperfections A. They are Three 1. First That all the Perfections of the Creatures are not Originally from themselves but derivatively from God 2. Secondly They are not infinite but limited 3. Thirdly They are not unchangeable but mutable Q. How then do these become the Names of God A. VVhen we ascribe them unto God as Originally from himself and infinitely and unchangeably in himself Q. What is it to hallow this Name of God A. It signifies to make his Name Holy Q. How can God or his Name be made Holy A. Neither by Dedication to Holy Uses nor by Infusion of Holy Habits both which are frequently in Scripture called Hallowing or Sanctifying but onely by Declaration of his Glory and Holiness Q. How do we hallow the Name of God by Declaration A. VVhen in our most reverend Thoughts we observe and admire the Expressions of his Attributes and indeavour to set them forth to others both in VVords and Actions Q. What pray you for in this Petition Hallowed be thy Name A. For three Things in the General 1. First VVe beg such Graces for our selves as may inable us to sanctifie the Name of God Q. What are they especially A. Knowledge and Understanding of his Nature VVill and VVorks Thankfulness for every Mercy Patience under every Affliction Faith in his VVord and Promises For to believe God's VVord gives Glory to his Name Rom. 4.20 He staggered not at the Promise of God through Vnbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God An Holy and Exemplary Life whereby we especially glorified God and induce others to do so too Matt. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And lastly savoury and well ordered Speech that we may not prophane the Name of God by Oaths or Curses or vain using it but speak of him with all Holy Fear and Reverence Q. What else do we beg of God in this Petition A. VVe beg that others also may receive Grace to inable them to sanctifie his Name And Thirdly we beg that God would so over-rule all Things that his Glory may be promoted by them Q. What learn you from Christ's making this the first Petition of his Prayer A. 1. First That the Glory of God is to be preferred by us before all other Things whatsoever John 12.27 28. Now is my Soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this Hour But for this Cause came I unto this Hour Father glorifie thy Name Then came there a Voice from Heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again 2. Secondly That in the Beginning of our Prayers we ought to beg Assistance from God to present them that his Name may be hallowed Q. What is the second Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Thy Kingdom come Q. How manifold is the Kingdom of God A. It is two fold either Universal or else his peculiar Kingdom Q. What is God's Vniversal Kingdom A. The whole VVorld both Heaven and Earth and Hell it self and all things in them Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all Q. How doth God exercise his Dominion over this Kingdom A. By the Power of his Providence disposing of all his Creatures and all their Actions according to his VVill. Q. But since wicked Men are Rebels against God how doth he maintain his Dominion over them A. Three ways 1. First In that they cannot sin without his Permission 2. Secondly In that he restrains them when he pleaseth 3. Thirdly In that he justly punisheth them for their Sins sometimes in this Life always in the next Q. What is God's peculiar Kingdom A. His Kingdom of Grace which is the Church and that either Militant here on Earth or else Triumphant in Heaven Q. How is the Church Militant to be considered A. As it is either Visible or Invisible Q. What is the Visible Church of God here on Earth A. It is a Company of People openly professing the Truths that are necessary to Salvation and celebrating the Ordinances appointed by Jesus Christ Q.
That their Lives may be more plausible their Gifts more serviceable and their Condemnation at last the more tolerable Q. How doth God keep Men from Sin by his special Grace A. By exciting the inward Principle and Habit of Grace implanted in his Children to the actual Use and Exercise of it Q. Is not inherent Grace alone sufficient to keep the Godly from sinning A. It is not without the continual Influence of God's quickning Grace 2 Cor. 12.7 There was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above Measure Q. What are those Graces that God doth especially excite to keep his Children from Sin A. They are Three Faith Fear and Love Q. How doth Faith keep them from sinning A. Many ways but more especially by Two 1. First As it lively represents unto us Eternal Rewards and Punishments and make them as real as they are certain Heb. 11.1 Now Faith is the Substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen 2. Secondly As it represents unto us God to be the Observer of our Actions who must hereafter be the Judge of them For by Faith we see him who is invisible Q. How doth the Fear of God keep Men from Sin A. By possessing our Hearts with awfull Thoughts of his dread Majesty whose Power is infinite and whose Justice is strict and impartial Psal 4.4 Stand in awe and sin not Q. How doth the Love of God keep Men from Sin A. By working in them an holy Ingenuity and Sympathy of Affection with God Loving what he loves and hating what he hates and therefore those who love God will certainly hate Iniquity Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate Evil. Q. What do we pray for in this part of the Petition Deliver us from Evil A. We pray 1. That if it shall please God to lead us into Temptation yet he would not leave us under the Power of Temptation but would make a way for us to escape that we might be able to bear it 2. That if at any time Temptations should prevail over us God would not leave us under the Power of Sin but raise us again by true Repentance that so we may at last be delivered from the great Evil of Obduration and Impenitency 3. That God would not onely deliver us from gross and self condemning Sins but from every evil Way and Work 4. That he would be pleased to deliver us not onely from what is in it self sinfull but from all the Occasions and Appearances of Evil. Q. After the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer what next followeth to be considered A. The Doxology or Praise in these words For thine c. Q. Of what consisteth this Doxology A. Of four of God's most glorious Attributes His Soreignty Thine is the Kingdom His Omnipotence Thine is the Power His Excellency Thine is the Glory His Eternity All these are Thine for ever Q. What observe you in the Manner of our Saviour's ascribing these Attributes to God A. First The Eminency of them intimated in the Particle The The Kingdom the Power and the Glory signifying his the Highest and Chiefest of all these And Secondly The Propriety of them in the Particle Thine to note to us that they are God's onely Originally Independently and Unchangeably Q. What observe you from the illative Particle For when ye say For thine is the Kingdom c. A. This word carries in it the Force of a Reason both why we should pray unto God and why we may expect to be heard when we pray Q. How is it a Reason for us to pray unto God A. We pray unto God because he alone is able to relieve us For his is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever Q. How is it a Reason for us to expect that God should hear our Prayers A. Many ways 1. His is the Kingdom and we his Subjects and therefore we may depend on him as our King for Help and Protection 2. His is the Power and therefore he is able to do for us abundantly above what we are able to ask or think 3. His is the Glory and therefore what we ask for his Honour and Praise shall be granted us 4. All these are his for ever and therefore we may be assured that at no time the Prayer of Faith shall be in vain Q. What observe you from our Saviour's teaching us to use these Arguments and Pleas in our Prayers to God A. Two things 1. In our Prayers we ought to plead with God by weighty and inforcing Reasons 2. That the most prevailing Arguments in Prayer are to be taken from the Attributes of God Q. What benefit is there in using such Reasons since God cannot by them be moved to alter his Purposes A The stronger our Reasons are to sue for Mercies the more fervent will our Prayers be and the more confirmed our Faith Q. How doth the Consideration of the Kingdom 's being God s confirm our Faith that we shall obtain what we pray for A. Many ways 1. The Kingdom is God's and therefore he will see that his Name be hallowed in it for he is a King jealous of his Honour 2. The Kingdom is God's therefore he will take care for the Establishment and Enlargement of it since it is his own Interest and Concern 3. The Kingdom is God's and therefore he will look to be obeyed in it without which Royalty is but Pageantry 4. The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may expect our daily Bread and temporal Accommodations for it is a Kingly Office to provide things necessary for their Subjects 5. The Kingdom is God's and therefore we pray to him for Pardon and Forgiveness since it is a Royal Prerogative to forgive Offenders 6. The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may pray in Faith that he would deliver us from Temptations and the Evils to which we are tempted for one great End of Government is to protect the Subjects from the Assaults of their cruel Enemies Q. Which is the second Attribute ascribed unto God in the Doxology of the Lord's Prayer A. Power in these words And the Power Q. How is the Power of God distinguished A. Into his absolute and his ordinate Power Q. What call you the absolute Power of God A. The absolute Power of God is that whereby he is simply able to produce whatsoever is possible to be i. e. all things which imply not Contradiction Q. What call you God's ordinate Power A. God's ordinate Power is that whereby he is able to produce those things which according to his Will shall come to pass Q. Why is it called God's ordinate Power A. Because the Effects of it are limited by the Ordination of his Wisdom and Will Psal 115.3 But our God is in the Heavens he hath done whatsoever he pleased Psal 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven and Earth in the Seas and all deep Places Q. Is God's