for there wee shall bee exchanged into his image c. Thus the truth stands cleere That the naturall man as a naturall man and before hee bee renewed by grace can and may will both naturall good and a morall good But to will a spirituall good in that measure as that it may bee acceptable to God hee neither can nor may For howsoever he may preach distribute the Sacraments give almes pray and meditate yet are these not acceptable For the naturall man knoweth not the things that are of God 1. Cor. 2. Hee is dead in his sins and trespasses Ephes 2. Hee hath not the sonne of God and therefore can have no life in him 1. Iohn 5.12 Hee hath not the spirit of God in him and therefore cannot be the child of God Rom. 8.14 And finally although his workes were finished from the foundation of the world yet is hee but a stranger from the life of God For till his person bee first acceptable in Jesus Christ his workes shall never be approved Last of all a Sathan hath a will and as man hath a will so God also hath a will And to him chiefly and above all yea most truly and most properly is the liberty of will ascribed For hee willeth that which is good and that most freely most solely most absolutely and most perfectly because continually Gods will then yea and his revealed will being holy righteous and just in it selfe and of it selfe is that only which wee crave in this Petition But thou wilt perhaps aske me may I not say my will be done No no for as God is primumens primum agens so is he also Liberrimumens Liberrimum agens Hee is the first essence and the first agent and hee is the freest essence and freest agent that ever was No creature in heaven or in earth hath either a being action or will but that which is duely and truely subordinated to his Essence action or will Wouldest thou then crave a reason why thou must not intermixe thy will with Gods will The reasons are these 1. As thou art a naturall man there is great enmity betwixt thy will and Gods will The Apostle tells us this Rom. 8. The wisedome of the naturall man is enmity with God Hee saith not only that it is an enemy to it but enmity it selfe Now we know that it is more to be enmity then to bee an enemy for an enemy may bee reconciled but enmity never 2. It is not good that wee say my will bee done For if we get our will wee would many times will the things which would tend to our destruction Thus the children of Israel willed and desired Quailes in the wildernesse and they got their will but not their well For when their meat was in their mouth it came out at their nostrels 3. If wee got all our will wee should many times sinne against God willing the things which hee willeth not and nilling the things which he willeth Thus did Israel will their returne to Aegypt against the will of God leading them to the land of their rest And thus they would have a King and got one in Gods anger Thus I may say boldly that mans will should not bee sought but Gods For mans will differeth more from the will of God then the heaven differeth from the earth For it is mans will to live in wealth and prosperity but God willeth it not knowing that want is better for us For when wealth maketh mans wit to waver and prosperitie maketh him to misknow God want maketh him wise and with the prodigall child reclaimeth him from his errour Secondly wee would alwayes live at randome and be free from the Crosse but God willeth it not for hee knoweth that without the yoake we are but wilde heifers But when the Crosse is on our backe it will teach us to keepe his law Finally wee desire to live long and see many dayes God willeth it not And therefore cutteth off the thred of our life sometimes in the morning sometimes in the noone-tide and sometimes in the evening of our dayes And by so doing preventeth the growth of sinne in us Sometimes shutteth our eyes from seeing the evil that is to come and sometimes draweth us away from the love of the world that wee may bee invested with our Masters joy Thus by all these palpable documents hee cleerely teacheth thee to submit thy will to his and both in wealth and in want to say Not my will but thy will be done And truely till this time come and till thougrow up to this measure of grace A Scholler thou may be in the Schoole of grace but a perfect man in Christ Jesus thou art not For he that would be his Disciple must deny himselfe and take up his Crosse and follow him dayly The totall summe then of this part of the Petition is this O Lord since by nature we are created to thy image and since in that estate of our integrity we were sufficiently enabled to doe thy will But now since by our fall wee are so debilitated weakned as that we can neither know thy will nor doe it Wee runne to thee in the secret and sincerity of our soules And we begge of thee that by the grace of thy spirit thou wouldest so reenable us and strengthen us againe that thy will may not only bee done by us but also upon us That is to say that we may not onely doe that which thou commandest us in thy word but also patiently beare whatsoever crosse or calamity thou shalt bee pleased to exercise us with And so having ended the first part of the Petition wee come to the second The first part was materiall the last is formall Formatur we craved that Gods will might be done in us and upon us For manner we crave that his will may be done in earth as it is in Heaven To come then to the consideration hereof Whilst our Redeemer prescribeth unto us the matter of Gods obedience he prescribeth it in two subordinate periods of consideration 1. In the place thereof 2. In the patterne thereof The place hee will have it done on earth The patterne As it is in heaven We will first looke to the place of this obedience And it is earth By earth many divers men have meant many things diversly Tertullian by earth said our body was meant and by heaven our Soule Because our bodies are of the earth and earthly and our Soules a spirituall and celestiall substance And the ordinary glosse following Tertulltan writing on this place by the earth have understood the flesh and by the Heaven the spirit So that they make the meaning of the words to bee Let the flesh and the lusts thereof be subdued to the Spirit and the good motions of the same Cyprian by earth understands the unregenerate and such as doe not know God and by Heaven just men to whom God is knowne and by whom he is obeyed And he makes the
knowne by his name to Adam to Moses to Abraham Isaack Iacob and the Prophets And by these his names point out to them the fulnesse of his grace in Jesus Christ I answer thee It is true indeed but the differēce of the revelatiō is great for God in the manifesting of his name unto us hath now done it more neerly more cleerely more fully and more familiarly First more neerly for what is neerer to us then our nature which he did assume hee became flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone yea like unto us in all things sinne onely excepted that wee might bee made to God in him flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone in a spirituall regeneration Secondly more clearely for they saw but darkly and under a veile but wee have seene him in the prime and strength of his light for it is written All these things were but shadowes of things to come but the body was Christ Iesus Galat. 2. Thirdly more fully for he hath kept back no part of the counsell of the Father from us which was necessary to our salvation Fourthly more familiarly for what could be more familiar then to have the Sonne of God walking in our flesh amongst us thirty three yeares and an halfe And what greater familiarity then to make both Jew and Gentile who were estranged from God to bee one in himselfe Let us therefore boldly looke upon him in the revelation of his name and learne in every thing in heaven or in earth on the which we set our eyes to reverence this great and mighty name the Lord our God This being spoken concer-cerning the subject of the petition the Attribute now followeth in order to bee considered and it is laid before us in a word of sanctification or hallowing Hallowed bee thy name For understanding hereof wee will first looke what it is to hallow or sanctifie Secondly in whose power it lyeth to sanctifie Thirdly how Gods name is hallowed or can be sanctified of us First to hallow or to sanctifie any thing is to vindicate the same from any absurd or profane use to its owne holy and proper end and therefore to hallow Gods name is to vindicate it from all abuse whatsoever and to attribute to it the due honour and glory thereof But let this be made a little more cleare Secondly God sometimes halloweth man sometimes halloweth and God and man both do sometimes hallow God hallowed man by creation making him to his image God halloweth man by regeneration in the day of his new birth and God shall totally and finally hallow man in the day of his totall and finall redemption so that whatsoever God halloweth it is positively hallowed Man halloweth God not by making him blessed for what can a finite creature adde to the felicity of the great and infinite Creator Man therfore halloweth Gods name but declaratively when hee confesseth to the honour and glory of God that hee hath nothing but that which hee hath received and when hee giveth praise unto him for the same So that the hallowing and sanctification of God to man in respect of mans to him back againe is as the cause to the effect or as Gods election knowledge love to us from eternity causeth our election knowledge love of God back againe in time Finally there be some things that God and man both halloweth and these are persons times places i. his Ministers his Sabbaths and his Churches for these God hath hallowed and consecrated to himselfe Man halloweth them by observing and keeping them holy without prophanation and sanctifying himselfe in them and by them To speake then in a word Gods name is hallowed two wayes notionally and practically Notionally when wee acknowledge him aright and in the thoughts of our heart do yeeld unto him that due reverence which becommeth the creatures to give to the Creator Practically when in the tenour of our lives we do rightly acknowledge the truth of his word the riches of his mercy the equity of his justice and the majestie of his workes Vse Now that wee may make use of this Petition let us call to minde a little what hath beene said that under the name of God was understood his essence his word and his worke his essence we cannot hallow for wee can adde nothing to that which is infinite neither can we declare it sufficiently for here wee know but in a part and see but in a part Gods name is honoured in his word First when it is reverenced Secondly when it is trusted Thirdly when it is obeyed First when it is reverenced not as the word of man but as the word of God for this cause the Apostle St Paul at Corinth preached not in the vaine inticing eloquence of humane wisdome lest the crosse of Christ should be of no effect Secondly when it is trusted for want of this trust the old world was drowned and Moses debarred the land of Canaan and mockers in the last time shall receive a judgement that lingers not Thirdly when it is obeyed and men walke worthy of the calling wherunto they are called The wāt of this made Eli his house desolate and Shilo a mockingstocke The want of this made the sword to stay on the house of David surely the want of this shall one day beare witnesse against the children of this generation One thing resteth to honour God in his workes and this sort of sanctification is threefold according to the threefold estate of his creatures for some of them wee contemplate onely some of them wee acquire with toyle and much travell and some of them wee use with freedome and true liberty Wee contemplate the Sunne the Moone and the starres all made for the glory of God and the praise of his name we possesse the earth the seas with toyle difficulty and paine wee use with liberty and freedome our meate our drinke and our apparell In the first wee honour God if from the excellencie of the creature wee looke up to the admirable glory of the Creatour In the second we honour God whilst we care for them not with a thornie but a sober care 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the last wee honour God whilst wee sanctifie their use by the word by prayer and by sobriety But shall not man honour God in the words of his mouth also Yes surely but because hee who honoureth God in his heart doth also honor him with his mouth è contra by the one wee shall easily judge of the other For this it is that the wicked man is reproved Psalme 50. And that Christ commandeth Sathan to be silent speaking out of a possessed man for hee knew that his name would be dishonoured whilst it was named out of the mouth of the father of lyes let our speech therefore bee powdered with salt Now onely resteth the word of appropriation Thy which is set as a band and tye knitting the Attribute
changed Wee are with David sore afraid and as Paul telleth us Wee murmur as those who have no hope But out upon such a weaknesse it is an evident testimony that wee are altogether carnall and as yet in our sinnes If our knowledge were better our affections should bee bettered also and if wee should once make the Lord our portion wee should be more glad to want the world then to have it and to say with Iob The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken c. And with the Apostle I count all things but losse in respect of the advantage I have in the Crosse of Iesus Thus wee have spoken something concerning the giver and the person to whom we say Give The manner of the word is remarkable For it is not a word of prevention It is not a word of retaliation it is only a word of supplication and begging That it is neither a word of preventiō nor retaliation I instāce from the Lawyers who say and that very well that there are two sorts of gifts Donationum alia est simplex gratuita alia cōditionata ob causam futurā When we come to God and say to him Give It telleth us that we can neither prevēt him by giving him any thing first or freely nor yet when hee hath given us any thing can we repay him with any recōpēce We cannot prevēt him by giving him first for that were against his eternity for it is written Who hath givē him first it shall be recōpenced Neither can we give him freely for that were against his alsufficiency For when hee is hungry he will not tell us c. And the earth is the Lords the furniture thereof Againe we cannot give him by way of remuneratiō or requitall Abrā whē he came to sojourne in the land of Canaan although all the land was his by promise yet did hee possesse nothing thereof but a place to bury his dead and that hee bought from Ephron the Hittite for thirtie peeces of silver even the cave of Maghpelae David at the returne of the Arke received the floore of Araunah the Jebusite and yet by way of requitall I will surely buy it of thee at a price The children of Aegypt in the time of famine received bread from Ioseph but they paid well for it when their money failed them they excambed their flocks and when their flocks failed they sold their land and their inheritance also But here is no such dealing betwixt God and us hee is the giver and we are the beggers Hee giveth first For he knew chose and loved us before wee were He giveth abundantly Wine to make the heart glad and oyle to make the face to shine Hee giveth freely also for wee have nothing to give backe againe and he dealeth with us as Ioseph dealt with his Brethren when we open our sacks wee finde our monies in the mouth of them restored again Hee will not make Merchandise with us For his house is not a house of Merchandise but a house of prayer And as Christ did in the last and great day of the feast and Isay in his prophesie So doth God to all of us this day Hoe All you that thirst come to the waters and care not for money come buy bread without money and Wine and Milke without a price Well then is God so liberall that notwithstanding we bee beggers yet hee scorneth not our petitions but giveth us first and freely fully and abundantly Is there nothing that thou canst give him or that he wil accept at thy hāds Yes three things those are First thankes for what thou hast received For he requireth this of thee that thou shouldst take the cup of Salvation and give praise to his Name That thou shouldst call on him in the day of thy trouble that hee may deliver thee and thou maist glorifie him And if thou doe not so thou art but a beast that drinkes of the stream without remembrance of the spring Secondly come againe also and seeke more for it is his delight He is not like man or the Sonne of man who feareth to give for feare of want or wearieth to give for frequency of petitions No his storehouse is not emptied The eyes of all things looke up to him hee openeth his hand and filleth them with his Blessing Neither wearieth hee with our frequent petitions but the homelyer we are we are still the welcomer 3. Remember also to give to the poore the thing that thou wouldest give him For he that hath pitty on the poore lendeth to the Lord and hee that giveth to any of these a cup of cold water shall not want a rich reward LECTIO 12. Give us this day c. AFter the search and enquirie of the word bread and of the word give which wee have explained to you in our two last sermons It resteth now that wee take a view of the third word Vs That wee may truly know to whom and to whose use it is that wee begge at the hands of God this bread In handling of this petition the words are very remarkable whereas they are severall in their litterall sense so are they also in their moral and spirituall use The first is a word of demonstration and evidence For it sheweth us whereof wee stand in neede that is Bread The second is a word of faith and sheweth us upon whom wee should depend for this Bread and that is Give The third word Vs is a word of charity begging Bread and all necessary support not for our selves alone but also for the mutuall members of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ The fourth word Ours is the word of a good Conscience The fift word Daily is a word of contentment And the last words For this day is a word of confession Wee have spoken of the word of demonstration and of the word of faith Let us now looke to the word of charity Vs. This I say is the Lecture of charity and that I may cleere it heare mee but a little If any shall enquire why I am commanded to say give us and not give mee I answere it is done for three causes 1. For the reference it hath with the Preface of this Prayer 2. For the reference it hath with Gods providence and will 3. And for the reference wee should have one to another as mutuall members of the mysticall body of Christ In the Preface and entry of this Prayer When our Redeemer CHRIST JESVS leadeth us to God to powre out our wants before him and to supplicate at his hands the support of those wants hee will not suffer us to say my Father but Our Father The reason is none can truly call him my father but Christ Jesus alone Hee is his father and his only by nature he is ours onely by adoption and in him and through him It was hee and he alone who being the image of the invisible God and the engraven forme and character
our shippe teight Who can cure our wounds but hee who is the spirituall carpenter and Physitian of our Soules In all our distresses let us have our recourse to him For hee will not weary in doing us good if we can come to him without wearying For in due time wee shall receive our reward if wee faint not Secondly in this word wee are taught how to bridle our affections for the desires of men are infinite and have no end they are like the horse-leech that saith alwayes Give give and like the grave that is never satisfied Yet behold O man it were good for thee to set bounds to thy desires for God in his wisdome hath put in this Petition a word of content daily That as the globe of the earth is girded about with the Meridian line so these earthly hearts of ours may be girded about and kept in frame with the compasse of content It is with us in this last age as with Israel in the wildernesse for when they gathered their Manna God commanded that they should gather but an Omer and either under or above according to the number of their family It is even so with us God will not give us a liberty to seeke the things of this earth but with measure and mediocrity so much as may refresh and maintaine nature with a reasonable content But though this bee the ordinance of God O how exorbitant are the desires of men how wastfull is our excesse in meate drinke and apparell purchasing of lands I say wee are wastfull in excesse of our meate drinke and apparell for there is more on one of our tables at one time then would satisfie all the poore of the city if it were well parted We drinke at once more cups of health then Bacchus did in his Orgyes And one suit of apparell on our backe is bought at a dearer rate then all the revenue of many of our heires can amount to Looke againe upon our purchasing God commandeth us to seeke nothing but our daily bread but behold wee joyne house to house land to land and inheritance to inheritance and when wee have done all that wee can to make it large and ample if there bee but one foote bredth of ground under our window or within the smoake of our chimney that is not ours O how sicke are we of discontent with Achab till Naboths vineyard bee added to our inclosures And yet if wee would consider how soone wee may be taken from it how deboist an heire wee shall leave it to or how little ground will content and conteine us when wee dye I hope wee should not bee so earth hungry But all our errour is in this wee forget the word of Gods ordinance daily And wee dreame of a word of eternity Evermore So the folly of the one overshadowes the truth of the other in us and wee become forgetfull of the word of God If thou get food and raiment thou should bee therewith content Thirdly it should captivate our will to the entertainment of a daily familiarity with God for this is sure we have nothing but what God giveth us daily why should wee not then run to him daily hourly to seeke it Brethren I cannot looke without pitty upon the estate of the weake Christian in this point for in it hee is inferiour to the poorest begger that goeth in the streete the begger because he knows that he hath nothing but what good people gives him hee goeth into the open wayes where people have greatest resort and because his necessities are daily and quotidian therefore hee is not ashamed to bee a daily and quotidian begger but in this wee come short of him for we are all as indigent of grace as hee of meanes and yet hee can begge daily wee cannot hee can betake himselfe into the place of support but wee will not the place of our support is the Church the strength of our begging lyeth in prayer The begger wearyeth not to goe into the high wayes we weary to come to the Church he wearyeth not to supplicate with all the termes of necessity hee can invent wee weary ere wee can breath two or three words though but for fashion But heare O my hearers these things should not be so for as our necessities are so much the more urgent by how much they are spirituall so should our prayers be both the more frequent and fervent by how much the Kingdome of Heaven is not obteined but by violence and if at any time our petitions be returned to us without successe it is because they want heart I have many times told from this place that that which Martha said to Christ concerning Lazarus may be truly said to our soules concerning prayer and the continuance thereof shee said Lord if thou hadst beene here my brother Lazarus had not dyed so thou and I and all of us may say If prayer had beene here this ill turne had not falne in our hands for prayer is not the worke of flesh and blood but of the Holy Ghost where it is hee is and where hee is guide wee cannot so stumble but of necessity wee must rise againe So much I have spoken concerning the word daily which I called a word of content there rests now in all this Petition but a word This day This I called a word of limitation and by it I meane to limit and put an end to this Sermon By the word then of This day I understand this present moment of time in which we live called by David a yeare The yeares of men are but threescore and ten Iob calleth it a moneth I have had for my inheritance but the moneths of vanity and here it is called a day because as yesterday is gone and is no more so wee shall bee to morrow Wee have nothing in time or of time which wee can truly call ours but this day and in it but this moment God then in his wisdome hath not onely set bounds to the quality of our desires calling them but daily but also limiteth the time and continuance of them to this day but if any worldling shall grudge at his lease as being too short let him know that the words are not mine but Gods For whatsoever endowments of grace hee hath given to the sonne of man hee hath given it under the title and precinct of this day he said to the Sonne of man his own Sonne the Lord Christ Jesus in his instalment Thou art my beloved Son this day have ' I begotten thee Psal 2. Hee said to his people Israel his sons by adoption The Lord hath chosen thee this day to bee a peculiar people unto him Deut. 26. Hee said to his servant the Prophet Isay in the time of his calling This day have I set thee up over Kingdomes over nations Isay 1.10 Lastly hee said to the theefe on the Crosse This day thou shalt bee with mee in paradise Neither is this the onely and