and that which is infinite eternall and incorruptible Woe bee unto that man that shall be thus audaciously blasphemous as to say hee hath merited any thing but condemnation For that man appearing before God and wanting his wedding garment the righteousnesse of Jesus shall surely be stripped naked and his nakednesse shall be seene of men and Angels But thou wilt enquire If man bee not able to obey the Law how can God in his justice give him a Law or correct him for the breach thereof To the first I answer thee out of naturall reason Although thou hast rendered thy selfe unable to obey what injustice is it with God to exact thy obediēce for he created thee able to obey whatsoever hee required of thee Is it not so amongst the sonnes of men in civill actions but what is more God giveth thee although thou be unable a law to square thy life by for three causes Vt scias quid acceperis ut videas quid amiseris ut intelligas unde repetendum sit quod amiseris and as he requireth the obedience of his law of thee for these 3 causes so doth he also correct the breach therof for 3 causes 1. Ad ostētationē debitae miseriae 2 ad emendationem labilis vitae And 3. ad exercitationē necessariae patientiae Vse Since in the tenour of the Law and the Gospell the revealed will of God is shut up as in a treasury or store-house Why is it that man delights in ignorance for from the knowledge of the will of God in these there ariseth light to the understanding and sanctification to the affections If it bee so why then doth the Church of Rome inhibit her followers the reading of the Scriptures and injoyne to them an implicite faith Is this any thing else but to make the blinde lead the blinde that both may fall or is it any thing else but to shut up the key of knowledge and neither enter themselves into the kingdome of God nor suffer others to enter And finally is this any thing else but to keep captive in chaines of darknesse the poore people making them by the tradition of men to account the will of God of no effect The Lord open their eyes to see the vanity of the way wherein they walke and the Lord establish our hearts in the obedience of the light revealed to us lest this be our condemnation that light hath shined but wee have continued contemners of the light because our workes were evill The second thing offered to our consideration is what are the points of his revealed will and what are the duties which hee requireth to bee done of us To this I answer It were a tedious worke to runne over all the duties of a Christian required of him in this word yet for an instance the word of God requireth of us 1. The knowledge of Gods will 2. Faith in his word 3. Obedience to the word beleeved 4. Suffering for the testimony thereof when wee shall be called to it 5. And finally an hungring after our dissolution because we cannot get these things done I say first God requireth of us to know him for thus it is written This is life everlasting to know thee to bee the onely true God And againe I have decreed to know nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified But thou wilt say how shall I know God I answer God is knowne by nature for the naturall man although hee know not the true God yet by naturall knowledge hee propoundeth something to himselfe for a God And this shall serve for a witnesse against him for whilst by nature hee doth the things of the Law he becommeth a law to himselfe By his workes God also is knowne For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are knowne in the workes of his hands Yet this is not sufficient to salvation For the more a man knoweth of the works except hee bee sanctified the more hee evanisheth in the vanity of his owne imaginations and his foolish heart is the more replenished with darknesse By his word hee is knowne for in the Law hee sheweth what wee ought to doe And in the gospell what we should beleeve For the Law was but a pedagogue to Jesus Christ and all the ceremonies figures and types thereof were but shadowes of things to come the body was Jesus Christ and whosoever in his difficulty hath not recourse to the Law and to the testimony it is because there is neither light nor life in him By grace God is knowne for all the knowledge that man can have of God either from the Law or from the Gospell is in vaine unlesse our hearts bee inclined by the spirit of grace to obey or beleeve for it is written As many as are lead by the Spirit of God are the Sonnes of God and heires of glory By glory wee shall know him fully for here wee know but in part but there we shall see as wee are seene and know as wee are knowne being exchanged to his image from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. The second thing that God in his word willeth us to do is to beleeve in him for there is a faith that beleeveth God to be there is a faith that beleeveth God to bee true and there is a faith that beleeveth in God Every faith is not a saving faith this onely saveth when we beleeve in God and rest upon him for the life of our bodies saying Give us this day our daily bread And for the life of our soules saying Forgive us our sinnes So that in faith there must bee three things Sensus assensus appropriatio sense assent and appropriation Now it is the applying faith that saves for it is written Thy faith hath made thee whole The third thing God requireth of us in his word is a sanctified obedience of that which we know and beleeve For it is written This is the will of God even your sanctification Againe Be ye holy as I am holy who hath called you And againe Let your light so shine before men c. For it is not hee who cryeth Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven but hee that knoweth the will of my Father and doth it It is the will of God that wee suffer for him for it is written Let him that would follow me deny himselfe and take up his crosse and follow mee Brethren this is a lesson the hardest of all for man to learn concerning God for man would learne to know God out of curiosity that he might dispute and reason concerning him Man would beleeve both Gods word and Gods worke out of necessity when they cannot better do Like Pharaoh and his Magicians confessing the finger of God Man also out of custome for civill shame will some time obey God for feare of punishment more then for filiall affectiō but let these all be knit together they shall not so evidently demonstrate the
sole title and precinct of his endowment but also the title and sole reciprocation hee craves of us and that both in the matter of his obedience and of our content and desires In the matter of our obedience hee will have it to day To day if you will heare his voice harden not your hearts And of our desires Give us this day our daily bread and reasō good it is that it should speake so for by so saying first hee pares the covetous mans nailes Secondly hee bindeth up the prodigalls hands and cutteth downe the Epicures vaine hope I say First by this word hee pares the covetous mans nailes for hee will pare them himselfe hee lets them grow that hee may scrape and scratch and gather together without satisfaction of desire without wearying in travell He riseth early in the morning and goeth late to bed at night and all the day long eates the bread of sorrow as if his belly was like his heart triangular and uncapable of satisfaction but foole that he is what is this he doth knoweth hee not that wee are but here to day and away to morrow for All flesh is grasse Care not therefore for the morrow but let the morrow care for it selfe for this day hath enough of its owne griefe Et magno apparatu breve iter vitae non instruitur sed oneratur Secondly God by this word bindes up the prodigals hands for it is the desire of many men in the world to have God giving them not one peece this day and another peece to morrow as we stand in need of it but wee will have al our portion together as the prodigall child said Father give mee my portion that befalls mee and when hee got it you know what became of it God therefore being wiser then wee will not cast all our patrimony in our lap together but like a wise father will give us our estate but peece peece and will see how we imploy the little hee lendeth us that hee may make us Lords over much and wee may every day honour him in the suit and request of his supply Lastly hee cutteth the vaine hope of the Epicure who like an atheist makes covenant with death and an agreement with hell and saith with the whore in the Revelation I am a Queene and shall see no mourning To this man God cries here as hee cryed to the rich man in the Gospell saying Foole this night they shall take thy soule from thee so here hee cryes to the Epicure This day thou shalt dye and shalt not see the morrow by one dayes disease I will beat that soule of thine out of her cittadell Watch therefore and pray for yee know not at what houre the theefe will come One day is too long to dwell in the tents of Kedar but in the presence of the Auncient of dayes there is fulnesse of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore LECTIO 14. And forgive us our trespasses IN handling of this Petition wee have two things to consider the coherence or dependence of this Petition with the former and next the tenour and force of the Petition it selfe The coherence is evident in the conjunctive particle and. For whilst in the last petition Our Redeemer Christ Jesus teacheth us to begge of him things meete for the maintenance of this our naturall life hee packed up the Petition in some few words of necessitie so here knowing that man is too much addicted to set his heart and fixe his affections upon the earth and the things thereof in a snatch as it were hee recals us againe to the consideration of the soule and teacheth us to hunger and thirst for righteousnesse and the life and well being of the soule For what shall it availe a man if hee winne the whole world and lose his owne soule In a word by the conjoyning and tying of this petition to the former I can resemble our Saviour to nothing better then to a wise and skilfull Pylot who seeing his company sicke and weary with continuall stormes at sea when he knoweth hee is neere any land letteth his sick and faint hearted company go on shore to refresh themselves to get the aire of the land to take in new victuals and provision to serve the necessitie of their succeeding voyage but if hee finde them to begin to be enamored with love of the land and the pleasures thereof straight wayes hee sendeth a boat on shoare reclaimes them frō the surfet of their pleasures telling them that if any amongst them would bee at home at his owne Countrie hee must come aboard againe for it is not the dallying with the pleasures of a strange country that will bring him home to his owne soyle It is even so with our Saviour in these words for in the first three Petitions wee were set to sea and commanded to saile home to heaven for whilst man honours Gods name advanceth Gods kingdome and doth Gods will what is hee doing but sailing through a stormy sea to a good harbour and a quiet haven of rest now because while men have lanched out to the sea of the world and are sailing homeward many crosse windes and boisterous stormes hinder them by the way Christ like a discreete and mercifull pylot and master of our ship in the last Petition giveth us this day our daily bread sets us on shoare and lets us play a while in the free aire and refresheth us with the pleasures of nature giving us leave to satiate and satisfie our selves with such provision as the necessity of this our naturall life required at our hands but knowing very well the nature of man that when hee getteth leave to play with the world hee will take a large inch to the ell and that in stead of satisfying his necessitie hee will inebriate and surfet himselfe therefore in this Petition And forgive us our trespasses hee shootes a boat after them and calls them to come home and to come aboard againe for feare that by playing too long with the world and the pleasures of the shoore they lose the opportunity of their voiage homeward for as the wisdome of the world is foolishnesse with God so the love of the world is enmity with God and whosoever is a friend of the worlds is an enemie of God Iames 4. vers 4. And this I take to bee the reason of the coherence of this Petition to the former Vse Let us now looke upon this tye and particle of conjunction that wee may learne something from it The uses and observations which arise here-from are these First it teacheth how to use the things of this world Man since the fall of the first Adam hath brought nothing into the world with him but an uncircumcised heart and a body of sinne dwelling in his flesh and from thence as from a bitter roote of corruption floweth nothing in all his conversation but fearfull and rebellious transgressions amongst the which
will not suffer mee to paint them out to the life yea I know how many large volumes have beene published already on this subject by worthy and learned men only by the by as it were and in so farre as the vvords here shall offer us occasion I will point at them and from their weake considerations speake some words of comfort and instruction to your soules It is certaine that the chiefe and arch enemy of mans salvation is Sathan the devill who hath beene a lyer to man and a murtherer of man from the beginning But because he is a spirit therefore invisible that man cannot know him whilst hee fights with him he suborneth two souldiers against man the world from without man the flesh the lusts thereof within man that man having fightings within terrors without may fall and never rise againe But that I may make you senfible of these his assaults and temptations know that whilst I speak of the world I do not understand this great and majesticke frame of the world composed of these foure elements fire aire earth and water for by these man is not tempted all and every one of these Sathan hath imployed to punish man for sin but by none of these hath hee at any time tempted man for sinne But by the world I understand the children of disobedience and wicked ones that are in the vvorld and that not simply or absolutely as they are flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones but conditionally and as they are either cloathed with prosperity and wealth or else as they are stripped naked in the day of their want and misery And that the wicked of the world are called of God the world it is cleare out of that prayer of our Saviour Christ whilst hee saith I pray not for the world but for those whom thou hast given mee out of the world Now these as they stand either invested or cloathed with prosperity or stripped naked with calamity and want do prove a stumbling blocke and snare or temptation to the children of God For in the day of their prosperity by their carnall joy wherewith they are overjoyed in their pleasures by their carnall security whereby they cry peace to themselves when God mindeth them no peace and by their proud trampling upon the weake and despising of them that want what do they but invite us to runne with them in the excesse of their riot and by their temporall felicities labour to draw away if it were possible the very elect of God from the search and purchase of that felicity which is immortall and undefiled Againe in the day of their adversity what do they but cry to us with Iobs wife Curse God and die With Iehoram I will wait no longer on the Lords leisure And with Israel in the wildernesse Would God wee had dyed by the flesh pots of Egypt But brethren vvith these things let us not be moved let neither the prosperity of the vvicked draw thee to a carnall rejoycing or love of the vvorld for the prosperity of the vvicked is but like cracking of thornes under a pot nor let the calamity of the godly vvho suffer justly for their sinnes dravv thee to apostacie and back-sliding from the faith for it is better to suffer affliction with the children of God then to enjoy the perishing pleasures of sinne for a season Heb. 11. And it is more honourable for us to imbrace the Crosse of Jesus Christ then all the treasures of a corrupt and perishing Egypt Againe Sathan in the second place hireth our flesh to fight against us and here by the word flesh I do not understand this body of ours alone which is composed of flesh blood but also that naturall corruption which we have drawne from the loynes of our first parents who have infected us both soule and body and dwelling in us fighteth desperately and maliciously against us This corruption the Scripture expresseth by many names and titles as The old man The old Adam The naturall man The law of our members and The lusts of the flesh which fight against the soule Thus wee see that the flesh is also our enemy and so much the more odious by how much it is traiterous For of it wee may say what David said in Psalm 41. My familiar friend whom I trusted and hee that lay in my bosome and did eate bread with mee hath lifted up his heele against mee To this Iudas who betrayeth us wee may justly say It were good for thee thou hadst never bin borne To this Dalilah wee may say If thou hadst not plowed with my heyfer thou couldst not have read my riddle To this wife of Iob wee may say Thou speakest like a foolish woman And lastly to this unadvised counseller wee may justly say Get thee behinde mee Sathan for thou knowest not the things that are of God but the things that are of man Now wouldst thou know O man why thou shouldst so encounter thy flesh I answer because it is thy deadly enemy and that in three respects In respect of malice of power and policy In respect of malice for it is written In mee that is in my flesh there dwelieth no good Rom. 7.18 Now that wherein there is no good must of necessity bee exceedingly malicious and fully replenished with evill Tucaro saith a Father cunctis virtutibus denudata es ideo diceris caro a carendo quia cares omni bono And would you have a true anatomy of the flesh looke to St Paul Rom. 3. Her eyes are full of adultery her throat an open sepulcher her mouth the mouth of deceit the poyson of aspes is under her lips her feet are swift to shed blood destruction and calamity are in her wayes and the way of the Lord shee hath not knowne Secondly the flesh is a powerfull enemy both in respect of the unregenerate and also in respect of the regenerate In the unregenerate it is a mighty King in the regenerate it is a cruell tyrant In the unregenerate I say it is a mighty king for as a King in his kingdome swayes the scepter enacteth lawes forceth obedience and subdueth rebells So is it in the unregenerate man sinne beareth dominion giveth a law to the members and leadeth all the affections captive to disobedience And from this it is that the Apostle exhorteth us not to suffer sinne to raigne in our mortall bodies And as the flesh is a King in the unregenerate so in the regenerate it is a cruell tyrant for howsoever by the grace of God in Jesus Christ wee are set free from the law of Sinne and of death yet so long as wee dwell in the body it dwelleth in us and both tormenteth us with the torture of a wounded conscience for sinne past with continuall molestation to sinne in time to come So that the best of Gods Saints have deeply sighed and groaned under the yoke and bondage thereof David could say I dwell too long in
offerings he abhorreth thy solemne feasts and thy new Moones All that he requireth of thee is a new borne creature for a broken and contrite heart the Lord never despised Wouldest thou then have thy prayer to bee heard I pray thee take heed to whom thou praiest if thou invokest thy Father that is in heaven let thy conversation be with him also in heaven and remember that counsell given by the Apostle to the Colossians If you bee risen with Iesus Christ seeke those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father But thou wilt say to me O man how shall I seek those things that are above since they are unsearchable the eye hath not seene them the care hath not heard them and the minde of man cannot understand them I may answere with the Apostle in that same place Though thy hand be short that thou canst not reach to them yet thy heart and the desires thereof are not so Set thy affections saith the Apostle upon them But for the more particular information I will teach thee how to attaine unto them If thou wouldest seeke thy Father that is in heaven and in seeking finde him then bee carefull of three things Seeke him where hee may be found seeke him how hee may be found and seeke him whilst he may be found It is a lamentable pity to see the toile and travaile of men in this time for they weary themselves in searching and seeking out the heavens the ayre the sea the earth and when they have found them the more that they know of them the greater fooles they become As it is written Rom. 1. O but that industrious search that hath the promise of satisfaction and true content is only to seeke God and his Heavenly kingdome To the atchievement whereof wee must first seeke him where he may bee found and where is that I pray you Gregory in his moralls lib. 16. cap. 15. telleth us In Sinu matris Ecclesiae Not in St. Dennis in France not in St. Iaques or Compostella in Spaine not in St. Patricks Purgatory in Ireland nor at the holy Grave in Jerusalem No no if at any time he was found there made manifest unto them hee hath now withdrawue his presence to the Heavens And out upon their folly that weary themselves in seeking him by such sublunary Pilgrimages I may and will bee bold justly to say what the Angells said to Mary Magdalen Why seekest thou the living amongst the dead But if thou wouldest seeke him seek him in his Church in the ministery of his word in the participation of his Sacraments and in the sweet Quire of the praises and prayers of his Saints And surely if thou findest him not there in the smell of his garments thou shalt never finde him in the fulnesse of his glory For it shall be with all of us as it was with the two Disciples going to Emaus whilst hee talked with them and opened unto them the Scriptures their hearts did burne within them by the way It shall bee so I say with thee O man if thou gettest not thy heart inflamed with a sparke of his love in the way when thou hearest his word it is a fearefull testimony that thou shalt not bee satisfied with the fulnesse of his joy in the life to come For it is the sweet smelling relish of those drops that we get in his word that maketh us to follow after him and with our heart to pant and pray till wee see him in Sion that is invisible 2 As wee must seeke him where hee may bee found so wee must also seeke him whilst he may be found For there is a time appointed for all things under the Sunne A due time wherein if we seeke we shall finde and a preposterous time wherein although we knocke it shall not be opened unto us This precious time is to day for to day wee must heare his voice This is the acceptable time this is the day of our visitation Remember Esau the Foolish virgius and the Spouse in the Canticles 3. Lastly let us seeke him how he may be found and as for this know that though he be sought of many yet hee is found but of a few because that they seeke him not after this fashion For hee that would finde God must seeke foure manner of wayes saith Augustine 1. Caste unice for himselfe and his owne sake seeking nothing but in him and for him knowing that the fashion of this world perisheth 2. Verè sine hypocrisi truly and without dissimulation For if wee draw neere him with our mouthes when our hearts are farre from him he will cast backe the dust of our sacrifices upon our faces and make open our nakednesse in the sight of our enemies 3. Fervidè cum zelo For the Kingdome of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it perforce and if our prayers want audience it is because they want heart 4. Perseverantèr continuo For it had been better for us never to have knowne the way of truth then after that wee have knowne it that we should looke backe with Lots Wife or desire a returne with Israel to the Flesh-pots of Aegypt And now Brethren I hope I have made the first part of this prayer cleere unto you in some condition For in it I have shewed you the love of the inviter God who is become Our Father I have shewed you the communion and fellowship of your society they are all our owne Brethren and Sisters yea fellow members with us of that mysticall body whereof Jesus Christ is the Glorious head Thirdly I have shewed you the Glory of the habitation to which wee are invited it is the heaven of heavens wherein he dwelleth that is al-sufficient What now resteth but as those parts have beene severally touched and in them you instructed So now for conclusion we binde them up againe and learne you in a composed frame to say aright Our Father which art in Heaven And to the effect you may doe so and bee heard in so doing let mee request you for Gods sake to follow his counsell who hath directed you thus to pray Whensoever thou commest before God to intreat him as thy Father which is in heaven learn to deny thy selfe and to follow him Deny thy selfe for thou art altogether unsufficient and follow after him for in him doth all fulnesse dwell Thou art insufficient in a threefold respect 1. In respect of Judgement to resolve aright 2. In respect of wisedome to mannage aright 3. And in respect of power to bring to passe In respect of Judgement for we are blinde and know not the things of God In respect of wisedome to mannage for with David and Israel wee are in bringing up the Arke and therefore many times our Vzzah perisheth In regard of power to bring to passe things that are spirituall wee can neither will nor performe For Paul may plant and Apollos water but God
giveth the increase And as we must deny our selves so we must also follow him because of his sufficiency for hee is all-sufficient in his mercy in his wisedome in his power and in his truth In mercy for where our sinne abounded his mercy hath superabounded In wisedome for hee hath so wisely reconciled his mercy to his Justice that hee is satisfied and wee saved In his power for he dwelleth in the heavens and doth on the earth whatsoever hee willeth In his truth for heaven and earth shall passe away but one jot of his word falleth not to the ground If we seeke him he will bee found of us but if we forsake him he wil forsake us too LECT 4. Hallowed bee thy name AFter the Preface wee come in order to looke to the Petitions which are six whereof three have a reference to God and three unto man and his humane weakenesse In handling of these Petitions this shall God willing be the path wherein wee shall walke Wee will first looke to the order of the Petition and see in what distance it standeth with the rest And then wee will look upon the matter conteined in the Petition and see wherin it doth concerne us The order of this Petition is cleere and easie for if these three Petitions which concerne God bee justly preferred to those which concerne man then of necessity that Petition which doth most truly point out Gods honor unto us should first have place and that is this For it doth most lively represent unto us the care of Gods glory To it therefore precedency is duly given Now that this may be a little more cleere I shall labour to give you the evidence thereof both from the commandement of God and the practise of his Saints Shall we looke to the commandement of God it is more then manifest for amongst those ten Commandements which hee gave to Israel the first foure which concerne himselfe are prefixed to those other sixe which concerne but us And amongst these foure that which doth most eminently and evidently set forth his Glory hath both preheminency and precedency of place Answerable unto this is that direction of Christs Matthew 6.33 Seeke first the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and the things of this life shall be cast unto you As God by the authoritie of his word doth require this of us So also at all times it hath beene the practise of his Saints in whom the Spirit of God hath dwelt powerfully ever to preferre the Glory of God to all things in this life yea to their owne life it selfe Looke to the practise of Moses Exodus 32. And of Paul that elect vessell of Mercy Rom. 9.3 Both of them in a burning zeale to the honor of God did wish themselves to bee thrust out from God that in their overthrow his honor might bee the more manifested Let me yet adde to this another consideration of the order and we shall see that it is not without reason that this Petition hath the precedency For in it I finde a wonderfull strain of the wisedom of our Redeemer Christ Jesus In the preface and entry of this prayer he hath led us to direct our Petitions in the termes of affection in the termes of faith and in the termes of feare In the termes of affection whilst we call God a Father In the termes of faith whilst we call him our Father and by faith make him to be ours in Christ Jesus And in the termes of feare whilst we acknowledge his power in heaven and in earth And then being to order our Petitions either according to the riches of Gods mercy or to the depth of our misery The first thing that we are desired to crave of God is a heart that can be desirous of his Glory For it is impossible that wee should at any time walke in the obedience of the succeeding Petitions unlesse that our hearts be first inflamed with the zeale of Gods glory For if wee consider aright who is hee that can ingeniously say let thy Kingdome come or thy will be done on earth unlesse he bee first enamored with the love of Gods glory Or who is hee that can content himselfe with his Daily bread or hunger and thirst for the Pardon of his sinnes or strive and wrestle against Temptation who hath not his heart inflamed with the sparkes of the Glory of God surely amongst the sons of men there shall not bee found one no not one For we are here In via non in patria Viatores non cōprehensores And therefore it is impossible for us to desire the reparation of the lost image of God in us or to make a right use of the things of this naturall life unlesse God illuminate our eyes and inflame us with the love of his glory who dwells in glory and hath cloathed himselfe with glory inaccessable which no flesh can conceive and live That the Jewes should have had a chiefe care of this glory it was well demonstrated unto them in the motto of their High Priests that was on their frontlets Sanctitas Iehovae The High-priest was glorious every way in the lower hemne of his garment hee had a fringe interlaced with bells and pomegranats of gold in his brestplate he had the Vrim and the Thummim on his shoulders hee had two Onix stones but on his forehead as one consecrated to the service of God hee had engraven Holinesse to the Lord. Wherein hee did both confesse and petition confesse that God was holy and holinesse it selfe and petition him that he would make him holy as he was who had called him and as the Jewe was thus instructed so also are we who are Gentiles not left without instruction For I must say here of this petition what Paul spoke of faith hope and charity in preferring of charity to the other two hee giveth a reason Those two shall evanish but charity shall convey us to the Kingdome of heaven So fareth it with this petition the rest shall all so evanish Thy kingdome come shall cease whē it cōmeth to us by death Thy will be done in earth shall cease when wee shall rest from our labours and our workes shall follow us Give us this day our daily bread shall cease when wee shall eate of the bread of life Forgive us our sinnes shall cease when wee shall enter into our Masters joy Lead us not into temptation shall cease when God shall tread death sinne and sathan under our feete Thus an end of all these petitions shall come only this one shall have no end at all but shall be like to him to whom it is here ascribed for hee in himselfe is A and Ω the first and the last so shall his honour and glory bee also like unto him a new song hee shall put into our mouth and a deepe Hallelujah in the secret of our hearts wherein the heavens and the earth and the hoasts thereof shall onely resound the praise the
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
of prime honour to the subject of name for it is said Hallowed be thy name For understanding whereof let us remember that the Pronoune thy is possessive and pointeth out to us the chiefe and prime person to whose name honour and glory do chiefly and most duely belong For though there bee many names or rather many things named in heaven in earth and under the earth yet is there not any name to which honour and glory doth of debt and duty belong but onely to the name of God and that in three respects First because by him is named all the family that is either in heaven or on earth Secondly because by his sufferings and victorious triumphs over his adversaries he hath obtained a name farre above all other not onely that is in this world but also in that which is to come Thirdly because there is no other name by the which we can bee saved but by the name of Jesus Christ the just Now then since by the Pronounce thine is understood the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost the whole Trinity whose actions ad extra as they are undivided so their honour quoad nos should bee undivided also For as their essence is one and their majesty coeternall so should their glory bee coequall according to that which is written My honour is mine and my glory I will not give to another Let him bee ashamed that in any wise doth ascribe that which is due to God either to Angell or Saint departed The distinctions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will be no shelter of their errour wee reverence their memory wee blesse God in behalfe of them and wee wish from God the consummation of their glory but to beleeve in them to call upon them or to bow before their images or to adore their relicts as wee have no warrant for it so let us abhorre to doe it lest it be enquired of us Who hath required these things at your hands Esai 1.12 They have already entered in their Masters joy Requiescant in pace Let us labour to follow their example and let us sigh for their consummation as they crie for our addition for they cannot bee perfect in full perfection without us Amen LECTIO 5. Thy kingdome come IN handling of this Petition I will observe the order proposed in the last first I will looke on the reference of the words both with the preceding and subsequent petitions and then on the matter comprised and contained in them The site and posture of this Petition is worthy of remarke first because of the reference it hath with the preceding petition And secondly because of that reference it hath with those petitions which succeed The dependance it hath with the former Petitions is That in the last petition wee craved that Gods name might be hallowed that is to say that the Majestie and holinesse which is in himselfe and is Himselfe for whatsoever is in God is God that Justice Mercy and power that is in his workes that truth righteousnesse and equity which is in his word may not only be knowne and manifested to man but also received honored and obeyed by man in such manner as is fit and due to so great a Majestie and so dread a name So now in this Petition hee sheweth us the way how to doe it Namely by submitting our selves as members of his Kingdome to his supreme Soveraignty for then chiefely and ever till then is the name of God duely honored by man when man by his due and lawfull obedience testifieth himselfe to bee a subject in his Kingdome and a member of his incorporation Againe as this is the reference it hath with the precedent Petition So hath it also a necessary dependance with that which immediately succeedeth For in the words next following we crave that Gods will may be done But it is certaine no man can doe Gods will but hee who is a member of his Kingdome Nor can any man keepe the law of God but by his grace Iohn 3.24 Psalme 119.32 For though our workes should be accomplished from the beginning of the world yet are they all but abomination in the presence of God till our persons be first acceptable unto him in Christ Jesus 1. Cor. 13.3 here then is the true reason of this position he that would either hallow or honor the name of God or desire to performe his will must have a care first to be devised and made a member of his Kingdome for the name of God can never bee truly honored nor his will truly obeyed by any but those who are true members of his Kingdome But it may bee enquired cannot a wicked man doe the will of God I answere that a wicked man may doe the thing that is good as Ioab may give good counsell Iudas may remember the poore A Hypoerite like Achab may be humbled A vicious man may cite and speake Scripture but all is abhomination for two causes First their persons are not acceptable they have no portion in David nor inheritance in Iesse Secondly whatsoever they doe they doe it not in that sincerity nor right intention towards the honor of God as doth become but what they doe is in hypocrisie to be seen of men and to procure honor and glory to themselves and for this cause God casteth backe the dust of their sacrifices in their faces and manifesteth their wickednesse both to men and Angells Then O man if thou dost desire that the name of God may be hallowed and honored by thee Or desirest that his will bee done in thee or by thee Labour then I pray thee that thou maist be made a member of his Kingdome for as many as are called by the Spirit of God are the sons of God and if the Spirit of him that raised JESVS from the dead doth dwell in our mortall bodies our mortall bodies shall then also be raised by it But if this incorporation shall bee wanting though we should give our bodies to be burnt in the fire yet shall it not availe us For as we live strangers from the life of God strangers shall wee likewise die and rising strangers to his Grace we shall be thrust out as strangers from his Glory to the suffering of that worme that dyeth not and of that fire that never is extinguished Now let us come to the words and consider what is contained in them I finde in them three things a Subject an Attribute and a Copulation The Subject is a Kingdome the Attribute is a comming and the word of Copulation Thy. Kingdome For understanding of this we must know that there is a threefold Kingdome Of man of Sathan and of God The Kingdome of man is that preheminency and soveraignty which God in his wisedome hath established amongst men giving to some authority to command and to others a commandement to obey and that for shunning of confusion and disorder amongst
life of the Christian as by his patience under the Crosse Looke to Ely to David to Iob to the Disciples and Martyrs who suffered not onely the losse of their name and the spoyle of their goods but also rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the testimony of Jesus Looke to Jesus Christ in his agony Not my will c. Last of all because these things O man cannot be gottē nor made so perfect in thee as they should be yet if thou canst sigh for thy deliverance and groane under the burthen of thy imperfection it is an evident assurance that hee who hath begunne that work of grace in thee will in due time perfect it for these sighs are not from nature but from the Spirit of grace for of our selves wee know neither how to pray nor what to pray but the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh request in us with sighs which cannot be expressed But thou wilt say to mee I have sighed and groaned yet I have had no audience I answer thee there is no reason why thou shouldest bee so heard thy sinne hath dwelt long in thee and thou art but chastised of late and from yesterday Is it reason that when thou cryest in the anguish of thy soule either for health or heaven that thou shouldest bee immediately obeyed No no God called long at the dore of thy heart but thou wouldest not heare him why then should hee so suddenly heare thee I tell thee it is not onely patience but exercise in patience that doth the turne Againe he hath more then reason to refuse thee for thou seekest to him not so much for the desire of glory as to bee eased of thy smart and therefore hee dealeth with thee as with Ionah that thou mayest say with Simeon Lord let thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene my salvation LECT 9. In Earth as it is in Heaven IN the handling of this Petition wee have already spoken of two things first of the word Will and secondly bee done Wee must now come and looke to the word Thy and in it consider whose will must bee done For understanding hereof wee must know that will is only truly properly attributed ascribed to three to sathan to man and to God I speake of will as it is a faculty of the reasonable soule and so do exclude from it the unreasonable creature to whom appetite and desire may be assigned but a will cannot truly bee ascribed To return then Sathan is the first to whom will is ascribed in Scripture for to him are applyed the words of the Prophet Isay 14.13 I will ascend into heaven and I will exalt my selfe above the starres of God as some expound But by abuse of this his will hee hath captived it both himselfe and his will to evill and in so doing hath lost the true priviledge of his will For howsoever hee willeth nothing but that which is evill yet he getteth not done all the evill that he willeth for God hath so thrust a bridle in his lips a hooke in his nostrels that without the bounds and limits of his chaine he neither dare nor can go 2ly Man hath a title of a will ascribed to him for as hee is a reasonable creature consisting of a soule and a body so also in his soule there are these three things An understanding holding forth light to him some affections delighting more or lesse in their object according to the light which is premonstrated thē And a will chosing or refusing freely the object set before him both according to the light of his understanding the delight of his affectiōs I have said that man willeth freely for unlesse will had the liberty free scope thereof it were no more a willing but a nilling power it were not voluntas but noluntas Now concerning this liberty or freedome in mans will the Church of Rome and we have had and do still as yet maintaine a long and serious debate yet not concerning the freedome and liberty of the will but concerning the object which the will of man chuseth or refuseth It is their errour to alleage that man in the state of corruption can will good and will it freely But wee on the contrary do averre that man in the state of corruption can onely will evill and that continually For clearing of this truth and that wee may bring the light of God out of this darknesse Wee must first consider the severall and different estates in the which man hath lived doth live or shall live Secondly wee must consider how farre his will did freely extend it selfe to good or evill in these severall postures or conditions of estate When I looke on the estate cōdition of man I find it threefold First an estate of integrity Secondly an estate of corruption Thirdly and an estate of reparation His estate of integrity is that in the which he was created to the image of God being perfectly righteous and holy in soule and body His estate of corruption is that wofull estate of sinne and misery in the which hee involved himselfe by his apostacie from God His estate of redintegration is that happy estate to the which hee is exalted in Jesus Christ whilst by the vertue of his death and the power of his resurrection hee is made partaker of the grace of God in this life and shall be also of his glory in the life to come Now these being the severall estates and conditions of man the question is what is the true onely or adequate object of the will of man good or evill To this I answer good is threefold There is a naturall good a morall good and a spirituall good The naturall good is that which serveth for the preservation of the naturall life such are eating and drinking sleep rest or refreshment The morall good is that which preserves the morall life or civill society of men such are to be a Judge to bee a Magistrate a Merchant an Artisan a Trafiquer c. The Spirituall good is that which serveth for the begetting and preserving of a spirituall life in man Of this sort are the preaching of the word the administration of the Sacraments prayer meditation c. Now if it shall be enquired which of these goods the naturall man by the power of nature can freely will I answer that in the estate of integrity hee willed them all In the estate of his corruption he may will and do the first two but not the last In the estate of grace he willeth the last yet not freely for God must first renew his will before hee can will any spirituall good And when hee hath willed it it is not fully and absolutely willed or done as it becomes him for the law of his body striveth against the law of his minde and captivates him to death In the estate of glory wee shall onely and continually will that which is good and spiritually good
wee know this to be the defect and weaknesse of our children that hardly or seldome can they bee brought to put on their apparell or say their prayers till first they get the promise of their breakfast it is so with us in the way to heaven all the promises of God concerning our felicity there which in themselves are so large and infinite that neither hath the eye seene them or the eare heard them or can the minde of man understand them Yet all of them of what quality or number soever they bee can never lead a man to the earnest pursuit of those things that are eternall unlesse hee get a palpable possession of those things that are temporall But as David said This is our death I saysecondly he hath done it for a demonstration of the riches of his mercy towards us letting us see that hee will passe by many of our infirmities and overlooke many of our weakenesses ere hee want us So pretious a thing in the eyes of the Lord is the Soule of a man that hee will give much for it ere hee want it looke to the Father looke to the Sonne to the Holy Ghost looke to the elect angels to the Saints departed to the senselesse creatures and looke to sathan himselfe and all shall teach you that nothing on earth is so pretious as the soule of man And if our soules and the redemption of them bee a matter of so great excellencie doe you thinke that God will want it for a meale of meat no no farre bee it from us to thinke so for will hee that feeds the fowles of the aire and clothes the lillies in the field be forgetfull of us No surely a haire of our head shall not fall to the ground but by his providence and if any shall fall it is not for want of his favour but for the weaknesse of our faith I say thirdly it is done to shew us the true refuge unto the which we should all leane in the day of our want whether bodily or spirituall and that is onely to God For will wee looke to the things of this earth in the day of our bodily want from whom shall we seeke them but from God for it is hee that heareth the heaven and maketh the heaven to heare the earth and the earth to heare the come and the come to heare Israel If hee heare thee all shall heare thee but if hee stop his eare all shall bee deafe and dumbe to thee For the eyes of all things do wait and depend on him While he openeth his hand they are filled with his blessing But if hee over-cloud his countenance they are sore affraid and perish Now this being the reason of the coherence I come to the Petition wherein six things are remarkable First what we crave Bread Secondly of whom wee crave it of God for wee say Give Thirdly to whom wee crave it and it it not in the singular number to mee or to thee but in the plurall number Vnto Vs Fourthly what a bread it is that we crave a Daily bread not a dainty bread Fifthly whose bread is it that we crave not our neighbours bread but our owne Our And sixtly for what time it is that wee crave it not for the morrow but for to day Give us this day our daily bread Whilst I looke on the thing that is petitioned Bread It is requisite that I search what is meant and understood by it The Ancients and Fathers of the Church have thought diversly of it Tertullian lib. de Orat. Cap. 6. will have by this bread Christ himselfe to bee meant and saith that there is nothing can have a more orderly progresse then that after we have sought the honor of Gods name the advancement of his Kingdome and the obedience of his will to seeke also the bread of life by the which wee may bee enabled to do those things And this is Christ himselfe saith hee for of him it is written I am the bread of life Ioh. 6. Athanasius lib. De humana natura suscepta Tom. 1. doth by the word bread understand the Holy Ghost and for proofe thereof bringeth the words of this very Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our daily bread for hee saith God hath taught us in this present time to seeke that bread for our entertainment whose first fruits shall preserve our soule in life to the life to come Augustine writing of the sermon of Christ in the mountaine Tom. 4. lib. 2. cap. 7. pag. 349. by bread doth understand the bread of the Sacrament or else the bread of Gods word by the which our soules are kept in life to the obedience of his statutes But with reverence let me say that Tertullians opinion meaning by bread Christ cannot stand with the due order of this prayer for then it were tautologick for that was sought in the petition Thy Kingdome come Againe Athanasius his interpretation cannot bee received whilst by bread hee meaneth the holy Ghost for of him wee receive but the first fruits in this life But of this bread we many times receive both satiety and surfeit Last of all I cannot subscribe to Augustine in this his opinion nor to the Rhemists his followers who by bread here understand the bread of the Sacrament for if it were so I see no reason wherefore they should debarre the laicks from eating thereof one licenciating the use thereof to the Priests whilst God calleth it our bread and our daily bread and alloweth to us both the use and the daily use thereof It resteth then that the truth bee cleared and so it shall by taking the words literally and under the name of bread by understanding bakers bread yet not so strictly but that figuratively also under it we may cōprehend all things requisite for the maintenance of this our naturall life such as are strength of body by nourishment health by Physick warmnesse by apparell sufficiencie and correspondencie to our labours and finally all the meanes and helpes that leads to these things as Christian magistracie peace in the land and seasonable weather So that Ambrose looking on the large extent of the word bread sayeth of this Petition Haec postulatio maxima est corum quae petuntur For since as man cannot live without bread so his bread cannot quicken him except he have a stomack to disgest and when his stomack is able hee cannot get it unlesse the earth afford it and the earth doth not afford it except it be laboured and it cannot bee laboured except there bee peace amongst men and in the very time of peace mens travels cannot be profitable unlesse God send both the first and the latter raine Therefore saith hee in this one word of bread many things are couched yea all things that are requisite for the entertainment of our life The meaning of the words being thus interpreted let us make some use of them Their use is twofold Vse For the word serves first for rebuke and
foundation can a tree grow without the root or can the body live that is cut off from the head no surely Now if it bee so in nature in these naturall unions how much more must it bee in the spirituall Hee is our head our husband our foundation our root having him wee have all things without him wee have nothing For as there is no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ so there is neither hope of grace in this nor glory in the life to come to any that are not incorporated into him Secondly as no man can call the creatures of God his except hee who is in Christ Jesus so in the second place none can call the things of this life his except hee acquire them in a lawfull calling and this should teach the sons of men to take heed how they acquire their goods One wanteth and lyeth by the way and robbeth the poore Another wanteth and seeketh it of the devill by an ill meane like Saul A third wanteth and with words of deceit hee stealeth into the house of the widdow and fatherlesse and devoureth them under pretence of protectiō like Absolon A fourth wanteth and because hee is ashamed to begge hee must bee a sparke of contention and like a Salamander live on that fire of division But enquire of these men I pray you if they eate their owne bread I answer their throats are wide and their stomacks ample but to say they eate their owne bread I dare not for their conscience teacheth them that they grinde the faces of the poore and eate up the people as if they were bread And for this cause it is that judgement commeth upon the land because such men are not taken heed unto If the belly god if the wizards and consulter with sathan if the Salamander and contentious man should be forced to eate their owne bread then peace should bee within our walls and prosperity within our palaces But because these and such as these are tolerated therefore it is that this land shall tremble and every one mourne that dwelleth therein Sackcloth shall be on all loynes and baldnesse on every head and the end of our visitation shall be a bitter day One thing onely resteth That we may eate our owne bread wee must be carefull to have the same sanctified to our use by the meanes of the word of God and of prayer And this serveth wonderfully to rebuke the beastly ingratitude of men women in this time For in stead of begging a blessing when wee sit downe or being thankfull when we rise wee swallow up the blessings of God in forgetfulnesse Yea wee sit downe to eate and to drinke and rise up to play and turne the grace of God to wantonnesse like beasts drinking of the streame without remembrance of the fountain Neither is this the private and domesticke errour of this land no this is that publique canker and gangren that hath fully and fowly overspread the face of this nation Let us lift up our eyes and behold the regions about us where is there peace or plenty to Church or Commonwealth but amongst us Enquire of the higher or lower Germany enquire of Cilicia enquire of the Palatinate of France and of Spaine it selfe All of them have beene smitten as a reed in the water famine the sword and the plague have destroyed their inheritance depopulated their riches overturned their glory and laid their strength on heapes in the streetes onely wee have beene left as a signe and wonder to the world both of peace and plenty for our table hath beene prepared in the sight of our enemies and our cup hath runne over but have wee beene thankfull no surely wee have neither rightly acknowledged the day of our visitation nor wisely considered the things that concerne our peace but rather have continued in sinne that grace may abound Well this Halcion time will not alwayes rest remember Tirus and Sidon Chorazin and Bethsada and by them learne in time to redeeme the time else out of time we shall sorrow desperately because wee would not sorrow sooner LECT 13. Give us this day c. AFter the explanation of these foure words which have already preceded in this petition to wit first a word of faith leading us to God Give Secondly a word of charity Vs Thirdly a word of necessity Bread Fowerthly a word of good conscience Our Wee must now come to consider the last two words viz a word of content and a word of limitation A word of content Dayly the word of limitation For this day The first thing considerable is the word of content daily bread There is not one word in this Prayer that hath undergone more variety of translations then this word Tertullian reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quotidianum But as he tooke not the word Bread literally but spiritually for Jesus Christ who is the true bread of life so hereby the word quotidianum or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee understands not the daily and frequent releefe of our corporall necessities but of our spirituall needs For so he writes petendo panem quotidianum perpetuitatem petimus in Christo individuitatem a corpore ejus St. Augustine looking on Tertullians opinion giveth way to it but not simpliciter For hee not only allowes his spirituall signification but withall hee addeth the temporall Panis quotidianus ideo dicitur quia nobis necessarius est sive spiritualiter sive carnaliter sive utroque intelligatur modo Athanasius saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 futurum Give us our bread that is to come Cujus primitias habemus dum in communionem Corporis Christi admissi sumus Hierome himselfe looking on both the Evangelists Matthew and Luke findeth the originall word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee one But if he bee the author of the vulgar translation I see no reason why he should have interpreted Matthew one way and Luke another For hee interprets Matthew in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie Supersubstantialem in the word of Luke he interprets it quotidianum But to leave the altercation wherein these great lights of the Church have engaged themselves I would labour simply to embrace the truth and withthe Syriack translation to call it panem indigentiae the bread of our necessity and want So that howsoever all of these interpretations bee tolerable Tertullians taking it for Christ Athanasius takeing it for the first fruits of the Spirit and Augustine taking it for the Bread of the Sacrament and St. Hierome for the supersubstantiall Bread yet this I finde safest in the middest of such a storme of interpretations to follow the Syriack translation and by the word of Daily Bread to understand the bread of our daily necessity To this interpretation subscribes both Calvin and Beza Calvin taking the word for the bread of Gods providēce of the which we stand daily in need and is called the word that
commeth out of the mouth of God And Beza taking the word litterally out of the Greeke for that Bread which is able to adde to our substance So that the true and native signification and sense of this petition is this Lord give us the supplement of our necessities both for matter and for manner For matter our bodies are earthly and drawing neere to the earth stand in need of daily support support us therefore daily with Bread And for manner because little will content nature suppose our desires bee extravagant give us that which may refresh nature and maintaine this our natural life For if wee get food and rayment we ought therewith to bee content Now this being the interpretation of the word the uses arising therefrom are worthy of our remarke also Vse The uses that are drawne from the consideration of the words are two-fold viz. For rebuke and for instruction It serveth for rebuke to the Church of Rome whose schollers I meane the Rhemists following St. Hierome in his interpretation have interpreted the word and hold fast for it that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth onely signifie supersubstantialis or supersubstantiall bread But I would enquire of them to what use this obsolete and obscure word should be used amongst them Are not the words of greatest familiarity of greatest force also Yes surely For God who had sundry times and in divers manners made himselfe knowne unto the world of old by his Prophets and Patriarkes under types shadowes figures and tropes he hath now in the end of time made himselfe manifest to the world in Jesus Christ his Son who was the image of the invisible God and the ingraven forme and character of his person and that in such a plenty and purity of revelation that none can bee excused by reason of ignorance for If our Gospell bee hidde it is hidde to them that perish in whom the God of this world hath blinded the eyes of their mindes So seeing then even there where people sate in darknesse and in the shadow of death if God have made a true light to our eyes why should they bee termes of ambiguity and phrases of darknesse to obscure and eclipse the light and sun-shine of Gods truth by keeping up from the people the word of God and giving them the service of God in a strange tongue I know wherefore this can serve but for one or two causes either that they may shew themselves heires to the Scribes and Pharisees whose chaires they claime For they locked up the key of knowledge they neither entered into the Kingdome of God themselves neither would they suffer others to enter Even such are the followers of the Church of Rome at this day they sit as they alledge in the chaire of Moses and Peter but with any of Moses traditions or of Peter his sanctions they will not trouble so much as their little finger and fearing least any should enter into the Kingdome of God to their greater crimination too like blinde guides they keepe their people in blindnesse and by the obscurity of words so eclipse and obscure the truth that unawares Millions of soules are by them ledde captive unto distruction Vse Neither doe they in this alone expresse themselves to build the sepulchers of their fathers the Scribes and Pharisees But what is more they really doe expresse themselves to be the sonnes of their Father the divell who knowing assuredly that nothing in the world can bee so forcible to extract a blessing from the hands of God as Prayer Nor any thing so strong and powerfull to binde up the hands of God from correcting and judging us as is the frequent and familiar confabulation and Prayers of his Saints Hee therefore labours to withdraw men altogether from prayer or else if he cannot get their mouthes stopped but that they must pray then hee will have them praying in an unknowne tongue that their table may be turned to a snare and their prayers to sinne It is a wonder to see what folly is amongst them they will not go out of doores without a crosse about their neckes as if it were an Antidote against whatsoever danger either spirituall or temporall And yet there is none sheweth himselfe a greater enemy of the Crosse of Christ For howsoever in word they confesse him yet in their idolatrous practise they deny him and having a name that they are living in effect they are dead Yet this is not all such an overruling power and soveraignty hath the Prince of darknesse got on them that when their conscience is opened to see their sin and their affections lead them to God to deprecate the remission of their sinne hee tongue-tyeth them that they cannot speake to God And if they speak at all it is but a rapsody of idle words numbred out upon their Beades as if God delighted in much babling or Sathan could bee conjured with tale and number only of Pater nosters But foole that thou maist know that God is a Spirit and will bee worshipped in spirit and truth If thy service be spirituall and sincere though weake yet it is welcome For the bruised reed hee will not breake and the smoaking flaxe bee will not quench But if thou dally with him in a Tautalogie of unknowne words all is in vaine because hee will cast backe the dust of thy sacrifice in thy face for praying to him with thy tongue when thy understanding is without fruit Againe as it serveth for rebuke of the Church of Rome so it serveth also for instruction to us of the true and pure Church and that in these three respects First in the matter of our true understanding Secondly in the matter of our true content And thirdly in the matter of our true desire I say first that in this word we have a lesson given us to enforme our understanding For whilst wee goe to God and seeke of him Daily Bread wee cannot but instruct our selves in the sense of our daily want Who is hee that hath a house and a daily raine drop in it but will goe to the Slater and make him repaire it Who is hee which hath a ship which is leaking but will goe to the carpenter and have it repaired both with timber and calfatting Or hee that hath a wounded body who will not goe to the Physitian and daily dresse his wound and binde it up againe till it bee cured It is even so with us in the matter of our spirituall wants Wee dwell here in Tabernacles and houses of clay This day there is a droppe in the roofe to morrow a balke of our timber is cracked and the third day there is a crevis in the wall To whom shall wee goe but to the Master of the worke and that daily that by our daily necessities wee may daily have our recourse to him and in our daily approaches confesse and acknowledge his daily providence Wee are also Mariners and wee are wounded men Who shall make
promulgated wee shall finde it that it is onely to the elect vessels of mercy and to the children of Gods free love whereas to the reprobate men and Angels there is neither promise nor hope of pardon left For their judgement is sealed and their condemnation sleepes not Againe as to Jesus Christ the mediator of the new covenant a free pardon hee obtained not he paid the utmost farthing that was requisite for the satisfaction of the justice of God onely to man and the elect amongst the sonnes of men hath God voluntarily and freely forgiven the burthen and the debt of sinne And I call this a voluntary and free forgivenesse for three respects In respect of God the Father in respect of God the Sonne and in respect of God the Holy Ghost For I say first in respect of God the Father for hee who said In the day that thou shalt eate thou shalt surely die said also the seed of the woman shall tread downe the head of the serpent And againe God so loved the world that hee sent his owne Sonne to the death of the Crosse that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have eternall life It is free also in respect of God the Sonne for hee as willingly and freely assented to the great worke of mans redemption howsoever the way was sharpe and thorny as the Father was willing in his eternall wisedome to propose it And therefore it is written of him that he laid his life down and tooke it up againe hee laid it downe for none could take it from him and hee tooke it up againe for it was impossible that hee could bee holden of the sorrows of the grave Lastly the pardon and remission of our sinnes is free in respect of God the Holy Ghost for willingly and freely without any merit on our part he commeth downe and dwelleth in our soules illuminates our understanding rectifieth our will sanctifieth our affections makes intercession for us with sighs and groanes that cannot be expressed and keepes us by the power of his grace through faith to eternall salvation for it is written Because wee are sonnes God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father And againe because wee of our selves know neither how to pray nor what to pray the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us with sighs that cannot bee expressed And also it is written That as hee hath begotten us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the death to an inheritance which is immortall and undefiled that withers not away but is reserved for us in the heavens So also he keeps us by the power of the Spirit through faith to eternall salvation Vse Now having thus cleared the meaning of the word it rests that wee make use of it for our instructions and the uses that arise from it are two the one serveth for rebuke the other for comfort the rebuke falleth on the Church of Rome the comfort shall returne to us and to every soule in whom the grace of God dwelleth The rebuke that ariseth to the Church of Rome is this in these words wee are commanded to crave pardon for our debts in the plurall number and indefinitely now wee know this to bee true that those Propositions which are indefinite are universall in correspondence Whilst then wee crave pardon and forgivenesse of our debts wee universally begge mercy and pardon for all our sinnes for both originall and actuall sins For our sinnes of infirmity and our sins of presumption for sinfull omissions and commissions for the sinfull thoughts of our heart and words of our mouth and actions of our conversation Now in respect of all these wee have need to draw neere unto God and to say Forgive What meane those Doctors of the Romish Church to teach that there is a sort of sinne which in it selfe and of it selfe is veniall and that some onely are mortall but it is cleare out of the word of God that there is not any sin which is not mortall for every sinne is a breach of the law and every sinne and transgression shall receive a just recompence of reward Hee that sinneth without the law shall perish without the law and hee that sinneth under the law shall bee judged by the law and againe The wages of sinne is death I graunt indeed if wee looke to that excellent price that was given for our sinnes no sinnes are mortall for such is the worth and excellencie of that blood of Jesus which speaketh better things then the blood of Abell that whosoever shall have part in it shall stand without spot or blemish before the presence of the glory of God with joy and whosoever shall have but a drop of it to sprinkle on the posts of the doore of his soule the destroying Angell shall not come neere him but though his sinnes were as red as scarlet yet by vertue of his blood they shall bee as white as snow But on the other part if thou shalt looke upon thy sinne in its owne nature and because of thy esteeme and account of it it seeme veniall to thee wilt thou therefore say that it is veniall in it selfe O foole that thou art thou deceives thy owne soule The smallest coyne and the basest bullion that beareth the Kings stampe on it is as currant as the richest and purest gold that is seaven times tryed in the fire and to counterfeit that coyne is as reall treason as hee that either adulterates or falsifies the purest coyne It is so with us in our debts to God the meanest offence wee can commit is as culpable of judgement as those that are of greater nature for wee must not judge of our sinnes according to the quantity number or quality but chiefly according to the person and Majestie against whom they are committed Is not hee as great a theefe that robs the cottage of the poore as hee that robs the Palace of the Prince yes surely and greater for the Prinâ—e hath wherewithall to repaire his losse but the poore hath not Tell mee I pray you is there any sinne in the world smaller then the point of a thorne no surely yet the meanest thorne that was in the crowne of Christ drew blood of him The thornes that were in that crown were thy sinnes it was thy sinnes that drew blood of him and peirced his heart while there came blood and water out of it gushing and yet vaine man that thou art thou wilt say they are veniall how canst thou call that veniall and of no weight which was rated at so great a value as the sufferings of the Sonne of God the least drop of whose blood was of more worth then all the worme-eaten children of men on the earth Looke never therefore O man upon â—hy sinne in the judgement and with the eyes of nature that is but a false prospective and deceiving glasse looke on it as it lay on the backe
of Jesus and as the weight thereof pressed the Sonne of God downe to the grave and then if thou dare come and call sinne veniall I hope thou wilt not when it turned the moisture of Davids body to the drought of summer when it made Ezechiah chatter like a swallow and mourne like a dove when it made Iob that hee could not swallow his spitle was there any word of a veniall nature in sinne no no no such thing The Saints of God have not known this dialect nor spoken in this Idiom it is but the voice of him that is dead in sinne and trespasses The Lord learne us to see our sinnes aright and then surely wee shall confesse that our sinnes are not veniall but mortall Secondly as this serveth for the rebuke of our neighbour Church in Rome so it serves also for our comfort and consolation whom God hath delivered from the yoke of that bondage and the night of that darknesse for tell mee O man what greater consolation can come to the soule of the Christian burthened with the weight of sinne then to say thy sinnes are forgiven thee but such is the force of these words Forgive us our debts for as in the word of debt he sheweth the weight of our misery so here in the words of forgivenesse hee sheweth us the riches of his mercy Was it not I pray you a great worke a work passing the capacity of man when God created the world he made all things of nothing whē nature telleth us that of nothing nothing can bee was it not a great worke to call for light out of the midst of darknesse and by the power of a naked word to make a glorious splendor of light shine out of the midnight of darknes Finally was it not a great worke to animate a peece of clay and by blowing on the dust of the earth to make it a living soule All of these were great indeed as workes of creation but as it was said behold a greater then Salomon is here so is there here in the matter of our redēption a worke greater then all these for loe he made not all things of nothing but of that which is worse then nothing sinne for sinne is nothing but a privation Hee brought light out of darknes but here a greater light out of a greater darknesse for when wee sate in darknesse and in the shadow of death hee made a great light to arise unto us for in his light hee made us to see light hee animated our clay and breathed the breath of life in our nostrels being dead in sinnes and trespasses hee quickned and begot us to the hope of immortality finally here is that worke passing in excellence and eminent above all humane admiration that wee being his debtors for tenne thousand talents not having one farthing to pay him hee hath freely forgiven us all our debt to the admiration both of man and Angels when the Angels who fell have not obtained a way of reconciliation hee hath found out for poore man a way of peace insomuch that what man could not pay hee hath freely fully and finally released requiring nothing of man but that hee should in sincerity say Forgive and it shall bee forgiven him Now what more could hee doe to thee O man or what lesse could he require of thee What more could hee do to thee then lay downe his life for thee and what lesse could hee require of thee then that in true sorrow forthy sinne and in full assurance of his mercy thou shouldst come unto him and say Forgive mee that so thou maist be forgiven The word in it selfe is so full of comfort I cannot as yet passe by it There is another place in Scripture that lookes so like to this place like Hippocrates two twinnes they are borne together they live together and dye together The place is the 12. of Matthew Come to mee all yee that are weary and laden and I will ease you There as the Saviour and Redeemer of the world and the true Physitian of soules that are sicke hee desires him that is spiritually sicke to come to him and he promiseth to ease him and give him rest but upon a condition that hee feele his sore and acknowledge his burthen Now it is remarkable that hee first promiseth ease and then rest first ease from the cōmanding power of sin next rest frō the condemning power of sin It is even so here that the spirituall Physition of our sick wearied soules leadeth us to bee sensible of our soule that by sinne wee are made Gods debtors and lyable to his judgements In the next place the cure of this our disease is given for wee shall no sooner confesse and acknowledge our sinnes to him but hee shall forgive it But you will say to mee what is this that hee forgives mee I answer looke to the place of Scripture immediately before cited see there what he promiseth to ease thee of as also all these things he here promiseth to forgive thee hee promiseth there to ease thee of all thy burthen of sinne of the law of affliction Of sinne for the burthen of it is as a talent of lead Zach. 5.6 And David saith it is a burthen too heavy for him to beare Of the law for it is a yoake which neither wee nor our fathers nor our forefathers were able to beare Act. 15. Of affliction for it is a weighty crosse and hee that follows Jesus Christ must take it up and follow him daily Of sinne while he not knowing sinne was made sin for us Of the Law whilst hee was made of a woman and made under the law Of affliction not by taking all afflictions from us but by sanctifying them unto us both in their nature and their end Their nature whilst hee maketh them testimonies of our adoption their end whilst he by them keepes us to eternall life for as the lyon that killed the Prophet kept still his dead body so afflictions may well kill the naturall man yet they do keepe the life of God in our soules Now know then for your comfort that what there hee promised to ease us of here hee promiseth to forgive and to forgive is more then to ease for a Physitian will ease his patient for a while of a hard binding which afterward he will binde againe And a master will ease his servant of the taske of captivity and slavery but afterwards hee will imprison him And finally a beast will be eased of his burthen for a while but afterwards it will be imposed and laid upon him but such is the great and rich depth of the mercy of our God what hee easeth us of that hee forgiveth us for while hee giveth pardon to man and speakes peace to his soule he pardoneth not as man pardoneth neither giveth he peace as man giveth peace My peace I give you my peace I leave with you not as the world giveth peace give I
some men into temptation and out again and others he leadeth not onely in Temptation but also leaveth them in it To this I answer Tu homo à me petis causam ego quoque homo sum sed audiamus ambo Apostolum dicentem O home tu quis es melior est fidelis ignorantia quam temeraria scientia Quaere merito non invenies nisi poenam O altitudo Petrus negat latro credit O altitudo tu disputa ego credam tu ratiocinare ego mirabor sed cave ne dum doctores quaeras presumptores invenias August de verb. Apost Serm. 20. So then the answer is full Even so O Father because it hath so pleased thee For hee hath mercy on whom hee will have mercy and whom hee will he hardeneth LECTIO 21. But deliver us from evill VVEe have already spoken of the first part of this Petition which was deprecatory wee come now to speake of the second part which is supplicatory and contained in these words But deliver c. For explication whereof there are foure things considerable 1. Our captivity 2. Who and how are they captives 3. The deliverance or release 4. The deliverer or redeemer Our captivity is evill The captives are imported in the word us the release in the word deliver the deliverer must bee understood God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost Before wee enter into the delineation of the first to wit our captivity it is requisite that wee looke a little on the tye by which these words are knit to the former And for clearing hereof wee must know that as it is in the matter of physick or military art so it is in the spirituall diseafes or conflicts of the soule True physicke hath two parts the one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first preserveth our health by good dyet and so preventeth our diseases before they come the other by medicine expelleth and purgeth away diseases after they be come It is so in the diseases of the soule The preventing grace of God leadeth us not into temptation The fellow-working or second grace delivereth us from evill Againe as it is in the discipline of warre here on earth so it must bee with the soule In a battell and conflict on earth our Generall and Leader must first be carefull that wee fall not before our enemy And secondly if we fall and be taken captive it is his part to bee carefull to pay our ransome and deliver us from the captivity and tyranny of our enemie It is so with us also in the spirituall fight and conflicts of the soule Our leader should not onely be carefull that wee get not the foile but also if wee bee put to the rowte and taken captives of our enemies it becommeth him to be carefull to redeeme and ransome us out of the hands of all those to whom wee were prisoners and captives I hope now by these two similitudes you understand the conjunction and tye that is betwixt this part of the Petition and the former For if we shall looke upon our selves as being sick and diseased in soule two things are requisite for our health and cure First our physician should prescribe us a dyet whereby our disease may bee prevented This is done and prescribed in the words Lead us not into temptation The other thing which the Doctor of our soules oweth us is medicine potions plaisters and purgations to cure us of the sicknesse we are falne in and this he promiseth to do unto us whilst he delivereth us from all evill Againe wilt thou looke on thy selfe as a souldier in the field of Jesus fighting against the spirituill enemies of thy soule thy leader Christ Jesus promiseth thee two things First that though thou stumble before the enemy yet thou shalt not fall This hee promiseth in these words Leadus not c. Secondly he promiseth that if at any time thou fall and get the foile and be taken captive and prisoner yet he will not let thee dye in prison no hee will redeeme thee and ere any of thine enemies sinne death or condemnation tryumph over thee he will lay his owne life downe for thee and his heart blood as a ransome for thy deliverance and this hee promiseth in these words But deliver us from evill Vse Now from this in a word it is evident that man by nature is a wofull and dolorous creature sicke and diseased dead in sinnes and trespasses and so much the more heavily sicke and desperately diseased that hee militateth against his physician yet the reason is hee feeleth not the soare and like one transported in the fury of his passion hee cannot tell where his paine holds him But here is the riches of the mercy of our God and physician hee preventeth us with his cure and not onely that but also prescribeth helpes against our recidivations and relapses This the woman of Samaria felt when shee knew not the grace of God nor who it was spake to her by seeking a drinke of pure water he prevented her and gave her a drinke of the well of the water of life Thus he prevented the man at the poole of Bethesda Thus hee prevented us all in the loines of our first parent Adam where art thou And againe when our father was an Amorite and out mother an Hetyte when our haire was not cut nor our nailes pared when wee were wallowing in our blood and were neither washed with water nor softened with oyle hee came by and preventing us with his love said to us live and made us live and only because of his word commanding us to live and therefore wee lived Seeing then whilst wee are sicke and diseased in soule hee preventeth us with his unexpected cure seeing also whilst wee are taken prisoners hee preventeth us with our undeserved ransome what are wee that wee should either proudly reject or faithlesly distrust the Ocean of his goodnesse There bee some I know that hearing of this preventing grace will proudly lay this conclusion that they will continue still in sin that grace may abound But knowest not thou O vaine man that the long suffering patience of God should lead thee to repentance and that if thou tread the blood of the covenant under thy feet that blood which speaketh better things then the blood of Abel to the righteous shall speak judgemēt to thee even a judgement intolerable incurable Know again thou that art weake in faith that that sicknesse and disease cannot befall thy soule that should make thee distrust the Physician whose love hath prevented thee with an unexpected cure Whilst hee was in our flesh hee quickned three sorts of dead the Centurians daughter the widows sonne and Lazarus three dayes dead and all to make thee strong in faith Why wrongest thou him first in his justice by sinning against him and next in his mercy by distrusting his goodnesse No no beleeve him under hope and aganst