persons themselves in whom they are and to others Jam. 4.1 We may easily trace almost all the Sins and Enormities and Distempers and Troubles and Disorders that we observe in our selves or others to the Immoderation and Disorder of the Passions And therefore the due Moderation of them is of great consequence both for the attaining of true Tranquillity of Mind of great Regularity in all we do or say and to the common Peace Order and Benefit of Mankind The Moderation therefore of all our Passions consists principally in these two things 1. That they be not mis-placed or set upon wrong Objects as to Love that which we should not Love but possibly Hate or to Hate that which we should Love and so for the rest 2. That being rightly placed in respect of their Objects yet that they be not intended or acted beyond that degree that may be justly allowed to those Objects And this is properly Immoderation the former is merely Misprision Errour Enormity Folly And therefore when we speak of Moderation of our Passions it is intended in relation to those things about or upon which our Passions may be lawfully used or exercised so that they be kept within their just bounds and measures And since all the Objects of our Passions are either something that is Good or so thought as the Objects of our Love Joy Hope or something that is Evil or so esteemed as the Objects of our Hatred or Anger Sorrow Fear the true measure of these Affections or Passions is to be made according to the true measure of that Good or that Evil that is the present Object of my Passion If the Good or Evil be Great it deserves a greater intention of that Passion or Affection that is imployed about them if it be but little the measure of my Passion or Affection ought not to exceed it if it doth it becomes Immoderate And hence it is that the same Passion or Affection may be and indeed ought to be variously acted or intended about Objects of the same Nature yet under different degrees of Good or Evil I may at the same time have different objects of my Love different sorts or kinds of Good and of different allayes some more some less Good and my Love may be extended to them all at the same time but the degrees of my Love are diversified according to the diversity of the degrees of Good that each Object hath all circumstances adjuncts and consequences being considered The like may be said touching Evils that are the Objects of my Hatred Anger Sorrow or Fear The Moderation therefore of Affections requires these things principally 1. A Right Judgment or Estimate of things Good or Evil according to their true natures or degrees for without this we shall not only mistake in the degrees of Good or Evil but even in their very natures we shall not only take the Lesser Good or Evil for the Greater or the Greater for the Less but we shall be apt to mistake the things themselves and call Evil Good and Good Evil. Now it is certain that according to the Judgment that we have touching things Good or Evil and their Values and Degrees accordingly are our Passions and their Extents and Transports measured out If I Judg or Esteem that to be truly Good which indeed is not I deliver over to it my Affection of Love Joy or Hope and if I Judg that to be a Great and Important Good which is but Small or Inconsiderable yet according to the measure or proportion of such Estimate I measure out the degree of my Love Joy or Delight in such Good A Child will set as great a Rate and consequently allow as great a measure of his Love or Delight to a Rattle as a Boy doth to his Top and Scourg or as a Man doth to a Diamond all arising from the variety of their Judgment or Estimate of the Value of the thing And the like may be said of Evils and their several Degrees with relation to the Passions of Hatred Sorrow or Fear 2. The second thing required to Moderation is a Prudent staied Deliberation before the Passion be put into motion that so the Judgment be consulted touching the nature of the Object first whether it be Good or Evil and then what Degree of Good or Evil it hath for be the judgment never so Good yet if Passion run before it and be precipitate upon the first and sudden apprehension of the thing proposed or objected and so antivert the use of Deliberation and the ripening of the Judgment there must necessarily or at least ordinarily follow either Mistake or Disorder or Immoderation in the Passion of what kind soever and then the Mind is disturbed and put into disorder suddenly 't is difficult then to make a right Judgment or at least it comes too late and many times after the mischief is done by the hasty and precipitate Passion either without or at least within the Mind thus transported with Passion of any kind And therefore the General Rule for Moderation of all kind of Passions is resolutely to prescribe to a Mans self this Law That before he any way gives leave to his Passion he will pause and consider a while touching the Object presented what it is whether Good or Evil and if either then what Degree or Value it bears And when once a Man hath thus peremptorily resolved to give himself this Law and hath a little while inured himself to the practice of it he will find it easie and familiar This will better appear in the several instances of the several Affections or Passions of the mind principally in these of Love and Hatred or Anger Joy and Sorrow Hope and Fear 1. The Affection of Love is the Principal and Governing Affection of the Mind and the Root of all other Passions For whatsoever I love renders that hateful and displeasing which either prevents me from it or deprives me of it and so occasions the Passion of Hatred or Anger whatsoever I love makes me joyful or delighted in the Enjoyment of it or Sorrowful in the loss or deprivation of it and so produceth Joy and Sorrow whatsoever I love I hope for if absent or I fear the loss or deprivation of it and so produceth Hope and Fear The Object of this Affection is something that is Good or so apprehended The greater that Good is the greater is the Love of it Therefore the chiefest Good drawes out the chiefest Love and an Infinite Good an Unmeasurable and Boundless Love and since Almighty God is the chiefest and an Infinite Good there cannot be any Immoderation or Excess of Love to him and therefore this Moderation of our Affection of Love hath no place in relation to my Love of God for I cannot love him too much But this Moderation of this Affection principally respects the good things of this World as Wealth Honour Power Reputation Relations Friends Health of Body Pleasures and External
freely to us Therefore we are certain that we cannot be disappointed nor consequently have any ground of impatience or discontent in that which is our unum magnum the thing we chiefly value He that sets his intirest love on God yet hath a liberty to issue a subordinate portion of love to other good things as Health Peace Opportunities to do Good Wife Children Friends And in these he may be crossed and disappointed But the predominant love of God delivers the Soul from Discontent and Impatience even under these losses 1. Because the Soul is still assured of what it most values the love of God returned to the Soul which compensates and drowns the other loss and the discontent that may arise upon it 2. Because the Heart is satisfied that these losses come from the hand of him whom he loves of whose Truth Wisdom Love and Goodness he hath assurance and therefore will be delivered out in measure upon most just Grounds and for most excellent ends He sends an Instruction along with his Rod and the Soul reads love as well in the Rod of God as his Staff 3. Because the Love of God taking up the principal bent and strength of the Soul leaves but a gentle and moderate Affection to the things it loseth and consequently a gentle and easie parting with them or being without them The great tumult and disorder that is made in the mind upon Losses Crosses or Discontents is not so much from the Intrinsical Value of the things themselves but from the Estimation that is put upon them were the love to them no more than they deserve the Discontent and Impatience in the loss would be very little Our chiefest love when it is placed upon God it is placed where it should be and the mind is then in its right frame and temper and dispenseth his love to other things regularly and orderly and proportionably to their worth and thereby the Discontent or Trouble that ariseth upon their Loss or Disappointment is weighed out according to their true value agreeable to the just measure of Reason and Prudence But when our love is out of his place it becomes Immoderate and Disorderly and consequently the Discontents that arise upon Disappointments in the things we immoderately love become Immoderate Exorbitant Discontents Impatience and Perturbation of Mind 4. Our love to God brings us to a free Resignation of our will to His For we therefore love him because we conclude him most Wise most Bountiful most Merciful most Just most Perfect and therefore must of necessity conclude that his Will is the best Will and fit to be the measure and rule of ours and not ours of his And in as much as we conclude that no Loss or Cross befals us without his Will we do likewise conclude that it is most fit to be born And because he never Wills any thing but upon most Wise and Just Reasons we conclude that surely there are such Reasons in this Dispensation and we study and search and try whether we can spell out those Reasons of his OF MODERATION OF ANGER THe Helps against Immoderate Anger are of two kinds 1. Previous Considerations before the occasion is offered to habituate the Mind to gentleness and quietness 2. Expedients that serve to allay or divert Anger when the occasion is offered Of the first sort are these 1. The consideration of our own Failings especially in reference to Almighty God and our duty to him which are much greater than any demerits of others toward us I provoke my Creator daily and yet I desire his Patience towards me and find it With what face can I expect gentleness from my Creator if every small provocation from my fellow Creature puts me into passion 2. The consideration of the Vnreasonableness of that Distemper in respect of my self It puts me into a Perturbation and makes me unuseful for my self or others while the distemper is upon me It breaks and discomposeth my thoughts and makes me unfit for business It disorders my Constitution of Body till the storm be over It discovers to others my Impotency of Mind and is more perceived and observed by others than it can be by my self It gratifies my Adversary when by my Passion I improve his Injury beyond the value of it and injure and torment and damnifie my self more by my own Perturbation than he can by the injury he doth It evidenceth a Prevalence of my more inferior and sensual part common to me with the Beasts above my Reasonable and more Noble part Sometimes indeed a Personated Anger managed with Judgment is of singular use especially in persons in Authority but such an Anger is but a painted fire and without perturbation But a Passionate Anger upon Injuries received or upon sudden Conceptions of them is always without any end at all of Good either intended or effected Nay It is an impediment to the attaining of any Good end because it blinds the Judgment and transports Men into inconsiderate Gestures Words and Actions 3. Consideration in respect of others even of the very persons provoking It may be they are Instruments permitted by God as his Instruments either to correct or try me Peradventure God hath bidden Shimei curse David be not too violent against the Instrument lest peradventure thou oppose therein the principal Agent Again many Men are of such a pitiful constitution that their injuries arise from very Impotence of Mind in them Shall I be angry with them because they want that understanding they should have And yet it is very strange to see the weakness and folly of our nature in this Passion that it will break into a Perturbation even with Children Drunken Men Mad-men Beasts yea very dumb things Witness our anger with the Cards and Dice when their chances please us not which shews the Unreasonableness and Frenzy of this Passion 2. There be some Expedients against it even when the occasion is offered 1. Carry always a Jealousie over thy Passion and a strict Watch upon it Take up this peremptory Resolution and Practice I will not be angry though an occasion be administred And let the return upon that Resolution be the first act after the Provocation given For if a Man can but bring himself to this pass that he take not fire upon the first offer the Passion will cool A Man calls then his Reason about him and debates with himself Is there cause I should be angry Or is there any Good end attainable by it Or if it be what is the just medium or size or measure of Anger proportionable to that end And these Considerations will break the first on-set of Passion and then it seldom prevails For it is the first Wave that carries on the Perturbation to the end which if it be broken at the first Serenity of Mind is preserved with much Contentation and sense of advantage 2. Take up this Resolution never to give thy self leave to be angry till thou seest the just
Contentments Recreations Good Cloaths Equipage and State and such like These good things of this life have in themselves a just measure of Good and therefore according to that measure of Good that is in them they deserve a proportionable measure of our Love for External Blessings are really Blessings And among the several good things of this World there are several Ranks and Degrees of Good some are Good some are Better and accordingly the proportion or measure of love that I lend to them is to be moderated and distributed and expressed according to these different Degrees and Ranks of Good that we find in them or the relation they bear to me for instance I may love my Wealth but since Wealth is but a useful Instrument directed to other ends as to support my Life my Health my Relations I am to love it less than these because these are more valuable and my Wealth is only Desirable or Good to these Ends and subordinate to these Uses Moderation of the Affection of Love in relation to Externals consists therefore principally in these things 1. That we have a just Estimate of the Good that is in the things we set our Love upon and that we do not over-value them or Expect that Good to be in them that really is not we must look upon them as they are it may be they are such as have not a perfect sincere Good in them but mixture of Evil or such as have not a stable or permanent Good in them but are mutable or mortal or such as have a Good in them proportionate only to our present condition and when our condition is altered the Good that is in them vanisheth And if they be such we must esteem them as such and love them as such and such for the most part are all Worldly things Health Wealth Friends Relations nay our very Lives 2. That we look upon all the Good that is in the World as derived from the Goodness of God and infinitely below that Good that is in him and therefore all our Love to them must be subordinate to that Love that we owe to God and must be controlled by it and in all competitions must give place unto it Suppose I have great Wealth or many Relations I may nay in reason I ought to bear some Love to them but I must remember it is but a derivative and a subordinate Good and therefore I must Love them with this reserve and qualification that if God please to call for them I must quietly part with them for as I have them under that condition so the Love I owe to God the supreme Good engageth me to submit to his Will and to obey it for if I Love him best I must be pleased with what his Will is pleased for I judg him the best Good and therefore his Will the best Will and the Good Pleasure of his Will must be the rule of my subjection otherwise his Love hath not the preheminence 3. That we make aright a due Comparison between Good things of several kinds and give that the preference in our Love which upon a due Judgment ought to be preferred and this concerns and principally discovers it self in the Competition of several good things and of our Affections to them The Merchant loves his Goods well but in a Storm to save his Life is content to throw his Goods over-board And the exercise of Wisdom in this kind principally consists in the due weighing the several values of Good things of several natures and ranging of them in their several Ranks and also in the diligent consideration of the several Circumstances that accompany several things for many times some good things that are in themselves preferrable before others receive an abatement and allay by circumstances and others less preferrable receive an advance by the circumstances that attend them 1. Therefore touching the Different Ranks of things themselves in matters of my own private concernment I am to prefer my Soul and the Good thereof before all my External advantages for what shall a Man give in Exchange for his Soul I am to prefer the Good of my Health before the Good of my Wealth Again in things relating to my self and others I am to prefer the safety of the State wherein I live before my Wealth yea and before my own safety because I am sure when the whole is in danger I must needs be in danger and many more I am to prefer a Great Good that may accrue to many before a Smaller Good nay possibly an Equal Good that may accrue to my self nay I am to prefer an apparent greater good to any person than a small and inconsiderable good to my self But above all I am to prefer the Honour and Glory of God before my own Honour Reputation Estate Contentment or Life it self Because he is the Greatest Good and most to be Loved and the Love to his Honour is but the result of my Love to him Again in things relating to others I am to prefer a Greater Good that may accrue to one before a smaller Good to another The good of one Neighbours Soul before the good of anothers Estate where the one but not both are justly in my power I may prefer an Equal Good to a Relation before an Equal Good to a Stranger where the concernment or condition of both are equal because I have just reason to love a Relation before a Stranger Again 2. As there are different Ranks of Good so differing Circumstances make one Good preferrable before another If I see two Men in danger and I can relieve but one of them both being equal to me I am to prefer the relief of him whose danger is greater or more imminent before the relief of him whose danger is less or more remote and herein Prudence and Integrity of Heart must be the director of my Love and of the Emanations of it always provided that nothing unjust or dishonest be mingled with what I do 4. That as among Goods of different Sizes or Degrees I am to prefer the Best so among Good things that at least seem equal I do prefer the most Lasting and Durable for Lastingness and Durableness is a special part of the Goodness of any thing nay oftentimes a Good that in its present degree or extent is greater yet if it be less Durable is not so Valuable as a less but more lasting Good as the greater Wealth that must be spent in a year is truly less Valuable than a smaller portion that lasts two years 5. That we observe that General Rule before given namely That we never give our Affection of Love leave to run out alone without Judgment and Consideration going before it and going along with it That we suffer not our Passions to deal out their own measure but our Judgment Deliberation That we always keep this Affection especially under Discipline Government and suffer it not to run away from us as an
I have learned that I have here no abiding City but I seek one to come The benefits of the consideration of this Text are many 1. It will teach a Man a very low esteem of this present World and never to set the heart upon it Wilt thou set thy heart upon that which is not It is not an abiding City Either like the old feigned inchanted Castles it will vanish and come to little while we think we have fast hold of it or else we must leave it we know not how soon It is full of trouble and vexation when we injoy it and very unstable and uncertain is our stay in it 2. But let it be as good as it will or can be yet this Text tells of a City that is better worth our thoughts an abiding City a City that cannot be shaken where there are no Troubles no Thorns no Cares no Fears but Righteousness and Everlasting Peace and Rest 2. Consequently it will teach us to seek that which is most of value first and most and make that our greatest Endeavor which is our greatest Concernment namely to seek that City that is to come Peace with God in Christ Jesus and the Hope of Eternal Life It is true while we are in this City that continues not this Inferior World God Almighty requires a due care for Externals and Industry in our Imployments and Diligence in our Callings It is part of that service we ow to God to our Families to our Relations to our Selves and being done in Contemplation of his Command it is an act of Obedience and Religious Duty to him But this Consideration will add this Benefit even to our Ordinary Imployments in our Calling it will be sure to bring a Blessing upon it Seek first the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and all these things shall be added unto you It shall be given in as an advantage and over-measure 2. It will add great Chearfulness to the Imployments of your Calling and to those Worldly Imployments that are requisite for your support and subsistence when you shall resign up your endeavors therein to the Good Pleasure of Almighty God 3. It will remove all Vexatious Solicitousness and Anxiety from you when you shall have such Considerations as these Almighty God it is true hath placed me in this World as in a passage to another and requires of me an Honest Imployment for my support and subsistence or else hath lent me a reasonable liberal portion whereby I may comfortably subsist without much pains or labor I will use it Soberly Chearfully Thankfully If he bless me with Increase or greater Plenty I will increase my Humility Sobriety and Thankfulness but if it be not his pleasure to bless me with Plenty and Increase his Will be done I have enough in that I have there is another more abiding City wherein I shall have supplies without Want or Fears or Cares 3. This Consideration will give abundance of Quietness Patience Tranquillity of Mind in all conditions Am I in this World Poor or Despised or Disgraced or in Sickness or Pain yet this Text gives me two great Supports under it 1. It will be but short this lower World the Region of these Troubles and Storms is no continuing no abiding City and consequently the Troubles and Storms of this inferior City are not abiding or long 2. After this flitting perishing City that thus passeth away this sower life which is but the Region of Death there succeeds another City that indureth for ever a City not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens a State of Everlasting Blessedness where are neither Cares nor Tears nor Fears nor Poverty nor Sorrow nor Want nor Reproach I will therefore with all Patience Chearfulness and Contentedness bear whatsoever God pleaseth to exercise me withal in this life for I well know that my light Afflictions which are but for a moment shall be attended with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory These Considerations will seem but dry and empty to Men that do not deeply and considerately weigh matters Ordinarily young heads think them at least unseasonable for their youth but they must know that Sickness and Death will overtake the youngest in time and that will undeceive People and render the best appearances of this World either Bitter or at least Insipid and without any pleasant relish and then the Hopes and Expectations of this City to come will be more of value to us than the best Conveniencies and Delights this lower World can afford Let us therefore in our health make it our business to secure our Interest in it and it will be our Comfort and Benefit both in Life and Death OF CONTENTEDNESS AND PATIENCE COntentedness and Patience differ in this that the Object of the former is any condition whether it be Good Bad or Indifferent the Object of the latter is any present or incumbent Evil. But though they differ in the Latitude or Extent of their Object yet they both arise from the same Principle which if rightly qualified gives both The Measure and Original of all Passions is Love and the Object of Love is That which is really or apparently Good If our Love be right it regulates all our Passions For Discontent or Impatience ariseth from the absence of somewhat that we love and value and according to the measure of our love to the thing we want such is the measure of our Discontent or Impatience under the want of it He that sets his love upon that which the more he loves the more he injoys is sure to avoid the danger of Discontent or Impatience because he cannot want that which he loves and though he love something else that may be lost yet under that loss he is not obnoxious to much Impatience or Discontent because he is sure to retain that which he most values and affects which will answer and supply lesser wants with a great advantage The greatest bent and portion of his love is laid out in what he is sure to injoy and it is but a small portion of love that is left for the thing he is deprived of and consequently his discontent but little and cured with the fruition of a more valuable Good He that sets his love upon the Creature or any result from it as Honor Wealth Reputation Power Wife Children Friends cannot possibly avoid Discontent or Impatience for they are mutable uncertain unsatisfactory Goods subject to Casualties and according to the measure of his love to them is the measure of his Discontent and Impatience in the loss of them or disappointment in them He that sets his love upon God the more he loves him the more he injoys of him and the surer hold he hath of him In other things the greatest danger of disappointment and consequently of impatience is when he loves them best but the more love we bear to God the more love he returns to us and Communicates his Goodness the more
are to expect from him as a Father Those of the first part are principally these Love Reverence Submission and Thankfulness 1. Love to God The very name of a Father imports in it self a relation of benefit and consequently of Love God is the Father of thy being as thou art a Man and of thy continual preservation and if there were no more than this in this comprehensive name of Father it is enough to take up the whole stock and compass of thy Love The Motion from not being to being is an infinite Motion and an act of infinite goodness as well as of infinite Power and deserves and challengeth the uttermost extent of thy Love as a just debt unto it so that thou hast scarce a residue of love left within the compass of thy uttermost power which thou owest not to this great Love of thy Lord in giving thee a being if this common Goodness of thy Lord requireth and deserveth all thy Love to him as the Father of thy nature what Love dost thou owe him as he is pleased to be thy Father in a nearer relation to be thy Father in Christ and that after thou haddest rejected him and wert Lost and if thy debt of Love that thou owest to him as the Father of thy Nature be more large than the Comprehension of thy Power how or with what wilt thou pay that further debt of Love which thou owest to him for that undeserved unsought for superadded relation of thy Father by Adoption when he gave his own Son to dye for thee an enemy that thou mightest receive the Adoption of a Son This is a love that passeth not only thy Retribution but also thy knowledge Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 1 John 3.1 And the Love of God to us as it is the meritorious Cause of our Love to him so it is that which Excites and fires our Love to him 1 John 4.19 We love him because he first loved us And according to the measure we have of the apprehension of the Love of God to us according is the measure of our Love to him again This therefore is the first affection that the name of Father calls out viz. The intensest affection of our Love in that he hath given us a Commission to call him Father and Christ is not ashamed to call us Brethren Heb. 2.21 2. Reverence and this is but a consequent of the former Perfect Love casts out fear 1 John 4.18 But it is the Mother of Reverence Heb. 12.9 We have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence c. Mal. 1.6 If I be a Father where is my honour were there no other distance of nature between thy God and thee but the distance and relation of a Father it requires Reverence of thee especially when thou comest before him in thy Prayers And that inward Reverence of thy Soul will imprint a Reverence in thy Words and in thy Carriage as all other Affections and Tempers of the Soul fix a sutable correspondence upon the outward Man but especially when we consider he is our heavenly Father 3. Submission to his Will Consider thy approach is to thy Father which carries with it a relation of Authority especially considering he is a Father of Wisdom that knoweth what is fittest for thee and a Father of Mercies that is oftentimes more merciful to thee in denying thee what thou askest than he could be in granting it it is thy duty to ask what thou wantest because he is thy Father but not to limit him what he should grant 4. Thankfulness for all thou hast received because as he is the Author of thy Being so he is the Fountain of all thy Benefit 5. And as the Name of Father carries upward these Affections of Love Fear Submission and Thankfulness towards God so it brings down those Apprehensions of God that are suitable to the business about which we are 1. From the consideration that God is our Father thus placed in the Entrance of this Prayer we have Incouragement to make our access unto him with an humble boldness When we consider the Glory and the Majesty and the Purity of the Great and Infinite God in whose sight the Heavens are not clean nor the Stars pure Job 15.15 25.5 that chargeth his Angels with folly and in his Presence the Cherubins cover their faces How should dust and Ashes Man that is a Worm under the apprehension of his Majesty and Glory ever think that this Glorious God should listen unto or entertain his Person or his Prayers When David considered but of the Sun and Moon and Starrs which are but the works of his hands he found a great disproportion between us and them What is Man that thou shouldst be mindful of him Psal 8.4 Much more between us and their and our Creator the Son of God therefore that knew his Fathers Will and the thoughts he beareth towards us presents him to us in the brink of our Prayers under the Expression of a Father that might invite us before he renders him under the apprehension of his being in Heaven that might Estrange us under the conception of the Love and tenderness of a Father before conception of his Majesty and Glory And is he thy Father why shouldest thou not upon all occasions resort unto him whither should a Child go with boldness if not to his Father and to such a Father as he is pleased to render himself unto us with more tenderness and gentleness than lyes within the bowels of a natural Father Isa 49.15 Can a woman whose affections are most ardent and importunate forget her Child a piece of her self her sucking Child to whom she is ingaged by an additional obligation of Love and Care that she should not have compassion when her natural Love is heightned by a pityfull accurance of the Son of her Womb the perfection of her conception Yea she may forget yet I will not forget thee saith the Lord Hos 11.8 How shall I give thee up Ephraim how shall I deliver thee Israel how shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Zeboim my Heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger for I am God and not Man Hos 11.3 I taught Ephraim to go leading him by the hand Ephraim like a weak Child was ready to stumble fall upon every occasion and like a froward Child apt to snatch away his hand from him that led him yet the affection of a Father is not lost by the weakness or frowardness of a Child Deut. 32.6 11. Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish People and unwise Is not he thy Father that bought thee As an Eagle stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her Young spreadeth abroad her wings taketh them and beareth them on her wings so the Lord alone
unruly Beast without a Chain for it is certain the due Government of this Affection governs all the rest And now if we look abroad into the World or indeed but strictly and impartially observe our selves we shall easily observe a marvellous want of Moderation of this Affection For not to mention the misplacing of this Affection upon what we should really hate we may see a great Irregularity in the Measure and Order of Exerting this Affection about things that we may in their measure and kind love we talk indeed of loving of God above all and of the great value we set upon our Souls and Everlasting life and of Self-Denial and against loving of the World and how vain and contemptible a thing the World is But for the most part they are but Words and Speculations when we come to Practice and Life there appears nothing or very little that answers these Notions and Speculations little of that Moderation that those Notions import We love the World the Wealth the Honour the Pleasures the Profits of it with all our Souls we make it our principal business to attain and enjoy it we account it our greatest Calamity when we are crossed or disappointed in it One Man sets his whole heart upon his Greatness another upon his Wealth another upon his Pleasures and Recreations another upon his Preferment another upon the Favour of Great Men another upon Applause of his Learning or Eloquence another upon the Beauty of a Mistress or Servant nay so Childish we many times are that we are inamoured on very Toyes as fine Cloaths handsome Furniture a fine House splendid Entertainments a fine Head of Hair or Mad Antick Postures or Complements Affected Words Gestures or Phrases Apish Imitations Plays and Gaming new Fashions that many there are that make such Feathers as these the Principal Objects of their Love the Business and Study of their Lives and are as much concerned in their disappointment herein as if they were undone These are preposterous and want Moderation in their Affection because they have no true Judgment or Estimate of things according to their true Values THE VANITY AND VEXATION THAT Ariseth from Worldly Hope and Expectation IT is very evident to every Mans experience that Hope and Expectation of Good is the great Wheel or rather Weight that moves Man to all Actions and Undertakings The Plough-man ploughs in Hope and the Merchant-Adventures in Hope and the Scholar Studies in Hope and the Soldier Fights in Hope and so for all Humane Actions And thus it must needs be for in Hope or Expectation there are these Ingredients 1. Some End that a Man hath in prospect which carries a Complacency and Suitableness to the mind as to be Rich or Powerful or Learned or Applauded These are the ordinary ends of ordinary Men but there are ends of a nobler Condition as to be everlastingly happy c. But of these nobler and higher Ends I do not now speak 2. That end is also represented as an End Possible and Attainable 3. That there be also a Means proposed probably conducing to the attaining of that End and the Hope or Expectation of that End is the Spirit or Life that puts a Man upon the use and exercise of that Means thus conducible to it For the most part the Complacency that is taken in the Exercise of the Means to the attaining of the End proposed is at all times equal and most times exceeds the Complacency that is taken in the injoyment of the End when attained for the reason hereafter given For the End is present in Expectation in the most ample and Comprehensive Image or Idea thereof that can be And this is that which quickens and drives on Action with intensiveness proportionable to that measure of Worth and Value that the Soul puts upon the End thus prospected And therefore he that hath a great and high Expectation and Value of the End propounded acts with Vigor and Industry he that sets but a low Price or Valuation upon the End as a business but little preponderating the Trouble and Industry to attain it is cold in his Prosecution of it But if the Labor and Industry that is required in the use of that means appear to equal the Good that is attained in the End the whole action is for the most deserted as he that sets a great Value upon Wealth or Honor spares no pains to attain it So he that sets but a low value upon it is flat and lazy in his prosecution of it and he that looks upon it as not countervailing the pains in acquiring it sits still and is idle in it For the most part the Good Things of this World are presented to Men in expectation not only in their best dress but in an Elevated Value above what is in truth in them and this is therefore so upon a double Reason 1. The Wise Providence of God permitting it and that for this excellent End to keep Men in Action and in Motion which is of singular use for Mankind For if the things exciting the ordinary Actions of Life did appear with no greater an Elevation than possibly they do really and intrinsically bear the most part of Mankind would sit still and do nothing This very fallacy that Men put upon themselves in over expecting is a Spur to Action and Motion which in most Men would be wholly intermitted unless the very Worldly concerns did set them in Action as the end stands thus represented to their Expectation 2. Mankind being indued with a Fancy or Imagination that hath not only a power of separating the Good of every thing from the Evil that may possibly accompany what it expects but also of stuffing and filling the Good with great Imaginary Advances it doth to please and gratifie it self exercise both these Delightful Deceits If it finds any good in what it expects it doth upon choice thrust away and remove all that Evil that is really annexed to it that so it may not be vexed with the pre-apprehensions of it and it multiplies and augments and advanceth and magnifieth that Good that it hath left that so he may with the greater delight expect what he by this phantasie hath wrought himself up to a belief that he shall injoy The misery and unhappiness that falls upon Mankind from this advance of the Hope and Expectation of Worldly Ends is observable in one of these Events thereof 1. It may be there is an utter Frustration of the whole thing designed and aimed at and so his Expectation is like the dream of the Hungry Man in the Prophet Isai 29.8 that dreamed he had Eaten and he wakes and behold he is hungry 2. If he attain the End he expected be it Wealth or Honor or Pleasure or the like yet many times there doth attend it some signal Mischief or Evil that he had not before the patience to think of that doth render the whole injoyment to be utterly a thing mischievous
Adversity 2. But alass when we have used all the Care and Industry and Watchfulness we can who can say he hath made his wayes clean before God our Prosperity and the Temptations that await us from without and the Corruptions that are within us give us often falls that we know of and many more that we know not of if therefore the necessity of our condition subject us to Afflictions and the prevalence of our Corruptions subject us to Temptations what hope can I have to have a comfortable Affliction when I cannot hope to have an Innocent Conversation yet there is another expedient to ease and lighten Afflictions If thou canst not be Innocent yet be sincere and upright Hearted an Honest and Plain Heart that holds no confederacy with any known Sin keeps a quiet Conscience even under Affliction it self If thou hast not a perfect Life yet be careful in thy Prosperity thou keep a perfect Heart 3. But yet if thy Heart hath proved deceitful to thee and thou hadst fallen into any Sin yet there remains one expedient to stop and anticipate the malignity of it from mingling with thy Affliction Before Afflictions come be sure thou break of thy Sin by Repentance Every Sin leaves a kind of Poyson in the Soul and there it many times lies raked up till an evil day comes and then it begins to work to some purpose Sound and Serious Repentance fetcheth out this Core this nest of malignity cleanseth this Ulcer that Sin hath gathered And lest the malignity of Sin should remain in thy Soul when Affliction overtakes thee be careful 1. That thy Repentance be frequent and iterated and to that end let thy Examinations of thy heart and life be strict and daily Possibly thou mayst find a Sin upon the review that thou didst not before espie that may deserve a special Repentance but if thou dost not yet thy Sins of daily Incursion require a daily Repentance 2. That thy Repentance upon any known Sin committed be Speedy while thou art in thy Prosperity let it not lie upon thee till to morrow Who can tell whether some bitter Affliction may not overtake thee before thou hast repented and then that Sin will reach out its Venome and Malignity into thy Affliction and make it worse Therefore intercept that accursed influence of Sin by a speedy Repentance Thy Repentance will be the easier and thy Affliction the lighter thy Heart the stronger to bear it thy Access unto Heaven for Deliverance the readier When a Man lies under a Sin till Affliction come he hath two great Suits to dispatch in the Court of Heaven First To gain his Pardon Secondly To gain Deliverance from or strength under Affliction Be careful therefore to get the former dispatched in thy Prosperity thou hast the less to do under thy Affliction When Guilt and Affliction come upon a Man together they add to each others weight and difficulty of removal but Affliction meeting with a Conscience cleansed by Faith and Repentance is always tolerable and for the most part Comfortable it loseth its nature and becomes another thing It is a prevention of Sin a Corrective of Corruptions an Exercise of Grace a Conformity to Christ an Assurance of Gods love a Preparative for Heaven rather than an Affliction 4. Above all things be very careful that thy Affliction be not the just production of thy Sin or Folly for in the one case thou sufferest as an Evil Doer in the other thou sufferest as a Fool and in neither thou canst take any Comfort If thou sufferest without thy fault or for thy Vertue Piety and Goodness thou needest not be troubled for the one and thou mayst most justly rejoyce in the other but to suffer as an Evil Doer or as a Busie-body in other mens matters or for ill Language or Passionate Words or Disturbance of the civil Power these take away both the Comfort and the Glory of these Sufferings Nay though the end intended in these Extravagances may possibly be good and though the Punishment inflicted excede the due proportion and so hath somewhat of injustice or extremity in the infliction yet such a kind of suffering brings little Honour to God little Peace to a Mans self and little Advantage to others but rather the contrary A Man that hath Sins about him hath ill Companions and such as abate the Comfort even of an Innocent Suffering but when a Man suffers for a Sin or any unjustifiable Action his sufferings lose the name of Afflictions and become formally and in their own nature Punishments and in such a kind of suffering though sometimes the Goodness and Wisdom of God brings Good out of it to the party that suffers yet in such a Man doth not only undergo temporal Loss Pain and Inconvenience but hath the inevitable prospect of his Fault and Offence in them which makes the suffering the more bitter and distastful 5. Be careful to bring thy self to a right Estimate of the World and the Good or Evil of it Our over valuation of the World is that which makes us excede either in the Comfort we take in the enjoyments or in the Perturbation that we suffer in the Losses or Crosses of it and commonly according to the measure of our Love unto or valuation of the things of this life such is the measure of our Grief or Sorrow or Dispondency or Anger or Vexation that we entertain in our loss or disappointment in them for indeed all other Passions and Perturbations of the Mind are but the Handmaids of the Passions of Love or Love acted in a different shape or method if I set too high a value upon my Wealth or my Health or my Honour or my Relations or my Credit then my loss or disappointment of any of them will produce an Excess of Sorrow or Vexation or Despondency or Anger or Revenge Therefore let it be thy business in the time of thy quiet and prosperity in the first place to settle thy Judgment aright and consequently thy Affections aright in reference to Externals Consider first they are but Externals they have no ingredient at all into the Man a Man may be a Fool or a Vitious and wicked Man and yet injoy these things in a great measure and a Man may be a Wise a Just a Vertuous a Pious a Man a Man in the favor of God and yet be without them 2. They are in their own nature very uncertain things they are subject to a Thousand contingencies nay if they stand secured unto me with the greatest stability that may be yet my Body is subject to many weaknesses and Distempers and a Disease in my Body will render all these things insipid and vain to me What good or content will all my Wealth my Honour my fine Houses my great Retinue my great Power do me when I am in a burning Feaver in a painful Consumption nay under a fit of the Head-ach or Stone for so small a Distemper will make
former Murmuring and Impatience under the visiting hand of God But again Suppose thy Affliction wait upon thee till thy dissolution yet it is but a Night but an hour of Affliction This Night and this Hour will end with thy life and this life of thine is but a Span and then thy day will dawn and thy Sun will arise and thy Affliction will vanish and never return again 4. Bear it patiently Because thy Patience will shorten thy Affliction The Tryal and Improvement of thy Patience is one of the chief ends and business of thy Afflictions It is sent to teach thee that Lesson and the sooner thou learnest it the sooner the business is dispatched and the Discipline dismist Thy Impatience doth but protract and lengthen out thy Discipline If thou wouldst be discharged of this importunate and troublesome Messenger speedily dispatch his business and he is likely the speedier to leave thee 5. Bear it patiently Because thy Patience will make thy burthen the more easie and tolerable When God sends Afflictions to tame a Man and bring him to a right temper believe it he will not be over-matched he will bring thee down and if one Affliction will not do it he will add more and make thy bond the stronger and can and will yet visit thee sevenfold more till he hath reduced thee to Patience and Humility Struggle not with him for he will be too hard for thee If thou bear thy Yoke patiently thou wilt bear it easily but if thou fling and toss like a Wild Bull in a Net thou mayest hamper thy self worse and thy Yoke will gall thee the more but it will neither break the Net nor the Yoke Be contented therefore Resign up thy self to his Will with Humility and receive the chastisement of thy folly with Patience thou wilt have this double Advantage by it First The great God will then lay no more upon thee for he hath attained his end and purpose by what he hath already inflicted but will either remove it from thee or put his own hand to help thee to bear it Secondly By the quietness and composure of thy mind thou wilt be of greater strength to bear thy burthen and with more ease under it for it is a most certain truth That the turbulency and storming and strugling of the mind is that which makes Affliction more sharp and troublesome than the nature or quality or measure of Affliction it self it is the mind that gives the value and weight of external Prosperity or Adversity Take two Men the one of a proud and great Spirit as they call it the other of a mild humble patient Spirit we shall easily see that a small disgrace or loss shall more afflict and torture the former than Five times as much of either or both shall trouble the latter And this is the true reason why Afflictions at the first are more troublesome and grievous than after though they continue the same At the first they meet with a mind unacquainted with it and contesting against it as a Heifer unaccustomed to the Yoke but when by time and continuance the mind is accustomed to it though the Yoke be the same yet it finds no such severity and importableness in it A Patient Heart gains that habit quickly which custom length of time and necessity doth with more difficulty produce in another temper 6. Bear it patiently because thou hast an Example of greater Patience under a greater Cross in a most innocent person Thy Saviour hath left a Copy of his own Patience for thee to imitate and thy Affliction is sent to thee to teach thee to write after his Copy and to conform thee to the Captain of thy Salvation who was made perfect by suffering consider the disparity of the persons He most innocent without any Sin to deserve it Thou a person laden with Sin that meritoriously deserves as much if not more than thou hast a capacity to bear He the Son of God cloathed with Innocent Flesh Thou a Worm cloathed with Impurity and Sin Consider the disparity of the Sufferings He a Man of Sorrows under the Persecution of those whom he came to save subjected to all the scorns and torments that the wit of most Exquisite Malice could inflict and above all this under the sense even of the wrath and seeming desertion of his Father Thou it may be hast lost some Estate or Reputation or art in Prison or Banishment or Sickness or Pain but under all this dost or mayest injoy that Peace and Pardon and Favor of God that his sufferings purchased for thee The ingredients of His Cup nothing but Gall and Vinegar but thy Cup though never so seemingly bitter yet sanctified and sweetned by His Sufferings And yet under all this As a Sheep before his Shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth though his most Innocent Humane Nature shrunk at the pre-apprehensions of this bitter portion yet with Patience he resigned up his Will to his Father Not my Will but thine be done In sum as His Patience was meritorious and expiatory for thy Sin so it was left as a Patern and Example for thy practice 7. Bear it patiently For it is reached unto thee from the hands of God though it may be by the hands of most vile and accursed instruments and this consideration is enough to tutor thee to an Invincible Patience 1. It is the Dispensation of God who is Infinite in Mercy and Goodness and therefore it is most certain it is a Message of Mercy for He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men. Be sure that it coming from the Fountain of Goodness and Love it hath a Blessing in it though thou canst not at the present see it 2. It comes from the Hands of the most Wise God that doth all things for most excellent ends and even in those Dispensations that are most obscure and rugged that we cannot unriddle yet there is always a complication of most Soveraign and Excellent designs which shall not be disappointed 3. It comes from the hands of that God that is under the relation of a most tender Father that hath the very same Bowels of Mercy Goodness and Love to us in his corrections as in his favors A poor silly child when a Father either corrects him for a fault or takes that from him that will hurt him or keeps him hard to his Book or other imployment or denies him somewhat that is noxious to him thinks his Father deals hardly with him when in truth the very same tender and Fatherly love that discovers it self in more grateful dispensations is the cause and companion of these The same is thy case and mine be patient therefore it is the hand of a Father that afflicts thee and that may assure thee that it is for thy good and it shall be in measure 4. It comes from that God that is thy absolute Lord that hath that unlimited right over his Creature that his
Angel of the Lord smote him Acts 12.23 and when the great King was puffed up with the greatness of his Glory and Power then the Message comes that the Kingdom is departed from him Dan. 4.13 And commonly God takes that season to punish the whole stock of Sins that a man hath committed when his heart is most lifted up Pro. 16.18 Pride goeth before destruction Again Presumptuous Sins these bid defiance to the Name of God to his Truth his Justice his Power his Presence Deut. 29.20 The Jealousie of God will smoke against such a Man Scandalous Sins in those that bear or profess the Name of God 2 Sam. 12.14 by this occasion is given to the Enemies of God to blaspheme Inadvertence and want of Consideration of the Works of God Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operations of his hands therefore shall he destroy them and not build them up Psal 28.5 God therefore doth dispense many of his works of Providence that Men should wisely consider of his doings and declare his work Psal 64.9 This Inadvertence partly disappointeth God of his End and robbeth him of his Glory Misapplication of events either to false causes Idols Fate Fortune or only to Second causes without the due attribution of all to the most Wise and Powerful Counsel of the Mighty Lord Deut. 8.17 18. And thou say in thy Heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is hee that giveth thee power to get Wealth So for promotion Psal 75.6 Victory Isay 10.5 O Assyrian the Rod of mine anger 13. but he saith by the strength of mine hand have I done this and by my Wisdom And as in things concerning others this Observation is to be used so principally in the Occurrences and Providences concerning thy self to labour to know that all things that befal thee come from the most Wise and Just hand of God in all thy Blessings acknowledge his Mercy and labour to find him in them in all thy Afflictions acknowledge his Justice and his Wisdom Labour to find out the Cause and give him the Glory Now concerning the Order of this Petition it fell not in the first place by Chance but he that was the Wisdom of the Father placed it there upon most just Reasons 1. The Glory of God is that which is first to be sought for because it is the chief End of God in all things and that which he principally intended He made all things for his Glory Vide Isa 43.7 21. The first and highest Duty of Man is to Love God and Love to God will carry the Heart to desire that first which God first wills in so much as if the Glory of God must be lost or the Soul that loves him the perfection of Love will choose the preservation of his Glory rather than of it self if it were possible Vide Exod. 32.33 Rom. 9.3 2. It is the Justest and only Tribute that all Creatures can return to God for their Being and Blessing Such is his infinite Self-sufficiencie that it is impossible he can receive any good from them that receive their Being from him Job 35.7 If thou be righteous what givest thou him Psal 16.2 My goodness extendeth not to thee But the return of the Honour and Glory and acknowledgment of his Goodness is all that the Creature can give and that he is pleased to accept Psal 50.15 I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 116.12 Whatshall I return unto the Lord for all his benefits to me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created And according to this Debt of Duty which the Creatures owe to God for their being so we find them according to their several capacities and conditions bringing in their Tribute Revel 5.13 And every Creature which is in Heaven in the Earth and under the Earth and in the Sea heard I saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for Ever and Ever 3. It is the best preparative for the Heart that approacheth to God in Prayer to be first taken up withal If in the ordinary Actions of our Nature the Glory of God should affect our heart and be the End at which we should aim 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye Eat or Drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the Glory of God And if the Son of God in this Pattern of Prayer begins his Petitions with the sanctifying of his Name it is certainly most necessary that the heart of him that sets upon this Duty be taken up with the consideration of the Honour and Majesty of him who will be sanctified by all that draw near unto him and to carry that End through all our Prayers lest while we repeat the words of this Petition we take the Name of God in vain seemingly praying for the Glorifying of that Name which we at the same time dishonour either for want of a due consideration of his Majesty or for want of making his Glory the Rule and End of our Prayers This first Petition therefore requires that the Heart be duly affected with the Glory of that Name which it invokes and duly acted and directed to that Glory and that this Petition be drawn through all the rest of our Requests These ensuing Considerations therefore arise from the placing of this Petition first in this Prayer 1. As thou prayest that his Name be hallowed so in all thy Request labour to Sanctifie the Lord in thy Heart Sanctifie him in his Greatness and Majesty with honourable and reverent thoughts of him in thy Heart with an aweful and humble carriage both of thy inward and outward man as in the presence of the Great and Glorious King of Heaven and Earth Sanctifie him in his Authority and Sovereignty by calling upon him in Obedience to his Command and Will who hath Commanded it by acknowledgment of thy dependance upon him Sanctifie him in his Power and All-sufficiencie by casting thy self upon him who is Mighty to Save and to fulfil thy most Extensive and Large Requests Sanctifie him in his Goodness and Mercy which is infinite more large to pardon thy Sins to supply thy Wants and to fill thee with all good Things than thy Necessities or the widest compass of thy Soul can be to ask Sanctifie him in his Truth and Faithfulness by a recumbence and resting upon his Promises that no one thing shall fail of all the good things that he hath spoken that no man shall seek his Face in vain that he that hath said Whatsoever thou shalt ask in his Son's Name he will give it that hath granted us access unto him upon the purchase of his Son's Blood will in no sort
which hath overspread the whole race of Mankind and of the Truth and Efficacy and sufficiency of that Redemption which came by Christ and is published in that Word striving and contending with and mastering and over-ruling the opposition of the will against it Calming and quieting and rectifying the distempers and disorders and misplacings of our affections opposing and subduing the lusts of our sensual appetite inlightning and quickning and cleansing the conscience and bringing it about to take part with God and the actings of this Spirit upon our Souls mingling the word of the Gospel conveyed into the Heart with a secret and powerful Energy whereby it becomes a Seed of Life in the Heart growing unto Eternal Life And thus as at first the Motion of the Spirit of God upon the face of the waters and the powerful word of Command produced the several Creatures so by the like Motion of the Spirit upon the Heart and the powerful call of the Word of Christ by the publication of the Gospel is wrought this Second Creation of the new Creature Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest stand up from the Dead and Christ shall give thee life And these two great Instruments produce in the Heart two active or operative Principles which after they are produced are not only an Effect of the work of God but also become instrumental for the increase of it viz. Faith and Love Faith whereby we receive this Message of Salvation and entertain it and rest upon it and Love whereby out of the apprehension of this great Love of God to us we love him again we love him because he loved us First And this Love of God ingageth the Soul to a Sincere Obedience to the Will of God The Misery from which we are redeemed is so great the Price by which we are redeemed so invaluable the Glory and Blessedness to which we are redeemed so full and all these appearing so to the Soul by Faith that the Soul can think nothing too much to return to that God that hath so freely done so much for it Thus Faith worketh by Love And this is that Kingdom of God that is within us Luk. 17.20 the subjection of the whole Soul to the Scepter and Rule of Christ If he command Purity of Life forsaking of all things denying our selves crucifying our Lusts laying down our Lives the Soul is tutored to that subjection unto the Will of Christ that it chearfully obeys him in this and whatever he commands This is that Kingdom of God Rom. 14.17 consisting in Righteousness a full Conformity of the Soul to the Will of God the only and absolute Rule of Righteousness Peace upon the sense and belief of reconciliation with God through him that is our Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost upon the apprehension of the Protection and Love of Christ our King and that Glory which he hath most assuredly prepared for all his Subjects 3. We have the Degrees of the Manifestation of this Kingdom Here and Hereafter the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of Glory both making but one Kingdom of God under different degrees of manifestation God by his Word and Spirit casts into the Soul a Seed of Life like that grain of Mustard-seed whereunto the Kingdom of Heaven is resembled Matt. 13. And this seed of Life abideth in the Heart 1 John 3.9 And there it quickens and fashions and moulds the Heart to the Image of God it opposeth and struggleth against Lusts and Temptations which labour to stifle and to kill this Seed of Life and like the leaven that was hid in the 3 measures of Meal Mat. 13.33 It doth by degrees assimulate the whole inward Man to this living principle and conforms the Life unto it Now though this principle of Life is thus operative yet in respect of the outward view it is a hidden Life The External appearance of this Life is reserved till Christ who is our Life shall appear and then shall that hidden Life be revealed Colos 3.4 Behold now we are the Sons of God 1 John 3.2 But it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him By this seed of Grace sown in our Hearts we become the Sons of God and of this Sonship we have a secret Evidence in our own Souls but there shall be a fuller Manifestation of it when Christ who is our Life shall appear So then the Kingdom of Grace and of Glory are the same Kingdom but under a different manifestation that a concealed Kingdom a seed in the ground this the Manifestation of that Kingdom a seed in the Tree To conclude When thou prayest Thy Kingdom come let thy Soul enlarge it self in these or the like desires O Lord I know thou art King of Heaven and Earth and the least of all thy Creatures in their most seemingly Casual and inconsiderable events and motions are under thy most certain and powerful Providence Yet such is our blindness and so mysterious are the ways of thy Providence that sometimes we are at a loss and desire with thy Prophet Jer. 12.1 to expostulate with thee touching thy Judgments If it stand with thy Glory and Will I beseech thee let all the events and occurrences of the World appear to be under thy Administration and Government that all may see thy Wisdom and thy Power and thy Justice and thy Goodness in all the passages of it and that all men may be convinced that thou the most High rulest in the Kingdoms of Men and that all thy Works are Truth and thy ways are Judgment and those that walk in pride thou art able to abase Dan. 4.32 37. That they may all acknowledge he is a God that Judgeth in the Earth Psal 58.11 And because thou hast a more peculiar Kingdom even those that thou hast given unto thy Son let that Kingdom of thine come do thou send out thy Spirit and thy Word into the World and subdue the Hearts of all People to the Belief and Obedience of the Gospel of Christ that all the Kingdoms of the World may be the Kingdoms of God and of Christ Bring in the Jews and the fulness of the Gentiles that there may be one Fold and one Shepherd and let thy Son ride on victoriously conquering and to conquer and preserve thy Flock from the mischiefs that are from without Oppression and Persecution and from those that are from within Divisions and Heresies Let them walk as becomes the Subjects of the Prince of Peace Purity and Truth in Unity Holiness and Truth that they may appear to be the People of thy Holiness Rule every Member thereof by thy Grace preserve them from their Enemies within them Lusts and Defections from their Enemies without them the Incursions of Satan Make hast to fulfill the number of thine Elect and when thy Kingdom of Grace is consummate then let thy Kingdom of Glory come the day of the manifestation of thy Righteous
that will but come in and enter into Covenant with God in Christ Jer. 31.34 I will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sin no more And although this one Sacrifice of Christ offered up once for all is a full satisfaction for all the sins of his Elect to the end of the World yet the same eternal Contract that made it so did likewise appoint certain Means actually to apply it And make it effectual to us of Faith to lay hold upon it And in as much as notwithstanding our giving up our Names to Christ many renewed daily sins are committed by us our Lord teacheth us to resort daily to this Sacrifice this Magazine of Mercy this Fountain opened to wash for sin and for uncleanness thence to fetch new applications of this one Sacrifice for our renewed offence and to beg our Pardon as often as we beg our Bread So then 1. We have the true Original of Forgiveness the Free Love of God which gave Christ as the Sacrifice for Sin and accepted that Sacrifice as the price of our Pardon So God loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3.16 2. We have the Meritorious Cause of it that Sacrifice of Christ whereby Pardon is impetrated for as many as lay hold upon it 3. The Act which that Eternal Counsel appointed to be the Means of the actual Application of it to the Soul receiving of the Pardon thus offered To as many as received him to them c. Joh. 1.12 For as we live and move and have our Being by God and his Will and Providence yet the same Will of his hath appointed the means whereby that Will of his is accomplished our daily Bread and the use of it So although from God we have our Pardon yet the same Will of his hath appointed Faith in Christ to be the instrument of an Actual or Effectual Application of it and the Efficacy of Faith as an instrument for that purpose depends likewise upon the same Will of God which hath so appointed When the Israelites were bitten with fiery Serpents in the Wilderness God commanded Moses to erect a brazen Serpent for their cure Numb 21.8 But although the Divine Will had annexed a power of healing unto that Serpent instrumentally yet the same Will appointed the actual application of that power to the looking upon that Serpent Every one that is bitten when he looketh upon it shall live So though by the Eternal Will of God a Pardon is obtained by the Death of Christ yet the same Will of his hath appointed Faith in Christ the means of the receiving of that Pardon and yet this very means is not in our own power but it is the Gift of God John 6.44 No man can come unto me except the Father draw him 4. The renewed Exercise of that Act upon occasions of sin committed or renewed Prayer for Pardon which as it doth most naturally flow from the sense of sin and of a Pardon impetrated by Christ so by the Divine Institution it is required to apply that Pardon actually to the Soul and it is a high Mercy of God to grant it for the asking and an argument of a proud unbelieving heart to think to have it without it and whensoever the Spirit and the Word of God hath wrought in a man a belief of and in the Sacrifice of Christ the same Spirit doth work in the heart a desire of it which is nothing else but the Prayer of the Mind for it maketh intercession according to the Will of God Rom. 8.27 And herein we therefore see two things 1. Our Duty Our sins are many and daily even after we have given up our Names to Christ If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves 1 Joh. 1.8 And though meritoriously Christ hath satisfied for those very sins yet we are to have often recourse to this Sacrifice to fetch our cure and our cleansing in the actual application of this Sacrifice unto us Had a man been bitten by a fiery Serpent he might look upon the brazen Serpent and live and had he been bitten again he must have looked again or else he had died it is so with us only here is the odds the man that had been once cured if bitten again might perchance not have looked again upon the Serpent and so have died but it is otherwise here the same principle of Life that abiding seed 1 John 3.8 that did at first make him to seek and sue to Christ for his first actual Pardon will after a fall a renewed sin send the Soul to this Fountain for a new act of application of that cleansing and pardoning he cannot commit sin that is lye in it without recourse to God for Pardon because his Seed abideth in him 1 Joh. 2.8 2. Our Priviledge If any man sin we have an Advocate 1 John 2.1 an Advocate that knows the mind of our Judge and out of that knowledge hath taught us as often as we beg our Bread to beg our Pardon and that with assurance that we shall be heard if we do it in Faith and Sincerity 1 John 1.9 He is faithful and just to forgive It is the Proclamation of his Name Exod. 34.7 Forgiving iniquity transgression and sin It is his promise Jer. 31.34 Jer. 33.8 I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more Even to a revolting and backsliding creature upon true repentance Isa 56.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Jer. 3.12 Return thou backsliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and will not keep anger for ever only acknowledge thine iniquity Christ came into the World to restore in Man the lost Image of God And when Peter asked him Matt. 18.21 How oft shall my Brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus said unto him I say not unto thee till seven times but till seventy times seven times And surely that Mercy that Christ required in a poor mortal Man is infinitely fuller in the merciful God who delights in Mercy and Forgiveness Only remember 1. To take heed of Presumptuous Sins Premeditated Sins Sins against knowledge and against convictions Sins with a presupposition of Pardon Deut. 29.19 That shall bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart The Lord will not spare him These though they cannot exceed the Mercy of God to pardon them they many times shut and seal up the Soul against Pardon hardning the heart to a great difficulty if not a final impossibility of Repentance and by that means the Soul is disabled with any comfortable ground or assurance to beg Pardon without the great Mercy
of God to soften that heart again 2. Make a frequent and serious Examination of thy past Actions measure them by the Rule of the Word of God and find out that accursed thing whatsoever it be that is displeasing to him so that as much as may be thou maist distinctly and with reference to particular sins or faults or failings pray over this Petition There is not a day but by a wary observation thou wilt not only find a general indistinct distemper which is to be the subject of this request but particular special eminent Evils that deserve a particular reflection upon them in the repetition of this Petition Let us search and try our wayes and turn to the Lord our God And to this end 3. Endeavour to keep thy Conscience always Wakeful Vigilant Tender be content to listen to her chidings she soldom quarrels without a cause but suppressing checking and stifling the language of Conscience makes her at last either sullen or senseless or outragious A vigilant Conscience will prevent thee from many sins but if it do not it will tell thee of them and bring thee upon thy knees and make this Petition seasonable and a Pardon gotten thereupon acceptable and comfortable for how can that Man with any sense beg Pardon for a sin when he scarce finds himself sensibly guilty of any This Petition is delivered up but carelesly and coldly and fruitlesly by such a person 4. Give God the Honour of his Justice even when thou suest for the Benefit of his Mercy in aggravation of thy sins to the due height in owning damnation and utter rejection as the just reward of every sin humble thy Soul truely and deeply for it This will make thy Prayer earnest and thy Pardon dear it gives to God the Honour of his Justice and the Glory of his Mercy which is all the Tribute thou can'st pay unto him for his free Goodness in giving thee that Pardon without which thou wert eternally lost 5. Give thy Mediator the Honour and End of thy Redemption Thy Saviour died it is true to obtain thy Pardon but wilt thou continue in sin that Grace may abound sin that thou maist be pardoned and renew thy sins that God may renew his Pardon God forbid Thou dost as much as in thee lyeth disappoint the End of Christ's Death who therefore died that he might redeem unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Let the begging of thy Pardon be ever accompanied with a resolution not to offend again otherwise God that sees thy heart looks upon thy asking of Pardon as a higher and more impudent and presumptuous sin than that which thou seemest to beg the forgiveness of 6. Upon the discovery of any particular sin which in a special manner concerns thee beware of these things 1. Sleeping in it without recourse to God for Pardon for it or slipping over it in thy Prayer without a particular animadversion upon it Be content to open this sore The longer it is kept covered the worse it is Thou must know that every sin is written before God with a point of a Diamond and though thou art contented to forget it or by incursion of time to wear out the remembrance or at least the horror of it yet it is written and thou shalt be sure to hear of it and the longer it continues the harder thy heart grows and the deeper doth the canker and stain of that Sin work and spread into thy Soul and the more difficultly is thy Pardon obtained and yet the less earnestly sought It is a secret curse in thy bosom that makes all thy services to God unacceptable and unsavory and who can tell when the decree may come out when this Sin will ripen into an eminent Judgment Therefore clear thy account with God betimes let not the guilt of a Sin lye long upon thy conscience but make thy peace betimes sue out thy Pardon speedily Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth 2. Yet after a Sin freshly committed fall not presently to beg thy Pardon till thou hast humbled thy Heart and put it into a fit frame to come into the presence of God till thou hast got a sense that it is an evil thing and a bitter to depart from him till thou hast crept to thy Saviours Feet for his Blood to wash thee and for his Righteousness to cover thee and for his Mediation to bring thee otherwise a defiled polluted creature into his Fathers presence under his Patronage till thou hast mourned over him whom thou hast pierced and been ashamed before him of thy miscarriage and acted thy Faith upon his All-sufficient satisfaction till thou hast taken up Resolutions of future amendment and then in the Name and Mediation of thy Saviour fall upon thy knees and beg thy Pardon As we forgive our Debtors Luk. 12. For we forgive our Debtors Here we Learn 1. That it is our Duty to forgive others Matt. 18.21 22. Upon their repentance Luk. 17.4 If he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him and that upon these considerations 1. From that conformity that is or should be in our Nature to the Nature of God he is slow to anger and of great Mercy Psal 145.8 Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy Mic. 7.18 And Christ coming to renew the broken Image of God in Man and to renew him after the Image of him that created him doth enjoyn imprint this part of the Divine Image Luk. 6.36 Be ye merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful And Mercy in the Heart is that excellent habit from whence forgiveness proceeds And hence it is that where the Spirit of Christ comes it assimilates the Nature to that disposition Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is Long-suffering Gentleness Meekness 2. From that great commandment enjoyned by God in the Moral Law Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self And much more inforced under the new Covenant even to the Love of our very Enemies Matt. 5.44 I say unto you Love your Enemies and consequently forgive your Enemies for Love is that affection that produceth Pardon and this injunction lyes upon us under the same obligation whereby we are bound to love our Brethren for the Love we owe to God is that grand Obligation that binds to whatsoever he commands Joh. 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments Therefore if ye love me love and pity and pardon your Enemies 3. From that great Equity and Reason the proportion of Gods dealing with us Matt. 18.32 I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee Colos 3.13 Forbearing one another and forgiving one another even as Christ
Will may be performed by us and all Man-kind in some measure answerable to what is done by thy Glorious Angels in Heaven that we may do it Chearfully without Murmuring Sincerely without Dissimulation Speedily without Delay or Procrastination and Constantly and Uncessantly without Deficiency or Fainting And that we may not at all fail in our duty herein be pleased daily more and more to reveal thy Heavenly Will unto us that so our Wills on Earth may answer thy Will in Heaven and keep us alwaies careful and circumspect in sincerity and integrity of heart to keep close unto it that neither the corruptions of our own hearts the seducements of Satan the deceits of this present World may at any time withdraw us from the Obedience of thy most Perfect and Holy Will Give us this day our daily Bread And now most Gracious Father as we have Petitioned Thee for things that more immediately concern thy Glory Kingdom and Will we beg Thee to give us leave to Petition Thee for some things that more immediately concern our selves Blessed Lord thou hast given us our Being and yet when thou hast so given it us we cannot support our selves in that Being one day nay onemoment without thy further Influence and Bounty We therefore beg of Thee our Daily Bread and in that all the Blessings and convenient Necessaries for our support We beg bread for this Life Thou that feedest the young Ravens when they cry we that are thy Children beg of Thee to feed us with food convenient for us Thou that cloathest the Lillies of the field give us cloathing for our covering and defence and all those necessaries and convenient supplies for our wants and conditions And because it is thy Blessing that giveth our Food ability to nourish us our Cloaths to keep us warm and all other outward supplies their serviceableness and usefulness for our Conditions we beg thy Blessing may come along with thy Benefits And because it is part as well of our Duty as of that State and Condition wherein thou hast placed us in this Life that in the sweat of our brows we should eat our bread enable us we beseech Thee for the Duties of our several Callings and Imployments and bless our Labours that we may serve Thee faithfully therein and may be enabled thereby honestly to provide for our selves and Families And as we beg of Thee this meat that perisheth the convenient supplies of our external conditions in this life so we beseech Thee give us that Bread that may feed us unto everlasting life an Interest in the Righteousness and Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ thy Grace and the Direction Guidance and Sanctification of thy Holy Spirit whereby we may be directed strengthned and comforted in a walking according to thy Will here and may everlastingly enjoy thy Presence and Glory hereafter And forgive us our Trespasses Thou art the great Creator Lord and Governor of all the World and art in a more special relation the Soveraign the Father the great Benefactor of Man-kind and therefore may'st most justly expect from the children of Men our uttermost Love and Fear and Reverence and Obedience and thou hast by the Light of Nature and by that greater Light of thy Holy Word revealed unto us a most Holy and Righteous Law to which we owe a most entire and sincere Obedience and yet notwithstanding all these obligations we poor sinful Creatures do daily and hourly violate that Holy Law of thine both in Thought Word and Deed we omit much of what thou requirest of us and we commit often what thou forbiddest us we are deficient in the remembrance of thee in our Love to thee in our Fear of thee We often omit those Duties that thou requirest of Invocation Thanksgiving Dependance and when we perform them they want that due measure of Love Humility Reverence Intention of mind that thou most justly dost require and deserve we omit those duties of Charity Justice Righteousness that we owe to others that Sobriety Temperance Moderation Vigilance that relate to our selves and we daily commit offences against thee the Glorious God against our neighbours against our selves contrary to the injunctions of thy Holy Law revealed to us and these we often reiterate against Mercies Chastisements Promises of better Obedience And although many of our Neglects and Offences immediately concern our selves or others yet they are all offences against thy Holy and Righteous Law and against that Subjection and Obedience and Duty and Thankfulness that we owe unto thee And when we have done all this we are not able to make thee any satisfaction for any of the least of our offences or neglects but only to confess our Guilt and to beg thy Mercy Pardon and Forgiveness We therefore come unto thee who art our Lord and Soveraign whose Prerogative it is to forgive Iniquity Transgression and Sin to thee which art our Father who art full of Pity and Compassion to thy Children though disobedient and backsliding Children to thee who art a Father of Mercies as well as of Men and hast delight in Forgiving thy disobedient and returning and repenting Children and we confess our Sins our backslidings our failings And upon the account of thy own Mercy and Goodness upon the account of thy Son's Merits and Sufferings upon the account of thy own Promises contained in that Word whereupon thou hast caused thy Servants to trust Pardon the sins of our Duties and the sins of our Lives the sins of our Natures and the sins of our Practice the sins of our Thoughts Words and Actions the sins of Omission and the sins of Commission the sins of Infirmity Failing and daily Incursion and the sins of Wilfulness Presumption and Rebellion whereof we stand guilty before thee Our Request we confess is great The Debt whereof we desire Forgiveness is a great and a vast debt but we ask it of the great and glorious Monarch of the World we ask it of our gracious and merciful Father and from that glorious God who rejoyceth more in multiplying Pardons upon repenting sinners than the Children of Men can delight in offending As we forgive them that Trespass against us And besides all this we have been taught by him that knew thy Will to the full that if we from our hearts forgive those that trespass against us thou that art our Heavenly Father wilt forgive us our Trespasses against thee Upon this Promise of thine we lay hold In obedience to thy Commands we forgive our brethren their offences against us and beg thee therefore to make good that thy Promise of Forgive us our offences It is true our forgiving of others cannot merit thy Pardon of us When we forgive we do but our duty because thou commandest it And besides the Trespass that we remit is but to our Brother and is but a small inconsiderable trespass in comparison of those Trespasses whereof we beg the forgiveness of Thee his Trespass not an hundred pence ours
comes or keeps off from God the more or less of his Goodness he participates Now in this act of prayer we endeavour to lay hold of his Goodness and Promises Necessary it is therefore we bring our hearts by preparation as near to him as we can 1. That we may be near unto him and in this nearness consists an advantage of Communion with him 2. That we may be like him and that likeness is every day increased by our beholding of him whereby we are in some measure translated into the same Glory 3. That we may be in our proper place God hath communicated his goodness to all things according to their several degrees of perfection in those stations wherein his own Great and Infinite Wisdom placed them and the place of Man was nearer to God by his nature than he can now arrive unto in this Life in his own Person though we have a High-Priest that continually bears our names before our Father And certainly if it be at any time seasonable for a Man to wind up his heart in the greatest nearness to God that he can do it is when he comes before him in Praises for the things he hath and Petitions for the things he wants Learn therefore in general to bring up thy heart as near as thou canst to the great God in preparation and meditation before thou offerest thy Prayer that thy sacrifice may be mingled with a true fire and thy Soul may be raised up with the due consideration of what thou art about and who thou art to deal withal Touching the Particulars in this Preamble Our Father Two things are herein considerable 1. How God is said to be our Father 2. What Frame or temper of heart and spirit this blessed relation and conception of him as a Father ought to raise in us especially when we come before him in Prayer As to the first God hath the appellation or relation of a Father principally in these respects 1 By Creation Thus he is the Father of all things But in as much as Paternity and Filiation are relations of persons not of bare subsistency properly therefore in this respect he is called Father in relation to Angels and Men to Men Isa 64.8 But now O Lord thou art our Father we are the clay and thou our potter Mal. 2.10 have not all one Father hath not one God created us Luke 3.38 which was the Son of Adam which was the Son of God And as to Men so in a more near relation to the Souls of Men and the blessed Angels who participate more immediately of his Image and perfection Jam. 1.17 The Father of lights Heb. 12.9 The Father of Spirits Zec. 12.2 The former of Spirits Job 38.7 And all the Sons of God shouted for joy 2. By special susception or undertaking either without an intervenient Contract thus he is pleased to own a more special Paternity towards those that have most need of him Psal 68.5 A Father of the Fatherless or by an intervenient Contract thus he was a Father in a more near Relation to the Jewish People who as a Child is called by the Name of his Father so they did as it were bear his Name Jer. 14.9 We are called by thy Name leave us not Isa 63.16 Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and accordingly he evidenced himself towards them in all the care and tenderness of a Father Deut. 32.11 As an Eagle fluttereth over her Young c. Hos 11.1 When Israel was a Child I loved him Rom. 9.4 and called my Son out of Egypt But these Relations are yet too large and spacious 3. By Adoption in Christ Which Relation is thus wrought by an Eternal Stipulation between the Father and the Son the Son was to take upon him our Nature by a supernatural Conception and to stand as a publick Person and Mediator between the Father and lapsed Man and appointed that as many as should by true Faith lay hold on him there should be a kind of Union wrought between Christ and that Believer and in that Union the Father looks upon all that which was in the Believer as imputed to Christ and all that which was in Christ as imputed to the Believer Was there Sin and Guilt in the Believer it is laid on Christ and he bears all Iniquities Isa 53.6 Is there Righteousness in Christ the Believer hath that Righteousness the Righteousness which is of God by Faith Is Christ the First-born of God Psa 89.25 26. Though we cannot partake of his Primogeniture yet we partake of his Sonship John 1.12 As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God John 20.17 I ascend unto my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God Gal. 4.5 That we might receive the Adoption of Sons And by vertue of this Union we partake of the inheritance of Sons Joynt-Heirs with Christ Gal. 4.7 of the Spirit of Sons Gal. 4.6 And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts c. And by vertue of this Filiation we have the Priviledges of Sons Access with boldness unto the Father Ephes 2.19 Care and tenderness of our Father over us Matth. 6.32 For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things Audience from him John 16.26 At that day ye shall ask in my Name c. For the Father himself loveth you Now this Appellation and Relation of a Father in the first Entrance into Prayers carries up our hearts unto these Considerations 1. That we should by all means labour to be in this relation to God viz. that he should be our Father for why do we call him so unless he be so to us and that we should not be contented barely with the Relation unto him as we are Men for so were even the Athenians who inscribed their Altar To the Unknown God His Off-spring Acts 17.28 nor with the Relation arising out of an external Profession and Covenant but with that nearest Relation of Paternity arising by our Union with Christ 2. And consequently that all our Applications to God in Prayer must be in and through Christ for through him is this Relation wrought and it is a Relation of Nearness and Union which is the greatest Nearness Ephes 2.13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were a far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ and 19. of the House-hold of God our Union unto God growes by our Union to Christ who is one with the Father John 17.23 I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and this is the meaning of asking in his Name John 16.26 through him we have an access to the Father Ephes 2.18 3. We learn with what Affections we should come to him in our Prayers And these arise either from the consideration of our duty as Children or from the consideration of that which we
an unsearchable bottomless Fountain of Power as well to pardon as to punish Our Temptations unto sin meet us upon every occasion from without us and from within us and we have no wisdom in our selves to foresee them no strength nor yet any will to oppose them but thou hast infinite Power to foresee to prevent to divert them and to deliver from them The least of Evils armed with the guilt of any one sin will like a weight of Lead press us into an impossibility of recovery from it the enemy of our Souls is conversant within us and about us and ready upon every occasion to seduce us into sin and to torment and disorder us for it and his power and strength and subtilty is beyond our power to resist and indeed he finds us willing captives but as thou hast Authority so thou hast Power to restrain him to discover him to fortifie and strengthen us against him and to deliver us from him And therefore I here lay hold of the strength of Omnipotency to grant these my Petitions but this is not all And the Glory Omnipotency though it be one addition of strength to our Prayers yet it is not enough The Leper in the Gospel said truly to our Saviour If thou wilt thou canst make me clean but yet he doth not conclude Thou canst therefore thou wilt but thy Glory is the great End of all thy Works the End of thy great Work of Creation Prov. 16.4 the End of thy Son 's coming into the World to redeem Mankind Luk. 2.14 the End of thy Eternal Counsel in electing some to Life and leaving others Rom. 9.22 It is the only Tribute that all thy Works can give thee for their Being and Preservation and that which thou accountest most dear and peculiar unto thy self Isa 42.8.48.11 I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory I will not give to another And in all these my requests I have sought nothing but what conduceth to thy Glory In granting what I have here asked the Benefit is ours but the Glory is thine In it Thou hast the Glory of thy Mercy the Glory of thy Power the Glory of thy Bounty and Goodness the Glory of thy Truth and Faithfulness thou hast said of old that thy Glory shall be revealed and that all flesh shall see it Isa 40.5 that they shall sanctifie thy Name Isa 29.23 that thou wilt set up a Kingdom that shall never be destroyed and shall break in pieces and consume other Kingdoms and shall stand for ever Dan. 2.44 Dan. 7.27 That thy counsel shall stand and thou wilt do all thy pleasure Isa 46.10 That thou wilt give us a new heart and a new spirit and wilt cause us to walk in thy Statutes and to keep thy Judgments and do them Ezech. 36.26 27. That verily we shall be fed Psal 37.3 That though the young Lions do lack and suffer hunger yet they that seek thee shall not want any good thing Psal 34.10 That if we return unto thee thou wilt have Mercy and abundantly Pardon Isa 55.7 That thou art a God Pardoning iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.7 That thou wilt not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but wilt with the Temptation make a way to escape 1 Cor. 10.13 That if we call upon thee in the day of trouble thou wilt deliver us and we shall glorifie thee Psal 50.15 And yet though thou the great God of Power and Truth hast spoken all this and wilt do it yet that thou maist have the due acknowledgment of our subjection and dependance upon thee thou wilt be enquired of for this to do it for us Ezek. 36.36 37. And although we are so sinful that we cannot so much as deserve thy pity in our greatest misery yet for thy Name 's sake and for thy Glory's sake hear us Psal 106.8 For thy own sake Isa 48.11 And though all the Praises and Acknowledgments of thy Creatures add nothing to thy Glory for thine is an essential infinite absolute independent Glory yet since thou art pleased to accept of this our poor and our only Tribute and to take it in good part from thy Creature we will thankfully acknowledge thy great condescension to us in accepting of our Prayers and granting our Requests giving us liberty through thy Son to be intercessors for our selves for others nay for thine own Glory and Kingdom and the manifestation of it What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Give me Grace in all my wants and necessities to fly to thee by Prayer and in all my supplies and deliverances to return unto thee with Thanksgiving For Ever Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations Psal 145.13 A Kingdom which shall in time break and subdue all the Kingdoms of this World and the Kingdom of darkness Sin Death and Satan And as is thy Kingdom such is thy Power infinite in extent infinitely more comprehensive than the vastest wants or desires of thy Creatures infinite in duration unexhaustible by all the successions of Time and of Eternity it self And as is thy Kingdom and Power such is thy Glory an Eternal and endless Glory before the birth of Time when nothing had a Being but thy self thou had'st Infinite Self-sufficiency and an incomprehensible fulness of Glory Joh. 17.5 And when thou did'st in time create the World it did not contribute unto thy fulness of Glory but thou did'st communicate and imprint some of thy Glory upon it and all the Glory that thy Creatures bring unto thee is nothing else but the reflection of thine own Glory a recoyl of that Beam that came from thy Sun yet though the Glory of thy Essence cannot receive any increase by this reflection yet thou art pleased everlastingly to perpetuate this thy reflexive Glory by the immortal Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect to whom thou wilt unto all Eternity communicate a fulness of the Vision of thy Self according to the measure of their perfected but finite Natures and from that communication of thy Glory to them they shall everlastingly return Glory to thy Name saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Amen Rev. 5.13 THE Lord's Prayer PARAPHRASED Our Father O Eternal and Glorious Lord God for thou gavest at first Being to the Common Parents of all Mankind Thou art our Father by Nature we owe our own immediate Being more to Thee than we do to our immediate Parents for thou art the Father of our Spirits Thou art our Father by our Preservation we could not support our selves in being one moment of time without the uncessant influence of thy Providence and Goodness Thou art our Father by Adoption receiving us in a more special manner to be thy Children in and through Jesus Christ
In all the course and passages of our lives thou hast manifested unto us the Love and Compassion and Tenderness and Goodness and Affection and Kindness of a Father Forgiving our offences Healing our back-slidings Pitying our weaknesses Supplying our wants Delivering us from dangers Accepting our weak endeavours to please and serve thee Providing things necessary for us and an Immortal inheritance of Glory and Happiness Blessed be thy Name that art pleased even from Heaven to commissionate us to come unto thee to call upon thee under that encourageing comfortable and near Relation and Title of our Father which carries in it the most full and ample assurance of Audience and Acceptation for with whom can we expect Acceptation or Access from whom can we expect the concession of what we need if not from Our Father to whom should we resort for supplies but to our Father Which art in Heaven It is true the Fathers of our Flesh did bear to us Tenderness and Affection but alas they were Mortal Fathers Fathers on earth Fathers that either are dead or must dye And besides though their affections might be large to us they were straitned in Power they were Earthly Fathers and possibly their affections to us were larger than their ability But thou art our Father an Abiding Everlasting Father a Father in Heaven As thy Love is abundantly extended to us as a Father so thy Power and Ability to answer us is as large as thy Goodness Thou art an Heavenly Father an All-sufficient Father we are not straitned in thy Love to us because thou art our Father neither are we straitned in thy Power Wisdom Goodness for thou art Infinite in all thy Attributes Isa 66.1 And yet though thou art in Heaven as thy Throne yet Earth is thy Footstool though thou dwellest in the Heavens by the glorious manifestation of thy Majesty yet the Heaven 1 Kings 8.27 nor the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee Thou art in all places by thy Power Presence and Essence Our Prayers have no long journey to thee for thou art near unto us and acquainted with all our thoughts and wants and desires And thou art not only present to hear our Prayers but to Relieve supply support us and art pleased by a special Promise to make the poor cottage of an humble sincere praying Soul to be thy Temple and to be present there Psal 145.18 and to be near to all them that in integrity call upon thee Hallowed be thy Name And since thy Glory and Honour is the great End of all thy works we desire that it may be the beginning and end of all our Prayers and Services Let thy great Name be Glorious and Glorified and Sanctified through all the World Isa 11.9 Let the knowledge of thee fill all the Earth as the waters cover the Sea Let that be done in the World that may most advance thy Glory Let all thy works Praise thee Let thy Wisdom Power Justice Goodness Mercy and Truth be evident unto all Man-kind that they may observe acknowledge and admire it and Magnifie the Name of thee the Eternal God In all the dispensations of thy Providence enable us to see thee and to sanctifie thy Name in our hearts with Thankfulness in our lips with Thanksgiving in our lives with Dutifulness and Obedience Enable us to live to the Honour of that great Name of thine by which we are called and that as we profess our selves to be thy Children so we may study and sincerely endeavour to be like thee in all Goodness and Righteousness that we may thereby bring Glory to thee Our Father which art in Heaven that we and all Man-kind may have high and Honourable thoughts touching thee in some measure suitable to thy Glory Majesty Goodness Wisdom Bounty and Purity and may in all our words and actions manifest these inward Thoughts touching thee with suitable and becoming Words and Actions Thy Kingdom come Let thy Kingdom of Grace come Let all the World become the true subjects of thee the Glorious God And let the Gospel of thy Kingdom the everlasting Gospel run victoriously over the face of the whole World Revel 11.15 that the Kingdoms of the Earth may become the Kingdom of God and of his Christ Let thy Grace and thy Fear and thy Love and thy Law rule in all our hearts and in the hearts of all Man-kind And subdue and exterminate the Kingdom of darkness the Kingdom of Satan the Kingdom of Anti-Christ bring all Men to the knowledge and Obedience of the Truth and let the Scepter of thy Kingdom be set up and upheld as long as the Sun endureth And let thy Kingdom of Glory come Also make us fit Vessels of it and that having this hope we may perfect holiness in thy fear 2 Cor. 7.1 2 Pet. 3.12 waiting for and hastning unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the day wherein he shall deliver up the Kingdom unto the Father 1 Cor. 15.24.28 that God may be all in all Thy will be done And since thy Will is a most Holy Righteous Gratious Just and Wise Will let it be evermore our choice to make thy will to be ours and to resign up our wills unto thee and to thy Will Let the will of thy Counsel be done and although we know it is not in the power of Men or Devils to hinder it yet so we do testifie our duty unto thee in praying that nothing may impede or retard the Will of thy Counsels for thy Counsels are full of Goodness and Benignity and Purity and Righteousness And we beg thee to give us hearts most entirely to wait upon thee in whatsoever thou shall appoint concerning us that if thou shalt give us Prospeirity and success in this life we may receive it with all Thankfulness and Humility and use it with Sobriety Moderation and Faithfulness if thou shalt send us Adversity we may entertain it with all Submissiveness Patience Contentedness chearfully submitting to the Dispensation of our Heavenly Father ever acknowledging thy Will to be the best Will and that whereunto it becomes us with all Humility to submit to and in the mid'st of all to rejoyce that our Portion and Patrimony and Happiness is reserved for us in a better life And as we desire the Will of thy Counsels may be done upon us so we desire the Will of thy Commands may be done by us and by all Man-kind that we may conform our Hearts and Lives to the Rule of thy Blessed Word that we may live in all Piety to thee our God in all Righteousness towards men in all Sobriety towards our selves that we may follow those Precepts and Patterns of Holiness Righteousness Justice Temperance Patience Goodness Charity and all other Moral and Christian Vertues that thou hast in thy Word commanded or propounded for our Practice and Imitation In Earth at it is in Heaven And that this Obedience unto Thee and thy