pray continually biddeth if it be possible as much as in you is haue peace with all men for the God of peace must be sought in peace and it is a note of the vngodly The way of peace they haue not knowne Therefore before thou fall downe before the face of God in prayer empty all malice out of thy heart and remember that thy father is thy brothers father and the communion of charity doth giue him a share in all thy holy prayers and deuotions But this neglected will fall so heauy vpon vs before we haue done this prayer that God shall condemne vs from our owne mouthes when we desire to be forgiuen as we doe forgiue Here arise certaine quaeres 1 Is it not lawfull to pray saying My father giue mee No doubt it is and without preiudice of christian charity for we haue the warrant both of reason precept and example for it 1 Of reason the common right of all doth not impeach the particular right of each in this Father this name is borrowed from nature whereby euery childe is warranted to call My father without inuasion of the right of his brethren to that title 2 Of precept God himselfe saith But I said how shall I put thee among the children and I said thou shalt call me my Father 3 By example Christ O my Father if it be possible transeat calix iste Thomas My Lord my God Indeed we haue each of vs our particular occasions to repaire to God and desire his helpe in which cases we may either plead the common interest that we haue in God as members of his Church vnder the name of our Father as here or we may by faithfull zeale inuocate him in our owne right to him by Iesus Christ saying My father so the Sonne of God is my Redeemer and Mediatour the holy ghost my sanctifier and preseruer 2 Seeing our Father is a name of such charity as doth combine vs in loue and well-wishing may it be lawfull to vse imprecations to pray against any The content of this word our doth include all men for all men are by creation and by conseruation and protection the Sonnes of God and God onely knowes of these who are his we know that there is no vniuersall grace Christ hath said many called few chosen so that mankinde is diuided into two portions Gods friends Gods enemies But they be all our fellow creatures and the law of charity doth binde vs to the loue of their persons so farre forth praying for them as may stand with the maintenance of Gods glory Indefinitely we may pray against all the deuices of the wicked that God would make them frustrate as he did the counsell of Achitophel so Dauid Lord I pray thee turne the counsell of Achitophel into foolishnesse We heare that Antichrist is Gods profest enemie we may pray for his confusion for wee may hate where God hateth Whence the enemies of our Church wish the light of the Gospell quenched and the superstition of the Church of Rome and her abhominable idolatry reuiued amongst vs we may lawfully pray to God against their machinations that hee would confound their counsels We haue seene what they would haue done in their Powder Treason we may see how they fell into the pit that they digged we may say with Deborah and Barack So let all thine enemies perish O Lord. Finally whosoeuer are not the sonnes of God either in present admission or in his holy election wee may pray against them that God would glorifie himselfe in their confusion and vtter destruction Generally against all impenitent sinners whom God hath giuen ouer to a reprobate sense we pray to be preserued from their society and from all infection by them and against their prosperity as hurtfull to the Church of God 3 Seeing the law of charity doth thus binde vs all one to another In christian loue that wee must pray for all men in our owne particular quarrels one with another is it lawfull to pray against our enemies Our answere is that Christ hath made it a law to his Church in the exposition of the second great Commandement concerning the loue of our neighbour But I say vnto you loue your enemies blesse them that curse you doe good to them that hate you and pray for them which despightfully vse you and persecute you that you may be children of your Father that is in heauen whereby he putteth all them out of the number of the children of God that doe not pray for their enemies and if no children we cannot say our Father Therefore our Church in the holy Letanie thereof prayeth charitably and according to this holy rule That it may please thee to forgiue our enemies persecutors and slanderers and to turne their hearts And by this charitable Shiboleth we are distinguished from the heathen and Publicans from the pharisaicall interpreters of that law who haue said Thou shalt loue thy neighbour and hate thine enemie They that seeke and loue the peace of God doe desire the sauing of the enemy the destruction of the enmity Our enemie is one of the medicines of our life hee serueth vs to good vse to exercise our patience and our charity and wisedome to keepe vs in awe that wee giue no aduantage against our selues if naturally we loue not physicke yet for healths sake we out of iudgement doe approue it and take it patiently 4 Whether we may reioyce at the destruction of our owne enemies or the enemies of our religion and state 1 The very title of our father which doth vnite vs in one bond of common brotherhood doth so enioyne vs to wish the common good of all Adams children that the ruine of any part of this building ought to bee a griefe to all the rest so that nature biddeth vs not to reioyce in the destruction of any man quia homo hee is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone and can the members suffer and the whole body not ake for it 2 There is some remaine of the image of God in all the enemies of God which is louely and ought to bee deare to vs the defacing whereof is such a griefe that though Samuel knew that God had wisely and iustly reiected Saul yet he could not chuse but mourne for him and when Dauid saw that Saul was dead hee bewailed his death bitterly though he got a kingdome by it and when he heard that his traitour sonne and subiect Absolon was dead he deplored his death with great passion and much tendernesse 3 The precept of Christ Be ye mercifull as your heauenly father and his critis filij patris vestri by shewing loue to enemies doth also teach vs to take the fall euen of Gods enemies to heart But it is obiected against this that Salomon saith when the wicked perish there is shouting he giueth a good reason for it for when they perish the righteous increase
and are with God toward that part of the Church which is militant here on earth and we giue God thankes for them and their glory But wee haue no warrant to resort to them for their intercession but haue an open way to the perfect and full al-sufficient Mediatour Iesus Christ who sitteth at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for vs. Yet let vs see how faithfully this apostata doth quote the Fathers to the maintenance of this idolatrous inuocation I will examine some few of his quotations out of the Fathers that you may tast him in a little for hee that hath dealt doubly with God and vnfaithfully with the faith it selfe what hope can wee haue of him that he same he being now in the cleare light where he may behold the truth would therefore pray to God for such as sit yet here below amiddest many clouds of darkenesse But that he meant not to make Cyprian a Mediatour betweene God and the Church who can better tell then Saint Augustine himselfe who of purpose handling this point doth 1 Shew the necessity of a Mediatour betweene God and vs. 2 He sheweth what kinde of Mediatour hee must be that will serue our turnes God and man and from thence 3 He excludeth Angels Boni igitur Angeli inter miseros mortales beatos immortales medij esse non possunt This declareth his found iudgement against mediations of any but Christ So that adiuuet nos orationibus suis is no prayer to him but a figuratiue kinde of Colloquie with him as when Dauid saith Laudent eum coeli The next authority is S. Aug. De verbis Apostoli Serm. 47. I know not where he found that sermon for we haue in print but 35. in all It were a long worke for me and not so pleasant for you nor profitable that I should pursue this fugitiue Apostata in all his colourable pretences for inuocation of Saints I desire to establish your hearts in the doctrine of truth grounded vpon the name of Father It teacheth vs to seeke the face of God onely in his mediation for whose sake God is become our Father To worke this stedfast faith in you know that there be three things which properly belong to a Mediatour which can be found in none but Christ onely 1 He must be of Gods appointing and declaring to vs none but hee can tell whom he will admit or heare for vs. And we finde Christ onely reuealed If any sinne we haue an aduocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous I am the way no man commeth to the Father but by me 2 He must be iustus institia suâ we say of Angels that they are iust iustitia data a quo nostram ab eo habent iustitiam we say of Saints that they be rather Iustificati then iusti But Christ is called sapientia patris iustitia nostra 3 He must be able to merit for others that no Angell nor Saint can doe Christ confirmed Angels Christ restored man For the angels wee deny not but they may know what our wants are because they are ministring spirits that by the appointment of God doe attend vpon vs yet no Scripture hath reuealed any example of inuocation directed to them But for the Saints they know not our particular necessities they see not the euils which wee suffer onely they know as hauing beene members of the militant Church that we are left behinde them here in a valley of teares and therefore in generall they pray for vs as hath beene said Against their particular knowledge of our wants two plaine texts conuince our aduersaries of errour therein 1 When the Church confesseth that Abraham is ignorant of vs and Israel knoweth vs not 2 Huldah the Prophetesse telleth Iosiah he must bee gathered to his fathers and put into his graue in peace that his eyes may not see all the euill that God would bring vpon that place From whence wee may conclude that they who see not our miseries heare not our prayers and therefore are not to be required to mediate for vs. I conclude this point in the words of S. Aug. All christian men commended each other in their prayers to God and he who praies for all and for whom none praies he is that one and true Mediatour you may easily know whom he meanes We call him Father to teach vs that prayer is a spirituall exercise a worke of the holy Ghost in vs therefore Rea. 4 it is called the spirit of grace and supplications which teacheth vs to pray and enableth vs in praier It is the spirit of God onely which witnesseth to our spirits that we are the sonnes of God by which we call Abba Father Therefore all those that pray to God by that name without that sweet and secret testimony of the holy Ghost assuring them that they are the children of God doe not pray but prate and babble and God heareth them not This confuteth the Popish doctrine of doubting whether we be in the state of grace for shall I call God Father and yet stand in doubt whether he be my Father if I beleeue as I say that hee is my Father vpon what shall I build my faith is it not the suggestion of Gods spirit that is the author of my regeneration and that leadeth me into the way of all truth that telleth me so This is the right comming to God in prayer to aske as S. Iames teacheth nothing doubting to come in assurance of faith We call him Father to comfort all our distresses and Rea. 5 to warrant the successe of our prayers for Christ hath taught vs that this Father exceedeth all naturall Parents both in the knowledge of the necessities of his children and in tendernesse of compassion of them and in readinesse to heare them and grant their requests and in giuing good things to them what can I sinne against my father that he will not forgiue what can I aske that he will not giue Rea. 6 Another great reason is to assure vs of the excellencie of the state of grace for so Saint Iohn doth vrge it Behold what manner of loue the Father hath bestowed vpon vs that we should be called the sonnes of God This would be thought an high honour if wee did wisely consider the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God hereafter the gratious liberty of them here We call the sonnes of rich men happy because they are like to be left full and the sonnes of great men because they shall sit amongst the Princes of the earth but if these be not the Sonnes of God they may one day see poore Lazarus in ioyes when themselues are tormented in flames The truth is though the flesh the world and the deuill oppugne it that there is no man in the way of happinesse but such onely as are the Sonnes of God such onely as haue God to their Father by a speciall interest in him by Iesus Christ If
these sinne God correcteth them like a Father pro peccato magno paululum supplicijs satis a patre saith one For he that is called our Father is called pater misericordiarum and Deus omnis consolationis If these begge a suit manum suam implet saturat dat cito dat abunde dat quod est vtilius therefore Dauid O Ye sonnes of men how long will ye looke after vanity and seeke after leasing But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himselfe And as a father hath compassion of his children so hath the Lord compassion of all them that feare him Princes and great persons are called filij excelsi in respect of the eminence of their places and the trust of authority and power committed to them these are filij celsitudinis Dei but that honoureth them onely amongst men because they represent the authority and dominion of God here on earth filij quos honorat But there is another sort of Sonnes who be filij amoris and these doe represent their father in his holinesse and goodnesse and these are the Lords delight S. Iohn calleth this a prerogatiue so many as receiued him he gaue them a prerogatiue so be the sonnes of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Either dedit eis licentiam 2 Or dedit eis Ius 3 Dedit eis honorem dignitatem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sheweth that there is a new making required to this filiation for we are fallen from our first creation so farre as from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The honour therefore is great to vs in that wee are the sonnes of God 1 Because God who had an onely begotten Sonne the expresse forme of his substance equall to himselfe whom hee made heire of all things needed not to adopt any other sonnes or to cast the inheritance as Abraham once thought to doe vpon a seruant yet euen so O Father thy good pleasure was such 2 Because by this adoption he hath brought vs into the society of inheritance with that sonne and hath made vs coheires with Christ without derogation to the heire without diminution to the inheritance for we are the sonnes of God here it appeareth not yet what we shall be but this we know that when we shall see him we shall be like him so vnited to him as that his interest in the Father shall be ours I may adde one reason more that there is no name Rea. 7 wherein God doth more delight or in which God is more honoured then the name of a Father S. Cyprian obserueth that God hath no title that giues him so much honour in his Church as this of Father For as God is called Iehouah which is the name of his being so he either enioyeth himselfe eternally or he communicateth himselfe at large to all things that are But in his title of Father hee is impropriate to his Church and hereby he magnifieth himselfe in that diuine attribute which excelleth all his workes for his mercy is aboue all his workes And it is confest of all hands that the worke of Redemption was a greater and more honourable worke then the Creation You heare of no ioy of Angels at the Creation at the natiuity of the sacred Heire ye know what Iubilation there was ioy to all the earth The Angels doe search into this mystery and stoope themselues to the inquisition And the manifold wisedome of God in this worke of our redemption is by the Church reuealed and made knowne to the principalities and powers in heauenly places I conclude this point with the holy exhortation of S. Peter If ye call on the Father who without respect iudgeth according to euery mans worke passe the time of your soiourning here in feare and as before as obedient children not fashioning your selues according to your former lusts in your ignorance c. Let vs make conscience of doing the duty belonging to that gratious name in imitation of our elder brother who saith I come to doe thy will O my God yea thy law is written in my heart For him God testified This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased If we will ambulare sicut ille as S. Peter biddeth vs we must beginne where he began at lex eius scripta est in corde meo And then we shall not sinne against him then shall the power of this Father protect vs from all euill the prouidence of this Father shall supply all our wants the loue of this Father shall be a banner to vs the wisedome of this Father shall be a guide to vs to gouerne all our waies and the eldest sonne of this Father shall speake a good word for vs that we may haue an inheritance amongst those that be sanctified So long as by our faith and obedience we can continue this God our Father we are in good case we shall want nothing he will bring vs by riuers of waters and feede vs in greene pastures Doubtlesse mercy and louing kindnesse shall follow vs all the daies of our life and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for euer 2 Our this word expresseth the interest that we haue in him to whom we pray From whence we are taught 1 To whom our prayer is addressed not to the first person of the holy Trinity God the Father but to the whole Trinity the Father Sonne and holy Ghost For the first person hath but one Sonne to call him Father and he is called Primogenitus and vnigenitus but God that is the holy Trinity is our Father hee is the common father of all the elect Yet if you demand whether it may be lawfull to direct our prayers to each of the persons seuerally My answer is that I finde inuocations of each in Scriptures and holy stories but so as the whole Trinity is euer sought because the prayers of the Church doe alwaies respect the whole godhead so that hee which calleth vpon God the Father doth vse the mediation of God the Sonne and is assisted therein by God the holy Ghost The Father is principally respected in the worke of Creation the Sonne in the worke of Redemption the holy Ghost in the worke of Sanctification yet neither of these persons is alone in any of these but one God in three persons doth worke all our good in vs. And the Apostle blesseth in that holy name The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the loue of God and the communion of the holy Ghost be with you and wee baptize ye in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost for the three distinct persons doe subsist in one godhead 2 We say Our to expresse our faith for whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne and our prayers are turned into sinne if we wauer and doubt in them but our faith doth apprehend an interest in the loue of our God to vs if we pray
these 3 When any Creature is ioyned with God in the participation of his incommunicable properties 2. In vita When our conuersation doth not maintaine due correspondence with the honour of God whose name we professe and whose obedience we pretend Againe Euery pollution of the name of God by vaine and idle mention thereof without feare and reuerence is an vnhallowing of this name to Gods dishonour So then Hallowed be thy name is let thy glory bee declared and confest according to the excellent greatnesse and goodnesse of it with all reuerence and feare let it neither be forgotten nor despised nor prophaned by any the greatest or least pollution that may be 3. Who must doe this 1 Christ said to his Father Father glorifie thy name he answereth as you haue heard I haue both glorified it and will glorifie it againe Yet I dare not leaue out this desire in this petition but that we may beseech God that his name may be hallowed by himselfe 2 Christ praieth Father glorifie thy Sonne that thy Sonne also may glorifie thee Neither dare I exclude this in our petition but that we may pray that the name of God may be hallowed by the Sonne of God who best knoweth how to doe it 3 The glorious Angels and Archangels Cherubins and Seraphins continually doe cry Holy holy holy Lord God of Saboath as our Church Hymneth I dare not exclude them in our petition Let my name be hallowed by the celestial armies they are the Churches Sicut in the third petition Sicut in Coelo in terrâ 4 We read that the seperate soules of Gods Saints do not cease night and day praising the name of God and hallowing it with their deuotions I take in them also into this petition let the Saints in glory hallow thy name 5 We finde that the Celestiall bodies the Sunne the Moone the Starres the sublimary creatures all in their kindes declare the glorie of God and make his name glorious therefore I will not leaue out them let the name of God be hallowed also in them let all they that serue him testifie of him It is not Sanctificatu or Sanctificent illi or Sanctificemus nos but it is Sanctificetur and therefore let all things that haue a being doe God right in this 6 But I confesse as this praier is put by our Sauiour into our mouthes it concerneth vs to desire of God that especially we may hallow the name of God For the name of God shall neuer suffer from himselfe or from his Sonne or from his heauenly armies or his ther Celestiall bodies or Terrestiall creatures all the danger of his holy name is from vs. We sinfull men and women doe often thinke often speake vnreuerently of Gods name we be the swearers and lyers and blasphemers and prophane persons that blemish the holy glorie of Gods name so that we had need especially to regard our selues in this suite Sanctificetur à nobis nomen tuum So Saint Cyprianus Petimus a Deo vt nomen ejus sanctificetur in nobis And herein wee honour God desiring to be the vessels of his praise the organs and instruments of his glory here on earth Yet let no man thinke that any thing can be added from vs to the holinesse of Gods name onely we pray that his name which is holy in it selfe may be so both conceiued in our hearts and expressed in our embra'd profession and confession of his name to be so and that nothing may come from vs to blemish and indignifie it 4. Why doe we aske this of God The reason is in sight Holinesse is the Lords none can giue the holy spirit of Sanctification but God only None can hallow or sanctifie but they who are holy prophane persons and Diuels may glorifie God but they cannot sanctifie him God will be glorified euen of his enemies whether they will or no but sanctified hee cannot be saue onely of such as are first made holy The Seraphins in the Prophet I say cry one to another Holy holy holy is the Lord God of hoastes the whole earth is full of thy glory And the foure beasts in the Reuelation rest not night and day saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Vpon Aarons brestplate Holinesse to the Lord. Therefore we must resort to the fountaine of Holinesse for the grace of sanctification that he may first sanctifie vs that we may be made able to sanctifie his name We aske this of God 1 For it owne sake because the worke of hallowing the name of God is a good worke in it selfe So Dauid It is a good thing to giue thankes to the Lord. And this beginneth prayer best to glorifie God for his fauours already bestowed for his owne goodnesse which we performe when we say Hallowed be thy name This is the Confession of praise to his name these be the calues of our lippes Sacrum Iustitiae 2. We aske this of God for our owne sakes for seeing none can hallow the name of God but they that are holy wee doe herein begge our owne holinesse of God both holinesse in our vnderstandings to know God and holinesse in our affections to loue him and holinesse of life to serue him and holinesse of perseuerance to hold out herein to the end 3 We aske this of God by way of confession of our owne impotencie for when we desire him that his name may be hallowed by vs we confesse to him that without him we are notable to doe him that seruice for it is not in man to order his owne wayes and without him we can do nothing we confesse that he worketh all good in vs therefore we goe forth in the strength of the Lord and make mention of his righteousnesse only indeed the holinesse that we should giue to the name of God except wee had it from him would not honour him 4 We aske it of him to declare our loue to him for seeing he is our Father as we invocate him it is a debt that sonnes owe to their Parents to perpetuate their names vpon earth and this filiall regard of his fatherly prouidence we expresse in desiring the glory of his name 5 We aske it of him for their sakes that belong to him that God declaring the glorious holinesse of his name men may trust in him for so Dauid They that know thy name will trust in thee So that this maketh way for the following petitions 5. Why we make this our first petition In respect of our dutie for wee were created to this end that God might be glorified in our bodies and soules and to this we were also redeemed therefore Gods part in vs is our best part and his glory our cheifest good And the truth is that except Gods name be hallowed in all that we say or thinke or doe Nihil rite perficitur His name is put vpon vs in our Baptisme In nomine patris et filij c.
enemies 1 Sathan takes vpon him to be the Prince of this world and maketh many beleeue that hee hath power to giue kingdomes where he listeth 2 The Pope vsurpeth dominion ouer all Princes and giues out that God hath set him in the world ouer the nations and ouer kingdomes to roote out and to pull downe and to destroy and to throw downe and to build and io plant Blasphemously applying to himselfe the power which God giueth to his Word in the Ministery of the Prophets 3 There is imperium peccati of which the Apostle saith When they knew God they glorified him not as God but became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened professing themselues wise they became fooles and changed the glory of the vncorruptible God into an image made like to a corruptible man and to birdes and four-footed beastes and creeping things 4 There is imperium mortis Death reigned from Adam to Moses That is before the law was written much more hath death reigned since the law published for the strength of sinne is the law Death came in by sinne and hath dilated an empire ouer all the earth that we see daily what desolations it maketh in the same It is appointed to al men once to die 2 Concerning Sathan Christ saith The Prince of this world is cast out and Saint Paul saith The God of peace shall crush Sathan vnder your feete shortly And when we pray Let the kingdome of thy power come we pray that God would destroy the kingdome of Sathan and cast him out and tread him vnder our feete that God may reigne abroad gloriously in the world 2 Concerning the Pope hee is that Antichrist that man of sinne the sonne of perdition of which the Apostle speaketh who exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God or is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God But it followeth that The Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightnesse of his comming Whose comming is after the working of Sathan with all power and signes and lying wonders Therfore when we pray that the kingdome of Gods power may come wee pray that God would be pleased to appeare in power against this vsurper and deluder of his subiects to destroy him that he may no longer infatuate and befoole the world with an opinion of his power or holinesse but that hee may be reuealed as hee is a man of sinne ful of subtilty and the child of the deuil as Simon Magus his predecessor and the true founder of his impostures was 3 Concerning sinne the Apostle hath aduised Let not sinne reigne in your mortall bodies that you should obey it in the lusts thereof He hath also comforted vs againe Sinne shall not haue dominion ouer you for yee are not vnder the Law but vnder Grace Wee pray therefore that God would exercise this his power against the kingdome of sinne that the body of sinne may be destroyed that henceforth wee should not serue sinne For the Dominion of sinne doth teach men to resist the power of God and to say Nolumus hunc regnare super nos it teacheth man to be proud and cruell Dauid Lord how long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked triumph How long shall they vtter and speake hard things and all the workers of iniquity bâ—ast themselues They breake in peeces thy people O Lord and afflict thine heritage They slay the widow and the fatherlesse and murther the stranger Yet they say the Lord shall not see Sinne is a dominearing and daring tyrant so that wee haue cause with Dauid to awake the iustice of God against it O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth O God to whom vengeance belongeth shew thy selfe Lift vp thy selfe thou iudge of the earth render a reward to the proud and that is our adveniat regnum tuum 4 Concerning death which maketh such hauocke in the workes of God God hath said O death I will be thy plagues O graue I will be thy destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eyes And this is that we pray for let thy kingdome of thy power destroy death for euer that we may insult ouer it saying O death where is thy sling O graue where is thy victory We pray God to take his rod of yron into his hand and to breake in peeces all the rebels to his kingdome of power here on earth 2 Concerning the kingdome of grace 1 We pray that that kingdome may come that is that God would declare his Sonne the king and Soueraigne Monarch of his Church and that he would rule therein by his Word and holy Spirit 2 That God would aduance the kingdome of his Sonne Iesus Christ in the hearts of all his elect people seuerally that they may liue in the knowledge loue faith and obedience of him 1 And this is a most necessarie petition to be put vp often to God in regard of those enemies which doe oppose this domination and seeke to dethrone the Sonne of God in vs. 2 And in regard of those necessarie graces which are wanting in vs and can by no other way be supplied but by the aduancement and establishment of that kingdom in vs. 1 For the enemies of this kingdome 1 The great enemie of the Church is Sathan the Prince of darkenesse that great red Dragon in the Reuelation that watched the woman with childe to deuoure the fruite of her wombe as soone as it should be borne this is the Deuil persecuting the Church of God the fruitfull mother of the elect whose issue we are This is he that corrupted our first parents in Paradice by his temptations and hauing sowed his seed of all iniquitie in them defiled the whole nature of mankind and made it obnoxious to the curse of the Law And when the second Adam came to accomplish the remedy of that fall hee persecuted him by Herod in his infancie that he was to be carried into Egypt for refuge and after his Baptisme hee tempted him in the wildernesse fortie dayes and this Prince of the world set many a worke to bring him to the Crosse he came himselfe to him with a new assault a little before his passion as Christ himselfe confest but he had nought in him of his to worke vpon This Lyon goeth about continually compassing the earth seeking whom he may deuoure whom resist saith Peter our way of resistance is to pray Adueniat regnum tuum 2 The world is an enemie to this kingdome of Christ for Christ saith The world hateth you because you are not of the world that is the wicked sonnes of disobedience who are called filij saeculi huius Vnder this title of the world I comprehend all the open and secret enemies of the Gospell The Pope here we will giue him the first place because his scarlet vesturs are died
faithfull repose of our trust in him for they who seeke to ingrosse things temporall for feare of want and had rather trust their own prouidence then God shew great weakenesse of faith and distrust in God If we obserue it well the greatest part of men vpon earth haue small certainty of their maintenance certaine charges yet liuing in lawfull callings though not sure of their employments not alwaies sure of the wages they earne of the vent of the commodities in which they trade yet still God supplyeth them from day to day and supporteth them in their wants which sheweth that there is no such thrift and good husbandry as to trust to the prouidence of God for our maintenance in the vse of honest and lawfull meanes he is Diespiter and euery day he looketh vpon the sonnes of men and surueyeth their wants and he that will not let the fowles of the ayre nor the beasts of the field want bread will not suffer his owne deare children to want the necessaries of life if they seeke them from him Men might make their liues much more happy to themselues much more quiet to their neighbours if they did wisely informe themselues in the doctrine of this daily prouidence of God for hee that knowes his duty to be labour in an honest vocation and prayer to God for his blessing vpon his labour needs doe nothing more but cast all the rest of his care vpon God who careth for him But partly the feare of wants and partly the desire of riches doe so transport vs that we can neither be good children to God in deuotion nor good neighbours to our brethren in charity because we doe not depend vpon this daily prouidence of our God If a man sit downe and cast vp the charges of his family and compare it with the short reckonings of his commings in he may say I and my family shall want bread but if religiously he compare it with the rich reuenue of Gods holy prouidence hee will finde a store there so furnished with plenty and an hand so open to giue it away to them that aske it that hee will resolue with the Prophet No good thing will God with hold from them that walke vprightly I conclude this point put thy selfe into an honest calling doe thy indeuour in it conscionably pray to God for his blessing vpon it and trust him with the rest If in this way I want bread I will be bold to tell my God as the holy Prophet did if I be deceiued thou Lord hast deceiued me But that imputation cannot fall on him They that haue put him to it haue found him full and faithfull in his promises and performances Our fathers trusted in thee they trusted in thee and thou didst deliuer them They trusted in thee and were not confounded But you demand Is therefore all prouidence for the time to come vnlawfull and must our thoughts and desires bee onely confined to the present all for to day and nothing for to morrow We answer that our desires must be limited to the present but our endeuours must not be so let vs labour honestly for the blessings of God with contentment in his gifts for to day but if our endeuours so bestowed extend to a further proportion of gettings thrift is allowed where it is not ioyned with distrustfull carefulnesse Ioseph may lay vp in the seauen yeares of plenty for the famine of seauen yeares to succeed when God reuealeth a dearth comming on and warranteth the prouision The good man may haue a treasure wherein is old and new so this treasure be filled for vses of piety and charity Goe to the Ant thou sluggard consider her waies and be wise She prouideth her meate in summer and gathereth her food in the haruest He that gathereth in summer is a wise sonne but hee that sleepeth in haruest is a sonne that causeth shame The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold therefore shall he begge in haruest and haue nothing and the Apostle saith That Parents ought to lay vp for their children Religion doth not make men ill husbands and the possession of good things must not hinder our daily prayer to God for his blessing vpon them LVC. 11.4 And forgiue vs our sinnes for we also forgiue euery one that is indebted to vs In Saint Matthew we reade thus And forgiue vs our debts as we forgiue our debters But we commonly say and forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs. IT is a consideration worthy to be continued to obserue the order and composition of this prayer the foundation of it is laied in the loue and power of God in the preface to it For when wee call him our Father we plead a speciall interest in his loue and when we call him our father in heauen we acknowledge him of power to performe whatsoeuer his loue intends to vs. Then in the first petition we declare our selues the loyall and louing sonnes to this father in seeking the exaltation of his glorious name first which we doe 1 For his sake whose name onely is glorious 2 For our sakes for it is not onely to vs Turris fortissima but it is oleum effusum Then in the second petition we pray for the aduancement stabilitie and propagation of his kingdome that he may onely rule ouer vs onely he may rule in vs. In the third petition we desire a conformity with that part of the Church that is with God in heauen by our obedience to the will of God And hauing made three petitions for the aduancement of the knowledge and worship of God we come in the fourth petition to begge for our selues the necessaries of life that we may liue to serue our God by his giuing and blessing our bread to our vse Now in that which remaineth we pray against all impediments of this holy worship and seruice That which hindereth this seruice of God is our sinne past present and to come therefore here we pray against sinne and we desire 1 The gratious pardon of past and present sinnes 2 The free and full preuention of sinnes to come This petition hath regard to the present guilt for sinnes past and present Saint Cyprian doth say well Post subsidium cibi sequitur venia delicti vt qui à Deo pascitur in Deo viuat nec tantum praesenti corporali vitae consulat sed aeternae ad quam venire potest si peccata donantur For our better vnderstanding of this petition 1 We must know what it is that we pray against 2 What we request 3 Of whom 4 For whom 5 The condition of our request or the manner of it 6 The duties depending vpon all this 1 Against what we pray Saint Matthew calleth them debts figuratiuely Saint Luke here calleth them sinnes literally and wee commonly call them trespasses because by euery sinne we trespasse our God and giue him
God against it Seeing the conscience of our frailties doth awake vs to a more watchfull custody of our heart and obseruation of our wayes Therefore as some sharpe fits of an ague in the spring proue medicinall to our bodies So in our spring of grace our infirmities well considered proue physicke to our soules because they make vs remember whereof we are made and shew vs the vse of those meanes which God hath ordained for our recouery such are hearing of the Word meditation in it prayer to God for his blessing vpon vs and such like holy munitions against Sathan 2 These remaines of sinne doe shew vs what neede we haue of a Iesus to saue vs from them that wee may cry with Saint Bernard O Iesu esto mihi Iesus For if any thing will cast vs down at the feete of God and open our hearts and mouthes to say Our father which art in heauen forgiue vs our trespasses this will doe it when we behold these remaines of euill disposition after our repentance But it is obserued that all this labour which we put vpon men for search of their conscience for confession and compunction for sinne and newnesse of life needeth not Seeing God seeth no sinnes in his elect and they are so reconciled to God that they cannot fall from grace For if they be the sheepe of Christ no man or deuill can take them out of his hand This is a flattering heresie which vnder a colour of establishing the decree of Gods election of grace doth destroy the truth of Gods word and nourisheth sinne The Apostle saith If we say we haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. If we confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sinnes and to cleanse vs from all vnrighteousnesse If we say we haue not sinned wee make him a lyar and his word is not in vs They obiect from the same Apostle he saith we know that he which is borne of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth himselfe and that wicked one toucheth him not Whosoeuer is borne of God doth not commit sinne for his seed remaineth in him and hee cannot sinne because he is borne of God Is the Apostle contrary to himselfe Not so for he declareth what sinne it is of which hee speaketh that he which is borne of God cannot commit All vnrighteousnesse is sinne And there is a sinne not vnto death In which words he distinguisheth sinne from sinne for in the former verse he saith There is a sinne vnto death I say not that hee shall pray for it This distinction cleareth the point for sinne is of two sorts 1 Not vnto death 2 Vnto death When the Apostle saith We make God a lyar and deceiue our selues if we say we haue no sinne hee meaneth that of the sinnes of infirmity which are not vnto death because these the elect of God doe confesse to God penitently and he is faithfull and iust to forgiue them vpon their repentance And when he saith Whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not neither can sinne hee meaneth that sinne that is vnto death The elect cannot sinne vnto death But when he saith He that committeth sinne is of the Deuill he meaneth such as sinne obstinately and with an high hand and a stiffe neck impenitently which is to death So then to the point of their tenet God doth not see sinne in his elect is a true position cum grano salis if we vnderstand it thus God seeth no sinne in them vnto death no such sinne as either they will conceale from him but they will by confession lay open before him no such sinne as he will punish with aeternall death but hee will forgiue it them But what is the way of their peace Euery man that hath this hope purifieth himselfe euen as he is pure The manner of our purifying our selues is also exprest I will take it as I finde it in the text Whosoeuer abideth in him sinneth not He that doth righteousnesse is righteous euen as hee is righteous Not in aequality as righteous as he but in imitation and by imputation of his righteousnesse This doing of righeeousnesse hee distributeth into the loue of God whom we haue not seene and the loue of our neighbour whom we haue seene This he calleth Keeping of the commandements and doing those things that are pleasing in his fight And this commandement is double 1 Of faith to beleeue on the name of his sonne Iesus Christ 2 Of loue one to another There is also before required on our part our confession on Gods part his absolution Gods absolution consisteth of two parts 1 His pardon of our sinnes that is his releasing vs from the punishment of them 2 His purging and clensing vs from the pollution of them As you haue heard if wee confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sinnes and to clense vs from all vnrighteousnesse He addeth hereunto prayer Whatsoeuer we aske we receiue of him So that to gather vp all into a short compendium thus it is with vs The elect of God are all sinners The way to helpe it is 1 Search and confession 2 Faith in the sonne of God 3 Obedience to the Law of God 4 Prayer to God for pardon of our sinnes And therefore when Christs holy disciples desired him to teach them to pray hee bade them say dimitte nobis debita nostra shewing that they were debtors and not able to pay the debt but needed to desire of God to pardon it And from hence the whole doctrine of repentance from dead works comes which needed not if the elect had no sinne But it is obiected 1 That Christ hath satisfied his father for the sinnes of all the elect for so saith Isaiah He was wounded for our transgression he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes are we healed And God laid on him the iniquity of vs all What need we then pray for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes which are already forgiuen 2 Remission of our sinnes is one the articles of our faith if we beleeue that our sinne are forgiuen already why doe we yet pray to haue them forgiuen To both we answere That Christ hath indeed answered for all the sinnes of his Church and the elect of God doe beleeue it But this satisfaction of Christ is performed to none but such as both search their heart for sinne and finde it and confesse it and come to him by prayer to aske it Come to me all yee that are weary and heauy laden and I will ease you This coming is by repentance of sinnes by saith of the remission of them and by prayer for the remission of them I confesse that there needeth no more deprecation of the wrath of God to establish the decree of
the rest is resumed and more prest then the rest both in the affirmatiue and in the negatiue 1 In the affirmatiue for if ye forgiue men their trespasses your heauenly Father will also forgiue you 2 In the negatiue But if ye forgiue not men their trespasses neither will your father forgiue you your trespasses The reason is because this pardoning of wrongs done to vs is a supernaturall grace and doth testifie of vs that we haue the image of God in vs for naturally we returne euill for euill eye for eye tooth for tooth one euill word one euill worke for another Therefore to fixe this holy duty in vs our Sauiour bindes vs to it by this petition to looke for no more mercy in heauen then we doe shew to our brethren here on earth with whom we liue The parable of our Sauiour doth make this reasonable our debt to God is 10000. Talents our neighbours debt to vs 100. pence the oddes is great if wee would be forgiuen this great summe should not we forgiue that small debt We are apt to aggrauate the wrongs we suffer one from another and to extenuate the offence that wee doe to God But be it that from our neighbour we suffer in our good name let vs consider how much the glorious name doth suffer from vs in our swearing and blaspheming in our euill conuersation which causeth the name of God to bee euill spoken of amongst those that are without yet we would make God beleeue that nothing is so deare to vs as his holy name because we make it our first petition Hallowed be thy name Be it that our neighbour offend vs in our goods by taking vniustly from vs that which belongs to vs let vs consider that we haue nothing but from the hand of God and all that we possesse is his and wee can call no more ours then what hee giueth and we vse to his glory and the maintenance of our life in sobernesse and honesty In all that we spend from these vses wee our selues are not owners but vsurpers of all that we so misemploy and for 100. pence that we lose of our right by the iniury of men we mis-spend of Gods treasure 10000. Talents lewdly and dishonourably to him offensiuely to our owne soules and iniuriously to our brethren Compare all that pride and gluttony and drunkennesse and vanity and wantonnesse and contention spendeth prodigally all that couetousnesse congesteth and hideth from the vse of thy brother wretchedly with that which either thine owne necessities or thy christian charity doe demand of thee thou shalt finde that the wrong thou dost doth more exceed the wrong thou sufferest in thy goods then 10000. talents doe exceede 100. pence Be it that thy brother wrong thee in thy friends by seeking to distast them to thee dost not thou by euill conuersation corrupt the affections of thy brother to alienate his heart from the holy seruice of thy God If thy brother seeke thy life dost not thou in thy rebellion against God offend thy God in a more high degree vngodding of him and taking away his honour which is his life and destroying in thy selfe and in thy brother the image of God Therefore consider thy selfe maior parcas insane minori The God to whom thou prayest is the God of peace the Gospell which thou professest is the Gospell of peace the kingdome that thou seekest is the kingdome of peace the way to it is via pacis It was a good obseruation of King Henry 7. that the proclamation of Christ comming into the world was peace vpon earth and the legacie of Christs going out of the world was pacem meam do vobis and thence he concluded that the life of a Christian man should be a prosecution of peace The Apostle doth presse it earnestly If it be possible as much as lyeth in you liue peaceably with all men The soule of man doth not animate and quicken the members that are cut off from the body neither doth the holy Ghost quicken the members of the Church that are not vnited to the Church Therefore peace-makers are called the sonnes of God for so doth God loue peace that hee gaue his onely Sonne By him to reconcile all things vnto himselfe and to set at peace through the bloud of his crosse both the things on earth and the things in heauen The Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is one of the hardest lessons that is taught in the schoole of Christ to forgiue our enemies and most contrary it is to flesh and bloud Saint Peter thought hee had offered faire when hee asked Christ quoties how often he should doe it and then added vsque ad septies but Christ made nothing of it non dico vsque ad septies Therefore as when we haue a worke to doe that requireth force wee put our whole strength to it so the Apostle biddeth as much as in vs lyeth to striue for peace Our Sauiour by this petition doth tell vs plainely that his care in this precept is not all for our neighbour that he may be forgiuen his trespasse It concernes vs our selues so neare as the forgiuing of our owne sinnes doth import for if we cannot plead our actiue pardon we cannot desire this passiue pardon we must be pardoners if we will be pardoned It is true that in the parable the Master pardoned his seruant his debt to him first but when after he heard complaint that his seruant would not forgiue his fellow his small debt he reuoked the pardon and redemanded the debt Therefore our Sauiour would haue vs worke sure first to forgiue trespasses done to vs then to pray for forgiuenesse of our trespasses 2 Where we say forgiue vs as we forgiue wee doe make profession of our forgiuenesse of our debtors that is of such as haue trespassed vs. Which admonisheth vs to be sincere in our forgiuenesse as Christ saith if ye from your heart forgiue for we pray to him who is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a seer who seeth our hearts and knoweth whether we deale faithfully and sincerely with him or not therefore let vs consider how we would be forgiuen of God that we may so forgiue 1 We would be forgiuen presently 2 We would be forgiuen heartily 3 We would be forgiuen totally 4 We would be forgiuen so as there should remaine no roote of bitternesse in stocke to make a new quarrell which we call forgiuing and forgetting it is not forgiuenesse if all that meete not so 1 Some delay the pardon of their brethren and so liue in prosecution of reuenge and in retribution of euill for euill and when they haue either failed of their reuenge or effected it then they forgiue When God sent Nathan to reproue Dauid for his double sinne Dauid charged with this debt confessed it at the first voyce of reprehension and Nathan replyed to him The Lord also hath
There is great cause of iubilation in the Church when the righteous increase therefore there is cause of ioy giuen to the Church when the wicked perish The solution of this doubt dependeth vpon this consideration The enemies of God and of our religion are to be considered two waies 1 As they are the creatures of God and partners with vs of the same nature so they are our owne flesh and no man euer hated his owne flesh thus the persons of all men ought to be deare to vs and their life pretious and their welfare desired 2 As they are by their corruptions turned enemies to God and to his Church so shall not I hate them O Lord which hate thee not their persons but their sinnes their malice against the Church that is odio perfecto odi eos Againe in the destruction of Gods enemies we must consider 1 Who it is that punisheth them for it is the hand of God and this is matter of ioy to the Church it is one of the duties of the Sabbath to reioyce in the operations of Gods hand and this is repeated there for one in the Psalmes for the Sabbath Psal 92.4 Thou hast made me glad through thy worke I will triumph in the worke of thy hands When the wicked spring as the grasse and when all the workers of iniquity doe flourish it is that they shall bee destroyed for euer For loe thine enemies O Lord for loe thine enemies shall perish and all the workers of iniquity shall bee scattered Mine eye also shall see my desire vpon mine enemies c. All which sheweth that the ruine and confusion of Gods enemies is the ioy of the Church as it is the worke of Gods hand for doe we not say Tu Domine fecisti and is it not our prayer fiat voluntas tua and are wee not to reioyce in it when it is done doth not God doe all things well and doe not all things worke together for the good of Gods children 2 We must consider who they be that suffer these are brethren with vs according to the flesh here our bowels yearne and we haue cause to mourne and lament on their behalfe for their sinnes that deserued this iudiciall processe against them He that hath a christall glasse in his hand into which his enemie hath infused poison to destroy him and seeth the glasse broken in his hand discouereth the preseruation of his life by that breaking may he not at the same time be glad that the poison is spilt and sorry that so good a glasse is broken The nature which is impoisoned in Gods enemies is Gods creature if the breaking of this glasse of humane nature doe let the poison fall to the ground is there not cause of ioy for the preuention of that euill and yet cause of griefe for the losse of that vessell by which this worke of mischiefe was to be effected Our elements of which we are composed in the frame of our bodies are mixt and not pure and simple bodies the affections that are in the inferiour part of the soule are also mixt for our best courage is shaken with some feare our hope mingled with some doubt our ioy commedled with sorrow that in the very seruice of God we reioyce with trembling In our intellectuall part our vnderstanding is not cleare of clouds in our spirituall and diuine inspirations by the holy ghost there is aliquid carnis some of the naturall man that eclipseth the light and weakeneth the force of the holy ghost in vs. Therefore as there is cause of ioy so is there cause of griefe in the case of Gods enemies but it is a safe rule alwaies to reioyce in the Lord and to approue admire and blesse the operation of his hands The powder traitours whose zeale of the religion of Rome turned them all into gunpowder and inflamed them to that furie and malice as to destroy the peace and the Religion of this Land with one blast how would they haue ioyed to haue brought forth the mischiefe in full birth which they had conceiued yet the bowels of our compassion were moued towards them to see them dye and suffer the iust reward of their most damnable proiection But the bowels of the wicked are cruell shall I shew you the mercy of a Pope it was Sixtus 5. vpon occasion of the murther of Henry the 3. the French King who in ioy of it being performed treacherously by a Monke set on by himselfe doth make a panegyricall oration in the praise of the Creatour and admireth the excellent worke of God in it quod simplex monachus non mutato habitu nongladio clipeoue armatus ad regem libere penetrauit Is not the folly of this sonne of Belial worthy to be despised that makes this a miracle that a Monke vnarmed and in his own habite wherein no man mistrusted him did commit this treason for so these false Monkes were without suspition admitted to the Kings presence but had he changed his habite and come armed he had beene preuented He reioyceth in the Kings death yet he was no heretique as Rome cals heresie but a sonne of the Pope and he layeth the murther to Gods charge Regem Deus per sacratum virum interfecit the whole oration is extant in print they are all ashamed of it so full it is both of folly and malice Wee may not doe the God whom we worship and serue that vnthankefull iniurie to omit the late fearefull example of his iudgement declared vpon a Popish conuenticle assembled in a priuate meeting to an hereticall Sermon they are blinde that see not the hand of God in it and they that take not warning by it to auoyd the like may tempt the iustice of God to some new execution for he hath treasures of wrath I thinke I speake the charitable thoughts of you all it was a iudgement much to be deplored in respect of them that suffered the same So great a number presently either broken with the ruines of the house or smothered with the closenesse of their owne heapes one vpon another others wounded some dead found some fallen into madnesse We haue cause all of vs to lament the sudden violent death of so many of whom we haue cause to perswade our selues charitably that they had the zeale of God but not according to knowledge and that they were made beleeue that they did God good seruice But how many open Churches did they passe by how many learned Preachers might they haue heard at that time from whose light they might haue borrowed light and in whom they might haue heard Iesus Christ speaking to his Church and declaring the way of saluation they forsooke the houses of God to retire themselues into a chamber where their owne weight was their ruine by the iust hand of God as we must needes confesse for his workes are often secret but alwaies iust Did not the blinde leade the blinde and both fell into the ditch