the stain and take away the power of sin to re-imprint the Image of God that was defaced by sin to rescue the heart from the love of sin and consequently from the power of sin to transmit into the Soul new Principles new Affections new Wills Psalm 110.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power As he came with Light to rectifie the Understanding so he came with Righteousness to rectifie the Will The strength of a King rests in the Love and Will of his People when Christ conquers the Will from the Love and Submission to sin he conquers Man from the Dominion and Kingdom of sin 3. And as thus by Light he conquered the Kingdom of Darkness and by Righteousness the Kingdom of Sin so he comes with Life also and conquers us from the Kingdom of Death When our Saviour died he entred into the Chambers of Death and conquered this King of Terrors took away the malignity and sting of it by taking away Sin the sting of Death healed these bitter waters by his own passing through them and by his Resurrection triumphed over the power of death for us by the vertue of that Resurrection delivering our Souls from the second death and our Bodies from the first death and giving us a most infallible assurance of a final victory over death by an assured and blessed Resurrection Thus Death is swallowed up in Victory 1 Cor. 15.54 2. And as Christ hath purchased him a People by Victory so his Regal Office is considerable in the Government of this people that he hath so acquired He hath given them a Law to Live by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which makes them free from the Law of sin and of death Rom. 8.2 The Law of God vindicated from the false glosses which the corruption of men had in succession of time put upon it a Law sweetned and strengthned and actuated by the Love of God wrought in the Soul a Law though of the highest Perfection and Purity yet accompanied with the Grace and Assistance of Christ to Enable us to perform it in some measure and accompanied with the Merits of Christ to pardon and the Righteousness of Christ to cover our defects in our performance of it He hath given them a new heart and this Law of his written in this heart He hath given them of his own Spirit a Spirit of Life to Quicken them and of Power to Enable them to Obey And because notwithstanding this conquest of Christ of a People to himself they are still beset with Enemies that would reduce them to their former bondage he watcheth over them and in them by his Grace wasting and weakning and resisting their corruptions by new supplyes and influences from him quickning their hearts by renewed derivations of Life and Spirit from him which otherwise would sink and die under the weight of their own Earth encountering Temptations that like Foggs and Vapours arise out of our own flesh or like storms or snares are raised or placed by the Devil against us either by diverting them or by giving sufficient Grace to oppose them These and the like administrations doth our Saviour use which though they are secret and not easily discerned by us and though they are ordered without any noise or appearance yet they are works of greater Power and of greater Concernment and of equal reality with all the visible administrations of things in this world which are more obvious to our sense and are the effects of that invisible Government of Christ and of that Promise of his Behold I am with you alway even unto the end of the World Matth. 28.20 This is that Kingdom of God within them Luk. 17.21 consisting in Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 casting down Imaginations and every high thing that Exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into Captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 3. As in his Government so his Regal Office is Evidenced in his Judgment And this Judgment of his being one of the Acts or Administrations of this Kingdom is oftentimes called the Kingdom of God His Judgment of Absolution and Reward to his Subjects and his Judgment of Condemnation and Destruction to the Rebels and Enemies of his Kingdom 2. And as we have the consideration of the King of this Kingdom and consequently of his Subjects Revel 15.3 Just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints So the various Administrations of this Kingdome are frequently called the Kingdome of God and the Mysteries of the Kingdome Matth. 13.11 24 31 44 45 47. Matth. 25.1 14 c. And as the Administrations of this Kingdom are often called the Kingdom so are the Instruments of this administration 1. The Word or Gospel of the Kingdome which must be preached through the whole World Matt. 24.14 and is therefore committed to the ministration of an Angel to dispence it to all Nations Revel 14.6 That great Engin which though seemingly weak and dispensed by weak and despicable Men God hath chosen to confound the things that are mighty 1 Cor. 1.27 to pull down strong holds 2 Cor. 10.4 to gather his Elect for the perfecting of the body of Christ the fulness of him that filleth all in all and therefore this publication of the Gospel is oftentimes called the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 3.2 The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Luk. 10.9 The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you and if a Man consider the Mighty and Strange Effects that this everlasting Gospel hath had in the World for these many Hundred Years notwithstanding the many disadvantages upon which it entred and hath continued in the World we may well say that it is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 the Rod of his strength sent out of Sion Psal 110.2 that the Message of a Crucified Christ published by poor despised men to a World that never saw him or if they did saw no beauty or comliness in him to a World full of prejudicies against him prepossessed with an opinion of their own Wisdom with Religions extremely opposite traduced to them from their Ancestors of which Men are naturally tenacious that this Message of Christ not with a promise of Glory or Riches in this World but with a plain prediction of poverty scorns persecutions and Death to those that entertain it and with a promise of future Life that they never saw nor can see till they see this no more should conquer Millions of Souls to the profession and Love of Christ and to an austere self-denying despised Life here doth evidence and convince that there is the strength and Wisdom of God that is ingaged in this wonderful yet most positively predicted conquest of the World 2. The work of the Spirit of God preparing and pre-disposing the Heart to the receiving of the Gospel of the Kingdom convincing the Heart of that Sin and that Death
the more concernment The End which most concerns us to enquire after is the end of our Being why or for what end we were made for as that is the thing of the greatest moment to us so the ignorance or mistake therein is of the greatest danger Now touching this End of Man we must know 1. That in all wise workers that act by deliberation and choice the appointment of the end of any work belongs to him that makes it 2. In as much therefore as Mankind is in its Original the workmanship of God therefore it belongs to him to appoint the end of his own workmanship and of him it must be inquired 3. That in as much as God is the wisest worker and in as much as Mankind is a piece of excellent workmanship it becomes the Wisdom of God as to appoint man to an end of his own designing so to appoint him to an end answerable to the excellency of the work an end as much above other creatures as man exceeds them in worth and excellency So that certainly Man is ordained by God to an End and to an excellent End beyond the condition of other inferior Creatures for we see them all appointed for the use and service of Man to feed and cloath and heal and delight him What therefore is common to the Beasts as well as Man cannot be the End of Man The Beasts Eat and Drink and Live and Propagate their kind with as much delight and much more contentment than Man they are free from Cares and from Fears which Man is not and though they die so doth Man also therefore to live and eat and drink and perpetuate their kind is too low an End for Man And if so then much more is it below him to make Wealth and Honor and Power his End For they are but in order to his temporal life here either to provide for it or to secure it And besides that they cannot answer the desires and continuance of an Immortal Soul which Man bears with him And hence grows the Weariness and Vexation and Unquietness and Restlesness of Man in the midst of all Wealth and Honors and Pleasures therefore there is some other End to which Man was appointed Which is 1. In reference to God to glorifie him 2. In reference to Man an everlasting injoyment of God 1. To glorifie God two things are considerable 1. What it is for Man to glorifie God 1. There is a Glorifying of God common to all the Works of God in as much as they all bear in them the visible footsteps of the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God Thus the Sun and Heavens glorifie God Psa 19.2 There is a glorifying of God properly belonging to Intellectual Creatures Angels and Men. 1. In his Understanding whereby he learns to know God in his Word and in his Works his Power Goodness Wisdom and Truth and with his heart admires and with his tongue praiseth him 2. In his Will whereby he submits to him Worships Fears him and in the course of his life Obeys him whereby he acknowledgeth his Soveraignty and submits to it Psal 50.23 He that offereth Praise glorifieth him and to him that orders his conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God Both these are imperfectly done here but shall be perfectly done in the life to come 2. Why the Glorifying of God is made the Chief End of Man 1. It is the Chief End that God proposed in all his Works of Creation Prov. 16.4 He made all things for himself that is his own Glory In his Works of Preservation and Providence Psal 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me In his Work of Redemption Ephes 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his Grace whereby he hath made us accepted in the beloved In his Work of Sanctification Matth. 5.16 That Men seeing your good Works may glorifie your Father who is in Heaven 2. It is but just it should be the Chief End of Man to glorifie God because it is a most Reasonable Tribute to pay to him for all his Mercies and Goodness From him we receive our Being and all the Blessings of it and it is but just for God to require and for Man to perform the due acknowledgment of the Goodness of that God from whom he receives them which is his Glorifying of God 2. To injoy God for ever 1. Two things are to be explained 1. What it is to injoy God 2. Why this is part of the Chief End of Man 1. To injoy God is either 1. In this Life which is to have Peace with God Assurance of Reconciliation with him for then we have Peace with our selves Contentment and Quietness of Soul Access to him as to our Father for all we want and Hope and Assurance of Everlasting Life which will make the Comforts of our Life safe and the Afflictions thereof easie and the End and Dissolution thereof Comfortable 2. In the life to come the fulness of fruition of the Knowledge Goodness Glory and Presence of God according to the uttermost measure and capacity of our faculties which in the Resurrection shall be great and capacious and this is called the Beatifical Vision 2. Why this is part of the Chief End of Man Because this is the Happiness and Blessedness of Man to injoy God and nothing besides can make him Happy which appears 1. in all other injoyments without the injoyment of God there is a great deal of Vanity and emptiness whether in Pleasures or Profits or worldly Advantages Men expect great matters from them but after a little injoyment of them they are weary and find themselves disappointed and that there is not that comfort in them that they expected and then they travel to some other worldly injoyment and there they find the like This therefore cannot afford Man his Happiness 2. In all other injoyments without God there is a great deal of Vexation and Trouble The Cares and Fears and Sorrows and Disappointments that we meet with in the injoyment of them doth out weigh all the Contentment and Benefit that we receive in them and therefore this cannot be our Happiness 3. All other injoyments without God have their End and Term Sometimes we over live them the Pleasures and Contentments of youth leave us when we are old And sometimes we see our Riches our Health our Earthly Comforts taken from us but if not yet when we die we leave them and yet our Souls continue after death and our Bodies and Souls continue after our Resurrection for ever The injoyments therefore of this Life cannot be our Happiness but that Happiness which continues as long as we continue which is the injoyment of the Favor Love and Presence of God for ever Now put both together The Glorifying of God and the injoyment of him for ever is the Happiness and Blessedness of Man the Chief End for which he was made Such is the
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
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
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
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
only Will is a sufficient rule of his Justice thou owest an infinite subjection to him from whom thou hast received thy Being His Soveraignty over his Creature is even by the very right of Nature Infinite and Boundless Be contented therefore to bear whatsoever he inflicts without the least disputing of the Justice or Injustice of it This was that Excellent Contemplation of old Eli under the most severe denuntiation of Gods judgment It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good And it was that great Lesson that Jobs Afflictions was sent to teach him though he could not learn it till God himself as well for our Instruction as His taught him out of the Whirlwind but then he learned it and abhorred himself in Dust and Ashes for his former Ignorance and Frowardness 8. Yet further bear it patiently for that God that sent thee this Messenger doth behold and observe how thou entertainest it wherein we may with all due Reverence suppose the Lord of Heaven thus resolving Yonder is such a Man that professeth to Know and Fear and Love me and I see him nevertheless fond of his Wealth or Honor or some other Blessing I will give leave to Evil Men or Evil Angels as once in the case of my Servant Job to spoil him of Wealth and to cast him into Disgrace and I will observe his carriage and deportment under it and though I know what it will be yet I will make it now conspicuous both to Himself and Men and Angels And if his Deportment be not answerable to his Profession if he storm against my Providence or use unworthy Means to free himself or grow Impatient and Disorderly under it I will make his folly conspicuous and send more and sharper Visitations unto him till this fire of Afflictions hath brought him to his due temper of Patience Humility Submission to my Will Dependance upon my Power Subjection to my Soveraignty But if on the other side I see him humble himself under my hand Submit to my will Justifie me in his Sufferings Patient under them and Waiting my time to be delivered from them I will exhibit him before Men and Angels as a Patern of Patience and I will make him as Signal in his Deliverance as he is Eminent in his Patience Suppose thou couldst hear such a Deliberation and see and behold such Spectators of thy Deportment how wouldst thou indeavor to compose thy self with all Patience and Contentedness and Quietness and Resignation of thy self under the most severe Affliction And how little wouldst thou dare in such a Presence to discover or so much as entertain any Murmuring or Impatient thought Assure thy self though thou canst not with a bodily eye behold this Great Lord of the World beholding thee while thou art in this Scene of Affliction yet he beholds and observes thee and the very motion of thy Soul and the Glorious Angels though they cannot look into the secret retirements of thy Thoughts yet they behold thy external Deportment and are grieved if it be unseemly and unsuitable to the Honor of their and thy Lord and are glad to behold a Deportment suitable to the Ends and Glory of their Lord And the Evil Angels which irritate and provoke thee to Impatience are pleased and gratified if they effect it and ashamed and vexed if they are disappointed in it Believe it in a signal and eminent degree of Prosperity or Adversity thou art like a Man upon a Stage a spectacle exposed to the view of God and Men and Angels and Devils let thy carriage therefore be such as if thou didst as visibly behold thy Spectators as they most certainly do see thee Tenthly As thus thou art to bear thy Affliction patiently so indeavor to use it profitably and besides these advices before mentioned add to them these insuing 1. Learn by them to have a just Estimate of the World Affliction pulls of those fine gay Cloaths from the World by which in Prosperity it deceives us and renders it as it is a Vain Empty Vexing World 2. From that sound and just Estimate of the World Discipline thy Affections to a moderate and loose application to it It is true Afflictions do ordinarily imbitter the World to us and so for the present our Affections may be dull towards it but this arising meerly from Sense without a sound practical established Judgment it ordinarily lasts no longer than the Afflictions last and as they wear away and worldly comforts begin to grow up and increase so our love to the World comes on and grows up again But when a Man by the advantage of Afflictions digests this principle into his Judgment commonly it abides and moderates the love of the World notwithstanding the return of the Comforts and Advantages of the World 3. Keep up thy heart in a dependance upon Gods Power and Alsufficiency to deliver thee from Affliction or to support thee under it and labor by Observation and Experience to rivet this Dependance into thy Judgment and Choice It is most certain that almost every Man as long as he can have any thing to lay hold of besides will make that his Dependance The Sick Man will depend upon his Physician the Impoverished Man upon his Friends and the like but when there is nothing else to rest upon then Men will to their Prayers with the Mariners in the Storm but this being but an Act of Necessity as it riseth upon Necessity so it vanisheth with it When the Necessity is over and other Dependances come to hand we are apt to throw off our Dependance upon God Labor therefore for an Experimental and Judicious Dependance upon God Sometimes in Afflictions we begin to attain it but the best way is to begin to entertain such a Dependance before we are driven to it and then the Necessity of our Afflictions will fasten and improve it that it will stick with us after 4. By thy Afflictions learn to value and improve thy Hope and Assurance of Everlasting Life And indeed thy Necessity now doth in a special manner drive thee to it and it is a great End of Gods sending Afflictions that it may drive us off from the clasping of this present World and thereby carry us over to the valuation of our Eternal Condition Thy Wealth is gone and thy Honor and Reputation is sunk and blasted and thy Friends have forsaken thee and thy Body is mouldering to dust and rottenness and thy Soul sits hovering upon thy Lips ready to take her flight and all thy hold of this present life is broken and gone so that thou hast nothing now to lodge and fasten thy Hopes upon but the Promises of Everlasting Life thy interest in Christ the Hope of Everlasting Life and now if ever these things will be welcome to thee God hath scattered and broken all other Confidences improve this Vnum Magnum this one thing necessary that alone doth stand by thee when all things else forsake thee and
the Souldiers and Comfort and Satisfaction into the Souls of those that expected his Resurrection and cause that stone which the Pharisees laid upon the Sepulchre as a seal unto his Mortality to start aside and give way to our Saviour's Resurrection Mat. 28.2 3 4. And little do we know those wonderful Services that these invisible Powers do in the World even for poor and weak Men at the Command of their great Lord and Soveraign every hour in the day And now O Lord it is true that thy Will is done in Heaven by those thy glorious creatures perfectly and exactly but I and all thy creatures upon Earth have in us a mixture of darkness that we cannot know thy Will and a mixture of corruption that resists the obedience of thy Will and a mixture of impotence that we cannot perform that part of thy Will that we know and desire to obey so that when we can at any time say with the Apostle To will is present with me yet we must with the same Apostle say that how to perform that good we find not Rom. 7.18 Therefore I cannot in this House of clay hope to aspire to the full perfection of an Angelical Obedience nor to do thy Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven yet there is an imperfect Perfection which in Christ thou art pleased to accept of an Evangelical though not an Angelical Perfection in our Obedience a Perfection of Integrity and Sincerity free from Guile base ends or Hypocrisie a heart truly endeavouring to obey the voice of God in his Word and truly sorrowful for his defects and failings in that obedience Thus the heart of David 1 King 15.3 of Hezekiah 2 King 20.3 were perfect hearts the obedience enjoyned by David to Solomon 1 Chron. 28.9 Serve him with a perfect heart and willing mind and this perfection of Obedience give unto thy servants that thy Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Sincerely and Singly 2. Which is a consequent of the former Angelical Obedience is an Universal Obedience there is not any Command of God not the meanest but they perform it Psal 103.20 Bless the Lord ye his Angels that excel in strength that do his Commandments hearkning unto the voice of his Word For the same principle of perfect Love to God moves them to a willing obedience to every Command as well as any and they find as much beauty in their obedience unto the Command of God when sent out to minister for the poor Members of the Son of God Heb. 1.14 As when sent upon an imployment for the matter more glorious And O Lord Let thy Will be thus done on Earth as it is in Heaven let me have respect to all thy Commandments and let no sin be so much mine so dear so natural so sutable to my nature or condition but that I may forsake it at thy Command and keep my self from my transgression since it is the same God that equally commands and forbids in all and the same Love to God which is or should be the principle and ground of all my Obedience Jam. 2.10 Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all A heart that can observe some Commands and yet dispense with it self in the violation of others obeys not for Love of God but of himself 3. Angelical Obedience is a Willing and Cheerful Obedience Which still runs upon the former reason the principle of their obedience is perfect Love of God and Love is an active affection as strong as death so that they are glad of any opportunity to return the expressions of that Love in a most hearty and willing obedience Mat. 18.10 Christ speaking of the Angels saith They always behold the Face of my Father they watch and are attentive and with cheerfulness expect every Command of God And thus also let thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven that we may willingly and cheerfully perform thy Will glad that we thy poor creatures have any opportunity to do any service to thee though thou needest it not and thankful that thou art pleased to accept of the obedience of thy creature 4. Consequently an Angelical obedience is Speedy Swift Ready They dispute not the reason of the Command nor delay not the performance of it Like the Centurion's servant he saith to one go and he goeth Luk. 7.8 And Lord as thus thy Will is done in Heaven so let it be done on Earth when thou commandest things that our flesh and blood have much ado to disgest would fain be reasoning against or at least linger in the observance give us this grace not to confer with flesh and blood Gal. 1.16 but resolvedly and speedily to obey thy Will When Abraham was called to leave his own Country he obeyed and went out not knowing whither he went Heb. 11.8 When commanded to sacrifice his Son he rose early in the morning and goes about this hard imploy Gen. 22.3 Lingrings and Reasonings upon the Commands of God as they carry in them a want of Duty so they always bring with them much disadvantage either wholly intercepting our obedience or mingling with it much unwillingness and aversness to it 5. A Heavenly and Angelical Obedience though it be full of Perfection yet it is full of Humility They know that they owe an infinite Obedience to him from whom they receive their Being and that their Obedience to God is but the payment of that debt they owe to him and cannot make him a debtor to them They know that infinite distance between the infinite God and themselves though glorious yet finite Creatures and therefore they do not only pay their Obedience as a just Tribute to God without arrogance of merit but they do it with all the Reverence and Acknowledgment that is imaginable Both these we find in the Adoration of the 24 Elders Revel 4.10 11. They fall down before him and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power The distance between God and Man is infinite and though the Angels are nearer unto God in perfection of Nature than men yet still the distance between them is infinite here is the odds the Angels see their distance and see more of the Perfection of God and the more they see of him the more they Adore and Reverence him and the humbler they are in their Services because they see the greatness of their distance And if Angelical Obedience that is so perfect shall be mingled with so much Reverence with how much Humility should our Services that are so imperfect be allayed O Lord Let thy Will be thus also done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us a sense of thy infinite Glory and Majesty of that infinite distance between Thee and thy Creature that with all Reverence to thy Majesty and all Lowliness in our selves we may appear before thee in all we do
entered into the World and death by Sin and Vers 19. By one Mans Disobedience many were made Sinners 1 Cor. 15.22 In Adam all die And by this Sin of Adam all were made Sinners by these two wayes 1. By actual participation of his disobedience for we were then in him but that is not all for upon that reason every Man should stand guilty of all the Sins committed by any of his Progenitors since Adam which seems not to agree with the profession of Almighty God Ezek. 18.20 The Son shall not bear the Iniquity of the Father But the case is not alike for Adam was created in integrity and perfection in an ability to perform the Law and so was a fit person to stipulate for his posterity 2 And as he was a person so qualified so the Covenant was made between God and him both for him and his posterity and 3 As we suffer in the penalty of his Disobedience so we had enjoyed the benefit of his Obedience we had come into the World with the same Liberty of Will and Integrity and Perfection of Nature that he had But all these are wanting in any other person in the World 1. A defect of Nature is gone over all that none is fit to stipulate for himself and his posterity 2. No such contract hath been at any time made between God and any other Man 2. By a necessary Consequence for God having justly withdrawn from Man his Blessedness and Perfection and Sin having corrupted and imbased his Nature we by propagation from him derive a corrupted depraved Nature full of impotence and rebellion and disorder Job 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean God was pleased to communicate to Man a being in the Essence of a Man and to communicate unto him a degree of Purity Immortality Wisdom and Perfection beyond the compass of his Natural subsistence but this latter was communicated to him under a covenant which when he broke he lost and not only lost that but even stained and corrupted and imbased that very being that after he had sinned he retained And this is the old Man corrupt according to the deceivable Lusts Ephes 4.22 A body of death Rom. 7.24 And this Depravation of our Nature was followed with the continual Corruption and at last with the dissolution of Nature and that not only in those who had sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression by an actual breach of an express Law Rom. 5.14 But in all that were partakers of Adams corrupted Nature even Infants and so Death passed over all And as thus we partake of Original Sin as well by being virtually actors in it as also by derivation of a corrupted Nature so this corruption of our Nature produceth in all our Lives continued and renewed Actual Sins the conceptions of Lust Jam. 1.15 And these Actual Sins according to the difference of those commands of God which are violated are either Sins of Omission or of Commission and both come under the extent of this Petition by the name of Sins or Trespasses Luk. 11. by the Name of Debts Matt. 6. For we owe unto God Duty and Obedience and every Violation of that duty leaves us so much indebted unto God the least of which is impossible to be paid when once incurred because it is impossible for us to make that not to have been which hath already been and impossible for us by all our future Obedience were it as exact as the will of God requires to expiate a Sin past for still that perfect obedience is no more then we owe we have therein but done our duty and are but unprofitable Servants but if it were possible to think that one act of perfect obedience to God would expiate for any Sin past yet such is the Corruption of our Nature that not one such act can be found there is in our best actions a mixture and adherence of some defect or other that makes it become the subject still of this Petition that which needs Mercy to Pardon and therefore cannot contain Merit to Deserve So then all are concluded under Sin Gal. 3.22 and consequently under Guilt the effect of Sin and consequently under death and a curse the wages of Sin And this Sin guilt and curse is so closely bound to every one of Adams posterity that there is no possibility in the best of them to deliver themselves from it therefore O Lord teach us to pray Forgive us Forgiveness is an act of Free Grace whereby our offended God freely and without any Merit of ours remits the Sin the Guilt and Punishment the Person offended is he only that can forgive the rule was true though misapplyed Mar. 2.7 Who can forgive Sins but God only and Forgiveness is an act of most free Mercy and nothing of Merit in the person forgiven Isa 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy Sins Misery which is the effect of Sin is the Object of Mercy but it is not the Desert of it especially when that very Misery under which we are brought by Sin is a Misery wilfully contracted by our selves and not only so but is still a sinning Misery a Misery accompanied with stupidity and senslessness with aversion opposition against that God and that very Mercy that should deliver us God commends the freeness and fulness of his Goodness to us by taking that season to be Merciful when our condition is most Miserable not because our misery deserves his pity Ezek. 16.6 I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood Live Yea I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood Live This Forgiveness is thus wrought Man that was infinitely bound to love and obey the Author of his Being most unrgatefully and unnecessarily sinned against him and thereby deservedly incurred the everlasting curse of the most Just and True God and forfeited his being yet though Man had destroyed himself Almighty God of his own Free Will and without any other Motive and by his own Infinite Wisdom contrived a way whereby his most exact Truth and Justice might be satisfied and yet his creature saved and his Mercy and Goodness might be infinitely evidenced unto Men and Angels By an Everlasting Covenant between the Father and the Son the Son he must assume our Nature and offer it up as One Sacrifice for Sin for ever Heb. 10.12 This was that Mystery hid from Ages and Generations the Mystery that the Angels desire to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 The Great Mystery of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 The great End of the Creation of Man And by this Sacrifice thus freely given by our offended Lord we have Redemption even the Remission of our sins Ephes 1.7 Colos 1.14 And Pardon thus freely given by the Father and yet thus dearly bought by the Son is with abundance of Love and Grace proclaimed and tendred unto all in all the World
more than ten thousand talents Yet blessed Lord give us leave to lay hold upon thy Promise which thou haft freely made and to strengthen our hearts in this that that God that hath commanded us to forgive our repenting Brother will not deny a Pardon to his repenting Children and that God that hath been pleased to promise forgiveness to us upon our forgiveness of others is a God of Truth and Faithfulness as well as a Father of Mercies and though our forgiveness of our Brother cannot in any proportion deserve our God's forgiveness of us yet when the God of Truth hath freely ingaged himself by his Word to forgive us if we forgive he will never break it and he that hath raised in our hearts by his Grace this Merciful temper and disposition towards others hath thereby given us a pledge of his Mercy and Goodness unto us in Pardoning all our offences And lead us not into Temptation And because we are weak and frail Creatures subject to be overcome with every Temptation to depart from our duty to thee and we hourly converse with all varieties of Temptations Temptations from the World Temptations from Satan the Prince of this World and which is the worst of all Temptations from our own sinful hearts corrupt natures unruly affections and without thy continual Grace Preventing or Assisting us the least of all these our Enemies and Temptations are able to over-match us And because we are obnoxious to Temptations in all our actions in all our conditions in all our wants and in all our enjoyments in our lawful actions we are subject to the Temptation of Immoderation and Excess in our religious actions to Formality and Vain-Glory in our Prosperity to Pride and Forgetfulness of thee in Adversity to Murmuring and Discontent and Accusing of thy Providence under Injuries to Vindictiveness and immoderate Anger under Comforts and Enjoyments to Security and Abatement of our Love to thee and setting up our hopes and our rest upon the present World in our Knowledge to vain and impertinent Curiosity Pride and Self-conceit in cases of Wants to unlawful Means for our supplies in case of Abundance to Luxury Intemperance and Contempt of others in Sickness to Impatience in Health to Presumption and Forgetfulness of our latter ends in our Callings either to Negligence Unfaithfulness and Idleness on the one hand or to overmuch Solicitousness and vexation on the other hand If we are in Company we are in danger to be misguided by evil Perswasions or Examples from others if we are alone we are apt to be corrupted by the evil suggestions of our own corrupt hearts or of that evil one that watcheth all opportunities either to seduce or mischief us And since all our ways are before thee and thou knowest the snares that are in them and how to prevent them or to prevent us from them or to preserve us against them we beseech thee by thy Providence preserve us from all those Temptations which thou knowest to be too strong for us and by thy Grace preserve us from being overcome by those Temptations that unavoidably occur in all our actions and conditions Grant us the Spirit of Watchfulness and Sobriety the Spirit of Moderation and Humility the Spirit of Patience and Wisdom the Spirit of Faith and Dependance and the Spirit of the Love and Fear of thy Majesty that may support us against all those Temptations unto any sin that may occur in the course and passages of our Lives that though thy Providence should permit us to fall into Temptation we may not fall under it but by thy Grace be delivered from the evil of it But deliver us from Evil. Deliver us therefore we pray thee from Evil of all kinds and natures from the Evil of Sin and from the evil of Suffering from such Evils as may befal our Souls either to disturb and discompose them or to defile and corrupt them from the Evils that may befal our Bodies by Casualties or Diseases from the Evils that may befal our Estates by Losses and Calamities from the Evils that may befal our good Names by Calumnies and Slanders from the Evil that may befal our Relations in any kind from Publique Evils to the Church or State wherein we live from Private Evils to our selves or others For thine is the Kingdome And though in this short Prayer we have been bold to ask of thee many large and ample Benefits and Mercies which if we look upon our selves only seem too great for us to ask yet they are not too great for thee to give for thou art the great King and Soveraign Lord of all the World in comparison of whom all the Kings of the Earth are but small inconsiderable things and yet even their Honour is much advanced by Beneficence and Bounty all which nevertheless is but a drop in comparison of that Ocean of Goodness and Bounty and Beneficence that resides in and hourly flows from Thee the great Monarch of the whole World Thy Subjects are all of thy own making and all the good that is in them or enjoyed by them is derived from thee to them The Strength and Glory and Beauty and Excellence of thy Kingdom is not derived from thy Subjects but from thy Self to them And therefore though my Petitions be great they are fit to be such because directed to the Mighty Creator and King and Monarch of the whole Universe the Root and Fountain of all Being and Goodness The Power And as thou art the Great Soveraign of all the World and art invested with the Supream Authority so thou art the great Creator of all things and art invested with Infinite Power and All-Sufficiency And as thou hast the Supream Authority so thou hast Boundless Power to grant and effect what we have asked As thou art the Great and Glorious King of Heaven and Earth and the Father of all Mankind we have reason to be confident in thy Goodness and Beneficence And as thou art the Almighty Creator we have assurance of thy Power to give us whatsoever thy Wisdom and Goodness doth move thee to bestowe And therefore upon both accounts we have reason to be confident in the obtaining of what we ask in this Prayer from the great Lord of all things that is Abundant in Goodness and All-sufficient in Power And the Glory And although thy Infinite All-sufficiency and Glory can receive no increase from thy Creatures yet give us leave with Humility to press Thee ever with this argument also Thou hast been pleased to declare unto us That thy Glory is thy great end of all thy Works and art pleased to set the greatest value that may be upon thy own Glory and art pleased to command thy Creatures to Glorifie Thee and dost accept that small Tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving and Glorifying of thy Name from thy Creatures in good part Thou hast the Glory of our Dependance upon Thee which we testifie by invoking thy Great Name thou wilt have the Glory of thy Goodness thy Power thy Bounty in granting these our Petitions and Requests and the Glory of our Praises and Thanksgivings for thy Bounty and Goodness in accepting and answering them which though it cannot benefit Thee yet it is all thy poor Creatures can return unto Thee and thou hast declared thy self well pleased with it Psal 50.32 He that offereth Praise glorifieth Thee Amen Blessed Lord therefore be it according to these our Petitions and Desires and so much the rather because these our Requests are not the product of our own Imaginations and weak Judgments but that Son of thine who best knew thy Will and what thou wouldest grant hath taught us thus to Ask and commanded us thus to thus to Pray Luk. 11.2 When ye pray say Our Father c. FINIS