are an awful fear and filial Love of God And therefore when we pray that God would deliver us from evil we pray First That he would so affect our Hearts with that dread and reverence of his Holy Majesty that we may not dare to commit the least sin knowingly and willingly against him For the fear of God is a powerful preservative to with-hold the Soul from consenting to Temptation and when we are fully possessed with it we shall be able to return that Answer to every sollicitation of the Devil that Joseph did to the filthy enticements of his lewd Mistress how shall we do this thing and sin against God Yea it will preserve us not only from the more gross and scandalous acts of sin but from the secret lurking wickednesses that lie deep in the Heart 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness and pollution both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God Indeed where this Fear of God is deeply implanted it will keep us from offending him in our Thoughts as well as in our Actions We shall be afraid to sin against him by Hypocrisie or Unbelief or Impenitency as well as by Murder or Blasphemy or any of those flagitious Crimes which not only the Law of God but the Law of Nature and right Reason condemn Secondly We pray that God would so affect our Hearts with a Holy and filial Love of himself that may sweetly and yet powerfully keep us from whatsoever may be an offence unto his Divine Majesty For Love would not willingly do any thing that may offend or grieve the Object loved There is a Holy ingenuity in this Grace that strongly engageth the Heart to love what God loves and to hate what he hates Now the only Object of God's hatred is sin and therefore where the Love of God is implanted it will cause such a Divine Simpathy of Affection that those who love the Lord will hate sin and iniquity as the Psalmist speaks Psalm 97.10 And certainly hatred of sin is a most effectual means to keep us from committing of it And thus I have shewn you the methods that God useth in delivering us from Evil. By his restraining Providence By his restraining Grace And by his Sanctifying and renewing Grace Hence then see to whom you are to ascribe your preservation from Evil and from those horrid sins that others fall into Sacrifice not to your own Net not to the freedom of your own Wills not to any excellency in your own disposition and temper not to your Natural Aversation to what is Wicked and Impious But give the Praise and Glory both of what thou art and of what thou art not wholly unto God Thy Nature is as sinful as the worst of Mens and that thy Life is not as sinful and wicked as the worst proceeds only from the Goodness and Grace of God which hath made the difference yea a difference little less than Miraculous for is it not a Miracle that when the Fountain is as bitter in our Hearts as in the Hearts of others yet that the Streams should not be so Whence is it that since we have the same corrupt Hearts with Cain and Judas or any of the most branded Wretches in the World for Sin and Wickedness that yet we have not committed the like Impieties with them but that God hath either restrained or Sanctified us But Sanctifying Grace of it self is not enough for whence is it then that we have not committed the same sins that those have done who yet have been Sanctified whose foul sins and sad miscarriages are Recorded for our warning Are we more Holy than they Have we obtained a greater measure of Sanctification than they No only our Gracious God by vouchsafing us a constant influence of his exciting Grace hath been pleased to keep us from those sins into which he suffers wicked Men to fall and not only them but sometimes his own dear Children also Well then let not the strong Man Glory in his strength but let him that Glorieth Glory in the Lord for he is our Strength and our Deliverer What have we that we have not received and if we have received it why should we boast as if we had not received it It is not what we have already received but what we are continually receiving from God that makes us to differ from the vilest and most profligate sinners in the World And thus much shall suffice for the way and method how God doth deliver us from evil Now that which we pray for in this Petition is First That if it shall please God to lead us into Temptation yet that he would not leave us under the power of Temptation but with every Temptation he would make a way for us to escape that we may be able to bear it Secondly That if at any time Temptation should get the upper hand and prevail over us to the commission of sin yet that God would not leave us under the power of that sin but raise us up again by true repentance and Godly sorrow that so at last we may be delivered from the great and soul-damning evil of obduration and impenitency Thirdly That God would not only deliver us from gross and self-condemning impieties but from every evil way and work and preserve us blameless to the Heavenly Kingdom of his Son Fourthly That he would be pleased not only to deliver us from that which is in it self evil but from all the occasions and all the appearances of evil for these also are evil if not in effect yet in tendency And thus now I have finished the sixth and last Petition of this most Excellent and Divine Prayer of our Saviour And I nothing doubt but in the Discourses I have made of it you have seen it verified what at first I affirmed of it that it is a comprehensive summary of all that we can ask of God whether it be for supplies of our Temporal or Spiritual wants and that all other Prayers which we make are but a commentary upon this drawing that out at length which here is closely wound up in one bottom This Prayer of our Saviour now expounded unto you consists as I told you in the beginning of four parts First The Preface or Introduction Our Father Secondly The Requests or Petitions which are six Thirdly The Doxology or Praise And then Fourthly The Conclusion or Ratification of all in the Word Amen The two first I have dispatched I now come to the Third and that is the Doxology or Praise for Praise is a necessary part of Prayer This Praise now is here ascribed unto God by ascribing unto him his Attributes Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever In which words four of God's Attributes are mentioned and ascribed unto him First His Sovereignty Thine is the Kingdom Secondly His Omnipotency thine is the Power Thirdly His Excellency thine is the Glory Fourthly His Eternity all these are thine
That their Lives may be more plausible their Gifts more serviceable and their Condemnation at last the more tolerable Q. How doth God keep Men from Sin by his special Grace A. By exciting the inward Principle and Habit of Grace implanted in his Children to the actual Use and Exercise of it Q. Is not inherent Grace alone sufficient to keep the Godly from sinning A. It is not without the continual Influence of God's quickning Grace 2 Cor. 12.7 There was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above Measure Q. What are those Graces that God doth especially excite to keep his Children from Sin A. They are Three Faith Fear and Love Q. How doth Faith keep them from sinning A. Many ways but more especially by Two 1. First As it lively represents unto us Eternal Rewards and Punishments and make them as real as they are certain Heb. 11.1 Now Faith is the Substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen 2. Secondly As it represents unto us God to be the Observer of our Actions who must hereafter be the Judge of them For by Faith we see him who is invisible Q. How doth the Fear of God keep Men from Sin A. By possessing our Hearts with awfull Thoughts of his dread Majesty whose Power is infinite and whose Justice is strict and impartial Psal 4.4 Stand in awe and sin not Q. How doth the Love of God keep Men from Sin A. By working in them an holy Ingenuity and Sympathy of Affection with God Loving what he loves and hating what he hates and therefore those who love God will certainly hate Iniquity Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate Evil. Q. What do we pray for in this part of the Petition Deliver us from Evil A. We pray 1. That if it shall please God to lead us into Temptation yet he would not leave us under the Power of Temptation but would make a way for us to escape that we might be able to bear it 2. That if at any time Temptations should prevail over us God would not leave us under the Power of Sin but raise us again by true Repentance that so we may at last be delivered from the great Evil of Obduration and Impenitency 3. That God would not onely deliver us from gross and self condemning Sins but from every evil Way and Work 4. That he would be pleased to deliver us not onely from what is in it self sinfull but from all the Occasions and Appearances of Evil. Q. After the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer what next followeth to be considered A. The Doxology or Praise in these words For thine c. Q. Of what consisteth this Doxology A. Of four of God's most glorious Attributes His Soreignty Thine is the Kingdom His Omnipotence Thine is the Power His Excellency Thine is the Glory His Eternity All these are Thine for ever Q. What observe you in the Manner of our Saviour's ascribing these Attributes to God A. First The Eminency of them intimated in the Particle The The Kingdom the Power and the Glory signifying his the Highest and Chiefest of all these And Secondly The Propriety of them in the Particle Thine to note to us that they are God's onely Originally Independently and Unchangeably Q. What observe you from the illative Particle For when ye say For thine is the Kingdom c. A. This word carries in it the Force of a Reason both why we should pray unto God and why we may expect to be heard when we pray Q. How is it a Reason for us to pray unto God A. We pray unto God because he alone is able to relieve us For his is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever Q. How is it a Reason for us to expect that God should hear our Prayers A. Many ways 1. His is the Kingdom and we his Subjects and therefore we may depend on him as our King for Help and Protection 2. His is the Power and therefore he is able to do for us abundantly above what we are able to ask or think 3. His is the Glory and therefore what we ask for his Honour and Praise shall be granted us 4. All these are his for ever and therefore we may be assured that at no time the Prayer of Faith shall be in vain Q. What observe you from our Saviour's teaching us to use these Arguments and Pleas in our Prayers to God A. Two things 1. In our Prayers we ought to plead with God by weighty and inforcing Reasons 2. That the most prevailing Arguments in Prayer are to be taken from the Attributes of God Q. What benefit is there in using such Reasons since God cannot by them be moved to alter his Purposes A The stronger our Reasons are to sue for Mercies the more fervent will our Prayers be and the more confirmed our Faith Q. How doth the Consideration of the Kingdom 's being God s confirm our Faith that we shall obtain what we pray for A. Many ways 1. The Kingdom is God's and therefore he will see that his Name be hallowed in it for he is a King jealous of his Honour 2. The Kingdom is God's therefore he will take care for the Establishment and Enlargement of it since it is his own Interest and Concern 3. The Kingdom is God's and therefore he will look to be obeyed in it without which Royalty is but Pageantry 4. The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may expect our daily Bread and temporal Accommodations for it is a Kingly Office to provide things necessary for their Subjects 5. The Kingdom is God's and therefore we pray to him for Pardon and Forgiveness since it is a Royal Prerogative to forgive Offenders 6. The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may pray in Faith that he would deliver us from Temptations and the Evils to which we are tempted for one great End of Government is to protect the Subjects from the Assaults of their cruel Enemies Q. Which is the second Attribute ascribed unto God in the Doxology of the Lord's Prayer A. Power in these words And the Power Q. How is the Power of God distinguished A. Into his absolute and his ordinate Power Q. What call you the absolute Power of God A. The absolute Power of God is that whereby he is simply able to produce whatsoever is possible to be i. e. all things which imply not Contradiction Q. What call you God's ordinate Power A. God's ordinate Power is that whereby he is able to produce those things which according to his Will shall come to pass Q. Why is it called God's ordinate Power A. Because the Effects of it are limited by the Ordination of his Wisdom and Will Psal 115.3 But our God is in the Heavens he hath done whatsoever he pleased Psal 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven and Earth in the Seas and all deep Places Q. Is God's
one of the same Mold and Materials with thy self one to whom perhaps thou art no way Superiour unless that he hath now given thee an opportunity of pardoning him one who possibly may hereafter be helpful unto thee and in Agreement and Peace with whom thou mayest find much Comfort and Good to thy self shouldst thou not much more forgive him Certainly God may very well think thee unworthy of his Pardon who art infinitely his Inferiour if thou canst not think those worthy of thy Pardon who in Nature are thy Equals Secondly Consider the Wrongs and Debts that God hath forgiven thee are infinitely greater than those thou art to forgive unto Men Their Offences against thee are but Pence but thine against God are Talents And as there is a vast disproportion in the Nature of the Offences so is there likewise in the Number of them The Servant in the Parable whom his Lord forgave owed him ten thousand Talents but his Fellow-Servant whom this Wretch would not forgive owed him but an hundred Pence Matth. 18. So is it with us our Sins against God for the greatness of them are Talents for the number of them are ten thousand in every thing we do we wrong the Glory of God and are continualling offending him But Men do not always wrong us or if they did yet the least of our Offences against God is far more hainous than the greatest of Men's can be against us we cannot speak of him nor to him but that by our unworthy and low Conceptions we revile him far more than any Man can do us by the most studied and bitter invectives The least irreverend thought of God is a greater injury against him than it would be against us if Men should wound or stab us And yet although thy Deeds be as great as Talents and so numerous as many thousand Talents yet thy Lord and Master frankly forgave thee all And this should by all the obligations of ingenuity constrain thee to forgive thy Fellow-Servant so small Debts as a hundred Pence when he hath not wherewithal to make thee satisfaction See how our Saviour presseth this in the fore-cited place Matth. 18.32 I forgave thee all that Debt thou owedst me because thou desiredst me and shouldst not thou have had compassion on thy Fellow-Servant as I had pity on thee Certainly if ever thou accountedst the pardoning Grace and Mercy of God sweet and precious I will not say thou shouldst be glad of Wrongs that than mightest have occasion to pardon them but yet certainly thou shouldst most cordially embrace all such occasions if it were but only to recommend the excellency of thy Charity unto others as Divine Love hath recommend its Fullness and Riches to thy dearest esteem And that 's the Second But Thirdly Consider the binding Particle in the Text Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors And now think with thy self that thou dost but bind and seal the guilt of thy Sins upon thy own Soul unless thou art willing and ready to forgive others Thou who art revengeful and implacable instead of praying pronouncest the most direful and dreadful Curse that can be against thy self and beggest of God no more to forgive thee than thou dost forgive those that have offended thee and so thy Prayer is not only turned into Sin but into a Snare and Curse and thou passest upon thy self the tremendous Sentence of thine own Eternal Damnation for if thou prayest that God would forgive thee as thou forgivest others thou either cursest thy self or else thou must forgive them Now this forgiving of others must have these Qualifications First It must be unfeigned and cordial from thy very Heart and Soul for so thou wouldst have God forgive thee It is not enough to forbear outward Revenge but thou must not harbour in thy Breast the least grudge or prejudice against them God forgives so as to forget but if thou keepest Malice raked up in thy Heart till thou canst find a fit opportunity to vent it in Revenges how canst thou but expect that God likewise should take his advantage against thee and when it would make most for the Glory of his Justice break forth upon thee and exercise his vengeance in thy everlasting Destruction Secondly Thou art obliged likewise to forgive freely without any Recompence or Satisfaction from others If the injury be supportable we ought not so much as expect or desire Satisfaction if it be otherwise and yet the persons offending unable to make Satisfaction we ought to forgive them without taking any unmerciful Revenge upon them which is the wicked custom of many who will cast their insufficient Debtors into Prison and there let them starve and rot though by this cruelty they cannot satisfie their Debt but their Malice and Revenge Thirdly We must forgive others fully and compleatly for God doth so He pardons our sins so fully that they are in his account as if they had never been committed and so must we pardon injuries wholly and fully as if there had never been any done us This the Apostle observes towards the Galatians who were a People as injurious to his Ministery and Authority as any could be and yet he forgives it so fully that he tells them Gal. 4.12 Brethren I beseech you be as I am for I am as you are you have not injured me at all And to express all this we must blot out the remembrance of all wrongs and be ready chearfully to take all occasions to do good unto them yea not only to take them but to seek them This will be a plain Evidence that on Leaven of Malice or Revenge hath soured our Spirits Well then to sum and close up all What is it thou canst plead for Revenge which the consideration of God's pardoning thee will not abundantly answer Is it that the wrongs that others have done thee are great and insupportable What are they more intolerable than thy sins against God Is it that he is a vile and inferiour person unto thee How much more art thou so unto God Is it that he hath often wronged thee Are they not ten thousand Talents that God hath forgiven thee Is it that he will be emboldened to wrong and injure thee again Possibly so but thou art not certain of it However consider how often thou hast abused the Mercy of God to encourage thee in sinning against him Is it that Men will think thee base and cowardly if thou puttest up such wrongs and injuries Seek thou the Honour that cometh from God and not the vain foolish Repute of Men. But is God indeed accounted Faithful in pardoning thee or doth he spare thee because he dare not strike thee Certainly there is no offence nor an aggravavation of any offence that can be pleaded as a Reason for Revenge but the same may in a greater measure and in a higher proportion be pleaded why God should Revenge himself upon thee and yet if notwithstanding this thou