benefit in the latter but yet not such as may with Considerable Advantage preponderate the Contentment of Lust which is present and sensible there ought to be a Conviction of such an Inconvenience in the former and such a Benefit in the latter as may most evidently and clearly preponderate the Contentment and Advantage of the satisfying of a Lust 3. And because though these Inconveniences and Benefits be never so great yet if there be but a faint and weak and imperfect Conviction of it it will work but a weak resistance against the Invasions or Rebellions of Lust and a sensible present enjoyment of what delights will easily preponderate the weak and faint and imperfect Convictions or Suspicions rather of what is Future It is necessary that such Convictions should be Sound Deep and Strong or otherwise they will be but Sluggish and Languishing opponents against the Rhetorick of Lusts that yield a present Delight or Advantage 4. And because though the Convictions are never so strong yet if they be not Accompanied with Constancy Vigilancy and supplemental Excitations as the opportunity requires the Constant and perpetual Importunity of Lust may happen upon a time of Intermission and gain an Advantage against a Soul habitually thus Convinced it is further necessary that there be a Frequent Constant Acting of that Conviction upon the Soul or otherwise it may be Intangled by the Assiduous Importunities of his Lusts These things being thus premised it is necessary to see what kind of Means it must be that must work such a Conviction of such weight and evidence that may rectifie the Judgment in reference to this Contest with the sensual Appetite and actuate such a Conviction to attain its due effect Moral Philosophy contains in it excellent Precepts and Reasonings to the subjecting of the sensual Appetite to the dictate of Reason and to a Moral Cleansing of the Heart But it cannot attain its end for though it propounds Inconveniences on the one side and Conveniences on the other yet they have great defects that make it Ineffectual The things which it proposeth are in themselves of unequal weight to the Pleasure and Content of satisfying the sensual Appetite viz. On the one side Fame and Glory and Reputation and Serenity of mind on the other side the Baseness of Lust in Comparison of the excellency of Reason that it is a thing common to us with the Beast and such like and therefore though these be fine Notions and such as may be weighty with old Men whose Lusts have left them yet with young Men they Import nothing And therefore the Philosopher well provides for it by determining that Juvenis non est idoneus auditor Moralis Philosophiae and Consequently it is a kind of Physick that may be good for them that need it not but of no use for them that want it for the truth is the Fame and the Infamy are not of weight equivalent to Counterpoise the satisfaction of a Lust in those that are Inclinable to them 2. Another great defect in the things propounded is this that is also common to Humane Laws that though they may be of some efficacy to prevent the External Act when it meets with Infamy in the Action or Reputation in the forbearing yet it doth inevitably give a dispensation to Sin if committed with Secrecy much less doth it at all Cleanse the Heart from the love of Lust the delight in it the Contemplation of it We are therefore to search for a higher or more effectual Conviction than this and therefore 1. We must see whether there be any thing that propounds some thing that may over ballance the Advantage of Lust or the love of it in the Heart 2. A means of Conviction of the truth and reality of the thing so propounded For the former it is apparent that the Sacred Scriptures and they alone do furnish us with such materials prohibiting not only the Acts of Lust but also the very Motions and Inclinations to it the Desires of the Heart of it the Love of the Heart to it and this under pain of the displeasure of God everlasting Death Hell fire on the one side on the other side in case of Obedience to this Command the Favor of God Everlasting Life and Happiness and in order to the discovering whether our Hearts walk in Sincerity according to the Command of God assures us that God beholds and observes the Motions Desires Inclinations Thoughts and Purposes of our Hearts and will one day lay them open When the secrets of all Hearts shall be Revealed And these are things that are of such a Nature as preponderates all the good that can be in Lust furnisheth the Soul with such Arguments against it as carries thunder in them 2. And that these may be effectually assented to by the Soul without which they Import nothing to the end we speak of there are these effectual Means which Almighty God affords us First The word of God which doth not only contain Materials and Perswasions for the Cleansing of the Heart but also a high evidence of the Truth and Reality and Benefit of those Materials and Perswasions it is a Convincing and a Cleansing word Jo. 15.3 Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you Secondly A high Congruity of the word of God in relation to a future life of Rewards and Punishments unto the very Sentiments of Reason and the light of Nature it self the Sense of which life of future Rewards and Punishments carries with it not only a Conviction of the great Advantage of a Clean Heart above an Unclean Heart but also a very effectual motive to the Cleansing of the Heart greater and more vigorous than all the Arguments of the best Philosophers Thirdly The Powerful Spirit of God works up in the Soul an assent unto them and that of such a strength as is no less Convincing than Science it self which is Faith and therefore Faith thus wrought purifies the Heart as well as the life 3. And for a Constant and un-intermitted Application and re-minding us of these Truths God is pleased to assist us with the continual assisting Grace of his Spirit acting in and by the Conscience which is in a great measure cleansed quickned and actuated which watcheth us and our very Thoughts and Chides them re-minding us of these great Truths which we have received and thereby actuating and acting our Faith of these Truths as often as the occasion offers it self 5. And by this means 1. The Intellectual Power of the Soul is restored in a great measure to its primitive Dominion or at least is qualified aright in order to the exercising of it 2. The Will wherein indeed the Empire of the Soul is principally seated is likewise restored to its Domination and Rule 1. Partly by these Impressions which are as before received by the Understanding and the practical Determination thereof for it is clearly presented now to her that it is the Greater
freely to us Therefore we are certain that we cannot be disappointed nor consequently have any ground of impatience or discontent in that which is our unum magnum the thing we chiefly value He that sets his intirest love on God yet hath a liberty to issue a subordinate portion of love to other good things as Health Peace Opportunities to do Good Wife Children Friends And in these he may be crossed and disappointed But the predominant love of God delivers the Soul from Discontent and Impatience even under these losses 1. Because the Soul is still assured of what it most values the love of God returned to the Soul which compensates and drowns the other loss and the discontent that may arise upon it 2. Because the Heart is satisfied that these losses come from the hand of him whom he loves of whose Truth Wisdom Love and Goodness he hath assurance and therefore will be delivered out in measure upon most just Grounds and for most excellent ends He sends an Instruction along with his Rod and the Soul reads love as well in the Rod of God as his Staff 3. Because the Love of God taking up the principal bent and strength of the Soul leaves but a gentle and moderate Affection to the things it loseth and consequently a gentle and easie parting with them or being without them The great tumult and disorder that is made in the mind upon Losses Crosses or Discontents is not so much from the Intrinsical Value of the things themselves but from the Estimation that is put upon them were the love to them no more than they deserve the Discontent and Impatience in the loss would be very little Our chiefest love when it is placed upon God it is placed where it should be and the mind is then in its right frame and temper and dispenseth his love to other things regularly and orderly and proportionably to their worth and thereby the Discontent or Trouble that ariseth upon their Loss or Disappointment is weighed out according to their true value agreeable to the just measure of Reason and Prudence But when our love is out of his place it becomes Immoderate and Disorderly and consequently the Discontents that arise upon Disappointments in the things we immoderately love become Immoderate Exorbitant Discontents Impatience and Perturbation of Mind 4. Our love to God brings us to a free Resignation of our will to His For we therefore love him because we conclude him most Wise most Bountiful most Merciful most Just most Perfect and therefore must of necessity conclude that his Will is the best Will and fit to be the measure and rule of ours and not ours of his And in as much as we conclude that no Loss or Cross befals us without his Will we do likewise conclude that it is most fit to be born And because he never Wills any thing but upon most Wise and Just Reasons we conclude that surely there are such Reasons in this Dispensation and we study and search and try whether we can spell out those Reasons of his OF MODERATION OF ANGER THe Helps against Immoderate Anger are of two kinds 1. Previous Considerations before the occasion is offered to habituate the Mind to gentleness and quietness 2. Expedients that serve to allay or divert Anger when the occasion is offered Of the first sort are these 1. The consideration of our own Failings especially in reference to Almighty God and our duty to him which are much greater than any demerits of others toward us I provoke my Creator daily and yet I desire his Patience towards me and find it With what face can I expect gentleness from my Creator if every small provocation from my fellow Creature puts me into passion 2. The consideration of the Vnreasonableness of that Distemper in respect of my self It puts me into a Perturbation and makes me unuseful for my self or others while the distemper is upon me It breaks and discomposeth my thoughts and makes me unfit for business It disorders my Constitution of Body till the storm be over It discovers to others my Impotency of Mind and is more perceived and observed by others than it can be by my self It gratifies my Adversary when by my Passion I improve his Injury beyond the value of it and injure and torment and damnifie my self more by my own Perturbation than he can by the injury he doth It evidenceth a Prevalence of my more inferior and sensual part common to me with the Beasts above my Reasonable and more Noble part Sometimes indeed a Personated Anger managed with Judgment is of singular use especially in persons in Authority but such an Anger is but a painted fire and without perturbation But a Passionate Anger upon Injuries received or upon sudden Conceptions of them is always without any end at all of Good either intended or effected Nay It is an impediment to the attaining of any Good end because it blinds the Judgment and transports Men into inconsiderate Gestures Words and Actions 3. Consideration in respect of others even of the very persons provoking It may be they are Instruments permitted by God as his Instruments either to correct or try me Peradventure God hath bidden Shimei curse David be not too violent against the Instrument lest peradventure thou oppose therein the principal Agent Again many Men are of such a pitiful constitution that their injuries arise from very Impotence of Mind in them Shall I be angry with them because they want that understanding they should have And yet it is very strange to see the weakness and folly of our nature in this Passion that it will break into a Perturbation even with Children Drunken Men Mad-men Beasts yea very dumb things Witness our anger with the Cards and Dice when their chances please us not which shews the Unreasonableness and Frenzy of this Passion 2. There be some Expedients against it even when the occasion is offered 1. Carry always a Jealousie over thy Passion and a strict Watch upon it Take up this peremptory Resolution and Practice I will not be angry though an occasion be administred And let the return upon that Resolution be the first act after the Provocation given For if a Man can but bring himself to this pass that he take not fire upon the first offer the Passion will cool A Man calls then his Reason about him and debates with himself Is there cause I should be angry Or is there any Good end attainable by it Or if it be what is the just medium or size or measure of Anger proportionable to that end And these Considerations will break the first on-set of Passion and then it seldom prevails For it is the first Wave that carries on the Perturbation to the end which if it be broken at the first Serenity of Mind is preserved with much Contentation and sense of advantage 2. Take up this Resolution never to give thy self leave to be angry till thou seest the just
Goodness and all Perfection unto him than possibly I can discover by any of these Manifestations considering that all his Works put together cannot speak his Fulness If I could see all the Glory of God that all the Works of God in the whole World do bear upon them yet I must needs conclude in reason that they are infinitely short of that Perfection which he hath in him for he must needs have a residue of Power and Wisdom infinitely more than commensurate to all his Works put together but alas I see but a part of his Works and so narrow is my capacity that I find plainly I cannot reach to the bottom of any Work nor search it out nor his Power Wisdom and Glory that lyes in a fly or worm to the uttermost and yet I see so much as doth astonish me and confound me even in the least of all his Workings what measure then must his own Fulness amount unto and this made David and the other Saints of God whose Eyes he had opened even to lose themselves in the Contemplations and Expressions of the Goodness and Greatness of God 5. Areturn of infinite Fear and Reverence Love Dependance Submission and Obedience and of all the choicest and sweetest motions of our Souls to him as the just desert of his Goodness and Truth and the just Tribute due to his Majesty and Glory And this is the Sanctifying of the Lord of Hosts Isa 8.17 And thus he will be sanctified by all them that draw near unto him Levit. 10.3 The Sanctifying of the Lord in the heart 1 Pet. 3.15 4. And as these affections and motions are made in the heart so by all External Expressions of the tongue to evidence that inward conviction and affection of the Soul and as much as in us lyes to propagate and proclaim to all the World the Glory due to God by acknowledging openly his Truth 1 Kings 18.39 When the people saw the miracle of the fire devouring the water they fell on their faces and said The Lord he is God the Lord he is God By ascribing Greatness Deut. 32. Strength Psalm 68.34 Glory Psal 96.8 unto his Name by publishing his Name Deut. 32.3 Singing forth his Honour Psalm 66.2 Exalting his Name Psalm 34.3 causing it to be had in remembrance Psalm 45.27 Magnifying his works Job 36.24 by inviting and exciting all the Creatures in the World according to their uttermost activity to praise his Name Psal 148.5 Out of the abundance of the Heart thus possessed with the sense of the Perfection of God the mouth will speak 5. That from the same Principle in the heart the lives of Men and Angels may bring Glory and Honour to God that is by Conformity of their Natures and lives to the will of God concerning them Other Creatures by a passive Conformity unto the Will of God bring Glory unto him viz. by moving as they are moved by those natural Instincts that are put in them but to Men and Angels God hath given that Honour to have in them an active Principle not only to be conformed but to conform to the Will of God and to bring Glory to his Name and when by our sin and contracted Corruption Mankind hath disabled himself to exercise that power which God once gave him to glorifie his Creator Christ came to restore him again to such a condition that he might actively bring Glory to God by an active Conformity to the Mind and Will of God 2 Cor. 5.15 For this Cause he died that they which live should not live to themselves but unto him that died for them Tit. 2.14 ad idem And this was a principal part of that Reconciliation that he wrought viz. as for the things that were past reconciling God to Man by Forgiveness and Pardon so for the time to come reconciling Man to God by Conformity to Him and his Will Sin made an unlikeness of Man to God and thereby destroyed the Image of God in Man for an Image consists in the likeness of another thing Christ came to restore that Image again Colos 3.10 And that not to rest meerly in the internal Dispositions of the Soul but that as he that hath called us is holy we should be holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.13 Which is impossible to be severed so that the former should be without the Latter for as out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaks so out of the same abundance the hand worketh and the sanctification of the Mind can as ill be contained within the Heart without some Expression in the Life as any other temper or disposition of the Mind can be restrained from discovering it self That Communion that Moses had with God in the Mount imprinted a Glory on his Face and that Image of God the conformity of the Heart unto him will shine through into the Life and that out of a double Principle 1. As a connatural Consequence of the inward disposition 2. Out of the Love and Obedience to God Matth. 5.16 That men may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven So that when I pray that the Name of God may be Sanctified I do desire that God would in Christ re-imprint his Image upon Man that he would renew him in the Spirit of his Mind and restore him to a Conformity unto his Divine Will which is our Sanctification 1 Thes 4.3 And that the outward Conversation of Men may be sutable to this inward Conformity in all Obedience to the good pleasure of God that as they profess his Name so they may appear to be his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Ephes 2.10 And walk worthy of God 1 Thes 2.12 That others beholding their good works may glorifie God 1 Pet. 2.12 Now the Opposites to this Petition is Blasphemy and Cursing the Name of God for to that heighth of vill any the corruption of Nature hath risen That that fearful and terrible Name Psal 99.3 Deut. 28.58 hath not escaped the blasphemous Tongues of Men despising his Majesty Job 21.15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him Exod. 5.2 Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice Taking his Name in vain using of it lightly or irreverently It is a terrible Name and not to be used without summoning up of all the awe and reverence of our hearts or falsly either in solemn oaths swearing falsly by his Name or pretending messages from him that he never sent Jer. 14.14 Prophesying Lyes in his Name whereby a dishonour is brought upon his Truth Pride Arrogancie and Self-admiration these intercept the Glory due unto God and usurp that which is only due unto him and most dear to him Isa 48.11 My Glory will not I give to another Therefore God doth in a special manner hate Pro. 6.17 Pro. 9.13 and resist it and them Jam. 4.6 when Herod intercepted the Glory of the People and entertained it and gave not God the Glory the
Angel of the Lord smote him Acts 12.23 and when the great King was puffed up with the greatness of his Glory and Power then the Message comes that the Kingdom is departed from him Dan. 4.13 And commonly God takes that season to punish the whole stock of Sins that a man hath committed when his heart is most lifted up Pro. 16.18 Pride goeth before destruction Again Presumptuous Sins these bid defiance to the Name of God to his Truth his Justice his Power his Presence Deut. 29.20 The Jealousie of God will smoke against such a Man Scandalous Sins in those that bear or profess the Name of God 2 Sam. 12.14 by this occasion is given to the Enemies of God to blaspheme Inadvertence and want of Consideration of the Works of God Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operations of his hands therefore shall he destroy them and not build them up Psal 28.5 God therefore doth dispense many of his works of Providence that Men should wisely consider of his doings and declare his work Psal 64.9 This Inadvertence partly disappointeth God of his End and robbeth him of his Glory Misapplication of events either to false causes Idols Fate Fortune or only to Second causes without the due attribution of all to the most Wise and Powerful Counsel of the Mighty Lord Deut. 8.17 18. And thou say in thy Heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is hee that giveth thee power to get Wealth So for promotion Psal 75.6 Victory Isay 10.5 O Assyrian the Rod of mine anger 13. but he saith by the strength of mine hand have I done this and by my Wisdom And as in things concerning others this Observation is to be used so principally in the Occurrences and Providences concerning thy self to labour to know that all things that befal thee come from the most Wise and Just hand of God in all thy Blessings acknowledge his Mercy and labour to find him in them in all thy Afflictions acknowledge his Justice and his Wisdom Labour to find out the Cause and give him the Glory Now concerning the Order of this Petition it fell not in the first place by Chance but he that was the Wisdom of the Father placed it there upon most just Reasons 1. The Glory of God is that which is first to be sought for because it is the chief End of God in all things and that which he principally intended He made all things for his Glory Vide Isa 43.7 21. The first and highest Duty of Man is to Love God and Love to God will carry the Heart to desire that first which God first wills in so much as if the Glory of God must be lost or the Soul that loves him the perfection of Love will choose the preservation of his Glory rather than of it self if it were possible Vide Exod. 32.33 Rom. 9.3 2. It is the Justest and only Tribute that all Creatures can return to God for their Being and Blessing Such is his infinite Self-sufficiencie that it is impossible he can receive any good from them that receive their Being from him Job 35.7 If thou be righteous what givest thou him Psal 16.2 My goodness extendeth not to thee But the return of the Honour and Glory and acknowledgment of his Goodness is all that the Creature can give and that he is pleased to accept Psal 50.15 I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 116.12 Whatshall I return unto the Lord for all his benefits to me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created And according to this Debt of Duty which the Creatures owe to God for their being so we find them according to their several capacities and conditions bringing in their Tribute Revel 5.13 And every Creature which is in Heaven in the Earth and under the Earth and in the Sea heard I saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for Ever and Ever 3. It is the best preparative for the Heart that approacheth to God in Prayer to be first taken up withal If in the ordinary Actions of our Nature the Glory of God should affect our heart and be the End at which we should aim 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye Eat or Drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the Glory of God And if the Son of God in this Pattern of Prayer begins his Petitions with the sanctifying of his Name it is certainly most necessary that the heart of him that sets upon this Duty be taken up with the consideration of the Honour and Majesty of him who will be sanctified by all that draw near unto him and to carry that End through all our Prayers lest while we repeat the words of this Petition we take the Name of God in vain seemingly praying for the Glorifying of that Name which we at the same time dishonour either for want of a due consideration of his Majesty or for want of making his Glory the Rule and End of our Prayers This first Petition therefore requires that the Heart be duly affected with the Glory of that Name which it invokes and duly acted and directed to that Glory and that this Petition be drawn through all the rest of our Requests These ensuing Considerations therefore arise from the placing of this Petition first in this Prayer 1. As thou prayest that his Name be hallowed so in all thy Request labour to Sanctifie the Lord in thy Heart Sanctifie him in his Greatness and Majesty with honourable and reverent thoughts of him in thy Heart with an aweful and humble carriage both of thy inward and outward man as in the presence of the Great and Glorious King of Heaven and Earth Sanctifie him in his Authority and Sovereignty by calling upon him in Obedience to his Command and Will who hath Commanded it by acknowledgment of thy dependance upon him Sanctifie him in his Power and All-sufficiencie by casting thy self upon him who is Mighty to Save and to fulfil thy most Extensive and Large Requests Sanctifie him in his Goodness and Mercy which is infinite more large to pardon thy Sins to supply thy Wants and to fill thee with all good Things than thy Necessities or the widest compass of thy Soul can be to ask Sanctifie him in his Truth and Faithfulness by a recumbence and resting upon his Promises that no one thing shall fail of all the good things that he hath spoken that no man shall seek his Face in vain that he that hath said Whatsoever thou shalt ask in his Son's Name he will give it that hath granted us access unto him upon the purchase of his Son's Blood will in no sort
stifle it mingle thy Word in our Hearts with Faith that may purifie our Hearts and make thy Word powerful to the subduing of all those strong holds and oppositions that stand out against it thy Will in Heaven is a Perfect Pure and Holy Will send out such discoveries of thy Will that we may know it in the Spiritualness and Truth of it vindicated from the false Glosses that the Corruptions and degenerations of the times or our own deceitful and false Hearts are apt to put upon it and that thy Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven let it be known on Earth as it is in Heaven 2. Because the only true principle of Obedience is Love shed abroad thy Love in our Hearts and because the sense of thy Love to us is the cause and ground of our Love to thee shew us the greatness and fullness of thy Love to us in Christ and that will reflect acts of Love to thee again and make us ready and willing to obey thy Will and exceeding thankful to thee that thou art pleased to accept the sincere though imperfect obedience of thy Creature 3. And because the end of the manifestation of thy Love to Mankind in Christ was to redeem us from all Iniquity and to purifie unto thy self a peculiar People zealous of good Works Tit. 2.14 And in as much as our conformity to thy Will as it is our Perfection so it is the Great and Just Tribute that we owe unto thee for our Being as Creatures and much more for our Redemption as redeemed and purchased Creatures Let all our Thoughts Words and Works be universally subject and obedient to thy Will revealed in thy Son that we may be Holy as thou art Holy in all manner of Conversation purge our Hearts from vain and unprofitable Thoughts from sinful and polluted thoughts from Devilish and Atheistical thoughts and let our thoughts be such as becomes the presence of God before whom they are all naked and legible such as becomes that Heart where Christ is pleased to make his residence Pious Charitable Pure Chast Clean Sober Humble thoughts fit to be attendants upon so Heavenly a Guest wash my Tongue from that fire of Hell that is naturally in it James 3.6 deliver it from blasphemous Atheistical calumniating uncharitable false vain and unprofitable words and let me use my Tongue as one whose words are all Registred and that must give an account for every idle word Let my Speeches be seasoned with salt glorifying thy Name edifying others true profitable seasonable serious charitable discreet for by my words I shall be justified and by my words I shall be condemned Deliver me from all sinful impure unseemly unjust Actions in the first life of any action or intention let me bring them to the Rule of thy Word to the Rule of my Conscience to the Rule of thy Presence and impartially measure them thereby and if they will not abide that Examination or upon that Examination want their due conformity let me reject them without any more reasonings or disputings In all my actions relating immediately to thy Majesty Let them be warrantable pious sincere reverent humble in all my actions relating to others let them be full of Justice Charity free from Revenge disdain fullenness measuring out impartially as in the presence of God the same measure which I would desire to be done unto my self in all my actions relating to my self let there be sobriety temperance moderation seasonableness And let all this be done out of that only true principle of obedience Love to God presented unto him upon that only ground of acceptation Jesus Christ and seasoned with that acceptable grace of Humility If when I have done all that is injoyned I am but an unprofitable Servant how unprofitable am I when I Infinitely fail of what I am Commanded And as I pray that the things that thou willest to be done in Heaven may be done by us on Earth so I desire that that Heavenly Will of thine may be done on Earth as thy Will is done in Heaven by those Glorious and Pure Creatures that alwayes behold thy Face Perfectly Universally Speedily Cheerfully Humbly 1. Perfectly The Angels do clearly discern and know the Will of God by a double act 1. On God's part a Clear Emanation or Beam of the Mind of God shining into their clear intellectual Nature and conveying into them a perfect discovery of the Mind and Will of God concerning them 2. On their part by a clear Intuition of God and beholding his Mind and Will in him concerning them the Wise God having fitted their Natures with such a measure of intuition of him whereby though they cannot see all his Perfections yet they are fitted and inabled to see so much as is suitable to their Nature conducible to the fulness of that Perfection which they are capable of and to the performance of that active service which he requires of them And as thus they perfectly know His Will so Their Wills are most purely inclined and moved to the obedience of it there is no mixture of impurity or resistance in their wills against the Will of God no mixture of Hypocrisie or base self-Ends for their Pure Natures are taken up with a fulness of Love of God as large and comprehensive as their Natures and upon that principle they move in all their acts of obedience and they clearly see that their highest Perfection consists in the most Even and Unbyassed Conformity to the Command of God and so the more perfect their Obedience is the more absolute is their Perfection they need no other motive to obey him but this that it is the most Perfect Command of the most Perfect and Wise and Holy God And as thus their Minds and Wills are fashioned and fitted to a most perfect obedience so they are indued with a Power from God exactly commensurate to an exact performance of his Will whether it be in their reflexed actions unto God or whether it be in their instrumental actions unto others If God command an Angel to destroy an Host of the Assyrians he can dispatch 185000 of them in one night if he command an Angel to deliver Daniel out of the Lions Den he can shut the Lions Mouth that they shall be rather his Guard than his Executioners Dan. 6.22 If he command an Angel to deliver Peter out of the Prison he can make his Chains fall off from him like the towe when it feeleth the fire Acts 12.7 When he commands an Angel to comfort his Son though under a pressure and weight more heavy to his Soul than the weight of the whole Earth he can dart into the tender and vital parts of the Soul such Comforts and Cordials that can enable his humanity to bear that burden Luke 22.43 When he commands an Angel to attend the Resurrection of his Son he can at the same instant shake terror and amazement and dissolution into the Spirits of
of God to soften that heart again 2. Make a frequent and serious Examination of thy past Actions measure them by the Rule of the Word of God and find out that accursed thing whatsoever it be that is displeasing to him so that as much as may be thou maist distinctly and with reference to particular sins or faults or failings pray over this Petition There is not a day but by a wary observation thou wilt not only find a general indistinct distemper which is to be the subject of this request but particular special eminent Evils that deserve a particular reflection upon them in the repetition of this Petition Let us search and try our wayes and turn to the Lord our God And to this end 3. Endeavour to keep thy Conscience always Wakeful Vigilant Tender be content to listen to her chidings she soldom quarrels without a cause but suppressing checking and stifling the language of Conscience makes her at last either sullen or senseless or outragious A vigilant Conscience will prevent thee from many sins but if it do not it will tell thee of them and bring thee upon thy knees and make this Petition seasonable and a Pardon gotten thereupon acceptable and comfortable for how can that Man with any sense beg Pardon for a sin when he scarce finds himself sensibly guilty of any This Petition is delivered up but carelesly and coldly and fruitlesly by such a person 4. Give God the Honour of his Justice even when thou suest for the Benefit of his Mercy in aggravation of thy sins to the due height in owning damnation and utter rejection as the just reward of every sin humble thy Soul truely and deeply for it This will make thy Prayer earnest and thy Pardon dear it gives to God the Honour of his Justice and the Glory of his Mercy which is all the Tribute thou can'st pay unto him for his free Goodness in giving thee that Pardon without which thou wert eternally lost 5. Give thy Mediator the Honour and End of thy Redemption Thy Saviour died it is true to obtain thy Pardon but wilt thou continue in sin that Grace may abound sin that thou maist be pardoned and renew thy sins that God may renew his Pardon God forbid Thou dost as much as in thee lyeth disappoint the End of Christ's Death who therefore died that he might redeem unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Let the begging of thy Pardon be ever accompanied with a resolution not to offend again otherwise God that sees thy heart looks upon thy asking of Pardon as a higher and more impudent and presumptuous sin than that which thou seemest to beg the forgiveness of 6. Upon the discovery of any particular sin which in a special manner concerns thee beware of these things 1. Sleeping in it without recourse to God for Pardon for it or slipping over it in thy Prayer without a particular animadversion upon it Be content to open this sore The longer it is kept covered the worse it is Thou must know that every sin is written before God with a point of a Diamond and though thou art contented to forget it or by incursion of time to wear out the remembrance or at least the horror of it yet it is written and thou shalt be sure to hear of it and the longer it continues the harder thy heart grows and the deeper doth the canker and stain of that Sin work and spread into thy Soul and the more difficultly is thy Pardon obtained and yet the less earnestly sought It is a secret curse in thy bosom that makes all thy services to God unacceptable and unsavory and who can tell when the decree may come out when this Sin will ripen into an eminent Judgment Therefore clear thy account with God betimes let not the guilt of a Sin lye long upon thy conscience but make thy peace betimes sue out thy Pardon speedily Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth 2. Yet after a Sin freshly committed fall not presently to beg thy Pardon till thou hast humbled thy Heart and put it into a fit frame to come into the presence of God till thou hast got a sense that it is an evil thing and a bitter to depart from him till thou hast crept to thy Saviours Feet for his Blood to wash thee and for his Righteousness to cover thee and for his Mediation to bring thee otherwise a defiled polluted creature into his Fathers presence under his Patronage till thou hast mourned over him whom thou hast pierced and been ashamed before him of thy miscarriage and acted thy Faith upon his All-sufficient satisfaction till thou hast taken up Resolutions of future amendment and then in the Name and Mediation of thy Saviour fall upon thy knees and beg thy Pardon As we forgive our Debtors Luk. 12. For we forgive our Debtors Here we Learn 1. That it is our Duty to forgive others Matt. 18.21 22. Upon their repentance Luk. 17.4 If he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him and that upon these considerations 1. From that conformity that is or should be in our Nature to the Nature of God he is slow to anger and of great Mercy Psal 145.8 Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy Mic. 7.18 And Christ coming to renew the broken Image of God in Man and to renew him after the Image of him that created him doth enjoyn imprint this part of the Divine Image Luk. 6.36 Be ye merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful And Mercy in the Heart is that excellent habit from whence forgiveness proceeds And hence it is that where the Spirit of Christ comes it assimilates the Nature to that disposition Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is Long-suffering Gentleness Meekness 2. From that great commandment enjoyned by God in the Moral Law Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self And much more inforced under the new Covenant even to the Love of our very Enemies Matt. 5.44 I say unto you Love your Enemies and consequently forgive your Enemies for Love is that affection that produceth Pardon and this injunction lyes upon us under the same obligation whereby we are bound to love our Brethren for the Love we owe to God is that grand Obligation that binds to whatsoever he commands Joh. 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments Therefore if ye love me love and pity and pardon your Enemies 3. From that great Equity and Reason the proportion of Gods dealing with us Matt. 18.32 I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee Colos 3.13 Forbearing one another and forgiving one another even as Christ
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
thou dost find the true cause of thy suffering is for Righteousness sake for keeping a good Conscience for the honour of thy Redeemer for adhering to the Truth and that this is the cause that stirs up evil Angels and evil Men against thee and then indeed thy suffering loseth the name and nature of an Affliction and becomes an Honour a filling up of the measure of thy Saviours sufferings a suffering that hath not only a Blessing in it but it is a very Blessing it self for Blessed are ye Mat. 5.10 if Men persecute you for Righteousness sake Suffering for or under a Sin committed requires thy Repentance and Humiliation for it is a Judgment Suffering without any Sin before hand signally requiring it requires thy Patience and Vigilance it is an Affliction but suffering for the Testimony of a Good Conscience requires thy Rejoycing it is a Persecution But beware thy Heart deceive the not and make thee believe thou sufferest for a Good Conscience when it may be it is for thy Folly or Frowardness in this case though they that inflict Punishment may want somewhat of that Charity and Moderation that is fit yet thou hast reason to repent for thy Folly and not to Glory in thy Suffering we are wonderful apt to believe well of our selves and flatter our selves many times into the title of Persecution when it is but the fruit of our Folly and Inconsiderate Rashness Seventhly Receive and bear all thy Afflictions with Humility and lowliness of mind for it is a Message sent to thee from the most Wise and Soveraign Lord of the World though it may be by the hands of a most vile and unworthy Man It was an excellent temper in David that when his disloyal Subject cursed him restrained the just indignation of his followers Let him alone it may be the Lord hath commanded him to Curse It may be the Instrument executes his own Malice and Spight and it may be thou canst not find any Signal cause of this Affliction even from the hand of God yet be not Vindictive against the Instrument he doth Gods Errand though he vent his own Malice receive Gods Message and leave the Revenge to him that hath reserved it to himself as his own Prerogative and it may be he will burn the Rod when he hath done with it Neither storm at Gods dispensation it may be thou hast deserved it though thou dost not see it or If thou hast not give leave to thy great Soveraign to deal with his Creature as he pleaseth and put thy mouth in the dust Eighthly Receive it Thankfully as well as Humbly Know that it is sent from the most Wise and Merciful God what he doth he doth upon most excellent Grounds and Reasons It may be it is Preventing Physick against a greater mischief It may be it is for an Improvement of thy Grace it may be it is intended as an evidence that thou art a Son and not a Bastard it may be it is to wean thee from the World it may be it is to fit and qualifie thee for a greater Blessing and to give thee a capacity to receive and bear such a Benefit which without the Preparation of an Affliction would make thee Proud it may be it is to make thee an Example a strengthning to others it may be it is because thy Good things are reserved for the better World and therefore thy Evil things are dispensed to thee here If God be thy Father trust his Wisdom because he is God and trust his Love because he is thy Father and then thou canst not doubt that any thing that he sends deserves thy Thanks though thou seest not wherein the Benefit of it lies Be contented herein with an Implicite Faith and be Thankful to him at all adventures A Cup of Wormwood would not be reached to thee from so Wise and so Good a Father but that his Love and thy Benefit is mingled with the bitter Cup though thou canst not at present taste the one or the other Ninthly Bear it Patiently and Quietly 1. If it come for thy Sins thou hast reason to bear it patiently for it is but the fruit of thine own Plant the Crop of thine own Seed Why doth the living Man complain a Man for the Puuishment of his Sin Thou hast procured it to thy self be contented to bear the issue of thine own way 2. Bear it patiently for it might justly have been worse and more severe thou wantest somewhat that another injoys but hast not thou somewhat that another wants thou hast lost a considerable part of thy Estate but hast thou not somewhat left or if thou hast lost all hast thou not still thy Health and thy limbs that may supply thy necessities by honest Labors thou hast lost thy Limbs or thy Health but dost thou not injoy thy Senses and thy Understanding and Reason thou hast lost thy Reputation Honor and Esteem in the World but hast thou not thy Integrity and Uprightness the Witness and Serenity and Peace of thine own Conscience thou hast lost many of thy near Relations but hast thou not some left thou art visited with Sickness and Pain but hast thou not seen some that have had more acute and less strength to bear them and less hopes to be delivered from them and less means to support them but suppose thou hast lost all thy Wealth thy Reputation thy Health thy Friends yet hast thou not Peace with God the Light of his Countenance the Assurance of his Favor the Hope of Eternal Life and wouldst thou exchange this Hope for the return of all thy Temporal Comforts and Advantages believe it that Mans condition cannot be exquisitely miserable where there is any Hope much less where there is such a Hope a Hope that out-weighs whatsoever the World can afford or inflict a Hope that is so much the nearer to fruition by how much the greater thy External pressures are when thou dost deserve the loss of all thou hast reason to be patient if thou dost injoy any thing the Interrogation of the Prophet is pathetical Why doth the living Man complain a Man for the Punishment of his Sin Where there is Life there is Hope and for a sinful Man to complain while he yet is living carries with it the conviction of the unreasonableness of his complaint because he injoys somewhat that yet he deserved to lose 3. Bear it patiently because it is but short though it be never so sharp it may be that the same God that inflicted or permitted it is at this instant resolving to turn thy Captivity to give thee Beauty for Ashes And what an unseemly thing will thy Impatience be How troublesome will the remembrance of it be to thy Soul upon the change of thy condition How much wilt thou be ashamed at thy return of thy undecency of thy carriage under thy Affliction I am perswaded there was nothing more sowred Jobs returning Prosperity than the remembrance of his
former Murmuring and Impatience under the visiting hand of God But again Suppose thy Affliction wait upon thee till thy dissolution yet it is but a Night but an hour of Affliction This Night and this Hour will end with thy life and this life of thine is but a Span and then thy day will dawn and thy Sun will arise and thy Affliction will vanish and never return again 4. Bear it patiently Because thy Patience will shorten thy Affliction The Tryal and Improvement of thy Patience is one of the chief ends and business of thy Afflictions It is sent to teach thee that Lesson and the sooner thou learnest it the sooner the business is dispatched and the Discipline dismist Thy Impatience doth but protract and lengthen out thy Discipline If thou wouldst be discharged of this importunate and troublesome Messenger speedily dispatch his business and he is likely the speedier to leave thee 5. Bear it patiently Because thy Patience will make thy burthen the more easie and tolerable When God sends Afflictions to tame a Man and bring him to a right temper believe it he will not be over-matched he will bring thee down and if one Affliction will not do it he will add more and make thy bond the stronger and can and will yet visit thee sevenfold more till he hath reduced thee to Patience and Humility Struggle not with him for he will be too hard for thee If thou bear thy Yoke patiently thou wilt bear it easily but if thou fling and toss like a Wild Bull in a Net thou mayest hamper thy self worse and thy Yoke will gall thee the more but it will neither break the Net nor the Yoke Be contented therefore Resign up thy self to his Will with Humility and receive the chastisement of thy folly with Patience thou wilt have this double Advantage by it First The great God will then lay no more upon thee for he hath attained his end and purpose by what he hath already inflicted but will either remove it from thee or put his own hand to help thee to bear it Secondly By the quietness and composure of thy mind thou wilt be of greater strength to bear thy burthen and with more ease under it for it is a most certain truth That the turbulency and storming and strugling of the mind is that which makes Affliction more sharp and troublesome than the nature or quality or measure of Affliction it self it is the mind that gives the value and weight of external Prosperity or Adversity Take two Men the one of a proud and great Spirit as they call it the other of a mild humble patient Spirit we shall easily see that a small disgrace or loss shall more afflict and torture the former than Five times as much of either or both shall trouble the latter And this is the true reason why Afflictions at the first are more troublesome and grievous than after though they continue the same At the first they meet with a mind unacquainted with it and contesting against it as a Heifer unaccustomed to the Yoke but when by time and continuance the mind is accustomed to it though the Yoke be the same yet it finds no such severity and importableness in it A Patient Heart gains that habit quickly which custom length of time and necessity doth with more difficulty produce in another temper 6. Bear it patiently because thou hast an Example of greater Patience under a greater Cross in a most innocent person Thy Saviour hath left a Copy of his own Patience for thee to imitate and thy Affliction is sent to thee to teach thee to write after his Copy and to conform thee to the Captain of thy Salvation who was made perfect by suffering consider the disparity of the persons He most innocent without any Sin to deserve it Thou a person laden with Sin that meritoriously deserves as much if not more than thou hast a capacity to bear He the Son of God cloathed with Innocent Flesh Thou a Worm cloathed with Impurity and Sin Consider the disparity of the Sufferings He a Man of Sorrows under the Persecution of those whom he came to save subjected to all the scorns and torments that the wit of most Exquisite Malice could inflict and above all this under the sense even of the wrath and seeming desertion of his Father Thou it may be hast lost some Estate or Reputation or art in Prison or Banishment or Sickness or Pain but under all this dost or mayest injoy that Peace and Pardon and Favor of God that his sufferings purchased for thee The ingredients of His Cup nothing but Gall and Vinegar but thy Cup though never so seemingly bitter yet sanctified and sweetned by His Sufferings And yet under all this As a Sheep before his Shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth though his most Innocent Humane Nature shrunk at the pre-apprehensions of this bitter portion yet with Patience he resigned up his Will to his Father Not my Will but thine be done In sum as His Patience was meritorious and expiatory for thy Sin so it was left as a Patern and Example for thy practice 7. Bear it patiently For it is reached unto thee from the hands of God though it may be by the hands of most vile and accursed instruments and this consideration is enough to tutor thee to an Invincible Patience 1. It is the Dispensation of God who is Infinite in Mercy and Goodness and therefore it is most certain it is a Message of Mercy for He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men. Be sure that it coming from the Fountain of Goodness and Love it hath a Blessing in it though thou canst not at the present see it 2. It comes from the Hands of the most Wise God that doth all things for most excellent ends and even in those Dispensations that are most obscure and rugged that we cannot unriddle yet there is always a complication of most Soveraign and Excellent designs which shall not be disappointed 3. It comes from the hands of that God that is under the relation of a most tender Father that hath the very same Bowels of Mercy Goodness and Love to us in his corrections as in his favors A poor silly child when a Father either corrects him for a fault or takes that from him that will hurt him or keeps him hard to his Book or other imployment or denies him somewhat that is noxious to him thinks his Father deals hardly with him when in truth the very same tender and Fatherly love that discovers it self in more grateful dispensations is the cause and companion of these The same is thy case and mine be patient therefore it is the hand of a Father that afflicts thee and that may assure thee that it is for thy good and it shall be in measure 4. It comes from that God that is thy absolute Lord that hath that unlimited right over his Creature that his
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
which hath overspread the whole race of Mankind and of the Truth and Efficacy and sufficiency of that Redemption which came by Christ and is published in that Word striving and contending with and mastering and over-ruling the opposition of the will against it Calming and quieting and rectifying the distempers and disorders and misplacings of our affections opposing and subduing the lusts of our sensual appetite inlightning and quickning and cleansing the conscience and bringing it about to take part with God and the actings of this Spirit upon our Souls mingling the word of the Gospel conveyed into the Heart with a secret and powerful Energy whereby it becomes a Seed of Life in the Heart growing unto Eternal Life And thus as at first the Motion of the Spirit of God upon the face of the waters and the powerful word of Command produced the several Creatures so by the like Motion of the Spirit upon the Heart and the powerful call of the Word of Christ by the publication of the Gospel is wrought this Second Creation of the new Creature Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest stand up from the Dead and Christ shall give thee life And these two great Instruments produce in the Heart two active or operative Principles which after they are produced are not only an Effect of the work of God but also become instrumental for the increase of it viz. Faith and Love Faith whereby we receive this Message of Salvation and entertain it and rest upon it and Love whereby out of the apprehension of this great Love of God to us we love him again we love him because he loved us First And this Love of God ingageth the Soul to a Sincere Obedience to the Will of God The Misery from which we are redeemed is so great the Price by which we are redeemed so invaluable the Glory and Blessedness to which we are redeemed so full and all these appearing so to the Soul by Faith that the Soul can think nothing too much to return to that God that hath so freely done so much for it Thus Faith worketh by Love And this is that Kingdom of God that is within us Luk. 17.20 the subjection of the whole Soul to the Scepter and Rule of Christ If he command Purity of Life forsaking of all things denying our selves crucifying our Lusts laying down our Lives the Soul is tutored to that subjection unto the Will of Christ that it chearfully obeys him in this and whatever he commands This is that Kingdom of God Rom. 14.17 consisting in Righteousness a full Conformity of the Soul to the Will of God the only and absolute Rule of Righteousness Peace upon the sense and belief of reconciliation with God through him that is our Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost upon the apprehension of the Protection and Love of Christ our King and that Glory which he hath most assuredly prepared for all his Subjects 3. We have the Degrees of the Manifestation of this Kingdom Here and Hereafter the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of Glory both making but one Kingdom of God under different degrees of manifestation God by his Word and Spirit casts into the Soul a Seed of Life like that grain of Mustard-seed whereunto the Kingdom of Heaven is resembled Matt. 13. And this seed of Life abideth in the Heart 1 John 3.9 And there it quickens and fashions and moulds the Heart to the Image of God it opposeth and struggleth against Lusts and Temptations which labour to stifle and to kill this Seed of Life and like the leaven that was hid in the 3 measures of Meal Mat. 13.33 It doth by degrees assimulate the whole inward Man to this living principle and conforms the Life unto it Now though this principle of Life is thus operative yet in respect of the outward view it is a hidden Life The External appearance of this Life is reserved till Christ who is our Life shall appear and then shall that hidden Life be revealed Colos 3.4 Behold now we are the Sons of God 1 John 3.2 But it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him By this seed of Grace sown in our Hearts we become the Sons of God and of this Sonship we have a secret Evidence in our own Souls but there shall be a fuller Manifestation of it when Christ who is our Life shall appear So then the Kingdom of Grace and of Glory are the same Kingdom but under a different manifestation that a concealed Kingdom a seed in the ground this the Manifestation of that Kingdom a seed in the Tree To conclude When thou prayest Thy Kingdom come let thy Soul enlarge it self in these or the like desires O Lord I know thou art King of Heaven and Earth and the least of all thy Creatures in their most seemingly Casual and inconsiderable events and motions are under thy most certain and powerful Providence Yet such is our blindness and so mysterious are the ways of thy Providence that sometimes we are at a loss and desire with thy Prophet Jer. 12.1 to expostulate with thee touching thy Judgments If it stand with thy Glory and Will I beseech thee let all the events and occurrences of the World appear to be under thy Administration and Government that all may see thy Wisdom and thy Power and thy Justice and thy Goodness in all the passages of it and that all men may be convinced that thou the most High rulest in the Kingdoms of Men and that all thy Works are Truth and thy ways are Judgment and those that walk in pride thou art able to abase Dan. 4.32 37. That they may all acknowledge he is a God that Judgeth in the Earth Psal 58.11 And because thou hast a more peculiar Kingdom even those that thou hast given unto thy Son let that Kingdom of thine come do thou send out thy Spirit and thy Word into the World and subdue the Hearts of all People to the Belief and Obedience of the Gospel of Christ that all the Kingdoms of the World may be the Kingdoms of God and of Christ Bring in the Jews and the fulness of the Gentiles that there may be one Fold and one Shepherd and let thy Son ride on victoriously conquering and to conquer and preserve thy Flock from the mischiefs that are from without Oppression and Persecution and from those that are from within Divisions and Heresies Let them walk as becomes the Subjects of the Prince of Peace Purity and Truth in Unity Holiness and Truth that they may appear to be the People of thy Holiness Rule every Member thereof by thy Grace preserve them from their Enemies within them Lusts and Defections from their Enemies without them the Incursions of Satan Make hast to fulfill the number of thine Elect and when thy Kingdom of Grace is consummate then let thy Kingdom of Glory come the day of the manifestation of thy Righteous
it is because there is no Light in them This is to be Light to our Steps and the Lanthorn to our Feet Psal 119.105 2 Pet. 1.19 a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto we are to take heed as to a light that shineth in a dark place In this Petition therefore we desire two things 1. That his Will may be done 2. That it may be done here as it is done in Heaven 1. In respect of the Will of his Counsel What thou hast willed in Heaven Let it be done on Earth 1. Let the Will of thy Counsel be done It is true thy Counsels are secret and unknown to me but they are the Counsels of the most Wise and Just God and therefore certainly they are most Wise and Just Counsels and therefore I will be content therein to pray with an Implicite Faith for Righteous art thou O Lord in all thy ways and Holy in all thy works It is true thy Counsels shall stand yet are not my Prayers impertinent it is the Duty of thy Creature to will what thou willest and to pray thee to do what thou intendest to do that my will may not only Passively submit unto thy Will but Actively to run along with it 2. Let me with all contentedness and cheerfulness resign up my will and my self and my desires unto thy Will and bear a spirit conformable to my Saviour who when he depricated the worst of Evils a bitter and a cursed Death yet he subscribed to thy will contrary to his own Matt. 26.39 If it be possible let this Cup pass from me yet not as I will but as thou wilt I am compassed about with dangers with diseases with wants with reproaches with persecutions and I come to thee from whose hand they come and to beg the removal of them and I am sure I am taking the fittest course to have them removed by suing to him from whose hand they came yet thy will be done I have done my duty in calling upon thy Name but I will not offend thy Sovereignty in prescribing unto thy Will Thou art the God that hast made me and therefore I owe a Universal Subjection unto thy Will thou art a God of Infinite Wisdom and knowest best what is fittest to be done and when thou art a God of Infinite Mercy and Tenderness and Love unto all thy Creatures especially to those that seek unto thee in Christ and dost with as much Love deny some of my requests as thou grantest others I will with all Patience and Chearfulness wait upon thee and submit unto thy Will both in what thou inflictest and in what thou denyest 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord Let him do what seemeth him good Job 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Thus I will hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord putting my Mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope Lam. 3.26 3. Let me with all expectation and longing desire wait for the fulfilling of thy Prophesies and Predictions This part of thy Secret Counsel thou hast revealed that thy Truth and Wisdom may receive the Glory in it's accomplishment and that we thy Creatures look after it and expect it Thou hast declared that thy everlasting Gospel shall be preached to all Nations that the Kingdoms of the World shall be the Kingdoms of thy Son that thou wilt bring in the Jews and the fulness of the Gentiles that thou wilt discover and confound the Man of Sin that thou wilt send thy Son in the Clouds to Judge the World These and the like parts of thy Counsels thou hast published to the World be thou Glorified in the fulfilling of them Thy Secret Counsels are deep and mysterious and when we see them in ther fulfillings yet they make us to wonder and stagger so that though our duty teach us to acknowledge that thou art righteous when we plead with thee yet we are apt with the Prophet to Expostulate with thee touching thy Judgments Jer. 12.1 As if things fell out besides thy will and in disappointment of thy Counsel But in these Manifestations of thy Counsels before they are fulfilled we see and must conclude Dan. 4.17 That the most High ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of Men. Let therefore this Will of thy Counsels revealed in the Prophecies and Predictions of thy Word be fulfilled that thou may'st receive the Glory of thy Power and of thy Wisdom and of thy Truth in the fulfilling of them and that every Man may see and conclude that thou whose Name is Jehovah art the Most High over all the Earth Psal 83.18 And while I thus pray my Prayers are not Idle God having often appointed that Prayers shall be the means to fulfill that which he hath certainly promised Ezekel 36.37 Yet I will for this be inquired of by the House of Israel 4. Thou hast another part of thy Counsel more pretious and of greater concernment to me then the former which thou hast also revealed the Counsel of thy Promises When thou sentest thy Son out of thine own Bosom into the World thou did'st impart unto him this great and concerning part of thy Counsel and this he hath imparted unto us the promise of Pardon of our Sins through his Blood of Justification through his Righteousness of thy Spirit that should lead us into all truth of his abiding with us unto the End of the World of conquering and subduing our Lusts and Temptations of raising us up at the last day and giving us an Everlasting Kingdom that cannot be shaken These Promises as thou hast given to be the objects of our Faith Hope and certain Expectation Tit. 2.13 2 Pet. 3.12 so are they the objects of our desires and consequently the subject of our Prayers and therefore I will pray with David 1 Chron. 17.23 Therefore now Lord Let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy Servants be established for Ever and do as thou hast said And as thus the Will of Gods Counsel is the Subject of this Petition so is likewise the Will of his Command And this falls under these Considerations 1. As thou Willest in Heaven so let it be done by us on Earth and to that purpose 1. Let thy Will be discovered and made known unto us and to all Creatures and in as much as none teacheth like God Let us be all taught of thee Let thy revealed Will in thy Word come unto us as light into darkness and because our Understandings are blind and sealed up that they cannot receive this Light and our Hearts are perverse and will resist it send down thy Spirit of Life and Power to open our Understandings to receive it to discern the Truth and Purity and Perfection of it open our Hearts to receive it in the Love of it and conquer that Cell of corruption and oppositions that lye there ready to
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
for Thee Give us a sense of that infinite debt of Obedience that we owe unto Thee for our Being that product of an infinite Power and an infinite Motion for our well-beings our restitution in Christ without whom our very Being would have been our burden Give us a sense of the great imperfections of all our best performances that need no less a Sacrifice than the Blood and Intercession of Christ to wash them from that guilt that would damn us if we had nothing else to answer for Give us a sense of thy Great Condescention to thy weak and sinful Creatures that art pleased to deliver unto us the knowledge of thy Will and when we by Nature are unable to conceive it or to believe it dost give us Light to understand it and Faith to assent unto it that thy Law is Holy Just and Good and when for all these convictions of thy Truth our hearts the seats of Rebellion do oppose it in the love and practice of it thou art pleased to send down a powerful working of thy Spirit to chase out of us those oppositions of our corrupted Nature and to make us willing in the day of thy power and to strive with and subdue our hearts to any measure of the Love of thy Will and when notwithstanding all this our poor and lean performances are mingled with much of our own deadness contrary motions and pollutions yet thou art pleased to sprinkle our Obedience with the Blood of Christ to mingle it with his perfect Righteousness to forgive the defects to cover the imperfections to rectifie the deformities of all our Obedience to pardon what is ours our sins and defects and to accept and reward what is thine own as if it were ours when thou workest all our works in us and yet rewardest us as if we had wrought them And as in the distinct consideration of the Will of the Counsels and Commands of God we are to desire that his Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven so in the conjunct consideration of both these Wills There is not an Action or Event in the world but it falls out by the determinate Counsel and Fore-appointment of God and yet to the production of these Events we find a mixture of actions that expresly thwart the Command of God The greatest Event and of the greatest concernment that the World ever knew or shall know was the Death of Jesus Christ and though he was thus delivered by the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God yet the Jews took and by wicked hands crucified and slew him Acts 2.23 The Counsel of God was a most Wise and Merciful Counsel the action of the Jews that fulfilled this Counsel was a most cruel and unjust action yet the injustice of the instrument did no way affect the Counsel of God nor the Counsel of God no way justifie the action of the Jews witness that heavy Curse that upon their own imprecation lyes upon the actors and their posterity unto this day His Blood be upon us and upon our Children Matth. 27.25 The man sins most willingly and though the Wise God intermingle occurrences that make the sinful actions of men instrumental to his Counsels yet their Guilt is no less and no less their own by being subservient to his Counsel God hath given thee a word of Command He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require at thy hands Micah 6.8 Thou needest not nor maist seek out for a Rule of thy actions in the Secret Counsel of God nor endeavour to justifie thy actions because in order to the fulfilling of those Counsels but keep to that Rule which he hath given To the Law and to the Testimony Deut. 29.29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things that are revealed belong to us and to our Children for ever Therefore O Lord teach me so to wait upon the Will of thy Counsels and to be instrumental in them that I may nevertheless ever obey the Will of thy Command that while I act thy Will as a Creature I may never neglect it as a Man or a Christian Thy Wisdom it is true can bring about thy Counsels by the sinful actions of men and as thou turnest the hearts of men as Rivers of waters so thou turnest the sinful motions of the heart as a skilful workman can turn the streams of water so that whilest it moves naturally it shall bring about Ends that are of a higher constitution But surely if thou canst make those works of disobedience serve thy Providence much more canst thou use such actions to the fulfilling of thy Counsels that are suitable to thy Commands therefore as the Will of thy Counsels is done in Heaven by the Angels and Blessed Spirits in such a way as is suitable to thy Commands So let thy Will be done on Earth that while we serve thy Providence we may nevertheless Obey thy Will and whiles we closely observe what thou requirest that we may Contentedly Patiently Cheerfully and Thankfully submit unto and receive what thou in thy most Wise Counsel dispensest Give us this day our daily Bread Our Saviour directs us Matth. 6.33 to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and then promiseth that the things of this life shall be added to us And according to the Method of this Doctrine and Promise so is the Method of this Prayer first to seek the Glory Kingdom and Will of God and then for those things that are necessary for our selves And though he hath promised that they shall be added to us yet he directs to pray for what he hath thus promised to add And this is the course of God's Will and our Duty that we should begg of God what he hath certainly promised to give The Promises of God as they are the warrants of our Prayers so our Prayers are required though not as causes yet as means of fulfilling his Promises And then a Promise is most suitable and fitly performed when it is sued out by our Prayers When God had promised to build the ruined places and plant that which was desolate and had engaged his own Name and Truth to perform it I the Lord have spoken it and I will do it Ezech. 36.36 yet requires their prayers to precede the performance of it I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them and that amongst other upon these Considerations 1. To shew our Dependance upon him All Creatures as they are essentially depending upon God in their being and preservation so according to the measure of their power they testifie that Dependance Psal 104.21 The young Lyons seek their meat from God Psal 147.9 He giveth the Beasts their food and to the young Ravens which cry Psal 145.15 The Eyes of all wait upon thee and thou givest them their meat in due season There is a secret and unknown testification even in the
forgave you If God should require obedience to any command though I saw no reason for it yet the Love of God would constrain me to reason thus Though I see no reason of this command yet when I consider who it is that commands it even the Infinite and Merciful God to whom I owe my self and all I hope for I see reason enough for me to obey though I see not the reason why God should command But in this injunction of Forgiving my Enemy I see a most just and proportionable reason of my Obedience I owed unto God a most Infinite Love and Obedience to the uttermost possibility of my Being for from him I had it and when I broke that Allegiance I owed unto him an Infinite Debt of Guilt and Punishment and with this guilt I likewise contracted an innate enmity against that God to whom I owed so vast a debt of Duty and of Guilt this very God freely without my seeking when I hated him sent me his Son with a free Pardon of all this Infinite Guilt and commanded me to shew Mercy to my offending brother the offence that I committed was against an Infinite Obligation of the creature to his Creator the offence that my Brother commits as against me is only against some petty relation we are otherwise both equals God freely forgave me when there was nothing to enjoyn or inforce or deserve or so much as to seek it and is it not reasonable that I should forgive my brother that it may be seeks my Pardon but if he doth not our common Lord and Master enjoyns it 2. Consequently upon the former the not observing of this Duty doth most Justly and Reasonably deserve that I should not be heard in this Petition If I can so boldly and unthankfully encounter a Command of God standing upon such just and reasonable grounds with what face I can expect a Pardon from him at my request when I refuse to Pardon my Brother at his command 3. Consequently also the pardon of my Brother is no Meritorious cause for God to pardon me the Breach of any command is a meritorious cause of Punishment but the Observation of one duty cannot deserve the Pardon of the violation of another God requires me to forgive my Brother and when I have done so I have done but my duty and no not deserve my Pardon and therefore when I say forgive me for I forgave others I make not the Pardon I ask the wages for the Pardon I gave for as my Brothers offence against me holds not proportion with my offence against God so neither doth my Pardon of him hold proportion with Gods Pardon to me 4. Nor consequently is my Pardon of others the measure of that Pardon I beg of God The offences committed by my brother against me are not in truth so much offences committed against me as against God for it is therefore an injury to me because done against that law that he hath interposed between him and me and so though I am concerned yet in truth the foundation of my concernment is that Law that God hath set between him and me and were it possible to suppose no such Law it were impossible to conceive any injury to be done from one man to another So then my Pardon of him is but of slender concernment of my own the chiefest interest is Gods Again my offence against God is against an Infinite Obligation and against an Infinite Person but my brothers offence against me as it relates to me is but of finite relation or obligation and against a finite Person and therefore the measure of the thing forgiven by me is too short and too narrow to fit and sute with that whereof I beg my Pardon Again my Pardon to my Brother is with a great deal of corruption superciliousness pride grudging aversness expostulations secret risings of my Heart against him O! But such a Pardon will not serve my turn I beg a Pardon at the hands of the God of Mercy and Perfection a full a perfect Pardon Measure not out O Lord thy Pardon to me according to my Pardon to my Brother the thing I pardon holds not proportion with the offence which I have committed against thee his is but a finite offence against me a finite Creature mine is an infinite Offence gainst an infinite Obligation and against an Infinite God the Pardon that I give is mingled with ruggedness with revenge with remembrance of the thing I forgive but the Pardon I beg of thee is an abundant Pardon Isa 55.7 A blotting out and an everlasting forgetting of my Sins Isa 43.25 Such a Pardon as leaves not behind it the tincture of my former guilt that though my Sins were as scarlet they may be as white as snow Isa 1.18 But 5. Forgive us for we forgive By our Union with Christ we partake of his Priviledge of being the Sons of God so that as a Father hath tenderness towards his child and is apt and ready upon his submission to Pardon him so there is the same and a far greater readiness in him to forgive I said I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin As soon as he had but a resolution to beg his Pardon God prevents his Petition by granting that Pardon which he intended to ask And as by this Union with Christ we partake of his Priviledge so we partake of his Spirit and that Spirit is a Merciful Spirit ready to Pardon an Enemy even before he ask it This was the command he gave us and this was the Pattern he left us who when he was reviled reviled not again 1 Pet. 2.21 23. but prayed for those that sought his Life Luk. 23.34 Father Forgive them for they know not what they do And therefore this Conformity unto the Mind of Christ is an Evidence unto a Man of his Participation of him and that God heareth him as a Father heareth his Child and by this means Faith is strengthened and the Soul argues thus in this Petition O Lord I am guilty in my self of many Sins but yet if I am found in thy Son thou wilt look upon me with the same tenderness that a Father looks upon his child and wilt be more ready to forgive me than I can be to ask it I find thy Son was Merciful and ready to forgive even his Enemies and I thank thy good Grace I find in my self the same mind that my Saviour bore a mind ready to forgive the injuries that were offered him and this disposition I have not from my self nor my own spirit for that spirit lusteth after envy but surely it comes from that meek and gentle Spirit that is in thy Son and upon this I do believe I am in some measure united to him and as I do partake of his Spirit so I doubt not but I partake of that relation of his even the relation of a Son unto thee and in that relation I
Psal 73.28 The Priests under the Law when they were to come near unto God in their Administrations were to be washed and clean from their natural and external Impurities and a Leper was not suffered to come into the Tabernacle but what is that to the Leprosie and Impurity of thy Spirit that very part of thee that only can have an immediate access to God and what Communion can there be between an holy God and an unholy Soul Psal 66.18 If I regard Iniquity in my Heart God will not hear me Consider therefore that thy approach is unto Heaven the dwelling place of his Majesty and of his Glory and Holiness becomes such an Habitation Psal 93.5 But who then is fit for such a communion What is Man that he should be clean and he which is born of a Woman that he should be righteous Behold he putteth no trust in his Saints yea the Heavens are not clean in his sight how much more abominable and filthy is Man which drinketh iniquity like water Job 15.14 15 16. But for this thy Saviour hath given thee an Expedient he taketh away the iniquity of thy Holy things and mingles thy Sacrifice with his own insense and covers thy impurities with his own righteousness and if for all this the cense of thy own vileness cover thy Heart with shame and the burden of thy Sins and Corruptions keeps thy Soul under that it cannot with that clearness and confidence look up unto Heaven but with the Publican in the Gospel stand afarr off and scarce darest ask for any thing but what the sense of Guilt inforceth viz. Mercy to pardon thee yet such is the Goodness of God in Christ to thy low and humbled Soul that though thou hast scarce confidence enough to draw nigh unto God yet he hath compassion enough to draw nigh unto thee Psal 34.18 The Lord is nigh to them that are of a broken Heart And though thy laden Soul can scarce get up into Heaven into the presence of thy Creator yet he will bring down Heaven into thy Soul Isa 57.15 Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy I dwell in the High and Holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones 3. Let thy Prayer be full of Reverence with thy whole Man for as thou comest to a Father and in that relation thou owest him Reverence so thou comest to a Heavenly Father the great Lord and Judge of all things 1 Pet. 1.17 And if ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's works pass the time of your sojourning here in fear And as a Father and such a Father calls for thy Reverence so especially when thou considerest that thou comest to this great King in his Throne in the place of his Majesty and Glory And therefore this Expression is added to take up the whole Latitude of thy thoughts with the highest apprehensions of the Glory and Majesty of the Lord before whom thou comest and that thou maist consider the Infinite distance that is between thee and the Lord of Heaven Isa 55.9 For as the Heaven is higher than the Earth so are my thoughts than your thoughts and my ways than your ways And upon this consideration to admire and magnifie the Goodness and Mercy of this great King that is pleased to admit poor sinful Worms to come into his presence and beg for our Lives and for our Souls with a Promise of Mercy and Acceptation 4. Let thy Prayers be full of Intention Thou dost or shouldest bring up thy Soul into Heaven into the Presence of the Great and Glorious God and what should thy wandring thoughts thy Earthly business do there leave them at the foot of the Hill when thou ascendest into the Mount of God Consider the person to whom thou comest exactly views and observes the frame and connexion and workings and motions of thy thoughts and desires and whether they go along with thy words or with thy External deportment and if they do not so much of thy Prayer is not only lost but a mockery and abuse of thy Maker And as the consideration of the Person to whom thou makest thy address so the Place where thou comest doth not sute with those impertinent and vain diversions Therefore when thou prayest do it considerately advisedly and with the whole Intention of thy Soul Eccles 5.2 Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart utter any thing hastily before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth 2. As this Expression teacheth us our duty towards God in Prayer so it teacheth us what to Expect from him 1. Hence learn the All-seeing Eye of God that is acquainted with all thy wants and with all thy desires It was a mistaken use that was made of his being in Heaven Job 22.14 Thick Clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not and he walketh in the circuit of Heaven No but Psalm 33.13 The Lord looketh from Heaven he beholdeth all the Sons of Men. Psal 11.4 The distance of the place is no disadvantage to his sight or hearing Again Though Heaven be the Seat of his Glory yet all places are filled with his Presence but especially he is nigh to them that call upon him to all that call upon him in truth Psal 145.18 is nigh to such as be of a broken Heart Psalm 34.18 is round about his people Psal 125.2 is nigh unto them in all they call upon him for Deut. 4.7 will bow down his Ear to hear Psal 31.2 will bow the Heavens and come down for their good Psal 18.9 So that thy Prayers have no great distance to go for all places are Heaven where God is and he is in all places especially where two or three are gathered together in his Name to call upon him 2. Hence learn the All-sufficient and Almighty Power of God Psal 115.3 Our God is in Heaven he hath done whatsoever he pleased As the relation of a Father carrieth with it a fulness of love to be willing to grant thy largest requests so the Consideration that he is a Heavenly Father carrieth with it a fulness of Power to grant them These considerations of the Love and Power of God bear up the Heart in Prayer as once Aaron and Hur did Moses hands Exodus 17.12 And therefore they are both placed in the Porch of this Prayer like the pillars of Jachin and Boaz in Solomon's Temple 1 Kings 7.21 To stablish and strengthen thy Heart in thy Prayer to God 3. As the consideration of Heavenly or which art in Heaven carries thy Heart to confidence in his Power and All-sufficiency to grant thy Petitions so it improves thy Faith in his Infinite Tenderness and Goodness When thou comest to the Father of thy flesh thy Earthly Father that relation imports and carries with it much
love and compassion as hath been observed but though he be thy Father yet he is an Earthly Father and as his Power and Sufficiencies are narrow and weak and not adequate to the Extent of thy wants and desires so his Affections are limited and mingled with the passions and frowardness of his Temper or Age. A Woman may forget the Son of her Womb Isa 49.15 And the hands of the pitiful Woman may seeth her own Children Lam. 4.10 And Fathers are apt to provoke their own Children Ephes 6.4 But were there not mixtures of Distempers in the affections of Parents yet their affections are finite such is our condition that in one day we should out-sin all that stock of Patience to bear and mercy to forgive that the most tender earthly Father ever had or could be capable of We stand in need every day of the infinite bowels of a Heavenly Father to bear and pardon and receive us as of infinite Power to supply and support us Isay 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his wayes and the unrighteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and be will have Mercy and to our God for he will abundantly pardon for my thoughts are not your thoughts nor your wayes my wayes saith the Lord for as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my wayes higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts Hos 13.9 Oh Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not Man Hos 11.9 As if he should have said Were all the Compassions and Bowels and Patience and Tenderness in the World combined in one Man yet thy Sins are grown to that height and thy provocation to that perfection that all that Patience were too weak to bear and all that compassion too small to pardon thee thou hast out-sinned all the Compass and extent of a created Patience but I am God and not Man I have Patience enough for all this to bear with thee and Mercy enough abundantly to Pardon thee Jer. 3.12 Return thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God The Omnipotence of God runneth through all his Attributes and is no less seen in his Mercy to pardon than in his Power to create Numb 14.17 18. And now I beseech thee let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken saying the Lord is long-suffering and of great Mercy Now I come to the Requests themselves 1 Hallowed be thy Name Wherein shall be considered 1. What we are to understand by the Name of God 2. What we are to understand by Hallowing or Sanctifying his Name As to the First The Wayes of God and his Judgments are unsearchable and past finding out Rom. 11.33 and if his ways are such how infinitely unsearchable is his Essence and Nature the Angels that are by God endued with an understanding more receptive of this light than ours is do behold his face Matt. 18.10 V. Isa 6.2 But yet that light is too bright for their pure Eyes and too wide for those perfect Intelligences to comprehend but mortal Man cannot behold his Face Exod. 33.20 Thou canst not see my face for no man can see me and live But yet such is his Mercy and Condescention to his creature that he communicates so much of the knowledge of himself unto us as is convenient for us and sufficient to bring us to a more perfect Vision of him when our Souls shall be endued with an Angelical capacity to see him Matt. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in Heart for they shall see God And the means whereby we know him is the Manifestation of his Name unto us John 17.6 I have manifested thy Name unto the Men which thou gavest me The Name of the Lord therefore imports these two things 1. That which he hath been pleased to manifest unto us in his Word concerning himself his Essence and Attributes 2. That Glory and Honour which as a beam from the Sun doth arise from that manifestation 1. Touching the First God hath been pleased to reveal himself unto us by Names or Expressions whereby we may have some conceptions concerning him and though every attribute given to God in the Scripture is a part of his Name yet he hath chosen some expression which he hath in a special manner called his Name as being of a more special use to us and therefore are to have a greater impression upon us sometime to signifie his Absolute and Independent being Exodus 3.13 And Moses said unto God when I come to the Children of Israel and shall say unto them the God of your Fathers hath sent me unto you and they shall say to me what is his Name what shall I say unto them And God said to Moses I AM THAT I AM. Thus shalt thou say unto them I AM hath sent me Sometimes to signifie the greatness of his Authority Esa 42.8 I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory will I not give to another Sometimes to signifie his Power Jer. 10.16 The Lord of Hosts is his Name Sometimes to signifie the Immensity of his Majesty Exod. 6.3 I appeared unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob by the Name of God Almighty but by my Name Jehovah was I not known unto them Psal 83.18 Thou whose Name is Jehovah Deut. 28.58 That thou maiest fear this Glorious and Fearful Name the Lord thy God Sometimes to signifie his Purity Exod. 34.14 whose name is Jealous Psal 93.3 whose Name is Holy But above all when God himself was pleased at the requests of his Creature to make his Goodness to pass before him and to proclaim his Name consisting of all the ingredients necessary for our knowledge and use Exod. 34.6 7. The Lord the Lord God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and Abundant in Goodness and Truth Keeping mercy for thousands Forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty c. And this was the Name that our Saviour came to comment upon shewing his Mercy in pardoning us and his Justice in punishing our Sins in his Son his Truth in fulfilling that first Gospel preached in Paradise The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head And this Name of God he manifested to his Disciples and to us 2. The Name of the Lord is taken for that Glory and Honour that is due unto his Essence Attributes and Works the reflection of his own Perfection He hath proclaimed himself Merciful and Gracious and his works of Mercy reflect Glory upon this part of his Name Isa 48.9 11. For my Names sake I will defer mine anger for how should my Name be polluted and I will not give my Glory to another He proclaimeth his strength and