comes from the Grace of God therefore much less can we do any thing to merit it Far be it from us to affirm as the Papists do that Good Works proceeding from Grace are Meritorious of Pardon and Salvation Alas what are our Prayers our Sighs our Tears yea our very Blood should we spend it for Christ They are but poor imperfect things and are so far from having in them any infinite worth and value to counterbalance our sins that the defects of them add to the number of our other Transgressions They cannot all of them make one blot in the Book of God's Remembrance but may well make more Items there against us Had it been possible for Men to have quitted scores with Divine Justice by what they could do or suffer Heaven would not have been so needlessly lavish as to send Christ into the World to lead an afflicted Life and to die an accursed Death only for our Redemption and Salvation Secondly The Pardoning Grace of God is not free in respect of Christ but it cost him the price of Blood It is the Blood of the Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World that crosseth the Debt-Book Without shedding of Blood there is no remission says the Apostle Heb. 9.22 And this is my Blood which was shed for the Remission of sins Matth. 26.28 And although possibly God might according to his absolute Sovereignty have freely remitted all the sins of all the World without any kind of Satisfaction only by a Free and Gracious Act of Mercy Yet considering that he had otherwise declared in his unalterable Word of Truth that there must be a recompence made him for all our offences it had been a wrong to his Veracity if not to his Justice to have granted the Pardon of any one sin without the intervention of a full price and satisfaction No satisfaction could be made correspondent to the wrong done to an infinite God but by an infinite Person who was God himself for had the Person been finite the Sufferings must have been Eternal otherwise they could not have been proportionable to the offence which requires an infinite Satisfaction But if the Sufferings had been Eternal Satisfaction could never have been made but would for ever have bene making unto the Justice of God and consequently our sins could never have been Pardoned And therefore God appointed to this Work of reconciling himself to fallen Man his only begotten Son God Co-equal and Co-eternal with himself and every way infinite as himself that he might be able to bear the whole Wrath of God at once and at one bitter draught drink off the whole Cup of Fury which we should have been draining by little drops to all Eternity So that Justice being satisfied in the Sufferings of Christ for the sins of those whose Persons and whose guilt he sustained upon the Cross Mercy hath now a way opened to Glorifie its Riches in their Pardon and Salvation Thus in these two Positions it appears that though the remitting of our sins be an Act of God's Free Grace and Mercy in respect of us yet it is the effect of Purchace in respect of Christ God Pardons sins to them who committed them upon their Faith and Repentance but he Pardon 's not those very sins to Christ to whom they were imputed but exacted Satisfaction from him to the very utmost rigour of Justice Hence it follows Thirdly That the Pardon of sin is not only an Act of meer free Grace and Mercy but according to the Terms of the Covenant of Grace it is also an Act of Justice in God Indeed both Mercy and Justice are concurrent in it for since by the Union of Faith we are made one Mystical Body with Christ it could not consist with the Equity of God to punish the sins of Believers in their own Persons for this would be no other than to punish them twice for the same Offence once in their surety and again in themselves Now what abundant cause of Comfort may this be to all true Believers that God's Justice as well as his Mercy shall acquit them That that Attribute of God at the Apprehension of which they were wont to tremble should interpose on their behalf and plead for them Yet through the All-sufficient Expiation and Atonement that Christ hath made for our sins this Mystery is effected and Justice it self brought over from being a formidable Adversary to be of our Party and to Plead for us Therefore the Apostle tells us 1 John 1.9 That God is Faithful and Just to forgive us our sins And St. Paul 2 Thessal 1.6 7. It is a Righteous thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you And to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels Fourthly When God pardons he doth no longer account of us as sinners Indeed after Pardon we still retain sinful and corrupt Natures and there is that Original Pollution in us that can never be totally dislodged in this Life But yet when God pardons he looks not upon us as Sinners but as Just The Malefactor that is legally discharged either by satisfying the Law or by his Princes Grace and Favour towards him is no more reputed a Malefactor but as Just and Righteous as if he had never offended So is it with us we are both ways discharged of our guilt both by satisfying the penalty of the Law in Christ our Surety and by the Free Grace and Mercy of God who hath Sealed to us a Gracious Act of Pardon and therefore we are Just in the sight of God as if we had never sinned Fifthly Pardon of sin is one great part of our Justification Justification consists of these two parts Remission and Acceptance We have them both joyned together Ephes 1.6 7. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved in whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of sins Remission of sins takes away our liableness to Death Acceptation of our persons gives us a Title unto Life Now to be free from our obnoxiousness to Death and instated in a Right to Eternal Life these two Constitute a perfect Justification For to be accepted of God in Christ is no other than for God through the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ imputed to us to own and acknowledge us to have a Right to Heaven And therefore we have mention of Pardon and an Inheritance together in St. Paul's Commission to his Ministery Acts 26.18 That they may receive forgiveness of sins and an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified It is not therefore O Soul a bare negative Righteousness that God intends thee in the Pardon of thy sins it is not meerly to remove the Curse and Wrath thy sins have deserved though that alone can never sufficiently be admired but the same hand that plucks thee out of Hell by Pardon lifts thee up to Heaven by what he gives thee together with
humble Penitent Sinners the Absolution and Pardon of their Offences according to the tenor of God's Faithful Promises And in this sence alone the Ministers of Jesus Christ have power to pardon and remit Sins Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted that is whose Sins you declare that God hath remitted they are remitted not absolutely but conditionally in case Men come up to the performance of those conditions upon which God hath promised Pardon and Forgiveness which are Faith and Repentance And therefore in our Publick Prayers where the whole Congregation hath made an humble Confession of their Sins the Minister according to his Office and Power given him by Christ declares to them That God Pardons and Absolves all them that truly Repent and unfeignedly believe his Holy Gospel Or if on any other Occasion the Minister say I Absolve thee from thy Sins yet the meaning is the same he absolves him Officially not Judicially he Absolves by declaring him Absolved and Pardoned upon his sincere Faith and Repentance which if People did but better understand they would not be so forward to carp at least they carp at the very Gospel it self Nor doth this at all intrench upon God's Prerogative for the Minister only as the Officer and Messenger of God declares that it is he alone who Pardons and Absolves Penitent Sinners A Practice as far from bordering upon the intolerable Arrogance of Antichrist as it is on the other side from yielding enough to the express Authority of Christ to adjudge it vain and fruitless As it is the Prince that Pardons the Herald only proclaims it So here it is God only who Pardons Sinners the Minister's part is in a solemn and official manner to Pronounce and Proclaim this Pardon to all that shall accept it upon the Terms on which it is offered by God And this may suffice in Answer to that Objection But then again it may be Objected How is it God alone who forgives Sins whereas we likewise are bound to forgive those that Trespass against us To this I Answer Every Trespass against Man is also an Offence against God for so merciful is our God unto us that he hath taken his Creatures under the Protection of his Law and fenced us round with the Authority of his Commands so that no injury can reach us but it must commit a Trespass upon the Divine Law and break through those bounds that God hath set about every Man's Propriety and Right to defend it against unjust Invaders But yet if any shall dare to violate this we must forgive them so far forth as it is a wrong to us as I shall shew more largely hereafter but we cannot pretend to forgive the wrong that they have done to God in wronging us but this must be left between him and their own Souls to his Mercy and their Repentance If then it be the Prerogative of God alone to pardon Sin hence we may for our abundant Comfort be informed First That our Pardon is free and gratuitous for whatsoever God doth he doth it freely for his own sake without respect to any former deserts or expectations of any future recompence It is infinitely below the Sovereignty of his Grace to admit of any other motive for his Mercy but his Mercy And therefore he hath told us I will be Gracious to whom I will be Gracious and I will shew Mercy to whom I will shew Mercy Exod. 33.19 Since it is a God that Pardons it is infinitely unworthy of his Glory and Majesty to sell his Pardons and Indulgencies and to make his Mercy Merchandise But yet this pardoning Grace of God though it be free in respect of Purchace yet is it limited to Conditions in respect of Application which Conditions are Faith and Repentance Whosoever believes in him shall obtain remission of Sins Acts 10.43 Repent says the Apostle that your Sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come Acts 3.19 Think not therefore O Soul when thy Conscience is oppressed with the Guilt of Sin think not what Expiation thou must make what Ransom thou must pay to God say not Wherewith shall I come before the Lord or bow my self before the High God Shall I come before him with Burnt-Offerings with Calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand Rivers of Oil Shall I give my First-Born for my Transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul as the Prophet speaks Micah 6.6 7. What shall I do or what shall I offer to make amends and recompence for my Offences This is to be injurious to the free Grace of God which requires no satisfaction from thee only thy present Acceptance and future Reformation This is that indeed which God requires from thee but to think to purchase his Favour and to buy his Mercy is infinitely to disparage it And they only judge rightly of it who judge it invaluable Secondly It is God that Pardons therefore our Pardon is full and compleat Indeed those Acts that God works within us are in this Life imperfect The Illumination of our Minds the Sanctification of our Hearts are God's Works within us and these are defective not as they come from God but as they are received in us As we know but in part so we are sanctified but in part But those Acts of God that he doth not work in us but only terminate upon us of which we are the Objects but not the Subjects they are all as perfect here as they shall be to all Eternity Thus God Justifies Adopts and Pardons fully and compleatly for these are Acts of God residing in his own Breast where they meet with no opposition or allay nor do they increase by any small Degrees as our Sanctification doth but are at once as perfect as ever they shall be I do not mean though some have so thought and taught that God doth at once Pardon all the Sins of a true Believer as well those which for the future he shall commit as those which he hath already committed which is an absurd and dangerous Tenet as if Sin could be pardoned before it were or guilt removed before it be contracted But only whatsoever Sins God pardons he doth it not gradually Nothing of guilt is left upon the Soul when God Pardons it though still there be something of filth left in it when God Sanctifies it And therefore as it is the great grief of God's Children that their inherent Holiness is so imperfect affronted by Temptations foiled by Corruptions oppressed and almost stifled to Death by a Body of Sin that lies heavy upon it yet this on the other Hand may be their exceeding great comfort and rejoicing that God's pardoning Grace is not as his sanctifying Grace is nor granted to them by the same stint and measure A Sin truly repented of is not pardoned to us by halfs half the guilt remitted and half retained as the Papists fansie to
trespass against us A. We ought to forgive them so far forth as they have wronged us but we cannot forgive the wrong they have done to God in wronging us but must leave them to his Mercy and their Repentance Q. Since it is God's Prerogative and Glory to pardon sins what Inferences may we collect from hence A. First That our pardon is free and gratuitous without respecting former Deserts or expecting future Recompence Secondly That our pardon is full and compleat because it is an Act of God within himself whereas what he works in us is in this Life imperfect Nothing of Guilt is left upon the Soul when God pardons it though still there is something of Filth left in it when he sanctifies it God does not pardon by halfs nor leaves any Guilt to be expiated by Purgatory Thirdly That upon our Faith and Repentance our sins whether greater or less fewer or more shall be forgiven for this makes no difference in infinite Grace and Mercy Q. But may not this incourage Men to continue in sin A. Many do so abuse it but their Damnation is sure and just Deut. 29.19 20. And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this Curse that he blesseth himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the Imagination of mine heart to add Drunkenness to Thirst Ver. 20. The Lord will not spare him Q. You have formerly observed that it is God alone who can forgive sins and from thence inferred both the freeness and fulness of pardoning Grace What observe you farther A. 1. That though God's pardoning Grace be altogether freely bestowed in respect of us Isaiah 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy Sins Yet in respect of Christ's Purchase it is not free but cost him the Price of his Blood Heb. 9.22 And almost all things are by the Law purged with Blood and without shedding of Blood is no remission Matt. 26.29 But I say unto you I will not drink hence-forth of this Fruit of the Vine untill that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom 2. That the obtaining of Pardon is not free from the Performance of Conditions on our Part. Q. What are the Conditions upon which Pardon is granted A. They are two Faith and Repentance Acts 10.43 That through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive Remission of Sins Acts 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out Q. Is therefore a mere sorrow that we have sinned a sufficient qualification for obtaining Pardon A. No for so Judas is said to repent Matt. 27.3 Then Judas which had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief Priests and Elders But as true Repentance includes in it a Sorrow of Heart so Reformation of Life and Manners is always joined with a lively Faith Q. Is pardon of sin an Act onely of God's Mercy A. It is likewise an Act of God's Justice to pardon the Sins of those who perform the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace Q. How prove you this A. Both by express Scripture 1 Epistle of John 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness And likewise by Scripture-Reason because Believers being made mystically one with Christ therefore their Sins being already punish'd in him their Surety and their Debts paid by him cannot be again justly punish'd in their own Persons nor demanded from them Q. Is pardon of sin our intire Justification A. No but it is one principal part of it For Justification consists both in Remission of Sins and Acceptation of our Persons the former depends upon Christ's Passive the other upon his Active Obedience his Satisfaction applied by Faith makes us accounted guiltless of Death and his Obedience worthy of Life both which compleat our Justification Ephes 1.6 7. To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Ver. 7. In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the Forgiveness of Sins according to the Riches of his Grace Q. We have thus considered the Petition Forgive us our Debts what remains further considerable A. The Condition upon which we ask it or the Plea we urge for obtaining it As we forgive our Debtors Q. Who are meant here by Debtors A. Other Men. Q. How are Men Debtors one to another A. Either 1. By owing them a Debt of Duty and thus all Men are mutually Debtors to one another Superiours to Inferiours and Inferiours to Superiours and Equals owe one another Love Respect and Kindness 2. By owing them a Debt of Satisfaction for Injuries and Wrongs done to others Q. Which of these Debts is here meant A. The latter onely for we are bound to forgive those who owe us Satisfaction and Reparation Q. What learn you from hence that those who have wronged others are called their Debtors A. That they who in any kind wrong others are obliged to make them satisfaction If in their good Names by acknowledging the Offence and stopping slanderous Reports If in their Goods and Estates by a full Restitution Q. Is Restitution necessary to the obtaining of Pardon A. It is For unjust Detainure is as Evil as unjust Seisure and it is a continued Theft And our Repentance can never be true while we continue in the Sin we seem to repent of and without true Repentance there can be no Pardon or Salvation Q. But what if those we have wronged be since dead A. We ought to make Restitution to those to whom it 's to be supposed what we have detained would have descended Q. If none such can be found what must we then do A. Then God's Right takes place as the Universal Lord of all and we are obliged to restore it to him that is to his Servants and to his Family and in the Works of Piety and Charity Q. We have already considered the Debtor's Duty which is to make Satisfaction and Restitution what is the Duty of the Creditor or Person wronged A. To forgive his Debtors For we pray that God would forgive us as we forgive them Q. Wherein doth this Forgiveness consist A. In two Things 1. First In abstaining from the outward Acts of Revenge upon them 2. Secondly In the inward Frame and Temper of our Hearts towards them bearing them no Grudge nor Ill-will but being as much in Charity with them as though they had never offended us Q. Must we then sit quiet under every petulant Wrong that is done us and so tempt others to the Sport of abusing us A. Private Revenge is in no Case whatsoever to be allowed Rom. 12.19 Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto Wrath for it is written Vengeance is mine and I will repay saith the Lord. Revenge
unto others that they may observe and admire them with us and give unto God that Holy Veneration which is due unto him Thus we see what the Name of God is and what it is to Sanctifie or Hallow this Name Thirdly Let us now consider what is contained in this Petition Hallowed be thy Name And here First In that Christ hath taught us to make this the first Petition in our Prayer to God we may learn that the Glory of God is to be preferred by us before all other things whatsoever And indeed that which God hath made the last and utmost of all his ends and hath appointed to be the highest and utmost of ours should be the First of all our Thoughts and Endeavours and preferred before whatsoever else is dearest unto us yea before our very Lives themselves This was our Saviour's Practice John 12.27 28. Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour Father Glorifie thy Name As if he had said Though Life be naturally dear and the Cup which I am to drink very bitter and the Wrath that I am to undergo heavy and infinite yet all these things are not so considerable to me as thy Glory and therefore though it be by Agonies by Death by the Cross yet Father Glorifie thy Name The same mind should dwell in us likewise and we should hereby be instructed to desire and pray for other things with limitations and restrictions but for the Glory of God absolutely and simply Father Glorifie thy Name and if in the Counsel of thy Will and the course of thy Providence it cannot be otherwise than by my Suffering or Sorrow yea or Death it self yet Father even in this Glorifie thy Name and out of my very Ruins erect thou a Trophy and Monument to thy Praise Be thou Hallowed and Sanctified although at my cost and with the loss of all Secondly In that this Petition is placed in the beginning of the Lord's Prayer it intimates to us that in the very beginning and entrance of our Prayers we ought to beg assistance from God so to perform Holy Duties that God may be Glorified and his Name Sanctified by us in it It is a good and needful request to beg of God the aid and help of his Spirit to enable us to Hallow his Name in the succeeding requests we are to make Thirdly Observe that when we present this Petition before God we beg Three things of him First Such Grace for our selves as may enable us to Sanctifie and Glorifie him Secondly Graces likewise for others to enable them thereunto Thirdly That God would by his Almighty Providence direct and over-rule all things both good and evil to the advancement of his own Glory First We beg of God that he would bestow upon us such Graces as are requisite to Glorifie him in the World We beg Knowledge and Understanding of him of his Nature of his Will and of his Works for we cannot Glorifie that God whom we are ignorant of We beg likewise Patience and Contentment in all Estates thankfulness for every Providence Graces that do highly tend to the Promoting of God's Honour and Glory We beg Faith likewise whereby we give the highest and greatest Glory to God that Mortal Men are able to ascribe for to trust upon his Word and to build upon his Promises is to Honour his Truth and Faithfulness And therefore we have that Expression Rom. 4.20 That Abraham was strong in Faith giving Glory to God We beg also that our Speech may be Savoury and such as may Minister Grace to the Hearers And lastly a humble blameless and exemplary life for by our good Works we are to Glorifie our Heavenly Father I cannot stand to insist upon these things particularly because my design is only to give you briefly and summarily an account of what is contained in this most Excellent Prayer that you may understand what you Pray for when you present these Petitions before God Secondly We herein beg of God That he would so over-rule all things whatsoever that his Glory may be secured nay promoted by them and therefore whatsoever falls out we ought to say Hallowed be thy Name by it Hereby we Pray that the Gifts and Eminent Graces of God's Children may redound unto his Glory that they may not be puffed up with them nor ascribe the credit of them to themselves That the Peace and Prosperity of the Church of Christ may turn to the Glory of God that outward Mercies may not make them careless and forgetful of his Service and Honour That the sins and failings of God's People may eventually turn to the Glory of God which seem directly to blot and stain it And that by their Repentance and Confessions they may give Glory to him whom they have offended and Satisfaction to them whom they have scandalized that all the Afflictions and Troubles of his People may in the end tend unto his Glory as well as their Good by declaring his Power in supporting them and his Goodness and Mercy in delivering them That all the Devices and Conspiracies the Rage and Fury of the Enemies of his Church may contrary to their intentions be overswayed to advance his Honour and that the Wrath of Man may praise him by shewing forth his Power Wisdom and Goodness either in restraining or overturning it And finally that all Creatures both in Heaven and in Earth yea all the Works of God's Hands should Glorifie God in the several Stations in which he hath set them Some by being the Manifestations of his Attributes and some the Manifesters of them Brutes and Senseless Creatures passively declaring the Glory of their great Creator and rational and intelligent Creatures shewing it forth actively and all concurring in this great Work for which all were made even the Glory and Praise of God Thus we see what a large and copious request we present before God when we pray that his Name should be Hallowed which that it may be let us our selves endeavour to be Holy for it is impossible that an unholy Heart or Life should Sanctifie a Holy God Whilst we persevere in our wicked Conversations we do but mock God and our selves when we desire to Sanctifie that Name of his which we daily prophane and pollute nay indeed we do but Pray for our own Destruction even that God would Sanctifie his Name part whereof is his just and dreadful severity upon all those and consequently upon our selves who defile and prophane it And thus I have finished the First Petition Hallowed be thy Name The Second Petition follows Thy Kingdom come This now very aptly succeeds upon the former because this is the best way and means to Hallow God's Name by enlarging his Kingdom and bringing in many to submit to his Scepter and Government For Praise waiteth for God in Sion Psal 65.1 And his Name is great in Israel Psal 76.1 Now here for our clearer proceeding we must distinguish of God's
establish their Purgatory No O Sinner there is not any guilt left for thee to satisfie for not any reserve of punishment for thee to undergo but all thy Sins are so pardoned that they are in God's Account as if they had never been committed against him And therefore be thy Comforts never so strong and flowing and thy sense of God's pardoning Grace never so clear yet know that thy Pardon is still infinitely more perfect than thy Joy in it can be satisfactory For Assurance and the sense of Pardon is a Work of God's Spirit wrought in us and is commonly mixed with some hesitation and misgiving doubts but our Pardon is an Act of God in himself where it meets with nothing contrary and therefore with no abatement but is as perfect and absolute as ever it shall be in Heaven it self Thirdly Is it God that Pardons Then for thy comfort know that he can as easily forgive great and many Sins as few and small For the greatness and multitudes of thy Sins can make no odds in infinite Grace and Mercy only repent and believe God proclaims his Name Exod. 34 7. The Lord God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin That is all sorts and sizes of Sins The greatest Sins repented of are no more without the extent of his Mercy than the least unrepented of are without the cognizance of his Justice And that there is any one though but one Sin unpardonable ariseth not so much from the atrociousness of the Fact as if it exceeded Mercy but only from the malignity of its Nature hardning the Heart against God and making it uncapable of Repentance otherwise could they who commit this Sin repent even they also should obtain Pardon Say not therefore Mine Iniquity is greater than can be forgiven I have out-sinn'd Mercy and there is no Portion for me in God his fiery Indignation will eternally devour me This is to be injurious unto God and to stint that Grace and Mercy which he hath made infinite And thou may'st with as much Truth and Reason say that thou art greater than God as that thy Sins are greater than his Mercy Yet here before I leave this let me caution you that you do not abuse this comfortable Doctrine of God's pardoning Sin and turn that into Presumption that was intended only to arm you against Despair Indeed both Presumption and Despair tend in a divers manner to encourage and harden Men in Sin The Despairing Sinner argues If I must not be saved if my Sins be so many and great that there is no Pardon for them to what purpose then should I live strictly To what purpose should I cross and vex my self by an unprofitable severity It is too great niceness to scruple farther sinning when I am already sure of Damnation and therefore if I must go to Hell I will make my way thither as pleasant as I can This is a kind of Despair that produceth not horrour as it doth in some but a most wretched carelessness what becomes of them On the other hand Presumptuous Men argue God is able to pardon the greatest and vilest Sinners they cannot sin beyond the reach and extent of his Grace and Mercy and therefore what need they yet trouble themselves to repent and reform they will yet indulge themselves a little longer in their Sins for it is as easie for God to pardon them at the last moment of their lives as upon many years preparation We see Iniquity every where most fearfully to abound in the World and doubtless both Despair and Presumption have too great an influence both upon the Minds and Lives of Men to make them careless in their Eternal Concernments Enough hath been spoken to the Despairing which are but few but to the Presumptuous let me add a Word It is the most unworthy and dis-ingenuous use they can make of the Mercy of God to press it to serve against its Authority Shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound God forbid Shall we Sin licentiously because God pardons freely no the Grace of God obligeth otherwise the Love of Christ constraineth otherwise the filial disposition of the New Creature enclineth otherwise Gratitude and Retribution engage otherwise But if these motives be too refined and ingenious for thy sordid and slavish Spirit and if thou wilt still go on in the Presumption of thy Heart crying Peace Peace to thy self although thou continuest adding one Iniquity to another know O vile wretch that the Lord will not spare thee but the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoak against thee and all the Curses that are written in his Book shall come upon thee and the Lord will blot out thy Name from under Heaven Deutr. 29.19 And thus I have done with the general consideration of God's pardoning Sin held forth to us in this Petition Forgive us our Debts or Trespasses Now in this Petition we pray not only for the Pardon of Sin but likewise for all things that are antecedently necessary to obtain it As First We pray that God would discover to us the horrid odious Nature of Sin that he would convince us of the woful miserable Estate that we are in by Nature and how much more wretched and miserable we have made our selves by our sinful lives that he would set home the terrours of Sin upon our Consciences to our humiliation and make us Despair in our selves that we might fly unto Christ and lay hold on that help and refuge he hath set before us Secondly We pray that God would humble us under the sight and sense of our manifold Transgressions that as our Sins have made us vile in God's Eyes so they may make us vile in our own to loath our selves in dust and ashes for them Thirdly We pray that God would give us his Spirit to enable us to confess our Sins cordially and sincerely to pour forth our Hearts before him and to acknowledge our manifold Provocations with shame and godly sorrow upon which God promised to grant us pardon and forgiveness Prov. 28.13 He that covereth his Sin shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall find Mercy And the Apostle tells us If we confess our Sins God is Faithful and Just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness 1 Joh. 1.9 Fourthly We beg a more clear understanding of the Sacrifice and Atonement made by Jesus Christ through which alone all Pardon is purchased and procured To know both what it is and why ordained and likewise the knowledge of God's rich and free Mercy and the Conjunction of this Sacrifice and Mercy together in the great Mystery of the freeness of Divine Grace and the Satisfaction of Jesus concurring to the Remission of our sins and the Salvation of our Souls Fifthly We pray that we may have a high esteem of Christ and may hunger and thirst more after him and his
for ever The Kingdom is thine for ever The Power is thine for ever The Glory is thine for ever For so this Particle for ever is to be distributed unto each of the foregoing Attributes Now in ascribing unto God these Attributes we may consider the Eminency and the Propriety of them The Eminency of them in the Particle The The Kingdom The Power The Glory denoting to us the highest and the chiefest of all these For his Kingdom is that which ruleth over all His Power that which no Created Power can controul His Glory such as stains all other Excellencies and makes all their Light and Lustre to be only the Shadow of God The propriety of this Attribute in this Particle Thine though others may have Kingdoms and Power and Glory yet these in their Eminency belong only unto God they are thine and thine only Originally Infinitely and Unchangeably Now all these Attributes of God are annexed to the Petitions of this Prayer by the illative Particle For For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory And this carries in it the strength and force of a Reason both why we pray unto God and likewise why God should grant us those things that we pray for First We pray unto God for his is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and therefore he alone is able to relieve and supply us Secondly We plead for the obtaining of those good things which we ask of him therefore grant them unto us For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever This adds strong Consolation and Assurance to our Faith that we shall be heard in these requests that we present to God For First His is the Kingdom and we are his Subjects and therefore we may depend upon him as our King for help and protection Secondly His is the Power and therefore he is able to supply and help us and to do abundantly for us above what we can ask or think Thirdly His is the Glory and therefore since what we ask is for his Honour and Praise we may firmly believe our requests shall be granted unto us And Fourthly All these are his for ever and therefore we may rest assured that at no time our Prayers shall be in vain But as it is the same unchangable God who in former Ages hath done great things for and given great things unto his Servants who have called upon him so he still retains the same Power and the same Compassion his Ear is not heavy nor his Arm shortned nor his Bowels withered and therefore we may with assurance expect that he will supply our wants and grant our desires since the Treasures of his Mercy are for ever unexhausted Thus every word is a forcible Reason both to oblige us to Address our selves unto God and likewise to move him to bestow upon us those good things which we thus ask at his hands And from hence by the way we may observe two things First That in our Prayers we ought to plead with God by weighty and enforcing Reasons Secondly That the most forcible Reasons in Prayer are to be taken from the Attributes of God First That in our Prayers we ought to plead with God by weighty and enforcing Reasons Thus God bids us to Take unto our selves words and to turn unto him Hosea 14.2 And thus if we look into Scripture those Prayers of the Saints which are there Recorded we shall find them Disputes if I may so call them as well as Requests and so many Reasons urged in them as if by dint of Arguments they would constrain God to yield to their desires So in Moses's Prayer Exod. 32.11 Wherefore doth thy Wrath wax hot against thy People which thou hast brought forth out of the Land of Aegypt with great Power wherefore should the Aegyptians say for mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the Mountains and to consume them from the Face of the Earth Turn thee from thy fierce Wrath and repent of this Evil against thy People Remember Abraham Isaac and Jacob thy Servants to whom thou swarest by thine own self and saidst unto them I will multiply your Seed as the Stars of Heaven and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give unto your Seed and they shall inherit it for ever And so Joshua pleads with God Josh 7.8 O Lord what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their Enemies for the Canaanites and all the Inhabitants of the Land shall hear of it and shall environ us round and cut off our Name from the Earth and what wilt thou do unto thy great Name And so Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20.6 O Lord God of our Fathers art not thou God in Heaven and rulest thou not over all the Kingdoms of the Heathens and in thy Hand is there not Power and Might so that none is able to withstand thee And so in the following verses he pleads with God by such powerful Arguments as if he would extort Mercy and Deliverance from him Now although it be true that all the Arguments we can urge and all the Reasons that we can alledge cannot alter the purposes and determinations of God as to any Event that he hath ordained yet there is this two-fold use and necessity of pleading them First Because by considering the Reasons we have to pray for such Mercies our desires will be the more earnest and fervent for the obtaining of them It will put Spirits and Life into our Petitions when we can represent to God the necessity of our asking which to his Mercy will prove a strong motive for his granting Secondly Because Reasons in Prayer do mightily conduce to the strengthning of our Faith and gives us great encouragement to believe that we shall certainly obtain what we have so much reason to ask Now Faith and Assurance of obtaining our Request is a great Condition to the Acceptation of our Prayers And therefore the Apostle commands us to lift up Holy Hands as without Wrath so also without doubting 1 Tim. 2.8 and again Jam. 1.7 Let him ask in Faith nothing wavering for let not that Man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. Now when we can humbly represent unto God both the great necessity that we stand in of those Mercies that we beg and likewise the equity which ariseth either from his Promises past or his Name and Attributes proclaimed that we should receive them What abundant Strength and Confidence may this add to our Faith and make us come to God with an humble expectation that he would either Answer our Prayers or our Reasons And therefore if thou wouldst be sure to have thy Prayers answered pray chiefly for such things for which thou canst produce such Reasons as cannot be answered And therefore Secondly The most forcible Reasons and Arguments in Prayer are to be taken from the Attributes of God These must needs be powerful when they are himself And if
the one is whether God will the other is whether he can grant us what we ask And that our Faith might not boggle at either of these our Saviour hath as it were hedged in and inclosed all our Prayers with these two great fences for our Faith God's willingness and his Power to help the Preface to this excellent Prayer contains the one and the Conclusion of this Prayer the other He is our Father and therefore if Earthly Parents whose Bowels of Mercy are but finite are yet so tender over their Children and ready to do their utmost to contribute what assistance they can towards them much more will our Heavenly Father whose Mercies and Compassions are infinite and boundless But lest our Faith should yet stagger and suspect the Power and Ability of God to relieve and help us the Conclusion of this Prayer puts in a caution against all unbelieving scruples in this case Thine is the Power So that we have abundant security for our Faith in whatsoever we desire of God because he hath declared himself both willing and able to supply our wants and satisfie our desires Indeed the Power of God alone is not a sufficient plea for we have before seen that God is able to effect infinitely more than he will but then the Power of God is a strong and forcible plea when it is joyn'd with his Will And when we are once assured by the Promises of his Word that God is willing to bestow upon us the Blessings that we ask then to bend the force of this plea towards him that he is likewise able will most certainly prevail And that Prayer that is directed in Faith and winged with both these motives shall never return into our Bosoms in vain and ineffectual Thus have I finished the two first Attributes of God made use of by our Saviour in this Prayer his Sovereignty and his Omnipotency It remains now that we speak something to the third Attribute of God which our Lord here teacheth us to make use of in praying to him and that is the Glory of God For thine is the Glory But this is an Attribute so bright and dazling so surrounded and fring'd about with Rays of inaccessible light that the Holy Angels themselves cannot stedfastly behold it but twinkle and glimmer yea vail their Faces at the full Beams of that Object the Vision of which is yet their Eternal Joy and Happiness And therefore whensoever weak or vile Man can either speak or conceive of the infinite Glory of the great God will instead of exalting debase it and we shall but defame while we attempt to celebrate it so infinitely do the Perfections of the Deity surmount our most raised Affections that our very Praises thereof are but lessening of it And whatsoever we ascribe unto God is but detracting from him Think with your selves a little if two blind Men that never saw the Sun were discoursing together about it what strange uncouth and improper fancies would they form of its Light and Splendour Surely such yea vastly more confused and disproportion'd are all our notions and conceptions of the Glory of God which is a Light that is invisible obscurity that is dazling and whatsoever else is most inconceivable to humane capacities For the Scripture sometimes describes God's dwelling-place to be in that Light unto which no Mortal Eye can approach And sometimes that his Pavillion is dark Clouds which no Eye can penetrate And both to signifie how impossible a thing it is to search out God and to find out the Almighty to perfection Yet since he hath been graciously pleased to give us some refracted and allay'd Rays of himself such as we are able to bear both in the Works of Creation and Providence and likewise in his Holy Word let us with all humble modesty take notice of those discoveries which he hath made of his Glory wherein we shall find enough if not to satisfie our curiosity yet to excite our veneration and by seeing some glimpses of his back-parts which he causes to pass before us our desires will be made more earnest after that Estate of consummate Happiness where we shall for ever behold his Face where we shall no longer see him darkly through a glass but shall see him as he is and know him as we are known by him Glory therefore according to the true and genuine import of the Word signifies any Excellency or Perfection in a Subject that either is or deserves to be accompanied with Fame and Renown And hence we may well distingiush a Two-fold Glory in God the one Essential the other Declarative The Essential Glory of God is the Collection and System of those Attributes which Eternally and immutably belong unto the Divine Nature The Declarative Glory of God is the manifestation of those his Attributes so that his Creatures may take notice of them with Praise and Veneration Both are here intended by our Saviour when he teacheth us to ascribe the Glory unto God God is Essentially Glorious in all those Attributes which appertain unto his infinite Being for each of them is infinitely perfect in its self and the complexion and concentring of them altogether make up a Glory infinitely great and incomprehensible Thus his Holiness is Glorious Exod. 15.11 Glorious in Holiness His Power is Glorious 2 Thess 1.9 They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power Col. 1.11 Strengthened with all Might according to his Glorious Power His Majesty is Glorious Psal 145.5 I will speak of the Glorious Honour of his Majesty His Kingdom is Glorious Psal 45.11 They shall speak of the Glory of thy Kingdom His Grace and Mercy is Glorious Ephes 1.6 To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved And from all these result the Glory of his great and terrible Name which hath in it an excessive brightness and lustre from the Constellation of so many Glories united in it Deut. 28.58 That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God Yea so infinite is this Essential Glory of God that it diffuseth and sheddeth abroad its Light and Glory upon those things which have but Relation to him therefore the Church is said to be Glorious because made in some faint resemblance like unto God Psal 45.13 The King's Daughter is all Glorious within Ephes 5.27 That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle The Gospel is therefore Glorious because it is that Glass wherein we see the Glory of God by a reflected Light And as the Beams of the Sun falling upon a Glass make it shine with an exceeding brightness So the Glory of God striking upon the Gospel and from thence re-bounding off to us hath stampt it with an excellent Glory and Lustre 1 Tim. 1.11 According to the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God His Throne is Glorious Jerem.
deliverance in all our dangers for supports under all our troubles and for comfort under all our sorrows because he is Eternal and therefore the same God who hath heretofore in all Ages of the World done great things for all those who trust in him And therefore the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory which were a forcible plea with God in former times a plea to which he could deny nothing when urged in Faith have still the same efficacy and validity now For these and all other of God's Attributes are his for ever Therefore O Christian now lay hold on God's strength and plead with him what he hath done for his Children in former Ages How he hath forgiven the Penitent revived the Contrite restored Joy and Salvation to dejected and despondent Spirits how he hath wrought for the Sanctification of his great Name by what wonderful providences and wise methods he hath established and inlarged his Kingdom how he hath strengthened the weak hands and feeble knees and made those who were without Might able by his Grace to perform the hardest Duties in fullfilling his Will and Commandments how he hath provided for all their necessities rebuked the temptations of the wicked one and kept them in the World from the evil of the World And then urge Lord thou art still the same God Eternal in thy Essence Immutable in thy Attributes thy Power thy Wisdom and thy Mercy are the same that ever they were and therefore vouchsafe unto us the same Favour This plea offers an holy violence to Heaven a violence that is pleasing and acceptable unto God which he will not he cannot resist If we endeavour to be of the same dispositions and affections with the Saints of old we may be sure to obtain of God's hands the same Mercy and Salvation See how Asaph instructs the Church to make use of the Memorials of God's former loving kindnesses and the great and wonderful works that he had wrought for their Fathers Psal 78.4 6 7. We will shew to the Generations to come the Praises of the Lord and his strength and the wonderful works that he hath done that one Generation may declare them to another that they may set their hope in God And therefore the consideration of the Eternity and unchangableness of God is of vast and infinite comfort and a mighty advantage for the strengthening our Faith in pleading with God for the same Mercies which he hath formerly bestowed upon others because he is the same yesterday to day and for ever And thus I have finished the Doxology and therein considered the four Glorious Attributes ascribed unto God in it his Sovereignty his Omnipotence his Excellency and his Eternity There remains but one thing more to be spoken of in this Prayer and that is the Conclusion and Ratification of all in that short Particle Amen Of this I shall speak but very briefly and so shut up this whole Subject This word Amen is sometimes prefixed before a Speech and sometimes affixed after it When it is prefixed before it is assertory and so we find it very often in the Evangelists for wheresoever our Saviour useth the word verily it is no other but Amen Verily verily Isay unto thee i. e. Amen Amen I say unto thee which is a vehement assertion of the Truth and necessity of what he speaks And our Saviour useth it to gain the more attention and belief to what he desires Thus John 3.5 Amen Amen I say unto thee except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven So John 16.23 Amen Amen I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my Name he will give it you And so in many other places in the Evangelists How backward are we to believe since our infidelity is such that it constraineth the Son of God who is Truth it self to use asseverations and protestations to win our assent unto him Secondly As this Particle Amen used in the beginning of a Speech is Assertory of the undoubted Truth of it so when it is subjoined and used at the end of it is Precatory and signifies our earnest desire to have our Prayers heard and our Petitions granted Psal 41.13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Amen and Amen Psal 72.19 Let the whole Earth be filled with his Glory Amen and Amen Psal 106.48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the People say Amen In the former sence of the words as it is prefixed to a Speech it signifies so it is In this Latter as it is added to a Petition or Request it signifies so be it Now this teacheth us to put up all our Petitions First with understanding duly weighing and considering what it is we ask of God For when we use vain and insignificant babling how can we seal and close them up with an hearty Amen And this condemns the mockery of the Papists who because God understands what is uttered in a language to them unknown think that they may lawfully pray to him in a Tongue which they themselves understand not But with what Zeal with what affection can they close up such Prayers with an Amen This is like setting a Seal to an Instrument which they know not what it contains and is expresly condemned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.16 How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of Thanks seeing he understands not what thou sayest Secondly It teacheth us to present all our requests to the Throne of Grace with fervent Zeal and Affection Amen is a wing to our Prayers it is the Bow that shoots them up to Heaven And although every Petition as we utter them before God should be accompanied with an earnest and hearty desire to have them heard and granted yet at the close of them all we are to redouble and repeat this our desire in the word Amen Wherein we do as it were briefly and succinctly Pray over again all that we had prayed before and in one word beg of God That he would give us all that we had before asked of him And therefore whether we Pray our selves or joyn in Prayers with others and make their Petitions ours we ought to attest our understanding of our assent unto and our earnest desires after the Mercies that are begged by Sealing up the Prayers with an Amen And certainly it would be a very beseeming thing if Amens were audible and sounding unless we are ashamed to be thought to Pray when others Pray and to make use of others expressions to present our Petitions When we come to the publick Worship we are not to look upon the Minister only as Praying for the People but he is the Peoples Mouth unto God and it is or ought to be the Prayer of the whole Congregation which he presents They Pray with him and by him and every Petition that he
Blood the Forgiveness of Sins according to the Riches of his Grace 6. The Glory is God's and therefore he will deliver us from the Assaults of our Enemies for it is his Honour to protect his own Subjects Q. What observe you from that Particle For ever A. That God and his Attributes are Eternal Q. What is Eternity A. Eternity is a Duration that hath neither Beginning nor End nor Succession of Parts or it is the compleat Possession of an endless Life all at once Q. What collect you hence A. Two things 1. The Duration of God is not to be measured by Days or Years and that he waxeth not elder neither hath continued longer this Day than from the beginning of Time 2. That in strict propriety of Speech God onely is and that it is onely allowable for want of Expressions to say that he either was or shall be and therefore he calls his Name I am Exod. 3.14 I am hath sent me unto you Q. How prove you that God is Eternal A. Both by Scripture and Reason Q. What Scriptures prove the Eternity of God A. Several especially Psalm 102.25 26 27. Thou art the same and thy Years shall have no End Psal 90.2 From everlasting to everlasting thou art God 1 Tim. 1.17 To the King eternal immortal be Honour and Glory Q. How do you demonstrate the Eternity of God by Reason A. There must of necessity be a first Cause of all things But that which is the first Cause of all things cannot be made by any and therefore is from everlasting Neither can it cease to be because it is not dependent on any and therefore must be to Everlasting Q. What Duties doth the serious Consideration of God's Eternity oblige us to A. 1. To venerate and adore so great and inconceivable an Attribute 2. To leave the Care of all future Events whether concerning our own private or the publick Interests to his Eternal Wisdom and Providence who for ever lives to mind them 3. To give unto him the same Honour Respect and Service as his Saints have done in former Generations Q What encouragement hath our Faith to expect the Mercies we pray for from the Consideration of God's Eternity A. That because he is the same God who in all Ages hath heard the Prayers of those who trust in him therefore we may be assured that if we have the same Dispositions and Affections with the Saints of Old we shall obtain the same Mercies and Favours Heb. 1.12 But thou art the same and thy years shall not fail Q. What signifies that Particle Amen which is the End and Close of the Lord's Prayer A. As in the beginning of a Speech it is Assertory and signifies so it is so in the end of it it is Precatory and signifies so be it which denotes our earnest Desires to have our Prayers heard and our Petitions granted Q. What learn you from hence that our Saviour hath taught us to conclude our Prayers with Amen A. I learn two things 1. That we ought to pray with understanding and therefore not in an unknown Tongue for who can say Amen to what he understands not 1 Cor. 14.16 How shall he that occupieth the Room of the unlearned say Amen at the giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest 2. That all our Prayers ought to be presented to God with fervent zeal and affection 1 Thes 5.17 Pray without ceasing Q. What is Prayer A. Prayer is an humble representation of our wants and desires to God through the assistance of the Holy Ghost in the Name of Christ for things according to his Will with reference to his Glory Q. What is it to pray by the Spirit or by the assistance of the Holy Ghost A. To pray by the Spirit is to present our requests to God with holy and fervent affections excited in us by the Holy Ghost Rom. 8.26 But the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered Q. May those have the Spirit of Prayer who have not the Gift of Prayer A. Yes they may and on the contrary some may have the Gift of Prayer who pray not by the Spirit for they who use prescribed and set Forms of Prayer pray by the Spirit when their Petitions are accompanied with fervent affections stirred in them by the Holy Ghost and again some who are most fluent in conceived Prayer may pray onely from the strength of their natural parts and endowments Q. But doth not the use of Forms damp and quench the Spirit of Prayer A. Forms indeed are too often used formally and so is any other kind of Prayer yet it is the truest Test and the highest Excellency of praying by the Spirit when we are fervent in putting up these requests to God where neither Novelty Variety nor Copiousness of Expressions can be suspected to move our affections but onely the genuine Importance of the matter which we pray for though in prescribed words Q. To whom must our Prayers be directed A. To God onely and not to Saints or Angels Q. How ought we to conceive of God when we pray to him A. As an infinitely glorious wise powerfull and gracious Being whose presence is every where whose providence and goodness is over all things and thus we pray at once to each Person of the ever blessed Trinity Q. May we not particularly address our Prayers to some one Person of the Trinity A. We may especially in those Cases wherein their particular Offices and Dispensations are more immediately concerned Q. What things ought we to pray for A. Onely such as are according to the Will of God 1 John 5.14 That if we ask any thing according to his Will he heareth us Q. What are those things which are according to the Will of God A. Chiefly spiritual Blessings 1 Thes 4.3 For this is the Will of God even our sanctification that we should abstain from Fornication And for these we ought to pray absolutely and importunately Q. May we not also pray for Temporal Mercies A. We may but as these are promised onely conditionally so we ought to pray that God would be pleased to bestow them upon us if it may stand with his Will and Glory and our good and benefit Q. How must we direct our Prayers to God A. 1. In the Name of Christ trusting onely in his Merits and Mediations for acceptance and answer John 15.16 That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my Name he may give it you 2. In Faith and Persuasion of being heard James 1.6 But let him ask in Faith nothing wavering Mark 11.24 What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them 3. With Fervency and Affection James 5.16 The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much Q. What ends ought we to propound to our selves in begging Blessings at God's hands A. Chiefly the Glory of God sincerely purposing to improve those Blessings which
spoil the flourishing verdure and gayety of the Grass and Flowers Why that very Dung which covers them makes them afterwards sprout up more fair and fresh So God permits wicked Men to Dung the Earth with their filth that those Attributes of his which seem to be buried under them may afterwards spring up with the greater lustre and Glory From hence he will reap the richer crop of praise to himself Sometimes he glorifies the severity of his Justice by hardening them in their Sins to their own destruction sometimes the riches of his mercy by calling the greatest and most flagitious Sinners to Repentance and granting them Pardon and always his infinite patience and forbearance in not executing present Vengeance upon those who so daringly provoke him But although we cannot now so clearly comprehend the advantages that God makes out of the Sins of Men yet when we come to stand in the general Assembly at the day of Judgment God will then comment upon and explain the mysteries of his Providence and make us understand how those Sins for which he will then condemn the World put a gloss and shine upon his Attributes Secondly God by permitting sin exerciseth the Graces of his People The sins of others give us matter for the exercise of an Holy zeal for God who is daily affronted by them of an Holy Pity and Commiseration over those who like Mad-men wound and gash and destroy themselves for the exercise of an Holy caution over our selves least we be induced to sin after their Example Our own Sins give us daily occasion to renew our Repentance to humble our Souls before God to fortifie our resolutions to double the guards we set upon our own hearts and ways to watch over our selves more circumspectly that we relapse not into the Commission of them again Thus a true Christian may gain some advantage by his very falls As Husbandmen make use of the very Thorns and Briars that grow in their Fields to stop the Gaps and strengthen the fences about them so should we improve our very Sins and failings to fence our Souls that we lie not open to the like temptations for the future Thus you see that God brings good out of all the Evil which he permits he glorifies his own Attributes and exerciseth his Peoples Graces And thus you see likewise God's Providence both Proved and Vindicated asserted to be particular and punctual over all Occurrences that happen in the World and cleared from all the Imputations of Injustice that the Folly or Atheism of Man can lay against it I shall conclude with two or three Inferences or Corollaries First If the accurateness of God's Providence reach unto all the little concernments of the World we may be well assured that those which are the more considerable and important Occurrences of it are all guided and governed by a special hand of Providence And thus our Saviour himself urgeth as a strong incouragement for our confidence and trust in God Not a Sparrow falls to the ground without your Father fear not ye therefore you are of more worth than many Sparrows Yea not an Hair of your head falls without a Providence and think ye that the head it self shall Certainly God doth not like Domitian busie himself about Flies and neglect the great and weighty Affairs of his Government And this is the reason of that question the Apostle Asks 1. Corinth 9.9 Doth God take care for Oxen Yes certainly he doth nor did the Apostle intend to deny it but thereby to inferr that certainly his care is much more particular towards us This then may establish our hearts under any personal Sufferings or publick Calamities when evil is upon our selves or the Nation when Uproars and Confusions seem to reduce the World back to its Ancient Chaos when Storms and Waves over-whelm the Ship and we with the Disciples think our God asleep and begin to cry out with the Psalmist Awake O Lord why sleepest thou Our God is not sleeping but even then at the Helm he Steers he Governs and Guides all these Disorders and will conduct the whole Tumult and Hurry of Affairs to his own Glory and our Good Secondly If God's Providence hath the command and sway even over the Sins of Men this then may be abundant matter of Peace and Satisfaction in the worst of times when wickedness doth most of all rage and abound let us then consider that if God permits them he also can when he pleaseth Check put a Stop and Period to their Rage and Madness Their hands are Fettered by the adamantine Chains of a most strong Decree which they can neither reverse nor exceed whatsoever they do is but by permission a limited and a limiting Permission Our Saviour tells us Pilate thou couldest have no power over me except it were given thee from above The very power that Men have to Sin against God is from God and therefore certainly he will withdraw it when it doth not work out his own ends This was it that satisfied David when Shimei pelted him with Stones and Curses 2 Sam. 16.10 Let him alone let him Curse because the Lord hath said unto him Curse David Thirdly Hence see to what we ought to abscribe it that there is no more notorious wickedness committed in the World when we hear of any prodigious Villainy we are apt to wonder that ever such abominations should be incident to the Sons of Men. Wonder not at the matter as if any strange thing were happened to them but rather wonder at the goodness of God which is the sole cause that such things as these are wonders Were his permissive Providence as large as Mens lust are outragious these things would soon cease to be wonders and become the common and ordinary practice of all Men. Why are not our Streets continually filled with Violence Rapine Murthers and Out-cries Whence is it that we enjoy our Possession and our Lives in Safety The wickedness of Men lies hard and presseth upon God's restraints and wheresoever there are any gaps in it it breaks forth naturally and violently and if this Dam and Mound of Divine Providence were but broken down it would break out till it had overflowed the whole face of the Earth and covered it with a Deluge of Impiety and Profaneness But that God who sets bounds to the raging of the Sea and saith hitherto shall thy proud Waves come and no farther doth by the same Almighty Providence set bounds to the Lusts and Corruptions of Men which are altogether as unruly and curbs in the fury of their madness which else would drown the whole World in Perdition and Destruction Fourthly Lastly This should teach us to acquiesce and rest satisfied in every Providence of God as that which will certainly in the end redound to his own Glory When we see disorders and confusions abroad in the World we are apt to despond and to cry out Lord what wilt thou do for thy great Name thy