[Page 21] FATHER. God is the great Father of the universe, the master of the world, from whom and to whom are all things. He made all things by the word of his power, and of his [...]eer goodness preserves all things & wisely orders all events, and deals with the whole world no otherwise, then a [...]a­ther doth with his child. He is not on­ly in himself an infinite being, as his name Iehovah shews, including in it all the differences of time Past, Pre­sent, and Future; ^f who was, and is, and is to come. but the immens fountain of beings, whence every thing that is had its original [...] not that his very es­sence or substance was or could be communicated to any created thing, as man begets man (a Father the Son) in his own likeness; then every thing would be God, which is the [...] blasphemy to say. No; the nature of God is quite of another kind then that of the creatures, and altogether in­communicable; For how can we ima­gine, [Page 22] that his infinite essence, could have streamed forth it self into such a various and particular existence, cloathed it self with those accidents, and submitted it self to those lawes of change, which all created things lye under? 'Twas his almighty Word, which produced all things of nothing, light out of darkness, order out of confusion; that was the womb that afforded the fruitful seed, out of which all things grew: ^g He spoke, and they were made; and 'twas well ob­serv'd by the Heathen Critick, ^h that Moses used expressions suitable to the Majesty of a God, when he writes, God said, let there be light and there was light.'Tis true, he hath imprint­ed upon every creature some cha­racter of himself, that we may know by looking on the piece, by the Image and superscription, whose handy work it is. And in this sense we may say, every thing he has done is like him; as we would of an absolute ar­tist, [Page 23] whose rare pieces will at first sight show what hand they came from.

Nor did he only make things, and then leave them to themselves, as some unnatural parents expose their children; But takes care of and pro­vides for every thing, looks after them, wears them in his thoughts, in his [...]y, supplyes their wants, opens his hand and fils them with his goodness, che­rishes and maintains them. And ha­ving built this goodly frame of heaven and earth doth with his ^h everlasting armes (what vain story sayes of At­las) support and uphold it, or rather as his Vice-gerents are pictur'd with a Globe in one hand and a Scepter in the other, grasps the whole world in his hand; and dandles it in his lap, as a tender hearted mother her playsom child. Can he that implanted so tender an affection in all mothers & dammes to their young ones, himself be with­out large bowels of compassion, [Page 24] full breasts of mercy, and a tender bo­som of love? His goodness exceeds all comparison: Though a mother should forget her child, yet ( ⁱ saith he) I will not forget my people. Providence is that great dug, at which every crea­ture hangs, and draws its comfort, by which all things are maintain'd, whence are issued forth daily allow­ances and constant provisions dealt out. For he commands ^k blessing and ^l deliverance. ^m Thou art my shepheard (saith the Psalmist) and I shall want no­thing. The Spirit of God (saith the sa­cred Historian;) mov'd upon the face of the deep, that Chaos and first matter, out of which the several kinds of creatures were afterwards to be parti­cularly produced. A word ⁿ proper to birds that sit upon their eggs & brood them; He flutter'd and sate upon it, and kept it in a lively warmth, and quicken'd that rude lump, that he might out of that great confused ball, wherein the seeds of things lay [Page 25] jumbled, (which therefore an ^o ancient Philosopher call'd Natures Egg) hatch a well order'd world. And since God hath compar'd himself in ^p one place to a broody eagle; & Christ in ^q another himself to a hen; the one teaching her young ones to fly and shift for them­selves by carrying them on her back; the other clucking her chickens, with great pains scraping up their subsi­stence, cherishing them under her wings, and with all her might protect­ing them from rapine; We may from these similitudes learn, what a dear love and careful fear God hath for all his, least they come to hurt. God then may very well be styled a Father in this sense too, that he hath not only as a Fa­ther given being to all things, but as a Father of a family provides for al about him, furnishing them with convenient accommodations and seasonable sup­plyes.

Nor is this all yet; but he orders all things, disposes chance, & overrules e­vents [Page 26] to his own ends, doing ^r what­soever he pleaseth both in heaven and earth; even as Fathers order the affairs of their family, or as magistrates (who are the Fathers of their country) ma­nage the civil state, making lawes and putting them in execution, rewarding the obedient & punishing the disobe­dient. Indeed all government is natu­rally bottom'd upon this relation, and grounded in a paternal authority; the Father at first exercising all power e­ven to life and death over those of his own family: nor is a city or common­wealth any other then a more nume­rous family, subject to the same ruler and govern'd by the same laws. God then it is that gives order for every thing▪ by whom and when and how it should be done. ^s Not a sparrow fals to the ground without his leave. The whole series of second causes is but that golden chain the Poets fancied, whose uppermost link is fasten'd to Iove's chair. He is the Lord of Hoasts; [Page 27] such as are the stars in their courses, thunder, lightning, hail, snow, rain, wind and storm, fulfilling his word; nay, frogs and lice, when he hath ser­vice for them, will muster into armies and the locusts gather themselves into bands▪ He knows best what will make for our good, and his own glory, and by his wise contrivance carry's things in that nature, that they shall all work together for those ends. He is in the world as a King in his Kingdom: Where his word is there is power, and who shall say to him what dost thou? An­gels are his attendants and menials, the other creatures his utensils; But men, though they are term'd vessels too in his great house, yet they are priviledg'd with a nearer relation to him; They are his children, for he is our Father.

OUR. This word denotes a pro­priety and closer interest, seeing he is not our Father alone in that general sense, in that ^t he made us & not we our [Page 28] selves; as he is styled ^v the Father of rain, and ^u the Father of lights; nor for the greater likeness we have to him more then our fellow creatures, which is common to us with the Angels, who are therefore call'd ^w the Sons of God; But by redemption also, having pur­chas'd us by the Blood of his Son, and made us a peculiar people to himself, and having begotten us anew by the word and spirit, and adopted us by grace, that we who are by nature children of wrath might be made the children of God; and to which of the Angels ever said he thus, my Son? Oh! what a condescension of love, that God should suffer himself to be styled our Father, who have corruption for our mother? that Christ should be­come our brother, whose sisters are the worms? For ^x if we be sons, then are we heirs, and if heirs then coheirs with Christ: Oh infinite love, and kindness unspeakable! how dearly obliging an expression? that our Saviour, who is [Page 29] the only Son of God begotten of his substance should not permit, but com­mand us to call God our Father too? ^y my Father and your Father, sayes he. Now as Father is a word of authority, and signifies love and care bespeaking from us a reciprocal love, a filial re­verence and obedience: so Our is a note of indearment, which should teach us charity, which indeed the whole prayer breaths in all the parts of it, Give us, Forgive us, and Deliver us, bringing in all mankind to partake the benefit of our prayers. And seeing it hath pleased God to own us for children, and Christ to make us part­ners of his relation to become bre­thren, it would very ill beseem the best of saints or greatest of men to disdain any of their fellow-brethren, he they never so miserable, never so wicked: Since, were there not a com­munity of the same nature, the sense of humanity, the tyes of reason and religion, and the laws of nations to [Page 30] bring us to some kind of unity, and mutual affection; God's love to us is an invincible argument, why we should love one another.

WHICH ART. And there is none beside thee; For ^z whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth, that I desire in comparison of thee. Indeed the original doth not so express it, making use of the article alone, and leaving the verb to be un­derstood; which as 'tis elliptical, so 'tis an emphatical kind of speaking; ^a He or The in Heaven, which should note a superlative excellence above all others, to whom the title of Father can belong; the Lord God, the King of glory, immortal, infinite, eternal, the greatest, the best; in a word, the Heavenly Father. And this distin­guishes him from the fathers of our flesh, our earthly parents, who are weak men dwelling in houses of clay, of a limited life & love, whose breath is in their nostrils, and when they re­turn [Page 31] to the dust, all their thoughts pe­rish: who cannot do for us as they would, and sometimes will not do us that little good they can; short-handed and narrow-hearted; who if they sup­ply our outward and bodily wants, give us a handsome education; and provide us a fashionable way of life, they do as much as is expected, more then can be requited; but cannot be­stow grace on us, nor bless us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places. And yet to these parents we are re­quired, (next to God) to pay our ser­vice and thanks to the utmost, and shew all possible honour: Nor did our Saviour (who ^b finds fault with the Pharisaical interpretation of that pre­cept, and the sorry evasion of the Cor­ban) mean to slacken that natural bond of affection and duty, which is betwixt parents and their children, when he bids us ^c call no man Father upon earth. But he speaks that com­paratively to heighten our reverences [Page 32] & dutyes to our heavenly Father; that in comparison of him we should take no notice of our earthly relations, nor think them worthy of our least re­spect, as himself sayes elswhere, ^d He that hateth not father and mother, &c. that is, doth not infinitely less love them then he doth me, my wayes, and my concernments, he cannot be my disciple. Wherefore how great an aw ought we to bring along with us before such a glorious presence? what distance should we stand at? what re­verence should we bear to his name, since he is in Heaven and we on earth? what obedience should we have for his word, with what humility should we come and fall down at his feet, & kneel before the Lord our Maker? How should every one with the pro­digal cry out, ^e Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

IN HEAVEN. God is every where, omnipresent, fills all places, Both lands [Page 33] and tracts of sea, & heaven high. ^f Whi­ther shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. But he is said in a peculiar man­ner to be in heaven; there he dwels in unapprochable light, there he dis­playes his glory, and scatters his good­ness out of his treasures, his sun and his rain, thunder and lightning, hail & storm fulfilling his word. There are the dreadful remarks of his presence, and the brightest appearances of his Majesty: which made the very hea­thens place their imaginary deityes in heaven; that though they mistook in the object of their worship, yet they hit right in the place where they were to seek God; For heaven is his dwel­ling place, ^g but the earth hath he given to the children of men. The word is in the Heavens, not in these lower re­gions of the sky, where the winds bluster, and the clouds thicken, where the sun and moon and stars observing [Page 34] their courses carry light about the world: But in the third heaven, in the ^h Heaven of Heavens, whence he is called ⁱ Elion the Highest. Poor short-sighted Pagans dazled with the glo­ries of these luminaries, which shine in the firmament, and are but the ser­vants of nature, tapers which God has hung up in the vault and cover of the world, directed their devotions no farther, and so came short of the glory of God who dwelleth on high, far a­bove the very light of nature, and the laws of change; whereas things here below are subject to continual vicissi­tudes, roll'd about with the wheel of chance, alwayes flowing or ebbing, the world it self being but ^k a sea of glass, there's a perpetuity of good, and a constant happiness, which knows neither change nor end. Besides it became the infinity of God, which cannot be bounded or coop'd up with any term of locality, to choose heaven for his mansion, whose vast [Page 35] circumference and compass is of that wide extent, that in the Natural Phi­losopher's opinion the whole globe of earth is but as a point to it, and this clod in which men make such a quar­ter and bustle in persuit of their in­terest is a sorry ant-hillock in respect of that stately arch, and spangled roof. nay the nations are as the Prophet hath it ^l as the small dust of the balance, and a drop of a bucket. Lastly the in­corruptible God, thought fit to set his seat on high, far above the sphere of corruption, to which all sublu­nary things are liable, and advance himself to the greatest distance from earth, the grounds and dregs of na­ture, the bottom of the world, the sediment and mother of things. There he dwells in liquid and clear regions of glory and bliss, the invisible God, whose face no man can see and live, attended by millions of Angels and blessed Saints departed this life; yet is pleased to look down from on high [Page 36] on the children of men and have his ears open to their prayers when they call upon him.

Nor doth he only dwell in heaven, and (as with reverence I may say) keep house there with his courtiers and domesticks about him, but he sits there too, as a Iudge: ^m The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens. Heaven is his throne and earth is his foot stool. And let things run never so much at random here on earth, there is one in heaven to render to e­very one according to his works, whose wrath as 'tis unsufferable, so his power is irresistible, and his know­ledge infallible. He has girt the whole round of nature, that there is no escaping him; the whole world is his close prisoner, and let wicked men use all their shifts; though the mountains should fall upon them, and the hills cover them, yet God's hand shall find out his enemies, and bring them to punishment. For He is there as a spy [Page 37] too, upon us, he beholdeth us afar of and observes our carriage, and takes notice of all our doings, not an idle word scapes him, nor is there a thought in the heart which he knows not long before. His piercing eyes walk too and fro through the earth, and his ey-lids try the children of men. And this argument our Saviour uses where he perswades to secret good, ⁿ and (sayes he) thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

What care then should we have to our wayes, to our words, who are al­wayes in sight, in hearing of our hea­venly Father? with what reverence should we approach to his throne? in what aw should we stand of his power? How should we be struck flat to the ground, like Paul at his con­version, amazed and astonished with the considerations of a heavenly Ma­jesty? How should our hearts be set on fire with heavenly flames, and the de­sire [Page 38] of heavenly things? How should we slight and trample upon earth and all earthly concernments in com­parison of Heaven, where our Father hath many mansions of glory, and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore? How should our appetites be flatted to the relish of all sensual contents, when we think of those good things which the Father of mer­cies, and the God of all consolation hath laid up for us in heaven? What a mean esteem should we have for, all the glittering vanities, the paltry pre­ferments, deceivable riches, the guild­ed hopes, and pleasures (as false as base) of this lower world; when we think of the glories and the joyes a­bove? How should these ravish our soules, and make them impatient, till they have ^o weighed anchor, and be with Christ? How highly should we prize our spiritual birth-right, and heavenly inheritance? How should we now indeavour to have our con­versation [Page 39] already in heaven? How should we fear the displeasure of so great, so good a Father, more then hell? How careful should we be of disparaging our high birth, and hea­venly calling, by any indecency or foul miscarriage? How should we strive to be like our Father which is in heaven, holy as he is holy, merciful as he is merciful, perfect as he is per­fect? that we may be known by our conversation to be the children of God, children of the highest, the chil­dren of light, to whon belongs the Kingdom of Heaven. For 'tis God's presence and favour makes heaven: Heaven would not be heaven unless he were there. Where ever grace is, there's heaven; for God dwels there, entertaining himself in an humble heart as much in the highest heavens. To make short, how should we ad­mire him, worship him, fear him and love him, and joy in him with a holy ecstasy of affections, and heavenly [Page 40] reptures of devotion, that have leave to use these words, Our Father which art in Heaven? This appellation with the other title of Father assures, and makes up our confidence compleat. For being our Father he will do us all the good he can, and being in Heaven he can do what he will; so that the goodness of a Father, and the power of heaven stand ingaged for us, as the two pillars of our hope; and two sure­ties, that all our petitions following will be granted and made good unto us.

Amongst which, as 'twas fit, those which belong to his own glory have the first place; and God having made all things for himself cannot be un­mindfull of providing for that. But he loves to be ask'd to do even what he means of himself to do, that man's will may be brought into a com­pliance with God's, and the execution of decrees become the return of prayers. Thus he delights to oblige [Page 41] where he can force, and that which he hath with an unchangeable pur­pose from all eternity resolv'd with himself, makes it the product of his creatures will; as if he had more kind­ness for the desires of men then for his own resolv's, and would not per­form his own eternal decrees, unless man first consent, and make it his re­quest. And indeed it is man's con­cernment that is driven throughout the prayer; for 'tis not for God's sake that we pray, but for our own: What advantage gets God by our prayers, unless giving be getting? His name is holy, his Kingdom is everlasting, and his will irresistible, whether we pray or no. But we pray that all this may be order'd for our good, and we are as much concern'd in this as in our daily bread; God so ordering all the administrations of his providence and grace, that his glory and man's salva­tion go hand in hand, and that all things may work together as for his [Page 42] glory, so for our good, the good of those that love and fear his name.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME.

The name is the first thing we en­quire after about any thing we desire to know; as Moses, when he talked with God at his first appearance to him, told him the Israelites would ask him, who sent him, and ^p what was his name. There hath alwayes been taken great care for the imposition of names, that they might be suitable and proper to the nature of things. For things are distinguished and known from one another by their names. Wherefore God himself named the greater pieces of his work, which being of vast unruly bulk, were to be under his own immediate govern­ment, as Heaven and Earth and the Sea; and 'tis said ^q he calls the stars all by their names, &c. But those creatures which he meant to put under mans [Page 43] feet, he brought to him to name.

The like care hath been constant­ly taken by parents and others in pro­viding fit names for their children, that families and persons may be suf­ficiently distinguished; for which purpose the day, on which the child was circumcised, amongst the Iews, which was the eighth day from his birth, and about the same time among the heathens, but amongst us Chri­stians at the baptisme, this solemnity of naming the child is perform'd; a thing of such concernment, that it hath been delivered sometimes by the message of Angels, other while by miracle. And that was a signal token in the ^r prophecie, wherein he calls his anointed Cyrus by name four hundred years before he was in being. 'Tis a nice consideration, but there may be something in it, and of more then ordinary consequence, that God should take such care about names, that he should think fit to give and [Page 44] change them either in favour or dis­pleasure; as in the instance of Abra­ham, Conjah, Peter, &c. and that he is said to write the names of his elect in the book of life, and to give them a new name; and to blot out the names of the wicked, and to threaten that their names, i.e. their memory shall perish. Let them take heed that for­bear to Christen their children, and give them names, least they design their childrens ruin; God finding no names they have in the church-roll, to copy into his book. ^f Is not he right­ly named Iacob; saith Esau, for he hath supplanted me this twice? And Nabal was as very a churl as his name gave him for; and very many scripture-names are thus signicant. And Mel­chizedeck (whose true name if 'twere Shem, was Name according to the signification of the Hebrew word) de­notes, ^t as the Apostle explains it, the character of the person, King of righteousness, who was also King of [Page 45] Salem, that is, King of peace. God out of a familiar love to mankind is plea­sed to dress himself as 'twere, and set forth his nature by those wayes which are usual amongst men, and there­fore ^v hath made himself a name.

Now the name of God is any thing, by which God hath made himself known, and hath in the Scripture-language several acceptions; For some­times the name is taken for the per­son himself whose name it is, as in reckoning ^u so many names. And so we say of God, to call upon the name of the Lord, i.e. to call upon the Lord: and to give thanks unto the name of the Lord, &c. ^x Not unto us, but to thy name give the glory, i.e. to thy self; for so the opposition stands not to us, but to thy self. Sometimes it is taken for fame and renown and glory, which accompanies a good name and makes it like good oyntment; the Giants of old were ^y men of name, to wit, famous renowned men much talked of: [Page 46] ^z Christ's name after he had wrought some miracles was spread abroad throughout the country, i.e. he grew famous. We will make mention of thy name (saith the Psalmist often,) and will speak well of thy name, and sing praises to thy name, i.e. set forth thy praise in verse, and contribute the skill of my tongue and harp, (which are ^a my glory) in the celebration of the glory. Then 'tis taken for those abilityes & virtues, which commend a man to fame, and raise an admira­tion and esteem of him; as power, wisdom, goodness, mercy, &c. And such are the glorious attributes of God, the excellencies and perfections of his nature; as ^b How excellent is thy name in all the earth, sayes David, when he meditates upon the works of creation, wherein those attributes of his doe most conspicuously shine forth, to the amazement of any se­rious beholder. And lastly it compre­hends all the effects & atchievements [Page 47] of the divine attributes, whether pro­duced by common providence in the world; such as are, his works, daily accidents, extraordinary events; or by special grace, such as are, his word and ordinances, the Sacraments, the Gospell, his Ministers, his Sabbaths, his Temple, his inheritance, persons, places, times and things dedicated to his service; and whatsoever wears up­on it a stamp of holiness to the Lord. Thus, ^c in thy name will we tread down our enemies, i.e. by thy assistance and help, and by the conduct of thy pro­vidence so ordering it, defeating the counsels, and breaking the strength of our adversaries. ^d In thy name we have prophecied and cast out devils, &c. by virtue of thy commission, by thy command and appointment, and the warrant of thy word; ^e Baptizing them in the name of the Father, &c. to wit, into the profession of the Gospell, into the worship and service of God, faith in his promises, and obedience [Page 48] to his commands. Nor is the prin­cipal and usual signification to be laid aside, God having many such names given him in Scripture; both proper, as Iehovah, Iah, Elohim, Adonai, Shaddai; and appellative, even a full Alphabet of names as the Syric Grammarians reckon them. And so too, ^f Holy and reverend is his name. Our petitions here begin in God's name, a form so well liked, that it came to be taken up even up even in the ci­vil affairs of life, wills, contracts, &c. and made use of at last as a stale to countenance the worst designs of cheat, prostituted to base self-ends, e­ven to the infamy of a Proverb. And surely if we facing our prayers with it, make it only a vizar to our own cor­rupt desires, we doe it a fowl reproach, and profane it, when we pray it may be sanctified.

To Sanctify hath also a doubtful meaning according to the thing it is applyed to. The Philosopher has in a [Page 49] moral respect rank'd things into three forms; For there are some things ab­solutely and in their own nature good; others as naturally bad; and a third sort of indifferent things, which in their own nature are neither good nor bad, but according as they are used. His distinction may find room here and accordingly admit of a threefold Sanctification; That which is in it self holy is sanctified, when 'tis acknow­ledged and reverenc'd as holy; And thus ^g we are bid to Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, the holy One. That which is by nature evill and corrupt is sanctified by being made holy, and having that nature renewed accord­ing to righteousness; And thus ^h God sanctifies us by his spirit, creating us to good works in Christ Iesus; and he bids us also ⁱ Sanctify our selves by a diligent attendance on the holy ordi­nances and holiness of life and con­versation. That which is of a middle and indifferent nature, is sanctifyed [Page 50] when we set it apart from common service and apply it to holy uses. So our meat is ^k sanctified by the word and Prayer, so the Priest with his vests, the Temple with it's utensils, the Sabbath, &c. become sacred and inviolable; And who offers a violence to any thing that thus belongs to God's peculium is profane and sacrilegious.

Our request then in this petition is, That all things may be done to the glory of God, that he would order his own counsels, and all the dispensa­tions of his providence and his grace to the utmost advantages of his own praise; that he would sanctify us that we might sanctify him in our hearts; that we may fear before him, that is dreadfull in holiness; that we may en­tertain reverent thoughts of him, ad­mire him in his infinite perfections, be astonished at his unsearchable glory, study his praises, meditate on his goodness, delight our selves in him, and speak well of his name, and set [Page 51] forth his noble acts; that we may take notice of him in his out-goings, ob­serve his providences, mark his par­ticular supplyes and restraints, regard his mercies with thankfulness, and mend under his judgements; that we may wait on him in his sanctuary in the use of his ordinances, go to his house in his fear, praise his name ^l in the assembly among those that keep holy dayes, attend to his word, keep his Sabbaths, honour his Ministers, and give due respect to every thing that belongs to him; and that we use not any of his names or titles, but upon weighty occasions, and with great re­verence. And lastly that our whole life be so holy and blameless, that we may not give occasion for God's name or his wayes to be evill spoken of, but rather that ^m our light may so shine before men, that they seeing our good works may glorify our Father, which is in Heaven. And this being done will promote & set forward the [Page 50] [...] [Page 51] [...] [Page 52] interests of his Kingdom, and so speed the second petition too.

THY KINGDOM COME.

God is ⁿ the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings, the great Soverain of the world, who does whatsoever he pleases, and neon saith unto him what dost thou? ^o who hath resisted his will, or ^p given him counsel? For that the word signifies also in the ^q Chaldee dialect, those two things being neces­sary to compleat a Monarch's right, and make him absolute, to doe what he doth by a clear and full authority and power of his own, and by his own counsel and pleasure to act and determine that power. He is the great Basis and support of all societies and governments in the world; For ^r the powers that are, are ordain'd of God; ^s By me King's reign, and for him too, being his Vice-gerents ^t and [Page 53] sword-bearers, to be a terror to evill-doers and a praise to the good. And as he hath corwn'd all mankind with honour and dignity, giving them do­minion over their fellow-creatures; so he hath put that Majesty upon rulers, whom he hath appointed to govern their fellow-men (who else without lawes and order would be little better then beasts,) that they may be looked upon, and observ'd with that reve­rence, as if they were earthly Gods. ^v I have said ye are Gods, but ye shall dy like men. They are God's anointed ones; and honour'd of him, account­able only to him, required therefore to do their homage, and ^u kiss the Son least he be angry. And as they must like all other men dy, so they must also appear before the judgement-seat of God. ‘ ^w Kings to their subjects dreadful stand O're Kings themselv's is Gods com­mand.’ [Page 54] He hath all the royalties that belong to an Imperial Crown, a righteous Scepter, righteous lawes, loyal sub­jects, glorious priviledges, blessed re­wards for the obedient, and great pu­nishments for the disobedient. Not ought Kings of the earth to be impa­tient at mutinous and rebellious spi­rits, when God himself wants not those who ^x rise up against him; and which may set them a copy of princely cle­mency to write their acts of grace after, ^y gives gifts to the rebellious, lea­ving some of them as monuments of his mercy, though too others he make trophies of his justice.

I might note that sure Kingship is the best form and model of govern­ment, since God himself rules under that title; that the Regicide is a kind of Deicide; and when subjects dare mate their soverain, and contrive a Com­mon-wealth to justle out the King­dom, they do but challenge divine vengeance for that, which perhaps [Page 55] their injur'd princes forces cannot chastise, and call upon themselves Lucifer's fate, who ^z left his first estate by clambering higher, whose pride prefer'd him to the principality in Hell, where he gnashes his teeth, and curses God; who questionless hath been that Angel of light, that hath cloak'd sedition with the name of Godliness, and taught the late teachers to ^a despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities, and blaspheme the name of Kings. And all nature hath by instinct followed divine example, gathering it self as much as may be into oneness; making every sort of creature almost submit to monarchical rule, and preaching as it were the Apostle's les­son, ^b Be not many masters. But the sad experience of these nations in the time of tyranny, and the wonderfull providence of God in the restitu­tion, hath sufficiently convinc'd all honest English of this truth, that That government is best, which is [Page 56] likest God's; to wit a Monarchy, a Kingdom. Now God hath a twofold Kingdom, one universal at large, all the world over, the other particular and special, his Church; For he is ^c King of the nations and ^d King of the Saints. or we may say, a threefold Kingdom in respect of the different administration of this later, according to the different condition of the church militant here on earth, or triumphant in heaven, to wit, a tem­poral, spiritual, and eternal Kingdom; or the Kingdom of his power, the Kingdom of grace, and the Kingdom of glory. By his power, he governs the whole fabric of the world, disposes of all things, appoints seasons, sets bounds to human power, over-rules their purposes, stills the raging of the Sea, and the madness of the people, raises up, casts down, kills and makes a­live, strikes the earth with his thun­der, and darts forth his lightnings; the winds obey him, & blow only where [Page 57] he lists. ^e All things are his servants, and ^f he doth what he pleaseth both in heaven and in earth. By his grace he governs his Church, sets up his throne in the hearts of his people, appoints officers, gathers the elect, and rules them by his word and spirit, conquers sin and death, kills our corruptions, subdues our lusts, and treads Satan un­der our feet, and breaks the powers of hell, that the gates thereof shall not prevail against the church, guids the faithfull ones in his wayes, tryes their patience, exercises their faith, teaches them his lawes, that they may observe his statutes and ordinances, defends the Saints, and is ^g a sun and shield to direct and protect them, that neither the Devil nor wicked men can doe them any hurt; rewards those that doe or suffer any thing for his sake, pu­nishes offenders, and persues the im­penitent, and such as obstinately stand out his calls and tenders of grace, and go on presumptuously in their evill [Page 58] way, with the fury of his indignation, afflicting them with bodily plagues, temporal calamities, and spiritual judgements, as blindness of mind, hardness of heart, &c. giving them up to their own shamefull lusts, and a re­probate mind, & into the power of the divel, and either passing final sentence upon them in this life, or reserving them till the great Assises of the last judgement. In the Kingdom of glory (as he himself is call'd ^h the King of glory,) he sits on his Throne incom­pass'd with millions of Angels, and blessed Saints, who fall down before him, and sing praises ⁱ to him that sits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb. This is to have it's beginning when the o­ther two end, not to be compleated till the last day, when the Angels ga­ther the elect from the four corners of the earth, whom God shall reward with everlasting bliss; when he shall send the ungodly to Hell, ^k where the worm never dyeth, and the fire never [Page 59] goes out. Then those who were suf­ferers shall be conquerers, and wear a never-fading crown. ^l I have fought a good fight (saith St. Paul) and hence­forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. All the Saints then shall be Kings, there shall be the glorious orders of pure Virgins that defiled not themselves, of blessed Co [...]essors that were not ashamed of their profession, of holy Martyrs who lov'd not their soules to death, of Prophets the Har­bingers of Christ, and Apostles the heralds of the Gospell, and all the quire of Heaven singing Halleluiahs. This is that Kingdom of Christ which he said was ^m not of this world, for which he despised the shame, & with which his servants that have a tast of the heavenly gift, and are afforded the earnest of their meditations, (a sight of the heavenly Canaan, and glorified transfiguration; as from Pisgah, and on mount Tabor) are so ravished, and deeply affected, that [Page 60] they must needs cry, ⁿ come Lord Iesus come quickly; Thy Kingdom come.

COME. i.e. appear and show it self, may its interest be promoted, may it get ground and inlarge it self, may it be seen that ^o the Lord is King, let the people be never so unquiet; may it come into our hearts and rule there, and beat down every proud imagination, that lifts it self up against God; may Christ hasten his coming & illustrious presence, which the Iews Liturgy is ful of even to this day, the coming of Messias. Now there is a twofold ad­vent or coming of Christ mentioned in Scripture; The one was when he came in the flesh, in the form of a ser­vant to die for us, that he might reign upon the tree as some readings have it in the Psalms: The other will be, when he shall come in the clouds with power and glory, attended with Angels to judge the world, at that great and dreadful day, when the [Page 61] trumpet shall summon all to appear before the tribunal. And when that's done he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father; and the time of this his coming and the end of the world, he hath left here to be the subject of our prayers, and not of our inquiries, to exercise devotion not curiosity: the uncertainty of the time being an argu­ment to quicken our diligence in pre­paring for it, that we may watch and pray; he having told us afore-hand, that he will steal upon us, ^p as a thief in the night. But what need we trou­ble our selves about the age of the world, when our own time is so un­certain, that we cannot call the next hour our own, and know not how soon the arrest of death may hurry us away to judgement? He that dies now in the Lord ^q rests from his labour, & his good works follow him; and if we cannot properly say that the King­dom of God is come to him, we may safely say he is gone to it. At the end [Page 62] of the world then is Christ's great coming, and the general judgement: but at every single death there is a par­ticular doom past, when the soul im­mediately after it's delivery out of the body is dispatched either into the re­gions of life, or lodged in the cham­bers of death, so that in this sense Christ may be said to come too. And there is a gracious visit, when he comes, and ^r knocks at the heart, and calls to his beloved by his word; When he comes into us, to a feast and banquet of love furnished with the consolations of the spirit.

The sum of this request is, that God would declare his power even to the heathen that know not his name, and make discoveries of his Majesty by his outward administrations, not leaving himself without witness, but convince profane spirits that there is a God that rules in the world; that he would manage the affairs of the world for his peoples good, and for the advance­ment [Page 63] of the Kingdom of his Son; that he would bless the civill societies of men; that he would fill Soveraigns with wisdom to go in and out before the people, and people with loyalty to their rulers, and with love to one an­other; That he would establish the state, wherein we live, in peace and order, preserving us on one hand from the tyranny and oppression of superiours, and on the other hand from rebellion and conspiracy of in­feriors; That he would save the King, whom he hath set (under himself) our supream Head and Governor, from all treasons and treacherous designs; that he would subdue the people un­der him, cloath his enemies with shame, and upon himself let his crown flourish; that he would give the King his judgements, and make our Magi­strates men of courage, fearing God and hating covetousness; That he would preserve us from all dreadfull calamities, the plague, pestilence and [Page 64] famine; from wars, fires, inundations, from murder and sudden death; That he would take a special care of his Church and his chosen ones; that he would send labourers into his vine­yard; that he would endue his Mini­sters with righteousness; that he would illuminate all Bishops and Pastours with true knowledge and understand­ing of his word, that both by their preaching and living, they may set it forth and shew it accordingly. That he would inlarge the tents of Japhet, remember his ancient people the Iewes, gather in the remnant of the gentiles, send forth his Gospell into the dark corners of the earth, and publish the glad tidings of salvation unto all mankind; that he would fill up the number of his elect, and hasten the glorious appearance of Christ; That he would confound the devices of all that have evill will to Zion, and turn the hearts of hereticks, schisma­ticks, and bloody tyrants; That he [Page 65] would assist those that suffer for the testimony of a good conscience with strength from above, and send them the comforter; That he would de­stroy the man of sin, with the breath of his mouth; That he would ^s garri­son our hearts with his grace; that he would teach us his laws, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his com­mands; That he would mortify the desires and lusts of the flesh, subdue us to himself, and make us a willing people in the day of his power; That he would open our hearts for the re­ceiving of his word, and rule in them by his spirit; That his Kingdom may first enter into us, that we may enter into it. Lastly that we may have our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospell, & live in a constant exspecta­tion of our great change, that when our Lord comes he may find us doing his will on earth as it is in Heaven: And ^t blessed is he, whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing.

THY WILL BE DONE.

The nature of God is not made up of a body and soul, nor hath he bodi­ly parts, as eyes, hands, feet, &c. or fa­culties of mind, as understanding, me­mory, affections; and 'tis no less im­proper to say of God, that he knows or wills any thing, as that he walks, sees, &c. which are metaphorical ex­pressions taken from men, God being pleased in holy writ to condescend to our capacity, and speak of himself after the manner of men: God is all under­standing, all will; nor is there any thing in God which is not infinite, i.e. himself. His will then is not a thing really distinct from his understanding or indeed from his essence, neither is it a blind power as it is in us, that needs the guidance of reason and the light of another faculty to be convey'd into it, to represent the object, and advise it to choose the good, and eschew [Page 67] the evil; but is of it self most free, most wise, most good. It self is a law and rule to it self, determins it self, and is the measure and standard of all good­ness, righteousness and holiness. ^v The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works; And his pracepts are ^u more to be desired then gold, yea then fine gold, sweeter then hony & the hony-comb.

Now there is a twofold will of God; that of his decrees, and that of his commands. Nor do these two cross and oppose the one the other, as if God decreed one thing should be, and commanded the contrary: but they keep a sweet harmony and mu­tuall correspondence. God's word and his providence may seem sometimes to clash and justle one another, yet they do keep the same road of right­eousness, nor does God ever contra­dict himself, or speak one thing and mean another. ^w Let God be true and e­very man a lyar' that makes such in­terpretations [Page 68] of the will of God, as that his good pleasure or everlasting purposes should thwart the manife­stations of his will, which he hath made in his word. For instance; God saith that ^x he would not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should repent and live; And his Apostle saith that ^y he would have all men be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. He then that shall teach that God hath ab­solutely predestin'd any sinner to dam­nation, and by irreversible decrees concluded him under an impossibili­ty of repentance, layes an imputation upon God's veracity, and makes him if not a lyar, yet (which is the worse of the two) a dissembler, to say he de­sires their life, when he hath by an ir­revocable decree prejudg'd them to unavoidable death, and with all argu­ments of love to invite them to come to heaven, when he hath long before they were born shut the gates against them.

[Page 69] By his decrees he hath from the beginning set down with himself what shall be in time, foresees and or­ders all events to his own end; inso­much that one tittle of his word shall not pass away, till he have accom­plish'd his full will, and brought about his own purposes. Poor weak men want strength and policy to perfect designs, and many times we are cut of in the mid-way by an untimely death; But God's counsels are laid deep, and he is of an infinite power, and lives to do what he doth to the uttermost. Nor yet does he act so ab­solutely as to take from second causes their freedom of acting or impose a necessity upon man's will to force it this way or that. Far be it from any sober heart to think, that God can in any sense be the authour of sin: Should this doctrine obtein in any man's mind, that all his actions are from all eternity predetermin'd by God, so that he must needs do what [Page 70] he doth, and cannot possibly do o­therwise; I should desire that it may onely be consider'd, what direfull consequences will naturally insue from such a persuasion, when 'tis in good earnest own'd and liv'd after, and whether all the villany and mi­schief in the world will not find hence a ready justification. Not to say how vain and useless all reason, counsels, debates, exhortations and reproofs, all that by which we are men or Chri­stians, the use of ministry and ordi­nances, and all the arguments for a virtuous and a godly life, would prove with one that were obstinately possest with this opinion, and were resolv'd to live according to it. But 'tis safer for us to consult God's precepts, then tamper overboldly with his decrees; and to study his will in his commands, with humility adoring the wisedom and righteousness of his unsearchable counsels. These he hath reserv'd to himself; and locked up from us, as [Page 71] the Arcana imperii: The other he hath plainly made known unto us, and proclaim'd them in his word, and we hear the sound of them in our eares; O that they might also sink in­to our hearts to doe them! By these we shall at last be tryed, when every one shall receive according to his works: nor will the decrees of God prejudice that soul which hath duly observ'd his commands, or secure those who wilfully break them. Scri­pture is the plain rule which we are to walk by; the book of decrees is that sealed book, which none but the Lamb is worthy to open. We ought to study our duty more then destiny. ^z Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thy self, are flat commands that require absolute obedience: But the promises and threatnings of God are under condition, and God will make righteous judgement and be found no respecter of persons, when ^a Not every [Page 72] one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter in­to the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doth the will of our Father which is in Heaven.

BE DONE. God's decrees are done upon us; his commands are to be done by us: those require our sub­mission, these our performance. And indeed our whole duty is made up of a passive and active obedience, where­by we willingly bear what evils God is pleased to send, and as readily doe what good he bids us. But why doe we pray that God's will may be done, since his decrees will come to pass though we pray not, and his com­mands 'tis our part to perform? The reason is for the first to shew our compliance with God's will; for the second to desire God's assistance, since without the aids of his grace we are not able to doe any thing as we ought.

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

That men here below may as wil­lingly submit to his good pleasure, and pay as chearfull and constant obe­dience to his commands, as the Saints and Angels above doe, who alwayes stand in his presence in a readiness to serve him, who never quarrel at any of his appointments, or grudge at any pains they put themselves to, praising him continually, falling down before him, and ascribing power, and domi­nion, and glory to him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb: All the business they have to doe there, and to spend their time at, is the singing of Hallelujahs, and delighting them­selves in seeing the face of God, and meditating on his goodness; They have no other imployment but the contemplation, and enjoyment of the chiefest good, and count it their hap­pion [Page 72] [...] [Page 73] [...] [Page 74] to be taken up alwayes with these thoughts. oh! what a heavenly life should we lead here on earth, if we could but thus throw all our de­sires at God's feet, contenting our selves with his disposals, not trouble our selves with the cares of this life; but count it our meat and drink to do his will, to obey him, and trust in him though he should kill us, to doe and suffer any thing for his sake, and think it our honour that we are thought worthy; to breath after heaven, mind heavenly things, and whilst we are in this valley of the shadow of death pre­pare our selves for eternity, by doing that here in this life, which will be the whole imployment of the next.

To gather up the sum of the whole petition, 'tis this; That God would give us patient and chearful spirits so far, that we may resign up our selves and our interests wholly into his hand, and submit to his good plea­sure, [Page 75] possess our souls with patience, and count that condition best, which God out of his infinite wisdom and tender care thinks fittest for us; as being well assured, that he doth all for the best, that he loves us better then we our selves do; That we should thankfull acknowledge his good­ness in his preservations of us, and pro­visions for us; And if at any time he chastise us with wants and distresses, and exercise us with afflictions, to en­tertain them as messages of his love, and tokens of his kindness, not to murmur or repine under the cross, & think we are hardly dealt with; but to account it great joy, and take up the yoke, and bear the burden quietly, and cast it upon the Lord who will bring it to pass; That we may not bold­ly pry into his decrees, nor presume upon a rash confidence, or despair in distrust of his love; but adhere to the plain rule of his word, and busy our selves in doing his will; That we [Page 76] would tread carefully in the path of duty and mind the business of our ge­neral and particular calling, and trust God with the success in the use of all lawfull means; That we may not be discontented, peevish and froward, when our humours and interests are cross'd, and when his providence an­swers not our desires; but bless God, when he takes away as well as when he gives, and give him the glory what­ever befalls us: That we may resign all to his blessed will, and rest fully satis­fied with his determinations, that in all cases we may say with our Saviour, ^b Not my will but thine be done; That he would write his laws in our hearts, and teach us his statutes, and acquaint us with his will, that we may doe it; That he would assist us with his grace, and strength from above for the per­formance of his commandements; That he would mortifie our lusts and the corrupt desires of the flesh: that we may not set up them in opposition [Page 77] to his Holy will, but bring every proud imagination in obedience to him; That we may be so acted by his spirit, that we may be quickend in every good way and work, and be carried on from strength to strength till we come to perfection; That we may have a holy emulation for the blessed spirits above, and endeavour to imi­tate them in yielding an obedience without delay, without murmuring, and without weariness; That we may endeavour to the utmost to find out ^c what that good, that acceptable and perfect will of God is, and to perform it, and never think we can doe too much for him, or suffer too much for his sake; That we would lay aside all worldly cares, and ^d serve God with­out fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life, and fit our selves for the business of eternity, by having our conversa­tion in heaven, whilest we are here on earth.

[Page 78] Thus the three Petitions do im­mediately concern God, and may also have particular reference to the three Persons of the Trinity; That the name of the Father who is God blessed for ever may be exalted and glorified; That the Kingdom of his Son and his glorious presence may be hastned; That the spirit would frame our hearts to the obedience of his will. And to the three offices of Christ; By whose name as he is our Priest we are saved, whose name is above every name ho­ly and excellent; who as King rules in our hearts, and will come in trium­phant manner at the last day to own his faithfull subjects and be avenged of his enemies; And who lastly as Prophet hath declared unto us the will of the Father, and came to do his will on earth as it is in Heaven, with an exact unsinning obedience.

Nor is the word Thy idle, but hath a great significance, commending to us that great Gospel-duty of self-denial, [Page 79] which is indeed the essential character of a right Christian, who can be content to part with all, so God may have his due. For so the op­position is to be understood; Thy name not our honour; Thy Kingdom not our interest; Thy will not our humour. And thus the three petitions seem to be levell'd at the world's Trinity, Ho­nour, Riches and Pleasure. We ought not to study our own honour, but to doe all for the glory of God; we must not strive for deceivable riches, but set the Crown upon Christ's head; We should not follow our own plea­sure and pursue our own satisfactions and contents, but submit to God's will. It is no wonder that this holy form of Prayer was so displeasing to the ambitious and factious spirits of these latter times, a generation of self-seeekers, who meant to advance their own names, and get the power of the Kingdom into their own hand, and pretended a divine authority for their [Page 80] own will, as if they would have prayed rather, Our will be done in heaven as it is on earth: nor did they stick to say as much, when they father'd all their mischiefs on providence, and from their successes concluded God's ap­probation of their wickedness.

These last words, On earth as it is in Heaven, may seem to look back upon the three precedent Petitions, after this manner;

• Hallowed be thy Name,
• Thy Kingdom come,
• Thy will be done,

May we men on earth praise and glorify thy name, adore thy power and Majesty, perform thy com­mands, and submit to thy holy will, even as the Angels those ministring spirits and the blessed Saints doe in Heaven, saying, ^e Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.

[Page 81] Now follow the Petitions which concern us and our necessities, which are either temporal supplyes of food, and a comfortable subsistence, and a dayly provision, and sustenance; or spiritual wants, such as are the Pardo [...] of our sins, and justification by the blood of the Son of God, which was shed for the remission of sins; and the strength of assisting grace, whereby we may resist and overcome tempta­tion, & sanctification wrought by the spirit of God, dwelling in us, and cleansing our hearts by faith. So that these three also may have respect to the three persons, seeing that they seem particularly directed to the Father for maintenance; to the Son, for pardon; to the Spirit for grace.

BREAD. What more natural for children to ask, or for a father to give? Bread is the staff of life, the stay and support of nature, the chief nourish­ment, and that which alone will keep [Page 82] nature in repair, and the body in health; but is usually taken by a Sy­necdoche for all manner of food what­soever, even for ^f flesh, meat and drink, whence to eat bread with one was a common form of speech, meant for sitting down at table, dining or supping and being entertain'd and in­deed feasted with varieties. And yet more largely sometimes, (as here it is) for all the provisions and accommo­dations of ^g life, not only food but rai­ment, habitation, health, strength, mo­ney, friends, estate, preferment, vi­gour of mind, soundness of body, suc­cess in our undertakings, a blessing upon our labours, comfort from our relations, with all other temporal con­cernments; as seasonable weather, the early and the later rain, fruitfull fields, plenty, peace, deliverance from dan­gers, long life and a good old age; with all those good things of mind, of body, and of fortune (as we call [Page 83] them) which may be the objects of a right order'd natural desire; and all those additional advantages, which the custome of countryes hath made convenient and agreeable to people, according to their severall ranks and qualities; which are all here compre­hended under the name of Bread, to teach us frugality and contentedness, that if we have but bread, we should be there withall content, and not grudge at those who have greater va­riety afforded them: For we are not worthy to feed upon the crumbs that fall from the table of his bounty, and if he please to allow us a portion in the childrens bread, we ought to ac­cept it with thanks from a fathers hand; and that providence is never wanting to supply us with bread, Da­vid's experience hath taught us, ^h who never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his seed though begging their bread. Again we may learn hence a thrifty bestowing of God's gifts, not to lavish [Page 84] them out in riot, or spend them on our pride, as the ⁱ rich glutton, that wore gorgeous apparell and far'd sumptuously every day; but rather to communicate God's goodness, and to distribute it amongst the poor, and let others share in our superfluities; which are the true Christian sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased, seeing that all that we ask or can challenge for our selves is but bread, and if God give more he does it to that intent, that there may be occa­sions of doing good, and exercising of charity, that he that abounds may impart to him that wants. Who would grudge God, if he rightly con­sider'd it, the tenth sheaf, who hath so freely given him the other nine? Who would not chearfully feed the poor with a scant almes, and make a dole of pence, when God has inrich'd him with pounds and bless'd him with a fair estate? But such is the perversness of worldly men, that they consider [Page 85] none but themselves, and the more bountifully God deals with them, the more niggardly they deal with others; not fearing to cheat God himself of his due, and defraud the Priest and the poor, whom God hath appointed his receivers of those small returns he ex­pects from them for his large kind­ness to them. The covetous miser that pinches his own belly is a thief to himself, and turns his bread into stone. He that hoards his corn in a time of dearth, is a thief to society and inherits the curses of the people. He that spends all on himself, and considers not the poor, and robs the Church of her due, is sacrilegious and profane, and either saith not this prayer at all, or else sayes it not as he should; for it teaches us to say our Bread.

OUR. The covetous and ambi­tious person is all for himself; He sayes in his heart, give me my Bread, and cares not what becomes of others. [Page 86] But this Prayer requires another kind of spirit, that we take notice of the wants of our brethren. God is not for monopolies, that any one hand should ingross the whole stock of his bles­sings; He will not have one go away with all, and the rest have nothing left them; If he give any one more then is enough to serve his private turn, what's over and above is a trust to be laid out for the good of the community; for estates, honours and parts, and all the other advantages of life are talents, and will be call'd for back again with usury: we are then to have a mutual compassion as fellow members of the same body, which though they differ very much in place and condition and use, yet are they all helpfull to one another, and con­spire together to the good of the whole body. Nor is this all which is gathered from this word; but it teacheth us industry too in some ho­nest way of life, for the getting of our [Page 87] bread: It must not be the bread of idleness, for that would prove a tem­ptation to lust; and if we should pray here for that, e're we come to the end of the prayer we should unpray it a­gain. It must be ours before it will be given us; that which was Adam's curse proves a blessing, ^k In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread; so the Psalmist construes it; ^l Blessed is eve­ry one (saith he) that feareth the Lord that walketh in his wayes; For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands. No man hath a priviledge of being idle; every one's to earn his living, & make his sweat his sauce; for the bread as well as the sleep of a labouring man is sweet. The gentleman himself hath a calling and though he be born to an estate, yet ^m Iob tels him, that man is born to labour too. The heathen could ob­serve that though the Gods be bounti­full, yet they set their gifts to sale and will have them purchas'd with sweat. The Apostle's command is express, [Page 88] ⁿ He that will not work let him not eat. And when we have thus made it ours, we cannot yet call it ours, or promise our selves it will doe us any good till God give it us.

GIVE. If it be given, how is it ours? If it be ours, how does he give it? Till God assign it, we have no pro­priety; his blessing must accompany our labour to make it ours; ^o It is in vain else to rise early and sit up late, and eat the bread of carefulness. What reason is there that a piece of dry bread should do any more to my nourishment then a chip of wood, or a clod of earth? or how comes it to pass that the meat which was e're while upon my trencher, is now turn'd into my substance, and become part of my flesh and blood, and won­derfully spreads it self over my whole body to the relief of every part, but that God conveys a blessing along with it, and hath put a strength into these creatures to nourish us, and give [Page 89] us suitable refreshments, and hath in­dued our nature with faculties and forces, by a strange kind of Chymick, to draw out that strength from them, to digest and ferment their substance, to distill and fetch from them their virtue, to throw of the refuse, to re­tain what's usefull, and bestow it into so many little vessels, to be carried up and down through the whole fabrick, and make up every defect. ^p Man (sayes our Saviour) doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro­ceedeth out of the mouth of God. 'Tis God's fiat that does thus virtuate and commission his creatures to serve us, and doe us good; 'Tis a giving, a par­ticular assignment of every ones al­lowance out of God's exchequer; 'tis not a scramble, catch that catch can. We must not snatch his gifts but stay till he give them. The oppressor, the extortioner, the griping usurer, the couzning trades man and every one that takes an ill course of life hath not [Page 90] what he hath given him: he will not let providence be his pourveyour, but makes his own craft caterer for his bread; he will not stay for God's al­lowance, but breaks open the exche­quer, and plunders divine bounty. But such will find the bread turn gravell in their mouths, and those stoln wa­ters bitter in the end. What God does not give, comes without a blessing, and 'twill be found at last that those are worst serv'd, who serve them­selves. Nor must beggers be choosers, or pass censure upon God's gifts; Be it more or less, whatever it is, it comes from the hand of a Father, and is bet­ter then a rebellious child deserves. We must neither envy those that have more given them, nor scorn those that have less, since it pleased God so to make the distribution. ^q Let not thy eye be evill because thy master is good; nor censure any one from his outward fortune. We are all children of the same Father, and if he gives one [Page 91] child better cloaths and better fare then another, he sees very good rea­son to diversifie his dispensations, and 'tis reason enough to quiet our thoughts that he hath so order'd it. But if our curiosity do tempt us to look out upon the condition of others about us, let us make this use of it, and compare our selves with those above us, to learn humility, that we should not be proud for God's giving us so much, since he has given to some o­thers more; and with those of lower degree, to practise thankfulness, that we may not grumble at God's provi­dence who hath done better by us, then by many our betters. Let the rich be humble, because he hath nothing but what he hath receiv'd, and let the poor be thankfull for the little which he hath receiv'd; and God if he see it fit for him will give him more. One particular duty at our meals we may pick out here, that we presume not to feed upon those meats which God [Page 92] hath prepared for us, (for so the Psal­mist acknowledges. ^r Thou hast pre­par'd a table for me and made my cup to run over) till we have craved a blessing for them, nor rise up without a thanks­giving, our Saviours constant pra­ctice. 'Tis observ'd of the swine, that he wants those nerves that should draw his eyes upward, so that when he feeds on the mast and the acorns, he ne're looks up to the tree whence they fall. He that ^s feeds himself thus without fear or looking upward for a blessing, sacri [...]ices to his belly and makes it his God; and with him sure, as ^t the belly is for meats and meats for the belly, so God shall destroy both it and them.

THIS DAY. Day by day, from one day to another without any cark­ing thought for the future, for ^v suffi­cient for the day is the evill thereof. And who, that sayes this prayer, knows but this day may be his last? we should at least live so as if it were to be. Be­sides [Page 93] it puts us in mind of a constant dependence upon God. He that hath provided for me to day, will not let me want to morrow; we have been cast upon his care from our mother's womb, and have liv'd ever since we came into the world at his charges; He will not therefore cast us of now, no nor ^u forsake us in our old age, when our strength fails us. We have had so many tryalls of God's goodness to­wards us, as we have liv'd dayes and hours, we may well trust him then for the time to come. 'Tis true, all futurity to us is uncertain; 'tis not so to him: to morrow is all one with him as to day, and this is certain that he will ne­ver want power or love to help us, nor will he fail the expectation of those who put their trust in him, who is ^w the same yesterday, to day, and for e­ver. Let us content our selves then with present enjoyments and not care for to morrow, for the morrow will care for it self. While we have a mouth [Page 94] to ask, God will not want a hand to give. And this word makes the prayer as dayly as the bread it asks. Where­fore be sure be thy condition what it will, if thou sayest this Prayer every day thy dayly allowance will find thee out; and be where thou wilt it shall be sent thee some way or other, ^x as the Ravens were caterers for Elias. Christ's miracles of the loaves, & his turning water into wine may assure us, that, be our provision never so scant or mean, yet if his blessing be in them, they will be sufficient for our support and comfort.

DAYLY. That which thou hast apportioned for us, that which God's providence has set out in the particu­lar distributions to be our part and portion. This Petition alludes to the Manna, Angels food, that fell every morning among the Tents of the Is­raelites in the wilderness, whereof ^y he that gather'd much had nothing over, and he that took up little had [Page 95] no lack; but every one enough for his eating. 'Tis so ordinarily; and 'tis little less then miracle, how so many thousand families, as are in a great city, in a nation, live by one another, and how they are provided for according to their severall rates & proportions. Thus the Syriac renders it, ^z The Bread of our sufficience, or of our proportion. He then that takes more then belongs to him, and exceeds his allowance, must look that the overplus shall stink and breed worms. The Greek word is indeed doubtfull, and admits of a double interpretation; First, as 'tis de­riv'd from a word which signifies ^a the day a coming; to morrow's or the next day's bread; and thus it signifies an honest care to be aforehand in the world, and not (as we say) to live from hand to mouth. And such a care does not argue distrust, but on the contrary a man's improvidence may seem to call God's providence in question: For so the Apostle pronounces of [Page 96] him; ^b that he's worse then an infidel that does not provide for his family. And so before we were obliged to trust in God, because 'tis to be given, and yet take care of our selves, and use the means, because we must make it ours, before he give it. Secondly as 'tis compounded of ^c a word that signifies substance and a particle of va­rious use, on, over, to, beside, in, &c. 'tis render'd super substantial bread, added to our substance, belonging to our substance, by which we are maintain'd or kept alive, or of an excellent sub­stance; And so some apply it to Christ, ^d who was that bread that came down from heaven, of which the Mann [...] was a type: Whose holy Body is in the Sacrament of the Supper represented by the symbol of Bread. And what so fit to beg of our heavenly Father, as this heavenly Bread, by which our souls are fed to life everlasting, our na­ture repair'd and perfectly restor'd, our hearts strengthened, our spi­rits [Page 97] quickened and our graces kept alive.

The meaning of this Petition is, that God would feed us with food convenient for us, that he would sup­ply all our necessities and fill up all our wants; That he would as a faithfull creatour preserve us in the land of the living, and give us all things that he knows convenient for us in this our pilgrimage; That his blessing may e­very day fall round about our dwel­ling like the morning dew, and as the Manna lift amongst the tents of the Israelites; That he would provide for us all accommodations suitable to our condition, and to that station of life, whereunto his good providence hath design'd us; That he would give us strength of body and vigour of mind, perfect health, and all natural and moral abilities, that may fit us for the discharge of our duties, and above all a contented spirit, that we may eat our bread with chearfulness, [Page 98] and be satisfied with his gracious dis­posals of us and any condition that he shall in his wisdom cast us into, ei­ther riches or poverty; That he would neither send us so much of the world's good, as to tempt us to wan­tonness and riot; nor so little as to make us repine: but assign us such a competent portion that we may find a comfortable subsistence, and have where with to doe good to others; That we may be enabled to provide things honest and fashionable before all men, yet not make provision for the flesh to satisfy the lusts thereof; That our food may be wholsome ra­ther then delicious, so that in the strength thereof we may do him ser­vice; That our attire may be decent and comely, to cover shame not to show pride and vanity, that we may not turn his gifts into wantonness, or [...]mbezill his talents, but imploy them to his glory and others good [...] and ^e make us friends of the unrighteous [Page 99] mammon; That he would bless our labours, and give success to our ho­nest undertakings, that we may eat the labour of our hands and it may be well with us; That he would procure us faithfull friends, diligent servants, dutifull children, fruitfull seasons, and furnish us with all other perquisites, that may make our condition com­fortable; That he would bless the na­tion with righteous government, and honest magistrates, indue the nobles with courage, the commons with loyalty, bless all orders and conditions of persons from the highest to the lowest; from him that sitteth on the throne, to him that is behind the mill, enlarge all that are in distress, send us plenty and peace in our dayes, crown the year with his goodness, and make all his steps toward us drop fatness; that we may thankfully acknowledge his benefits, and be charitably disposed to those that are in want, that we may be tender-hearted & compassionate, [Page 100] not forget to communicate and distri­bute, and show gratitude to all those, whom he has made instruments of good to us, who have obliged us by any kindness, and pray for them that God would restore seaven-fold into their bosome; That he would keep us in an humble constant dependance on him, and provide honest courses for us, that we may not eat the bread of idleness, or tempt his providence with the use of unlawfull means; That he would deliver us from dangers and distresses, preserve us from rapine, and spoil, and keep us from distrusts and anxietyes about the things of this life, but that we may ^f seek first the King­dom of God, and the righteousness thereof, assuring our selves that then all things else shall be added to us, and whatsoever our share be of outward things, take the Lord for our portion and our inheritance; That he would to this end give us Christ the bread of life, and with him all things, and [Page 101] that he would with that bread which came down from heaven, feed our souls to life everlasting, strengthning our graces, pardoning our sins, and subduing our lusts.

AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPAS­SES AS WE FORGIVE THEM THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US.

Pardon is as necessary for our spi­ritual life, as bread for our natural. For ^g the soul that sins shall dy. ^h In ma­ny things we offend all; even ⁱ the righteous falls seven times a day. For ^k death came into the world by sin over all mankind, but righteousness and life came by Iesus Christ; And we have dayly need on't too; for ^l we pro­voke God every day. So then we are to hunger and thirst after the right­eousness of Christ that our souls may live; And as Christ's flesh is bread in­deed, so is his blood, (which he shed for the atonement of wrath and forgi­veness [Page 102] of sins) drink indeed, the wa­ter out of that spiritual rock which is Christ. Oh, that ^m our souls might thirst for the living God as the wounded hart panteth after the water-brooks.

OUR TRESPASSES. The other Evangelist useth another word debts, which comes all to one, both signi­fying sins, by a translated sense bor­rowed from dealings amongst men, betwixt creditor and debtor, the per­son suffering the injury, and the per­son doing it. For a debtor or trespasser that is not solvent, or hath not where­with to make satisfaction, agrees with his adversary, puts it to reference, comes to composition, and by media­tion of friends, takes up the business, that there may be no arrest or indite­ment, or other procedeur in law a­gainst him, as knowing that he should come by the worst, be cast in his fuit and be sent to prison, where he must ly by it, till he have paid the uttermost [Page 103] farthing; which being utterly unable to doe, he must never hope to come out, but rot in prison. The same is the case betwixt God and us, we are bound to him by our creation to an observance of his laws, or to undergoe the penalty of the breach which is everlasting death; But we are fallen short and are unable to discharge that debt, nor are we able to answer him one word of a thousand; so that there are due to us all the plagues written in his book; We have gone astray and done abominably, we have broken all his laws and commandments, we have been rebellious children from our youth up, and the imaginations of our hearts have been evill conti­nually, we have neglected our duty in every thing, and have not harkned to him to obey his voice; so that to us belongs shame and confusion of face for ever. Now Christ became our surety, took up the business, under­took our reconciliation and hath [Page 104] answer'd the law, satisfied justice, di­scharg'd our debts, cancell'd the obli­gation, and nail'd the hand writing of the law unto his cross, making a new covenant of life betwixt God and us upon Gospell-terms of grace, and new obedience; yet still we are wanting on our part and deal treacherously in our covenant, trampling upon his blood and despising so great salvation. Nay even the best of Saints have their day­ly slips and failings; Who is he that can justify himself? and ⁿ if any per­fectist say he has no sin, he deceives himself and the truth is not in him.

Our sins. All Adam's off-spring, the whole race of mankind is tainted. ^o Behold (saith the holy Prophet, a man after God's own heart,) I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin hath my mother conceiv'd me. And ^p the Apostle has concluded all under sin, so that we are all guilty of original corruption, whereby all the faculties [Page 105] of our soul and members of our bo­dy are over-spread, as with a leprosie, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, beyond the cure of all humane arts and helps; Philoso­phy, education, laws and punish­ments, shame and interest, cannot weed out this root of bitterness; nay grace it self, though it may over top it and keep it under and hinder it's growth, yet cannot totally exstirpate it in this life; we are bid to strive after perfection, though it be a thing im­possible to attain it; & of actual trans­gressions, which like impure streams flow from that filthy puddle of cor­ruption, that's lodg'd in our nature, into our lives, and issue forth in our thoughts, words, and deeds; whether by omission of good or commission of evill, whether against God by im­piety, against our neighbour by inju­stice, or against our selves by intem­perance, whether wilfully and delibe­rately with presumption against the [Page 106] light of nature, dictates of conscience and plain rules, or weakly and sud­denly out of ignorance, frailty, sudden surreption or surprise, or by the hurry of temptations; whether public and notorious scandalous offences, which are loathsom to the ey of the world, and make us stink in the nostrils of those about us, or secret closet sins which ly open to God's sight, and perhaps may scape our own know­ledge or be lost out of memory.

From the different words the Evan­gelists, use some draw an argument a­gainst the formality of the whole prayer, & that therefore it is enough, if we deliver our selves according to the meaning of the prayer and not in the very self-same words, the words themselves being diversely reported. To this may be replyed, first that this is but a contention about words; For though the two words differ a little in sound, yet they are all one in sense, and let them use which expression [Page 107] they like best, so they use one and ob­serve the precept which injoyns the form. Secondly that the various read­ing of a word ought not to null and void the whole form so as to say that that prayer recited by St. Matthew is not the same which St. Luke rehearses: If so; then ^q that Psalm of David is not the same with that which is set down in Samuel, nor would the ten Com­mandements, as they are repeated in Deuteronomy be the same as God spake in the xx ^th Chapter of Exodus, because of the alteration of some words. In­deed upon this account the whole bo­dy of Scripture might be call'd in que­stion, there being hundreds of diffe­rent readings in the very originals: now there can be but one right, and we have no means left us to know which is that right. But in most of these there being no point of faith or manners concern'd, 'twill be indiffe­rent which of the two we take, so we take one; or we may make use of both, [Page 108] and that's the third answer, That our Saviour dictating this form at two severall times, at second going over might possibly vary a word or two, which may be the reason also of most (if not all) the severall readings in the Hebrew and Greek Text; the writers themselves in the several copies tran­scribed from them, altering here and there a word. And from this ground may have sprung that liberty which the Septuagint take in their Greek Translation, they following another copy much different from the present Hebrew: And then the command obliges us indifferently to either, or if we will to both, sometimes one, sometimes the other. Not to say in the fourth place that our Saviour spoke Syriac, & the Evangelists might allow themselves the freedom of In­terpreters, to translate the same word differently, it being a ^r word probably that bears both the significations of debt and guilt; Though I must con­fess [Page 109] the Syric Interpreter affords here no help, rendring it, as the Evangelists have done, by two differing words, a liberty which he often takes ^s and here was bound to it, because the Evange­lists whose words he was to translate had done so to his hand.

As we forgive them that trespass against us. This is either a condition upon which we beg forgiveness, de­siring to find that favour at God's hand, as our brother doth at ours, and that God would deal with us in that very manner as we deal with one an­other. And thus 'tis a very high obli­gation to charity, mutual forgiveness, and brotherly kindness: or else it may be taken as a reason of the foregoing desire, and as the other Evangelist words it, For we also forgive; That seeing we poor and wicked creatures have so much goodness as to pardon one that offends us, the great and [Page 110] blessed God who is goodness and love it self, would not be hard to be intreat­ed, but would lay aside his wrath and forgive and forget whatsoever has been amiss. And in this sense the words afford a powerfull argument to plead with God for pardon and an undeniable consequence, from the less to the greater, that God would yield to doe out of his own infinite good­ness that towards us, which his grace hath enabled us to perform to others.

As. This particle here denotes a likeness but not an equality; such an As, as in those precepts of impossi­ble duty, ^t Be mercifull as your hea­venly Father is mercifull, &c. For who can reach infinity? who can overtake him, whose wayes are past finding out? as himself sayes in this very case, ^v As far as heaven is above the earth, so far are my thoughts above your thoughts, which there are meant his thoughts of mercy and love. Alas! [Page 111] should we coop him within our nar­row model and scantling, should we make that kindness, which we show to one another, the standard by which his love must be meeted out to us; how should we dry up the breasts, and shrink the bowels of his mercy, and dwindle his bounty ^u out of whose fulness we receive Grace for grace, or Gift for gift▪ Charity for charity, a vast unmeasurable love, as in exchange and return for that small love we have for him, and one another; for those words will very well bear that sense. 'Tis meant then not of an even, yet a just and fit proportion; that as we who are mortal and finite have a charity in us, which though bounded with the measures of time and place and strength, that we can doe but little good and that but to few, and that but a little while, yet 'tis so sincere that we would to our utmost doe all the good we can, and which is the greatest cha­racter of a good nature, are ready to [Page 112] forgive any one that offends us; So he who is the fountain of all good, the Almighty, infinite, and everliving God, would with his infinite charity, his everlasting love, entertain and im­brace us sinners, and freely pardon all those offences which we have ever committed against him. Thus the reason may be the same of the most unequal numbers, and finite and in­finite may walk together in the same proportion; as a finite charity is to a finite offence, so an infinite charity to an infinite offence; as man is to man, so and much more is God to man. If one man be a God to another, as cha­rity makes him; then what is to be ex­spected of God himself? If we that are wicked forgive one another, surely God cannot choose but forgive us.

WE ALSO. This carryes a great emphasis with it, and makes the re­quest very easy, and layes a force upon God: As if one should say, will God suffer himself to be out done and out­brav'd [Page 113] by man? will the divine bounty contract it self, because he sees hu­mane kindness enlarged? will he with­draw his own mercy, and let ours ^w crow over his justice? will his love want measure, & shall ours overflow? no; on the contrary 'tis a good evi­dence that he has shed his love abroad in our hearts already; that we can thus forgive one another is a conse­quent of his having forgiven us first, and a fruit of justification whereby we obtein the remission of sins. For he justifies us by the blood of his son, and sanctifies us by his Spirit. Now ^x the fruits of the spirit are love, peace, joy, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness. God other while commands us to imi­tate his example, as in the Sabbath­rest, &c. And on this very subject to be mercifull as he is mercifull, and to be followers of Christ, who ^y when he was reviled, answer'd not again, but was led as a lamb dumb before the shearers: But here he is pleased to set [Page 114] himself a copy from our actions, and to take pattern of us, whereby as he does make a low condescension to draw his goodness parallel to ours, so he doth deeply oblige us to forgive one another, by putting words into our mouths by which we shall be judged if we do not; For the uncha­ritable person that sayes this prayer, prayes backward, and does indeed but curse himself, and he who bears a grudging mind against his brother, puts in a caveat against himself, and prayes that he may not be heard. And to a peevish, humorous, passionate, revengefull spirited man God will re­tort the argument. Art thou a worm and canst not indure to be trod upon? canst not thou who dwellest in the dust brook an affront, nor bear with an injury? And canst expect that the living God who is a consuming fire, should tamely put up the injuries which are offer'd to his honour? Dost think it reason for him to pardon thy [Page 115] talents, when thou canst not forbear to use violence for the recovery of a few pence. Our Saviour layes a great stress upon this argument, therefore he repeats and ^z inforces it, For if ye forgive others then will your Father al­so forgive you; But if ye forgive not one another, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you. And at the last though infidelity & impenitency may have a main hand in shutting heaven­gates against unbelievers and sinners, yet if our Saviour give us a true ac­count of the proceedings which shall be at those great Assises, (as 'tis Blas­phemy to think he did not) the great damning sin for which reprobates will stand arraign'd will be the want of charity. His offences then will be inexcusable who was a rigid exactor of other's duties to him; and who knew not how to pass by others small faults, shall not have his own great ones pardon'd, he who shew'd no mercy, shall have no mercy shew'd [Page 116] him; as he did by others, so shall it be done by him; for ^a that measure as you mete, the same shall be meted to you again. The niggard does not take a course to thrive. Give good measure and it shall be given to you heap'd, and running over into your bosom. Forgive much and thy own pardons shall be multiplyed, and this kind of charity by which thou forgiv'st others shall hide a multitude of thine own sins.

FORGIVE And alas! what wrong is done to us which is worth revenge, which doth not deserve a forgive­ness for our own sake? The poor heathen Philosophers had that brave principle in them, that they would not disorder the quiet of their own mind by entertaining passion for another's miscarriage. Out of a generous con­tempt of the world they thought nothing here worth the quarrel; or at least consulting their own ease, and being in love with their tranquilli­ty [Page 117] ne're troubled themselves about what was not in their power to help. Let fools, and knaves abuse Socrates, make mouths at him, twitch him by the cloak, libell him, draw up articles against him, and at last confute his Philosophy with a draught of hem­lock, he's no more angry with them, then he is with the rain for wetting him to the skin, with the puddle for wet shodding him, with a stone he stumbles at, or a post that stands in his way. Hee'd tell his enemy, Friend, take heed what thou dost, thou wrongst thy self, thou canst doe me no hurt; my mind's an invincible fort, thou canst not disturb it, nor is it concern'd in thy weak assaults. 'Tis thy nature perhaps to doe ill, 'tis mine to suffer it; an iron head-piece for a box o'th' ear. If providence hath order'd thee my executioner, I can more cheerfully forgive the injury then thou canst doe it; ^b Kill me thou mayst, but canst not hurt me. So high had Philosophy [Page 118] wrought them above the region of cloud and trouble, and the pitch of humanity, into a calm and clear sere­ty of mind, that they liv'd beyond dis­content, & mischief, that ill turns could not reach them, that passion was an utter stranger to them, that they baf­fled wrongs by taking no notice of them, and their dissimulation of inju­ries was their great art of living: In so much that ^c one of them layes it down for a maxim, that A good man has no enemies. Oh! how far short are we heathen Christians of those Chri­stian heathens? what a different tem­per are we of? How ready are we to quarrel about every trifle, when a word conjures up our passion, every punctilio ingages our honour? who are so critical in the study of our re­putation, that we examin looks, censure behaviour, and let nothing pass unscan'd, that 'tis dangerous even for innocence to enter our company, and our conversation is an inquisi­tion? [Page 119] We make our very tables snares, and whosoever or whatsoever we like not we judge and condemn at our pleasure, hang and draw within our selves, and spare none we catch trip­ping; And if any one hath indeed de­served ill at our hands, to be sure, we let fly at him bitter words, murder him in our thoughts, and seek all op­portunities for a desir'd revenge. And can such a one exspect that God should swallow his camels, who has so queasy a stomack and narrow a throat himself, that he streins at gnats? O let no one be so desperately re­vengefull, so ill natured to himself, as to persue an enemy beyond the hopes of heaven, and purchase a revenge with the loss of his soul. He forfeits his own pardon that can't forgive an­other. Consider at what a cheap rate God sets his pardons to sale. For thou maist wipe off thy own score with thy brother's faults; his moats will re­move thy beams. As God has made [Page 120] the poor his receivers, so he has ap­pointed thy debtors and trespassers his assigns. What they can't pay thee, God strikes off of thy account; what thou forgivest them is discharg'd out of God's bill against thee. Thus our forgiveness like quit-rent or a legal cheat, stands for a hundred times it's value, and our enemies prove our greatest friends by injuring us to our happiness, and turning our shame in­to the advantage of our glory, by pro­curing us pardon of our sins, whilest we forgive

THEM THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US.

'Tis such an argument as the Cen­turion used, and shews as much chari­ty as his did faith. ^d Doe but speak the word (sayes he) and my servant shall be healed. For I also am one in a petty au­thority, and have souldiers under me, and say to one, Goe and he goes, to an­other [Page 121] Come and he comes, to a third, Doe this and he doth it. So we are taught to plead this request. Forgive us our sins for we also forgive offences com­mitted against us. We have superiours that oppress us, and we bear with pa­tience; equals that scorn us, and we in honour prefer them; inferiours that neglect us and we use them kindly, we have hard masters, severe teachers, base friends, abusive companions, stubborn children, spightfull neigh­bours, unfaithfull servants, and yet we return not evill for evill, but give place to wrath, and according to thy com­mand ^e overcome their evill with our good. We bless those that curse us, pray for those that wrongfully use us, doe all the good we can to those who doe us all manner of ill, and endea­vour as much as in us lyes to keep peace with all men, and readily for­give every one that doth us any un­kindness, and with our ^f Saviour on the cross, pray that our heavenly Fa­ther [Page 122] will forgive them too, and with the first ^g Christian Martyr, that God will not lay what they doe to their charge. And will not the Father of mercies do so by us, and much more? will not he forgive ^h with whom there is forgiveness that he may be feared. God would want worshippers; no bo­dy would fear him, were he a cruel God, and delighted in the death of a sinner, and would accept of no other sacrifice for sin but the soul that com­mits it. He is mercifull and gracious & long suffering, full of loving kind­ness, and plenteous in redemption; ⁱ as he has express'd himself in the vi­sion of Moses. That he may forgive us as we forgive others, let us learn of him to forgive, to be reviled and not revile again, to love our enemies, to pass by offences, to wink at great faults, not to be strict in observing what is done amiss; (For if God should doe so, who would be able to stand; for who knows how oft he offends?) [Page 123] to make a candid interpretation of o­ther mens carriage, and judge the best of their actions, to put up wrongs, at least to put them upon God's ac­count; as David said of Shimei, ^k God hath sent him to curse me this day; and to look upon every enemy thou hast as God's scourge, and 'twill become a dutifull child to submit to his fa­ther's correction, though administred by a servant's hand; For he appoints the hand as well as the rod. God has severall wayes to chastise his children, and punishes some with a malicious tongue to blister their good name; to some a marriage bed proves their pur­gatory, or an ill neighbour-hood; To others men of violence come with a commission from heaven as God's Takers, and seize on all the comforts of their lives; and remember amongst all these injuries of men, God doth no man wrong; and he may take what course he please to reduce a rebell sub­ject to his obedience. And lastly how [Page 124] malitious so ever the intentions of men may be, God means all this vexa­tion for good, and would not apply this strong Physic, but that he finds it necessary for the health of thy soul. What little reason hast thou to be of­fended at any man; whom God im­ployes in the drudgery of his chastise­ments? How much reason hast thou to forgive and thank too any one, that doth thee such kind injuries, which reclaim thee from thy sins, and put thee in a capacity of God's pardon? And shall he that is at this pains about thee to fetch thee home to thy Father, and bring thee to Heaven, be thought to doe thee ill offices, and not deserve a pardon for his courteous malice? What good shrewd turns are these? What friends more beneficial then such foes, whose mistaken rage mean­ing to kill cures by breaking an Im­postume of pride or lust; whose cruel­ty while it would drive us from earth, would but give us an earlier posses­sion [Page 125] of heaven, and banish us into bliss? But may one say, if this reason­ing be good, to what purpose are lawes, whereby mens persons and properties are secured from wrong? To what end courts of judicature, where injur'd persons may have right done them? Besides that war upon this account will be as unlawfull as murder; and if men may not be al­lowed to preserve their rights by laws, and where they are over-power'd to maintain them by arms, in a short time they would have nothing to loose; for one injury will invite another till they have eaten out their patient en­tertainer? To this I answer, 'tis true the whole tenor of the Gospell is for self-denyall, taking up the cross, and bearing chearfully all that an injurious world can put upon us; that the great character of a Christian is to be a suf­ferer, and that the scope of this very petition is in short, that we should deal with others as we will have God [Page 124] [...] [Page 125] [...] [Page 126] deal with us, which is freely to forgive all trespasses that are committed a­gainst us without any exception; for no other pardon can serve our turn from God's hand: (any one sin un­pardon'd will damn us.) Yet God has for the preservation of the civil socie­ties of men, implanted principles of moral honesty in the minds of men, and hath prescribed rules of equity in his word, and hath set up his Vice­gerents, Kings and Magistrates under them, to keep good order, that no person of loose principles that has de­bauch'd his notions, may disturb o­thers to gratify his own lust, but may be made give account to him that ^l beareth not the sword in vain. And one may in some cases, nay must out of charity to the publick, prosecute notorious offenders, as traitors, mur­therers, thieves, &c. least by a patient sufferance of their mischiefs we en­courage them in their wickedness, and become accessary to the guilt of [Page 127] any other villany they shall commit afterwards. As for private wrongs, as slanders, &c. ones own ease would be argument enough to put a supersedeas to Law with an ingenuous man, who knows no ill by himself: it being ge­nerally seen, that he that's over eager to prosecute a scandal, justifies it. To conclude, there can be no offence so hainous, no miscarriage so mischie­vous, wherein Christian moderation and patience hath not place; By doing nothing to serve our own passion or interest, but all for God's glory onely and publick benefit; And to let our hearts even bleed in pitty over those wicked wretches, who dye by the hand of Iustice, and abate rather then improve the rigour of the law any farther then is necessary for the terror of evil works. Such was Ioshuah's carriage to Achan; ^m My son (saith he) give glory to God: who neverthe­less was ston'd to death.

We desire then in this petition, [Page 128] that God would blot out all our ini­quities, and remember our sins no more; that he would not impute our sins to us, but cover our iniquities; that he would pardon all that we have done amiss; that he would not deal with us according to our iniquities, nor reward us according to our sins: But that he would deal bountifully with our souls, and of his free grace pardon us; that he would accept of what Christ his Son, our surety, hath done and suffer'd for us, to take away the sins of the world; that he would look upon his death, as a sufficient ransome, and a perfect atonement for sin; that he would sprinkle us with his blood for justification, and cloath us with the robes of his righteousness, that as our sins were imputed to him for a shameful and cursed death, so his righteousness may be reckon'd to us for glory and immortality. That he would nail the hand-writing of the law against us, to the Cross, and bury [Page 129] our sins in his grave, that they may ne­ver rise up against us, neither to shame us in this world, nor to condemn us in the next; That he would break the rule and dominion of sin, as well as free us from the guilt and punishment of it; That he would ⁿ create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us; That he would ^o loose us from the bands of death and quicken us to newness of life, killing sin in us by the virtue of his death, and raising us by the power of his resurrection, who dyed for our sins, and rose again for our justification; That he would sprinkle our consciences from dead works, & wash away the stains of our natures & of our lives, & though our sins be as red as crimson, make them as white as wool; That he would ^p keep us from presumptuous sins, & cleanse us from our secret sins; That he would lay the restraints of his grace upon us, that we may not break out into foul enormities; That he would [Page 130] mortify our lusts, and subdue our cor­ruptions, and earthly affections; That the pollution of our nature and origi­nal uncleanness may be done away, by the water of Baptism in the layer of regeneration; That he would for­give us all the evil of our doing, our neglects in duty, the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper age, the vain imaginations, and the evil concu­piscence of our hearts, every idle and unsavoury word, all our wicked and ungodly deeds, whereby we have dis­honour'd him, injur'd our neighbour, or abus'd our selves, our own sins and our other folks sins, our national and our personal sins, our civil & our reli­gious sins, our rebellions & apostasyes, and our hypocrisy, our righteousness, our prayers, our charity, and our very forgiveness it self; all the transgressi­ons and violations of his law, and the breaches of his holy commandments, sins we have committed knowingly or ignorantly, wilfully or weakly, de­liberately [Page 131] or upon surprise, with tem­ptation or without; all that we know by our selves, and that he knows by us, who knows our folly and our frailty, and how brutish we are; that as his mercy is over all his own works, so he would stretch it over all our works; That he would be graciously pleased to doe what he requires us to doe, to love his enemies, and bless his ^q persecutors; That he would magnify his mercy in pardoning great sins, and not let the mercy of man ex­ceed it; that he who is abundant in loving kindness, and full of compassi­on, would not come short of his crea­tures; that since ^r he has commanded us, if our brother offend seventy seven times, we should forgive him, he would take pattern from his own command, and pardon us our repeat­ed abominations, wherewith we pro­voke him every day; that he would work in us the grace of repentance [Page 132] and charity, and assure us of the for­giveness of our sins, by our readiness to forgive others.

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.

As it was not enough, that God should give, unless he would also for­give us; so neither will a bare forgi­veness serve our turn to quit all that's past, unless we may have his assistance to prevent faults to come: so that in the preceeding petition we desire to have our former debts struck of the score, in this we beg a stock of grace, and the supplyes of the spirit, that we may run in debt no more, nor fall into any more sin. So that we intreat God to deal with us, as a tender mother with her little one that's yet unable to goe alone, who takes it up when it catches a fall, and holds it when 'tis up that it may not fall again. There we call'd for pardon, here we ask for strength; having been often foil'd by [Page 133] the tempter, we implore spiritual aid that God would enable us to resist Sa­tan, that he may fly from us; to with­stand evil, so that having done all, we may stand. That belong'd to justifica­tion whereby we are reconciled to God, this pertains to sanctification whereby we are made like unto God, who is both all good, and ^s is not tem­pted of evil.

AND. The Petitions which con­cern us have mutual connexion with, and dependence upon one another; Give us, and forgive us, and Lead us not, but deliver us: whereas the others which concern God stand apart, and are not so coupled and joyn'd toge­ther; because they are of themselves intire and compleat, and one granted naturally infers the rest, every thing that belongs to God being like him­self infinite. His Name, his Kingdom, and his Will, each in a manner seve­rally including the other two; so that his glory is sufficiently provided for, [Page 134] if any of them hold good. For his name cannot be hallowed, unless his Kingdom come and his will be done too. And if his Kingdom come, his will must needs be done, and his name will be hallowed. Or if his will be done, tis a certain sign his Kingdom is come, and his name as sure will again be hal­lowed. But the benefits we crave for our selves are partial, and such as God often disjoins & gives apart, as 'twere by piece-meals: For many times he bestows bread and an outward estate, where he doth not vouchsafe pardon and peace of conscience; nor gives grace alway to prevent the commis­sion of future sins, where he forgives sins past. Some men are rich to their hurt, and their fulness of bread is a curse, whilest their abundance doth but increase their debt, and their table proves their snare. Others are in God's favour though the world frown on them, and with ^t Lazarus are put to shift for crumbs that fall [Page 135] from the rich glutton's table, whose outward man is ready to perish for want, while the inward man lives by faith. Others may have their sins for­given them, & yet be put upon worse conflict then bodily want, and the ne­cessities of a short life, being buffetted with Satan, and winnowed, and exer­cis'd with strong temptations. And there may be those who, though pre­served from falling into temptation, and kept from great sins by the re­straints of a gracious providence, yet may not be secure as to their forgive­ness, who may be damn'd for their lit­tle sins, every sin being in it's nature high treason against an infinite Maje­sty. For they are all three well link'd together with a copulation, seeing that any one would not doe us much good without the other two, nor make sufficient provision for our ne­cessity. Bread is for the maintenance of our natural life, Iustification freeing us from the guilt of sin, puts us in a [Page 136] spiritual life, by taking out the sting of death; and sanctification by which we are enabled to work out our salva­tion, instates us to the life eternal. Bread keeps us while we are on earth, Pardon rescues us from hell, and Grace conveys us to heaven; which is here meant, as that with which we are to encounter temptation, and give it the foyl.

LEAD US NOT. Man's life is often compar'd to a walk, and a pil­grimage: There are many wayes and many leaders; we are often at a stand, and through ignorance know not well which way to take, and therefore have need of being led. Moses led the children of Israel through the wilder­ness, & Ioshua led them into Canaan, we seek a land of promise, and have a wilderness of temptations to pass thorough; and as we want eyes to see our way, so we want feet to walk it: being naturally as weak as we are ig­norant, our understanding dark, and [Page 137] our will lame and crooked: Nay, and when we are acquainted with the wayes of truth and holiness, we are apt to be misled, to goe back, or start aside, and turn to the right hand or the left. We are beset round with tempta­tions, every step we tread is snare, and unless God order our goings, and di­rect us in his way, and bear us up with his grace, we should every moment fall into sin, and run into errour. The world, the flesh and the Divel, lay baits and traps for us. The instigations of Satan, the vanities of the world, the counsel and example of wicked men, and the corrupt desires of our own flesh misguid us, and put us upon dangerous occasions of ill, rocks of offence, and pits of destruction. Wherefore seeing that sin doth so ea­sily beset us, we pray that God would not lead us into it; that he who is the Saviour of men, and the lover of souls, would not take up the enemies trade, who is a ^v tempter first, and then [Page 138] ^u the accuser. That since we are ready to goe astray our selves, he would not put stumbling blocks in our way, nor countenance those evil guides and ringleaders of mischief, which seek our soul to destroy it, by leading us himself into temptation. But do not we lay an imputation upon God's goodness in praying, that he would not lead us into evil and sin? ^w God tempts no man, but gives way to tem­ptation, sometimes in mercy for the tryall of his servants, and to refine their graces; whence himself is pleas'd to make manifestations of his presence in the fiery tryall, in the furnace of af­fliction, as he did with the three chil­dren, though it be heated seven times over, that their faith may be as silver, seven times purified in the fire; Other­while in judgement, ^x he gives up a harden'd sinner to the counsel of his own will, and delivers him over to Satan as his officer to be tempted. Thus ^y put a lying spirit at one time [Page 139] into the mouth of the Prophets; thus our Saviour bid ^z Iudas after the Divel had entred into his heart, doe what he meant to doe quickly. God leads us then when he lets us alone, and leaves us to our selves, when he doth not deliver or keep us from tempta­tion; for so the opposition stands, Lead us not but Deliver us. And sure our state must be very sad, when God withdraws, when we have nothing left about us but cunning and power­ful enemies, and a false heart within, that will sooner surrender then tem­ptation can summon. If God goe aside, we need none to lead us into temptation, wee'll be our own tem­pters; the Divel may trust us with our selvs, and not spend his artillery. We often tempt the tempter, and as if we were afraid to be led into temptation, we goe of our selves, & seek it, loving the wayes of destruction and courting our ruin; thinking we cannot be too sure of damnation, we make our lusts [Page 140] Proctors for Hell, and (as 'twere) out of kindness to Satan take his drudgery out of his hand, lead our selves into temptation and run head long into the pit.

INTO TEMPTATION. All tem­ptation is a tryal, and every thing in the world will afford materials to make temptations of. The world is Satan's forge, in which he hammers his fiery darts, and flings about his sparkles and his firebrands. Honour, riches, pleasure are the great tempta­tions of mankind. Prosperity an intice­ment to ill; Adversity a discourage­ment from good. He knows the seve­rall genius and inclinations of men, studies their temper, learns their hu­mour, and interests, and knows how to give them content and gratify their corruptions, He catches at opportu­nities, and nicks the temptation, and shoots his darts betwixt the joints of the h [...]rness; He represents the objects at the best advantage, and fits his de­sign [Page 141] to every circumstance. The for­bidden fruit to tempt the woman, the woman to tempt the man. He sur­prises her when she is alone, that the female appetite might not have a masculine reason to rule it. The fruit was fair to look on, and sure pleasant to tast, and curiosity inhances the de­sire, knowledge though it be of evil being very pleasant. ^a Noah's vineyard tempts him to drink, ^b Lot's daughters set upon their aged father. In short ther's nothing which the Divel can­not make use of to his purpose, and if need be, he will head his arrows with Scripture, as he did to our Saviour. And as every thing is thus fit for the Divel's use to be made an instrument of evil to us, so neither is he wanting in skill, (for he has ^c methods and depths) nor in his industry, (for ^d he goes about seeking whom he may de­vour) to shape and apply them dex­trously upon all occasions. No busi­ness, [Page 142] no condition, no place, no sea­son, no person secure against him, or temptation proof. His hook is al­wayes hanging, he's alwayes at our elbowes egging us to mischief. He has no other business, no other re­creation to entertain himself with, but to set gins and snares to catch souls in, it being the design of his implaca­ble spight, to see man who by his means fell from Paradise the place of bliss to an accursed earth, fall yet lower into the torments of Hell, to be a companion to the damned spirits. He'l accompany thee to Church, and watch thee into thy closet, whatever thou art about hee's at hand, he inter­meddles in thy civil affairs, in thy reli­gious duties hee'l bear a part, and sug­gest vain thoughts; hee'l buy and sell with thee, nay hee'l watch and pray with thee. ^e Our Saviour himself was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, where after the prepa­ration of a forty dayes fast for the con­flict, [Page 143] he was to enter the lists and van­quish this grand enemy of our salva­tion.

O blessed preparatory Lent! O hap­py encounter! when the Captain of our salvation with the buckler of faith, and girt with the sword of truth, and meekness upon his thigh, was pleas'd to meet this spiritual Goliah in the field, and combate with him, that he might ^f tread him under our feet, ^g break his head (his strength and his policy) and ^h give his flesh to be mea [...] for his people in the wilderness; that as the viper's flesh proves an excellent Antidot against the poyson of the viper, and is a great restorative to na­ture, which the creature it self would destroy; so temptations might turn to advantages, and the malice of Satan improve our bliss. How little able should we be to resist him who made such fierce assaults on the Son of God himself? How little hope can we have to escape being tempted to the fowlest [Page 144] and most horrid sins, when he had the impudence to tempt God himself (for such was Christ) to the fowlest Idolatry, to fall down and worship the Divel? Oh dreadfull blasphemy! Oh outragious confidence! O a Di­vel void of all ingenuity, past all shame and fear! All these things will I give thee, if thou fall down and worship me. All these things, all which things? Base bold feind, hast thou any thing to give? All too? all at a clap, false pretender, thou hast nothing to be­stow of thy own but evil, hell and death, the wages of sin. All that's good is God's already, or if thou hast any thing to give, dost know, saucy creature who it is thou speakest to? wilt thou offer thy maker any thing? dost think that hee'l take any thing at thine hand? If he stood in need, would he pass by all his creatures, canst ima­gin, to accept thy kindness? And why, feind, this unusual bounty, & so great a present to him thou hatest? What [Page 145] wouldst thou have him doe for't? wouldst thou purchase his favour? Hast a mind to buy thy peace and compound for pardon? spare thy gifts, bring thy self, repent and beg that thou mayst have leave to fall down at his footstool, and worship before the mercy seat; canst thou confess and forsake thy sins? Thou hast ⁱ Scripture for't, and thy former discourse shews thee well read in Scripture, thou shalt find favour. And what an opportuni­ty hast thou? The Saviour of the world in thy company, (who came on purpose to reconcile sinners, and save what was lost) will be easily in­treated to intercede for thee, and get admittance for a faln Angel, nor is all his charity tyed to faln men; thy bro­ther Angels, whom thou left'st in heaven, trust in him and worship him. And why maist not thou hope the day of thy return is coming, now that heaven gates are set open to all that will enter, & the Kingdom of Heaven [Page 146] suffers violence? And thou hast greater reasons to prevail with thee for re­pentance then miserable men have, as knowing the great happiness thou hast parted with, and having so long felt the torments of an evil con­science, thy own hell, and of that hell which thou art heating for others. If any man were in thy case, who yet is of a shallower understanding and sense then thou art, would he not willingly leap out of those flames in which thou fryest? would he not gladly be freed from the wrath of God, which thou hast for so many ages lain under, and which for ever thou must lye under unless thou canst repent? And to what end shouldst thou stand out any longer in an enmity to him that overpowers thee, to whom thy hatred can doe no hurt, who constantly baffles thy counsels & defeats thy strengths, and has bound thee with everlasting chains? one would think this very conflict might sufficiently convince [Page 147] thee, how poor thy malice shows, and how successless all thy attempts? No; Repentance is a doctrine to be preached only to men; as the good Angels cannot sin, so neither can the bad repent. The Divel is but enraged with the tidings of salvation, and his dispair imboldens him, and he is re­solv'd to be damn'd for ever. He has an inveterate hatred, and implacable malice against God, which has call'd him forth now unto this defiance. He hates the very thoughts of being bles­sed, because he cannot be so out of God's company; he hates God, as God hates sin, with a perfect hatred, and would treat with God upon no other terms then this, that God would not be. Out of hatred to God he hates himself, and is contented to foregoe his happiness rather then to acknow­ledge it, and buyes his spight with endless torments. If God should rein­state him (as he is) in heaven, and in­large him from his bonds, he would [Page 148] look on the favour as a more painful imprisonment, and account heaven his worse hell; Though he knows a­forehand that nothing he doth against God shall prosper, he thinks it success enough of his plots, that he has shown a contempt; and in this very temptation of Christ nothing pleases him so much, as the effrontery of it, that he could (as his servant ^k Herod after did,) mock him and set him at nought, when he was not suffer'd to doe him any more hurt. For what is it he tempts him to? that which he could not have impudence to hope would be hearkned to, that which he knew was impossible for Christ in his very nature as well as in his will to doe; to sin; the holy one to commit a sin. Oh audacious tempter! couldst thou offer to corrupt him who knows no sin with a bribe? couldst thou fancy the judge of all the earth could be made doe wickedly for reward, when every upright judge scorns to have ju­stice [Page 149] bought? many an honest lawyer will not be hired to be an advocate for wrong? But oh Divelish impudence! what, sin? He had tempted him before to distrust and then to tempt provi­dence, and seeing Scripture, as he ap­plyed it, would not prevail, is not dis­mayed by a double repulse; but that he might go of with a boast, seeing he could not with conquest, shews him­self right Divel, and belcheth out a blasphemy big enough to fill the wide mouth of hell. He would have his Maker and his God turn Idolater, he bids him that dwelleth on high fall down, such a fall too, as would be lower then the divel's own fall; for it must be below him, it must be to him; Fall down and worship me. Oh impu­dent blasphemous absurdity! what divel could put such thoughts into Satan's heart, such words into's mouth? that God, whom all the Gods worship, should himself worship. For he knew very well whom he had to [Page 150] doe with in this encounter, that he was the Son of God, having been often cast out by him, & confessing it here with an If. And whom, what wouldst thou have him worship? an image? an idol? stocks and stones? why, thou canst not perswade any men that have their reason about them to doe so; What is't? some Saint or Angel? Thou knowst his Angels have charge of him and are bid worship him: what then? speak, Lucifer? me. Oh diaboli­cal pride! oh unsufferable rudeness! which a poor creature can hardly have patience to hear; that God, at whose name the divels tremble, should be tempted by the divel to worship that divel that tempts him. Me thinks, one cannot read this pas­sage without a great horrour, and an agony of fear, that God should suffer his onely Son, God equal to the Fa­ther▪ to be tempted by the divel to the foulest of sins, Idolatry, to the worst of creatures, the divel. What care and [Page 151] vigilance ought we to have? what fear and jealousy? How should we watch and fast; and prepare our selves for spiritual conflicts, and beg strength from above, that our hearts may be garrison'd and kept by grace; And since Christ himself was thus brought into the clutches of Satan, what great reason have we to pray that we may not be led into temptation?

Now there is a twofold tempta­tion: one for tryal, whereby God doth keep the graces of his Saints in exer­cise; so ^l God searches the hearts, and tryes the raines of the children of men, as silver is tryed in a fornace. Thus Abraham's faith, Iob's patience, &c. were tryed, nay sometimes God leav's his best servants to themselves, and lets them catch falls to keep them humble, and to let them know that their strength is from him. God tempts for tryall, the divel onely tempts for sin, and sometimes too God [Page 152] imployes the divel in his tryals to heat the fornace, which he does with an intention to destroy, but God orders for experiment and probation. An­other is for hurt, when we are tempted to sin, to presumption or dispair. Thus God tempts no man, but judicially hardens impenitent sinners that hard­en themselv's in their evil way, and gives them up to their lusts, and into the power of the divel. Thus we read he harden'd Pharaoh's heart, put some­times a lying spirit into the mouth of the Prophets, let Satan tempt David to carnal confidence, and the pride of numbring his people; and our Saviour after the divel had filled Iudas heart, bid him doe what he meant to doe quickly; meaning that horrid treason of betraying his Master. And of this kind of sinfull temptation is this espe­cially to be understood, though it mean also the other kind of tryals.

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVILL.

This infers the contrary; that since we have so many to lead us into tem­ptation, God would rather lead us out, and keep us from evil then lead us into it. The opposition lyes in the words Lead us not, but Deliver us, i.e. bring us not into temptation, but when we either of our selves fall into it, or are by others led into it; do thou bring us out, and lead us forth, rescue us out of the tempter's clutches, and set us at liberty; for so ^m the word pro­perly denotes deliverance out of an evil we are already in; though the ⁿ preposition will very well bear this sense, that God would keep us totally from it; as the Church teaches us to pray as well in time of health & plen­ty, as mortality and dearth, from plague, pestilence and famine good Lord deliver us. We are kept from [Page 154] evil by preventing or restraining grace, we are deliver'd out of it by as­sisting grace. God keeps us from being tempted by the restraints of his grace and providence, by alarming con­science, by quenching lust, by denying opportunities for sin, by imploying a man, and filling all his time with du­ty; For 'tis the idle soul that common­ly proves the tempters, prey; Diligence in one's calling is a good preservative against vain thoughts, and checks the approach of temptation, shutting the doors & windows by which it should enter. God delivers us out of tempta­tion by proportioning it to our strength, so that we may not faint or ^o grow evil under it, which he doth either by lessening the burthen or strengthning the shoulders, by sup­porting and bearing us up in conflict, by making our faith victorious with heavenly supplyes of grace, ^p by the aid & at the charge & provision of his [Page 155] spirit, and in fine by giving us a joy­full issue out of our temptations; as he did with Ioseph, by making his bre­threns envy an occasion of his ad­vancement, with the Israelites, by a wonderful delivery from a cruel bon­dage; with Iob, making his righteous­ness break forth as the Sun before his setting, after those dismal storms and clouds, which had darkned it. Thus 'tis Gods usual course to heighten the rewards of his tryed servants, which ^q have fought a good fight, and layes up a crown of glory for them. Indeed in every temptation the tempter comes by the worst, and 'tis to the divel's disadvantage; for if it take, 'tis true 'tis his hellish delight to see souls perish, yet however it increases his guilt as being accessary to anothers sin, and consequently must needs in­crease his punishment & improve his torments: If it meet with repulse, it cannot choose but be great torment to this spightful spirit to see that he has [Page 156] been instrumental in raising the hap­piness and furthering the salvation, and heightning the gloryes of the Saints; every baffled temptation is a step higher into glory, and (if I may say it) we get up to heaven on Satan's back, by trampling him under our feet. A Saint goes triumphant with a train of conquer'd lusts and (as Samson car­ried away the gates of Azza) breaks the gates (the powers) of hell to force his passage. None in so high a form of glory as those who have most scarrs to shew, and who have the buckler of their faith batter'd and shatter'd with temptations. We are to fight un­der Christ's banner, and he will be most blessed who shall be found likest his master, and have the marks of Christ's wounds imprinted not so much upon their body as the Legend has it of St. Francis, I mean by out­ward sufferings, as upon his soul by the violent assaults of temptation. St. Paul indeed ^t sayes of himself, I wear [Page 157] the marks of our Lord Iesus in my body: it may be that which ^s in another place, we render a thorn in the flesh, a word, which doth usually signify the fork or cross upon which stigmatiz'd and branded slaves were executed. And then it may signify the mark of the cross, that opprobrious servile and ac­cursed death. But is resolv'd by most In­terpreters to be a metonymical speech, and to stand for some great carnal temptation, with which the Apostle was fiercely and frequently set upon. And so every man hath some peculiar temptation fitted to his temper, which being conquer'd adds to his glory. It is the whole duty of man, (his life being a warfare) to be alwayes upon his guard, to buckle & combate with the tempter. ^t Strive to enter in at the straight-gate sayes our Saviour; ^v a word borrowed from the Olympic games, and prizes, and signifies ^u five kinds of exercise, leaping, running, [Page 158] hurling, darting and wrestling. And the whole New Testament is full of Agonistical expressions, though the reward proposed to the conqueror in those strifes were but some fading chaplet of flowers, but lusts conquer'd gain ^w a crown of glory which will never wither. If temptation were not, Grace would loose it's exercise, and Glory it's improvement; Wherefore in the opposite request we desire not to be deliver'd from the temptation it self, but

FROM EVILL. From the evil of temptation, for there is a good use of temptations as God orders them. We are lyable & exposed continually to temptations. But God takes out the sting and the venom of them, and whilest the wicked fall under the evil, the righteous goe free: that what is said of God's preservation in time of Epidemical infections, that though thousands fall at thy right hand it shall not come near thee, is as true in a spiri­tual [Page 159] sense. Evil here may bear the same meaning with temptation, thus. From the evil one, that is, from the tempter, that enemy. And thus 'tis said, ^x the whole world lyes in the evil one, is at his dispose, who is the Prince of the world. And so our desires would be, that God would not himself tempt us, but rather deliver us from the tem­pter. But 'tis best to take words in the largest sense, from evil, i.e. from all manner of evil, both bodily & ghost­ly, both temporal and eternal, both of sin and of punishment. And thus it will contain in it a whole Letany that God would deliver us from a hard heart, and a seared conscience, from a repro­bate mind & corrupt affections, from presumptuous sins and contempt of his word, from gross miscarriages and secret wickedness; from murder and whoredom, and every deadly sin, from pride vain glory and hypocrisy, from envy malice and all uncharitableness, from any thing that may prove an oc­casion [Page 160] of fall, from the pomps and va­nities of the world, from the evil con­cupiscences of the flesh, and from the suggestions of Satan; from the in­fluence of lewd examples, and from the inticement of evil company, and from the foolish counsel of our own will; from all opportunities and con­veniences of sinning; from fire, and sword, and pestilence, and famine; from all those curses which are due to us for our sins, from all manner of ca­lamities whether in body, or mind, goods, or good name; from sudden or untimely death; from maims, sick­ness or deformity; from ignorance, folly, and mistakes; from unruly pas­sions and disorder'd thoughts; from rapine, plunder and oppression; from war and civil broyls; from having too much or too little; from being lifted up in prosperity, or cast down in ad­versity; from honour and dishonour, from shame & reproach, from meats and drinks, from our business and re­creation, [Page 161] from our enemies, from our friends, and from our selves; in short, from every thing, so far forth as it may procure us evil.

To sum up the meaning of the whole Petition together, which we have deliver'd by parts; we desire of God, that he would not only pardon sins past, but would furnish us with strength from above, to resist tempta­tions hereafter, and having had our sins forgiven we may sin no more, nor return again to folly; that his justi­fying grace may be accompanied with sanctifying grace, which may keep us blameless, that we may become tem­ples of the Holy Ghost, and he may dwell in our hearts by faith, which may quench the fiery darts of the evil one; That he would not leave us to our selves at any time, but instruct us with his eye, and guide us in the way which he shall choose for us; That he would not for our many provoca­tions, [Page 162] in judgement, harden our hearts & deliver us up to a reprobate mind and dishonourable affections, or upon our frequent refusals of grace offer'd, conclude us under a state of impeni­tence, and give us into the power of Satan, to be led captive at his will, who is the God of this world who rules in the hearts of unbelievers; That he would hedge our way about, so that the opportunity of sin may be denyed us, and that, though it easily beset us, yet we may not fall into it; That he would keep us from presu­ming on his mercy, or despairing of it, that so being carried with the full sails of faith, as neither to split at that rock and make shipwrack of a good conscience, or sink in this gulf and be swallowed up in sadness, we may work out our salvation with fear and trem­bling; That he would not bring us in­to any distress or difficulty, which might be too hard for us, but would support us in it, and give an issue out [Page 163] of it; That he would be our sun and our shield, our light and our strength, to direct and secure our paths, that, though we are surrounded with tem­ptations, yet he ordering our steps, our soul may escape as a bird from the snare of the fowler; That he would save us from the destroyer, that walks to and fro on the earth, seeking whom he may devour; shorten the tempter's chain, and put a hook in his nostrils, that neither the divel, nor any wicked man, or evil thing, may have power to hurt us; That he would keep us in his wayes, least our foot should at any time dash against a stone of offence; That he would refrain our foot from every false way and work, suffer no vanity to have dominion over us, that we may not grow worse under his judgements, or his mercies, but that all the dispensations of his providence about us may be so improv'd, that his fear and love may constrain us, and keep us in the walk of our duty; That [Page 164] he would preserve us from sin, and the shame and punishment which attends it; that he would not let the fierceness of his wrath break out upon us, nor shower down those many plagues up­on our head, which our multiplyed rebellions have deserv'd; That he would stretch out his loving kindness, renew his compassions, and never forget to be gracious, but deliver us when we call upon him that we may glorify him; That he would save us out of the hands of our spiritual ene­mies, (as ^y himself hath promis'd) that we may serve him without fear; That he would overcome the world for us, mortify the old man, and trample Satan under our feet: Finally, that he would save us to the uttermost and compleatly in our ^z whole man, body, soul, and spirit, from all, and all man­ner of evil whither of this life or of that to come, and would so contrive all events, and lay the plot of his eter­nal purposes, that all things may work [Page 165] together for our good and procure our everlasting welfare.

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY FOR EVER AND EVER.

This is the Doxology, which either comes in as a Confirmation to back the foregoing petitions, or is added as a bare Confession, it being usual, that in sacred writings that particle for, or because is not alwayes brought in as a causal or rational influence, but is ma­ny times simply narrative.

In this later sense the several words may be taken to mean the same thing, as in ^a Daniel's prophecy and the Re­velation many such synonyma's are heap'd together; and in the Psalms several in several places used indiffe­rently, to shew that too much cannot be said, or too many expressions made use of, to set forth divine Maje­sty. We end our Prayer then in an [Page 166] adoration of his exeellencyes, and a deep acknowledgement of his great­ness, represented under a three-fold term, Kingdom, Power and Glory, which are farther rais'd and lifted up beyond our conception by the infini­ty and eternity of them. His Kingdom has neither beginning nor end of dayes; his power admits no bounds, knows no end; and his glory as him­self, is, and was, and is to come; And as the Church hath worded it, which was but a pious descant upon this piece of the Lords Prayer.

Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

In the former sense 'tis laid at the bottom of the Prayer, as a ground & foundation of it, as if we were plead­ing to be heard; Nor doe we in these our requests, seek our selves, or study and design our own emolument and [Page 167] advantage, but our souls are touched with a love to thy name, and we hum­bly desire thee to accept these peti­tions in order to thy own glory, which will receive some advantage even then, when the necessityes of us thy creatures are supplyed. If thou be gra­ciously pleas'd to hear us in these our desires, Thy Kingdom will be advanc'd, thy power made manifest, and thy Glory promoted. 'Tis not for our selves we ask, nor can we think our poor con­cernments an argument sufficient to ground a confidence on, but for thy names sake. Alas! should we aim at Kingdom, power or glory, what poor short-arm'd [...], short-liv'd thing would it be, bound up within the measure of a transitory life of a span length? but thine lasts to ages of ages, thy King­dom has the same date as eternity, ne­ver commenced, never shall exspire; thy power reaches from everlasting to everlasting, and thy glory indures from generation to generation. 'Tis our [Page 168] earnest request that thou wouldst pro­vide for the honour of thine own name, that thou wouldst not be want­ing to thy self in the vindication of these thy glorious attributes, nor let them suffer by turning thy face away from our prayers.

And thus these three words may cast back a respect to the several peti­tions, as has been before observ'd; to those which concern God, in this manner. Thine is the Kingdom, there­fore let thy Kingdom come, since it doth of due belong unto thee. Again thine is the power, therefore let thy will be done; for whose will should carry but his, whose will no one can resist? And lastly, which was propos'd first in the petitions, (that the Prayer might be­gin and end alike, and God's glory might be the [...] and [...] of it.) Thine is the glory, therefore h [...]llowed be thy name. And in subordination to these we proceed to ask in our own behalf, wherein yet those attributes seem to [Page 169] be no less concern'd, with some such reflection as this. Thine is the Kingdom, wherefore give us bread; it was a ^b Pharaoh's care to provide bread for his subjects: how much more will our King and our God supply all our wants, and allow us necessaries? Thine is the power, therefore forgive us our sins, for ^c who has power to forgive sins but God? Oh! that it would please thee to shew this thy power in par­doning our iniquities, and not in a­venging them! and lastly again, Thine is the glory, wherefore lead us not into temptation, whereby we may bring dishonour to thy name; but deliver us from evil, that we may glorify thee, the author of all our good.

And all these requests to be granted not for the present only, for a day, or an age; but this provision for his own glory and our wants to be for ever; because his Kingdom and his power, which are the store, whence this pro­vision is to be made, and his glory, [Page 170] which is to be provided for, are for ever; as also our wants need a conti­nual supply. Now these his attributes having been in ages past, and being to last for all ages to come, by former ex­perience of those that have been be­fore us, and our own, beget a confi­dence for the future, that as ^d our fa­thers trusted in him & were not asha­med, so succeeding generations shall find, 'tis not in vain to seek him, and that he, whose goodness is unexhaust­ed, will not be weary of doing good. So that the eternity of Gods perfe­ctions ingages our posterity to hope in him, and concludes this prayer fit to be used as long as the world in­dures.

This Doxologie or Conclusion of the prayer is set down only by St. Mat­thew; St. Luke mentions it not, and ac­cordingly the Church in her offices leaves it out; nor does this difference plead any thing against the formality of the prayer it self, or the omission of [Page 171] this part prove, that the whole may be omitted and laid aside. For as't has been said before, Christ propos'd this Prayer upon two several occasions, at two several times; one was, ^e when he was preaching his Sermon on the mount before a great multitude of au [...]ditors, wherein he delivers in a large discourse the sum of Christian institu­tion, and the dutyes of a holy life, of which Prayer being none of the least, himself propounds a pattern for imi­tation and use. ^f The other was more private in the company only of his disciples, when after he had been at prayers by himself, they desir'd him to teach them to pray, as Iohn had done his disciples, whereupon he gives them this form for their constant use, at least upon solemn occasions, when ye pray, say, &c. Now this latter ap­pointment of it leaving out the con­clusion shews, that it is not an essen­tial part of the Prayer, necessarily be­longing to it, but an addition that may [Page 172] be spared, indifferent to be used or not; wherefore whether thou say the Lord's Prayer this way or that, so thou say it one way or other, either with this ad­dition according to St. Matthew, so as to be one of the Christian multitude; or without it according to St. Luke, so as to be one of the disciples, we shall not quarrel; only do not thou quarrel at his wisdom, who thought fit to vary some expressions in the self same form, on purpose to please thee, that thou mightst have a liberty of choice, there being an express command to use it, and thou left to thy freedom to take which thou wilt.

One thing may yet perhaps be ob­jected, why the Church should follow St. Luke in this omission, and take the rest from St. Matthew, whose words in expressing the fourth and fift peti­tions differ from St. Lukes? To this some perhaps will answer that the Doxologie is of a questionable authori­ty, as suppos'd to have crept in out of [Page 173] the scholion or margent into the text, wherefore it being without all doubt omitted in St. Luke's Gospel, & being doubted in St. Matthew's, (the Vulgar & Arabic Translations having it not▪) that the use of it might breed no scruple it was thought fit to be quite left out: But allowing it a full authori­ty, the Church may surely be allowed the same freedom, which any private Christian hath, of using which form it shall think fittest for publick service. Wherefore seeing both the Evange­lists doe agree so far as the petitions, which make up the prayer, the Church might judge it convenient to lay aside the rest, and therein follow St Luke. And again because St. Luke's language is more elegant, and difficult: St. Mat­thew's on the other side, according to the simplicity of the Hebrew style, being more plain and facil, might consequently be deemed fitter for po­pular use, especially when St. Mat­thew himself sayes that our Saviour [Page 174] did dictate it to the multitude; which variety of style together with the cu­stom of Interpreters, (who are used to render the same things differently,) being consider'd, may also evince that this prayer, though deliver'd by our Saviour upon two several occasions, might be the very same in the Syriac language, which our Saviour used, though it be diversly express'd in the Greek: St. Matthew perhaps more closely adhering to the words then St. Luke, who according to his genius, to keep an accurate propriety of the Greek tongue, might take the liberty a little to vary. And of this we might produce many instances, in several discourses of our blessed Saviour re­lated by them both, which though variously reported by both, nay by all four, yet were plainly meant for the same, so that both the forms, though not exactly agreeing in all the words, are but the same Prayer, and he that uses either of the forms sayes the [Page 175] Prayer, no less then he that should say it in Latine according to Pagnin's, or Steven's or Beza's Translation, who yet may differ in the plainest sentences, (as not using the same pen, and possi­bly sometimes out of the meer study of variety) shall be thought to say his Pater Noster in Latin; only he that would use it in Latin, would no que­stion choose that Latin translation which he thought came nearest the Original, which is here the Churches case.

AMEN. This is a word our Sa­viour, (who was truth it self, & there­fore call'd in the Revelation the A­men) had in his mouth often, and sel­dom began any discourse of weighty moment, but he fronted it with this asseveration, many times doubled too, Amen, Amen, I say unto you, i.e. Tru­ly, Truly) as ^g St. Luke expounds it) or Verily, Verily. But the chief use of it is at the end of our Prayers, especially in public devotion, where the Priest's [Page 176] blessings and services are to be attend­ed with the peoples acclamation; an ancient custom, as appears by the Psalm, ^h And let all the people say A­men. It has a double significancy in it, not only to gather up the whole Prayer which went before, and throw it out at a word, with a fervent desire, that our requests may be heard and granted; But also to denote a confi­dence of obtaining, and an assured trust, that what we have been praying for, will not be denied us. It claps a Fiat to the Prayer, as the Septuagint render it, ⁱ So be it, and seems to de­mand performance.

The first Article.

I BELIEV. This word belongeth to all the parts of the Creed. We pray for others, we believ only for our selves. Thy Faith hath saved thee, ^c saith our Saviour. Faith is either taken for the Doctrine ^d which we be­liev, or the grace ^e by which we be­liev; That is in the head, this in the heart. Again Faith is divided into Hi­storical, Temporal, and Saving Faith. The first the Divels have ^f who be­liev and tremble. The second is of hypocrites ^g who believe for a time [Page 182] and fall off. The last doth properly belong to the elect, who are there­fore called Believers, and the faithfull, who hold out to the end & ^h live by their Faith. Now Faith is a full per­swasion of mind, and a sure confi­dence, by which we depend upon him, in whom we believ.

IN GOD. We are said to believ ⁱ a God, when we acknowledge that there is a God, and he that is such an one, as he hath discovered himself in his word, and works: to believ ^k God, when we are perswaded that his word is the very truth, and that whatsoever he hath promis'd, or threatned in ho­ly Scripture shall surely come to pass: to believ ^l in God, when we place all our hope and trust in his power and goodness, who both will help those that trust in him, because he is a Fa­ther, and can, because he is Almighty. God is of an infinite nature, which exceeds all bounds of time or place, [Page 183] much less can be comprehended by our shallow understanding. we can­not know; but we must believ; and this very Faith doth as much exceed reason, as reason doth sense in evi­dence and certainty. The Holy Trini­ty, by which three Persons are one God; and the Incarnation of the Word, by which two Natures meet into one Person are high and deep mysteries, not to be reached by the eye, not to be fathom'd by the plum­met, of our reason; but Faith takes the heighth with a Iacob's staff, and hum­ble Hope fastens her Anchor in the bottom of this depth; and diffusive Charity embraceth the whole com­pass of Divine truth.

THE FATHER. The Deity is distinguished into three Persons, the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost; and these Three are One and the same God. the Father begets the Son, the Son is begotten of the Father, the Ho­ly [Page 184] Ghost proceeds from both the Fa­ther, and the Son. God is the Father also of all things; for of ^m him, and to him, and through him are all things.

ALMIGHTY. Who can doe all things, and doth whatsoever he plea­seth both in Heaven and in Earth: nei­ther is there any thing too hard for him; for ⁿ who hath resisted his will? Yet God cannot lye, call back yester­day, or make the same thing to be, and not to be at the same time: for these are marks of extream impo­tence, not omnipotence, and God would not be God if he could doe them.

MAKER. God's power is not idle. Even before he made, he de­creed to make, and his thoughts were busy about the work of creation from eternity. He made not as work­men doe of stuff lying before them; [Page 185] for he made all things of nothing: nor with pains and weariness; for ^o he spake and they were made; He did not only make the world, and then leave it to it's self, as Masons doe houses they build, but he preserves and governs too, and disposes all e­vents to his own glory.

OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. That is, of the whole world, where­of heaven and earth are the principal parts. He spred out the earth as a floor, and built up the wals, and laid the roof of heaven; he stored the ele­ments with several creatures; the heaven with stars, as lamps hung out; the aire with birds, the water with fishes, the earth with beasts. He made heaven & earth, and all things therein contained, in the space of six dayes; but the chief of all his works were Angels the citizens of heaven, and Men the inhabitants of the earth, made after his own likeness, and in­dued [Page 186] with understanding, and excel­lent gifts: But some of the Angels with Lucifer by reason of pride, left their station, and turned Divels: All mankind fell in Adam by disobe­dience from a state of innocence and happiness into a state of sin and mi­sery, so that by nature we are the chil­dren of wrath; but by grace become the children of God; and that by means of the Son of God, who be­came the Son of Man, that he might save the children of men.

The second Article.

Here begins the part of the Creed concerning Christ the second Person. Now Christ is considered either in his Person, or in his State; which is two-fold: the state of Humiliation, and the state of Exaltation.

And in Iesus Christ, his onely be­gotten Son our Lord.

The Person of Christ consists of two natures, Divine, and Humane: for as soul and body make up man; so God and man are one Christ. He is described here by his names & titles. The names are Iesus and Christ, by which are noted his offices. The titles which are given him, that he is the only Son of God, and our Lord, shew partly his essence, partly his digni­ty.

AND. He who believes the Fa­ther must also believ the Son: for ^p he who denieth the Son, hath not the Father.

IN. It must be the same saith, by which we believ Father and Son; since both Father and Son are the same God, ^q I and the Father are one, saith he; and therefore as Ye be­liev in the Father, believ also in me.

JESUS. That is, Saviour; for he came into the world to save sinners, that he might reconcile God and man, and recover fallen man out of the state of sin and misery, into a state of grace and glory. He saves from sin, and from the punishment due to sin, and freeth us as well from the power as guilt of sin.

CHRIST. Messias in Hebrew and Christ in Greek is all one as in La­tin anointed. Now three kinds of men were wont to be anointed, that is, to be consecrated to their office by powring oyl upon their heads; to wit King, Priest, and Prophet. Christ was ^r anointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows, that is, extraordina­rily furnisht with gifts of the holy Spi­rit. Melchizedeck was King and Priest; Samuel Priest and Prophet; David Prophet and King, Christ alone the thrice greatest, King, Priest, and Prophet. King by subduing our ene­mies [Page 189] the world, the flesh, and the Divel, and ruling our hearts by his word and spirit. Priest by offering up a perfect sacrifice for us, satisfying divine justice for our sins, and by blessing us by a perpetual intercession. Prophet by revealing the will of the Father, and discovering to us all things which belong to salvation.

HIS ONELY BEGOTTEN SON. God hath many sons, but Christ is the onely begotten. God is stiled ^s the Father of lights, and ^s the Father of spirits; and the Angels are ^t called the sons of God; Magistrates ^v children of the most High, because they resemble him in power and dignity; and all Godly men are by grace made ^u the children of God. Now there is a vast difference betwixt Christ and these. All creatures by crea­tion, blessed spirits by imitation, Princes and Rulers by institution, [Page 190] Believers by adoption; become God's children. But Christ alone is his Son by eternall generation, of the same nature, and essence with the Father, begotten of his substance before all time, God of God, Light of Light, ve­ry God of very God, equal to him in all things, as to the God-head. Christ as the Son of God had no Mother, as the Son of the Virgin no Father, who became Man that he might in the flesh satisfy for the sins of the flesh: yet continued God that he might ap­peas the anger of an offended God: Man that he might suffer death, God that he might overcome it. ^w God and Man that he might be a perfect Me­diator, and might reconcile God to Man by atoning wrath; and man to God by destroying sin; wherefore he took up humane nature, put not of the divine. But these two natures were united, and as it were married in the one Person of Christ.

OUR LORD. In respect of God, Christ is called the Son which shews his essence; in respect of us a Lord, which shews his dignitie. Now he is our Lord both by right of creation, be­cause he made us; and by right of re­demption, because he hath bought us with a price, and purchased us with his blood to be a peculiar people. We are no longer then our own, that we should fulfill the lusts of the flesh; But we are Christ's the Lord's, to doe his Will, and keep his Commands.

The several Steps, by which Christ humbled himself, and Divine Love moved towards us, are his Conce­ption, Birth, Passion, Crucifixion, Death, Burial, and Descent to Hell. The infinite is conceiv'd, the ever­lasting is born, the Blessed suffers, the King of Heaven is nailed to a Cross, the immortal dyes, the Immense is buried, and the King of Glory goes down to Hell. What strange con­tradictions [Page 192] have our sins put the Son of God upon, who to procure our Salvation denyed himself, and put on the form of a servant?

Which was conceived of the holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.

CONCEIVED. That is, cloathed with flesh, formed and fashioned into bodily parts, indued with sense, mo­tion, and a reasonable soul inlivened, cherished, produced, preserved, in­creased, and in one word made man, Humane nature being taken up and joyn'd to the Divine.

OF THE HOLY GHOST. Not begotten of his substance, for then the third Person should be Father too, which is contrary to Faith: but by the operation of the holy Spirit, the power of the Highest over­shadowing her, the Virgin without the help of man conceived; which is a [Page 193] miracle foretold by the Prophets, and fulfill'd in our Messias. ^x Behold a Virgin shall conceiv and bring forth a Son. now the holy Ghost did separate that most pure mass of flesh & blood, of which the Body of Christ was to be formed, from all corruption of our nature and the stain of sin, to which all other (the Virgin her self not ex­cepted) are lyable, who are born after the ordinary way of generation. ^y Be­hold, saith David (a man after God's own heart) I was conceived in sin, and in iniquity hath my mother brought me forth. Moreover, 'twas necessary that he should be born without sin, who came to die for other's sins: and the Lamb of God which was to take a­way the sins of the world should him­self be spotless: He could not have been our surety, had he been himself a debtour, nor satisfied justice for us, could the law have charged him with any guilt of his own.

[Page 194] BORN. Having taken upon him a true body, being in all things made like unto us, sin only excepted, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, that he might truely become the Son of Man, he observed the lawes and customs of humane nature, and after he had continued in the womb the usual time, he was at length brought forth into light, laid in a manger, wrap't in swadling cloaths, and at­tended by the Virgin, and bred up, passed his child hood in performing ^z obedience to his parents, and grew in stature and wisdome.

OF THE VIRGIN. It became God thus to be born, not without a miracle. Our Faith is full of miracles; a Three-One God, a God-Man Christ, a Virgin-Mother Mary. A Virgin she was before her delivery, in her de­livery, and after her delivery; for they who are called ^a the brethren of the Lord are after the manner of the He­brew [Page 195] speech to be understood as Kinsmen. She was indeed espoused to Ioseph but she knew no man. Her Virginitie dignifies a single life, her betrothing justifies the married state. It pleased God to choose a woman without the help of man in the busi­ness of our salvation, for the honour and comfort of that sex, that as by the disobedience of the first woman man­kind fell, so it might be recovered by the birth of the Virgin; and Mary might make amends for the miscar­riage of Eve.

MARY. For the greater certainty the name of the Royal Maid is ex­pressed; she being of the tribe of Iu­dah, of the linage of David the King, according to the Prophecies con­cerning the Messias. Yet the Mother of the Lord, this Blessed Virgin was very poor, to shew that Christ's King­dom was not of this world, and in this were the blind Jewes offended, that [Page 196] they looked for outward pomp, & the glory of an earthly crown, little heed­ing the foretellings of the Prophets, wherein Christ is described ^b a man of sorrows, to suffer all the punishment due to our sins, to wit, death, and all the miseries of an afflicted life.

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cru­cified, dead, and buried.

We pass immediately from his birth to his Passion; for indeed his whole life from his cradle to the Cross was nothing else, but a conti­nual passion, being spent in hunger, thirst, fasting, watching and travel­ling, grief, reproach, and shame; and he was therefore sent into the world that he might die▪ and to this end God prepared him a body that he might lay down his life for His.

SUFFERED. Having undertook our cause he satisfied divine Iustice, [Page 197] by undergoing those penalties, which God in his word hath threatned to the transgressors of the law; He was by the sentence of an earthly Iudge condemned to death; that we might be acquitted before the heavenly Father.

UNDER PONTIUS PILATE. In that time, wherein Pontius Pilate was Governour of Iudea, being set o­ver that Nation by the Roman Empe­rour; when was fulfilled that Prophe­cie, which foretold the coming of the Messias should be, ^c when the Scepter was departed from Iudah, that is, when the Iews should be sub­ject to a forreign power, having lost their own government.

CRUCIFIED. Christ being be­traid by Iudas, forsaken of his disci­ples apprehended as a malefactor, is brought to the judgement hall, and having been spit upon, and mocked [Page 198] by the souldiers, accused by the Priests with the charge of blasphemy, persecuted with the hatred of the peo­ple crying, ^d Crucifie him, Crucifie him, scourged with whips, crowned with thorns and besprinkled with large showers of his innocent blood, is at last by Pilate delivered up to the will & malice of his enemies; who nailing his blessed hands stretched wide open to the Cross beam, and his holy feet closed together to the upright beam of the Cross, exposed him naked to publick shame, being hung betwixt two theevs, in a place without the city, at the Feast of Passeover; and when he had given up the ghost with many pains and groans, a soul­dier pierced his side with a launce, that that saying might have place, ^e they shall look on him, whom they have pierced.

DEAD. By the separation of soul and body; for his body remain'd upon [Page 199] the Cross and his soul return'd imme­diately to God, as himself told the penitent theef. ^f This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. He was not born after an ordinary manner, neither dyed he a common death: for as much as beside the extream pain he suffered, whilest he hung with the weight of his body upon the Cross, and the great shame to which he lay open, he lay under a curse, ^g the Law pronouncing him cursed that hangs upon the tree.

AND BURIED. Taken down from the Cross, embalm'd with spices, wrapped up in fine linnen, and laid in a tomb, where none had lay'n before, by the care and cost of ^h Io­seph of Arimathea. And the malice of his enemies persued him beyond death, and attended him to his very grave, who, that he might not rise a­gain as himself had promised, rolled a great stone to the mouth of the [Page 200] tomb, and clapping on their own seals set a guard to watch him.

HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. That is, he went down into the lower-most parts of ⁱ the earth, and for the space of three dayes remain'd in the grave amongst the dead: Or, as some expound it, he suffered the pains of Hell and the wrath of God due to our sins, and underwent the curse of the law and terrours of conscience, to which we were lyable. Others take the words, as they sound, of the place: that he did coveigh himself into the regions of darkness, and discovered to the divels, and to the wicked spi­rits the glory of his presence, and routing the powers of Hell, leading captivity captive, and trampling Satan that old serpent the enemy of man­kind under his victorious feet accord­ing to the first Prophesie of Christ, ^k The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head.

[Page 201] And in this sense, this article is the beginning of Christ's exaltation. The other degrees are his Resurrection, his Ascension, his Sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and his Com­ing to judgement.

THE THIRD DAY. After that he had lain three dayes in the grave, as Ionas, who ws ^l the type of the Son of Man, continued three days in the whale's belly; It being observ'd that on the fourth day the body be­gins to corrupt, which was not to happen to Christ, David thus speaking concerning him: ^m My flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Wherefore early in the morning on the third day, which was for that reason appointed the Christian Sabbath,

HE ROSE AGAIN. Partly rai­sing himself by his own virtue and di­vine [Page 202] power, as himself saith, ⁿ I lay down my life that I may take it up again, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; Partly being raised by God the Father, who when his Iustice was fully satisfied, released Christ out of the prison of the grave, and to that purpose sent his Angels to roll away the stone, death having now no more dominion over him, who having finisht the work of our redemption, rose again for our justi­fication.

FROM THE DEAD. He re­turn'd to life, appeared to his Disci­ples and others several times, shewed the wounds which he had received on the Cross, and ^o made Thomas who was hard of belief to feel his side, that he might know it was a true body; And having for fourty dayes together conversed upon earth, and given or­ders to the Apostles, how they should goe into all the world and preach [Page 203] the Gospell and plant churches, pro­mising them the assistance of the spi­rit, he took his leave of them in this manner, as followeth.

HE ASCENDED. In the sight of his Apostles from the top of mount Olivet, where he had bin formerly used to spend much of his time in ho­ly retirements and spiritual exercises, he lifted up himself from the ground, and so mounting upward through the aire was received by a cloud, and to the wonder of them all carried a­loft out of sight, ^p two Angels telling them, as they stood gazing, that as they had seen him goe away, so he should come again.

INTO HEAVEN. The seat of the blessed, where God sits on his Throne, attended by millions of An­gels far above the sphear of the stars & the sky, to wit, the highest heaven: For having dispatched the business, [Page 204] for which he came down on earth, he return'd to the Father by whom he had bin sent, to intercede with him in our behalf, and make out to us thence the benefit of all those things, which he had done and suffer'd for us here; And having conquer'd sin and death, and broken the power of Hell, what remains, but that he should as in triumph ride upon the wings of the wind, ascend to Heaven as the prize of his glorious conquest?

AND SITTETH. To note that he hath fully accomplished the work of our Salvation, he is said at last to sit down, that he may as it were rest from his labours: For the servant stands or goes whilest he is employ'd, and sits not down till his work be done: Now Christ put on the form of a servant, and came (as ^q he saith of himself) to wait, not to be waited on. That he sits also, is a token of that authority which the Father hath given him, [Page 205] having delivered unto him all power both in heaven and in earth, and put all things under his feet. So God sits in Heaven to order all things at his pleasure. Again to sit sometimes signi­fies stay; he sits there not to return be­fore the end of the world. Lastly by this word is expressed the blessed and glorious condition of the Saints in the life to come, who shall ^r sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven; and therefore to shew the greatness of the dignitie, to which Christ according to his hu­mane nature is advanced, is added;

At the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

The right hand usually expresseth strength and honour; power and glo­ry: besides ^s to give the right hand is a sign of fellowship, and friendship; wherefore God calls him the man my [Page 206] fellow: Now to speak properly God hath no right hand or left, nor any bo­dily parts; but that he may apply him­self to our capacities, he doth use to speak of himself after the manner of men. Becuse earthly Princes are wont to place those at their right hand, whom they favour, and would shew a particular honour; as ^t Solomon entertained his mother. The meaning is, that God hath raised him to the highest pitch of honour, set him above Angels, principalities, and powers, and hath committed to his trust the Government of the world.

FROM THENCE. To wit out of Heaven, whither he ascended, and where he now is, Christ God & Man, at the last day in the end of the world, riding upon the clouds, shall shew himself, and

HE SHALL COME. Attended with innumerable Angels and Saints, [Page 207] with the voice of a Trumpet, in a glorious manner to the joy of his ser­vants, and the terrour of his enemies.

TO JUDGE. For all mankind shall be gathered together from the four quarters of the earth, and ^v we must all appear before the Iudgment­seat of Christ, to give an account of our works. Then shall the books be open'd, and every man's conscience shall witness against him, and that which hath bin done in secret shall be made known, and the thoughts of the heart shall be discovered: Then righteous sentence shall proceed from the Iudges mouth according to the Law and the Gospell: Then shall be put a difference betwixt the good and bad, the righteous and the wicked; when God shall reward his servants with a Crown of Glory, and destroy his enemies with an everlasting de­struction & endless torments. There is a twofold coming of Christ, Christ [Page 208] came first to be judged, the second time he will come to judge

THE QUICK. Those who shall then be found alive, who ^u shall be suddenly changed, in the twinckling of an eye, and without death shall pass from death to life.

AND THE DEAD. For the dead shall rise again, as many as from the beginning of the world, throughout all ages have lived upon the face of the earth, and though they have been mouldered into dust, or torn by wild beasts, or buried in the waves of the Sea; yet they shall take up the very same bodies again, to which the soul may again be united; God's power bringing this about, and his justice so requiring it; that every man may in his body reap the fruit of those things, which he hath done in the body.

[Page 209] I BELIEV. With the same Faith, by which I believ the Father and the Son, I believ also in the third Person of the holy and blessed Trinity: Being verily perswaded, that he is true God, and the power of the most High; de­pending upon his assistance, and find­ing by experience that whatsoever good I either doe or have, comes all from him.

IN THE SPIRIT. He is there­fore called Ghost or Spirit ^w because he partly proceeds from the Father and the Son, by way of breathing; partly because he breaths into us good thoughts and holy desires; wherefore it is added

HOLY. Seeing that he is not only Holy in himself, with such holiness as far exceeds all other blessed Spirits, both Angels, & Saints, but also makes us holy by an effectual working of grace in our hearts. He it is that ap­plyes [Page 210] the benefits of Christ's death unto us, and makes us partakers of the salvation, which he hath purcha­sed for us by his blood. The holy Pro­phets and Apostles were the penmen of the Holy Ghost, who wrote as they were inspired by him. He gathers the Church by the Preaching of the word, having furnisht the Apostles with the gifts of tongues, & provided a ministry and other holy ordinances for the propagation of the Gospell, fil­ling up the number of the elect, and bringing souls to life.

THE CHURCH. The company of believers, whom God hath ordain­ed to life, before the foundation of the world was laid; & whom he hath called out of a state of sin, to the pro­fession of Faith in Christ, and a holy conversation, whom he also doth rule by his Word and Spirit.

HOLY. Gathered, and guided by [Page 211] the Holy Ghost, distinguished from the rest of the world by holy appoint­ments, adorning their profession with holy works.

CATHOLICK, or Vniversal in respect of time, place, and persons; being to last through all ages of the world, spread abroad over all quar­ters of the earth, & consisting of men of all ranks and conditions; God ha­ving shut the gate of his Kingdom to none, but such as wilfully refuse to enter. Now the Holy Ghost bestows upon the Church, which he gathers by the word, and sanctifies by grace, these Blessings which follow.

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. Whereby the Saints, who are the faithfull ones, the chosen, and the children of light, are united to Christ as their head, and amongst themselves as members of the same body, the Church, drawing virtue & [Page 212] life and efficacy from Christ, and per­forming to one another all offices of Charity, as being knit together with a spirit of love, and bond of peace.

THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. Which the spirit on our un­feined repentance assures us of by ap­plying the merit of Christ, and sprink­ling our consciences from dead works with his blood, which he powred forth, to be a price of souls; neither doth he onely seal to our hearts a pardon of former offences, shewing us the favour of God recon­ciled in his Son; but doth withall give us power to resist sin for the time to come, cleansing us from every defile­ment of the flesh and spirit, subduing our lusts, changing our wils, and re­newing our natures according to righteousness.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. For in the last day when [Page 213] Christ shall come to judgement, the trump shall sound, and the dead shall arise with the very same bodyes that they had before, and every one shall receive according to his works: For as much as the wicked shall be thrown into Hell, there to be tormented with the Divel, with the worm which ne­ver dyes, and the fire which is never quenched. But the good shall enter into

LIFE EVERLASTING. Where they shall rest from their labours, and enjoy God for ever, living in abun­dance of joys and pleasures, ^x which neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor can the heart of man con­ceiv.

And all these things I believ not onely with an Historical Faith, but ap­propriate unto my self, being fully per­swaded, that God made me by his power, preserves me by his goodness, [Page 214] and provides for me both in soul and body by his infinite wisdome. And that the Son of God, whatsoever he hath done or suffered, he performed and underwent for my sake, that I through him might live: And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in me, working in me Faith & Repentance: that I am a true member of the Church, that my sins are forgiven me, that I shall rise again, and see my Redeemer with these eyes, who shall out of his free bounty reward me, his unworthiest servant, with the Glory which shall have no end.

GOD SPAKE. Three months after the children of Israel's departure out of Egypt, when they had pitch'd their Tents in the wilderness of Sinai, when they had fresh in memory that wonderful deliverance, which God wrought for them, in their passage o­ver the red-Sea, from Pharaoh and his hoast, besides those many dreadful mi­racles which he had shown in Egypt, God mindful of the Covenant which he had made with Abraham and his [Page 256] seed, the Israelites being now in a con­venient place, in a desert retired from the observation as well as the invasion of their enemies, strikes a league with them, that, if they will obey his voice and keep his Covenant, he will own them for his peculiar people, and up­on their acceptance of these terms, after two dayes solemn preparation, the Divine Majesty came down, with Thunders and Lightnings and thick Clouds, and seated himself upon the top of the Mount Sinai in the midst of fire and smoke, with the noise of Trumpet, that the Mountain and the Camp both shook with fear, and whe­ther by the ministry of an Angel, or rather by some other more immediate way, with audible voice, face to face pronounced the tenour and condi­tions of the Covenant, comprehend­ed in the words of the Law.

ALL THESE WORDS. Christ the second Person is called the Word, [Page 257] but he is the word begotten, as the Word is the immediate and essential issue of the Mind. The whole Scri­pture too is God's Word, that is, was by God inspired into the holy pen­men, they writing according to the dictates of the Spirit: whence that form of speech especially among the Prophets. Thus saith the Lord, and The Word of the Lord came unto me. But these Words God himself utter'd, which therefore call for the more heedfull attention, and awfull regard. If the Lyon roares shall not the beasts of the forrest tremble; every word should sound in our eares like a clap of Thunder, & cause an Earth-quake in our bowels; for the Highest hath utter'd his voice, even a mighty voice. All these words too; which requires an universal obedience. We are not to pick and choose, but receive them all with a like readiness of Faith, as the clear manifestations of God's will. God at the first creation for every [Page 258] dayes work spoke, and it was done: Oh! that he would so speak to our hearts, that his Spirit may accompany his Word, and help us to doe, what he commands us to doe. O Lord, give us strength to perform thy Com­mands, and then command what thou wilt.

SAYING. The Rabbins have a tradition or fiction, that God pro­nounc'd the Law twice over; the first time with that hast, as if the whole Law had been but one word; but at the second going over, leisurely and distinctly. Whereupon they say, that in this portion of Scripture the ac­cents are upon every word doubled, to denote that double delivery, the one a note of speed, the other of stop and pause. This (I suppose) they ga­ther from the two words here used, as if he spoke them in hast, and said them at leisure; or whether they thought it fit the Law should be delivered twice [Page 259] by word of mouth, as well as twice written upon tables. Whether this were so or no, matters not much; on­ly it should be our prayer and endea­vour, that they might be spoken over twice to us, to the ear first, and then to the heart, to the inward man as well as to the outward; & though we have not the advantages of those terrours and dreadful circumstances, where­with the Law was at first delivered, to prepare us with a prostrate humility and a devout reverence, yet let us ima­gine that we hear the trumpet sound to judgement, and awaken our atten­tion; and let us think we see the flames of Hell, & those everlasting burnings, whither the transgressors of this Law must be dispatch'd, and possess our souls with fear, and hearken what the Lord will say to his servants.

The Preface.

Had God surpris'd them with this terrible appearance, they might have been swallow'd up in their fears, and been lost in those dazling amaze­ments; therefore he gave them two dayes time to prepare themselves; & here before he makes known to them his Law, he acquaints them with the Lawgiver; and that he might put their affections into a suitable temper for so solemn an occasion, he makes an Introductory Preface, wherein he lays down the arguments of their obe­dience, taken partly from his power & Soveraignty, in that he is the Lord; partly from his mercy and kindness seen first generally, in that relation wherein he plac'd himself to them, as being their God; and more particularly discover'd in a late great deliverance he wrought for them, and that both in respect of place out of a strange coun­try; he had brought them forth out of [Page 261] the Land of Egypt; and in respect of condition, out of a slavish and toilsom drudgery; out [...] the House of bon­dage.

I Who now speak to thee from the midst of fire, out of the thick cloud, the fear of thy Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob; I that appear'd to Moses in the burning bush, cloathed with Majesty and dread; I who have carried thee upon Eagles wings, and have brought thee thus to my self, to shew my statutes unto thee, and to make known my laws. Hear O Israel and fear and observe to do; for I

AM THE LORD. The maker of all things, the absolute Soveraign of the World, Iehovah, the Fountain of beings; who give being also to my word and promise: there is nothing resists my will; for my power is infi­nite: wherefore stand in aw and fear before me; the subjection and homage [Page 262] of all creatures being due to me by right of creation▪ all things are my ser­vants, for from me and to me are all things: I spake the Word, and they were, & are created; I made all things according to my good pleasure, and for my own glory; and men more especially for my service; and amongst all the sons of men I have chose you for my select people, for I am

THY GOD by Covenant as well as by Creation, by promise no less then by providence; I made my self known to thy Fathers, and engag'd my loving kindness to them and to their posterity after them; I took a par­ticular care of you, when you were but few in number, that the Nations about you might do you no harm: I supported you under your burdens in Egypt, and multiply'd you when you were sorely oppress'd, in so much that of seventy persons you are be­come a great people; I have own'd [Page 263] you as my charge▪ and have done wondrous things for you in the land of Cham, and

HAVE BROUGHT THEE OUT with a strong hand and stretched out arm in the sight & pursuit of Pharaoh & all his hoast, who sunk in the midst of the red Sea, which divided it self to give thee passage dry-shod; 'T was not thy own wit, nor thy own strength, that has brought about this great de­liverance for thee, but it must be con­fess'd even to the astonishment of the heathen roundabout, that my wisdom contriv'd, and my power hath effected it by the conduct of my faithful ser­vant Moses, who by my appointment & by the guidance of my holy Angel, has led thee

OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT. Where thou wast by the tyranny of Pharaoh & his task-masters, cruelly dealt with, and slavishly im­ployed, [Page 264] having neither freedom of body nor of soul, deny'd all opportu­nityes of serving thy self or thy God, captiv'd amongst Idolaters, straight­ned in a ^q land of straits, in so much that thy number increasing, they sought to destroy thee by cruel edicts; hating thee out of Antipathy, as a stranger and of another religion, and out of fear, because they saw thee grow nu­merous: wherefore after so many years captivity in a strange and Hea­then Land, I have call'd thee forth to bring thee to a countrey of peace and plenty, flowing with milk and hony; and above all, the Land of promise, and which, if you will be a holy peo­ple, will deservedly be stiled the Holy Land

OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE. Out of that prison from whence your sighs and groanes have oft pierc'd Heaven, out of that Bride­well, where you were kept to make [Page 265] brick, and raise huge piles, to be la [...] ­ing monuments of your misery and the tyrants lust, without the allow­ance of any thing for your labour but blowes; not so much as stubble af­foorded, & yet your full tale of bricks required at your hands. Consider now at distance, what a sad life thou hast escaped; the day spent in toils, and the night in complaints: the Nation kept under in poverty and disgrace, and none to relieve thee so much as with their pitty, but thy God, who have brought thee aside into this so­litude, that I might make my self and my laws known to thee; a favour; which I have not shown to any na­tion besides; that I may espouse thee unto my self, and make thee a King­dom of Priests, and a holy people, if thou wilt obey my Statutes & hearken to my Law, which I am now pro­claiming in thy ears. I am the Lord, that have right to command, and power to punish, and therefore fear [Page 266] before me. I am thy God, who have enter'd into Covenant with thee, and will reward those that keep Co­venant, wherefore I exspect thy love. I have brought thee forth of Egypt from a sad bondage, where thou wast op­press'd with slavery and want, & shall provide for thee Libertie and plenty, and therefore I look for gratitude: and let all three, thy fear, thy love, and thy gratitude tye thee fast unto me the Lord and thy God, and thy mighty deliverer, and oblige thee to an atten­tion and obedience to my Law.

Now although this historical pas­sage concerning the delivery out of Egypt be peculiar to the children of Israel▪ yet the obligation and the force of the argument will reach all people whatsoever; and the Preface is by A­nalogie, of as large and universal an extent, as the Law it self. For at Christ's death the vail of the Temple was rent in twain, and the wall of se­paration which distinguished the [Page 267] Iews (formerly the only people of God) from the rest of the nations (who had been till then heathen, and as it were excommunicate out of the pale of the Church,) was broken down; so that all the nations of the world, are now engaged in Covenant with God, and have under­taken, and made a stipulation in Ba­ptism, to be his people, and He to be their God. And this History is turn [...]d into Allegory, and denotes the salva­tion purchas'd by Christ, who hath redeem'd us from a spiritual Egypt, and the slavery of sin, and hath led us forth out of the regions of darkness, and the bondage of servile fears, to the inheritance of light, and the glo­rious priviledges of the Gospell. Be­sides if we take the deliverance in a temporal sense, who is there, that, when he recounts the several passages of his life, will not acknowledge God's gracious dealings, and his won­derful mercies, in providing for him [Page 268] in his wants, preserving him from im­minent dangers and delivering him from his fears, and the evil conse­quencies many times of his follies? so that if he have any ingenuity, upon so many instances of divine favour, and particular kindness, he must needs confess, that God is the Lord his God.

These words may be look'd on al­so more particularly to relate to the first Commandement, not only as an indication of him, whom we are to own, as our God; but as a reason too, why we should own him. Nor will it so have the less influence upon the o­ther Commandements, since all reli­gous duties depend upon the know­ledge and fear of God; and Atheism is that root of bitterness, from whence all transgressions spring: for. ⁱ The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God, and then it follows, They have cor­rupted their way, they have done abomi­nably.

The first Commandement.

THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS. Thou shalt not follow the example of blind Pagans, and entertain a multitude of gods, nor pay that devotion to any of the creatures which is due to the creator alone; nor set up in thy heart any thing in opposition to me, or give thy self up to the obedience of any lust, nor hearken to the suggestions of Sa­tan, nor be rul'd by the vanity of this wicked world, nor turn Atheist and live without God in the world; but shalt acknowledge me the only one God in three Persons, and shalt learn to know me, the Infinite, Almighty, Everlasting, and Ever blessed God; & shalt fear before me, and have thy thoughts taken up with the medita­tion of my Nature and my Will, my Word and my Works: and shalt ad­mire me in my Attributes, & obey me [Page 270] in my Commands; thou shalt set me alwayes before thee, that thou mayst walk in my wayes; thou shalt perform to me that Homage, as is due by right of creation; thou shalt observe my providences, stand in aw of my Iudge­ments, and have regard to my mer­cies; nor shalt thou ascribe whatever befals thee to chance or fortune, to thy own wit or strength, but look on all events as the contrivances of my wisdom, and the effects of my power; Thou shalt bear a love to my name, and take thy delight in my Law; Thou shalt give up thy heart to me, and serv me with truth in the inward parts; Thy understanding shall be busily imployed in feeling after me, and finding me out, according as I have made manifestations of my self, in my word and in my works, and shall guide thee by the dictates of my holy Spirit. Thy will shall be enclin'd to a perfect compliance with my will, according to the rules of Holiness [Page 271] and Righteousness, and thy affections shall be wholly carried out to me as to their proper & only object; Thou shalt believe in me, and put thy trust in me, and love me, and love those that doe love me, and hate those that hate me, and what I hate with a perfect hatred Sin; thou shalt rejoyce in my favour, and delight thy self in me; nor shalt thou take any occasion of sadness but from my displeasure, and let fall thy countenance when I hide mine; thou shalt meekly submit to my disposals, and burn with zeal for my glory; thy soul shall cleave fast unto me, and thou shalt serve me faithfully all the dayes of thy life; Thou shalt behave thy self alwayes as in my presence, and shalt have respect to me, and be afraid of doing any thing that may offend me, in the deepest retirements of thy most private thoughts, for all things lye open and naked before me.

BEFORE ME. This is added to [Page 272] shew God's Omnipresence, as a grie­vous aggravation of the sin, that the setting up another God, though never so secretly, though never so much out of the sight of men, will be a down right affront to the searcher of hearts, to God who sees in secret; and that he will not indure the competition of any rival, for he alone is the God that made Heaven and Earth, and whatsoever else fond su­perstition has found out for the ob­ject of worship, is either the work of his hands, or the work of mens hands. This circumstance may justly affright us into a great circumspection and wariness, for the ordering our thoughts and composing our desires, of setling our spirits and governing the inward man, since God's all pier­cing eye is upon us, & he understands even our thoughts afar of. Some Interpreters render it. ^s Beside me. And this though it be not so Emphatical as the other particle, yet it more plainly [Page 273] infers the affirmative part of the pre­cept, i.e. Thou shalt have no other Gods, but thou shalt have me for thy God. The Hebrew affords a pretty note from the Syntax, ^t the Verb being of a different number from the Noun, that Singular and this Plural, as if it would be a solecism and irregular constru­ction, to own more Gods then one, since there can be but one Infinite, one first cause, one supream; and if we should fancie a Pluralitie of Gods, in a coordination, the one would bound, and hinder and countermand the o­ther; and if we fancie them in a subor­dination 'tis only the highest is God, the rest are no Gods. There are indeed ( ^v as the Apostle sayes) Gods many, and Lords many, i.e. such as are called Gods, titular Gods; yet we have but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Ie­sus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him; for as he said im­mediately before. We know that an [Page 274] Idoll is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.

If now we would but search into our selves, and make inquiry into our hearts, how little (I fear) should we find of God there? How full should we see our selves of superstition & propha­neness? Having plac'd worse things in God's stead, then any of his own creatures, which was the folly of Heathenism; setting up self in the Throne, serving divers lusts and plea­sures, preferring every vanity before him, making our Belly, our interest, our sport, our sin, our God. Setting not his fear before our eyes, nor living at all to his glory; and in short, being by profession indeed, Christians, but in conversation, Atheists, who know that there is a God, & yet glorifie him not as God, so that we may justly make use here of the Churches Prayer, Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this Law.

The second Commandement.

The first prescribes the object of our worship, and forbids a false God; This regulates the manner and way of worship, and prohibits a false ser­vice of the true God. And herein the confidence of the Roman-Church is to be admir'd, which to defend its Idolatry, fears not to commit sacri­ledge, and casheirs this Commande­ment from being one of the ten, think­ing they make good amends, by as ab­surdly parting the Tenth, as they have audaciously remov'd this. And what they say for themselves, that they doe not worship the Image it self, but God at, or by, or through the Image, and that the service is transient to the Idoll and terminated upon God, is no more then an ingenuous Idolater of Hea­then Rome would have said; seeing no man of understanding could be so blockish, as to pay the civility of his [Page 276] devotions to a log of wood, or to an Artist's phantasm, and caress a dead thing; but they surely meant their Ad­oration to the Deity represented and understood by that gross resemblance. Possibly the vulgar sort lookt no far­ther then the Idoll it self, which may (I suppose without breach of Charity) be thought of a great part of the Laity amongst these Christian Idolaters, whose Ignorance is the mother of their Devotion, who if they knew God better according to the first Commandement, would not worship Images contrary to the second.

This Commandement hath two parts, an Explication, and a Reason; The explication first of the object what is meant by Idoll, set down in two terms, Graven Image, or any like­ness, amplified by Induction or a par­ticular enumeration of things in Hea­ven above, in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth, which are the three great parts of the Univers, [Page 277] wherein all things are contained: by this means leaving no evasion for Ido­latry, no thing, no place unnam'd, that might be abus'd to such a purpose. Secondly of the Act, what the making to ones self means, and that in two terms too, Bowing down to them, or Adoration, and worship or service, For so the word in the original ex­presses it, forbidding the Dulia the lower worship, as well as the Latria, the higher, and voiding that idle di­stinction of two sorts of religious worship. The Reason is fetch'd from the nature of God, represented here by four attributes, His power for he is a strong God, so the Hebrew word El signifies, and so the Septuagint ren­der it. His jealousie; He is a jealous God. His Iustice, demonstrated in his vengeance upon sinners; And his mercy, that he deals kindly with the righteous; where he aggravates the guilt of the one, and heightens the re­spect of the other, by the title he gives [Page 278] them; Those he stiles his enemyes and haters, i.e. those which transgress his Laws, especially this: These his friends and lovers, to wit, that keep his Com­mandements. And he is just and mer­ciful not only to them, but to their posterity after them also, yet with this difference that his vengeance stops at the third or fourth generation, but his kindness propagates it self to thousands.

[Page 304] As the second gives order for the carriage of our Body, so the third sets down a rule for the chief part of the body, the Tongue; That prescribes postures, This regulates our speech; That takes care for Gods Worship, This for his Name. It likewise consists of two parts, the Precept it self, and the Reason of the precept.

The fourth Commandement.

The third was the rule of our words, the fourth of our works, and that which is consequent to them, [Page 311] rest. That teaches us holy talk, This instructs us in holy walking for so our Church-Catechism has resolv'd the sense of this Command, to serve God faithfully all the dayes of our life; so that 'tis not the seaventh day onely, but all seaven, that we are to serve God in. He that would serve God well on the Sabbath in a holy rest, must first serve him in his week's labour, and doing the work of the six dayes well. The second and third concern the Manner of his worship, This more especially the Time. It hath also, as the other two had, two parts; the Precept and the Reason of the precept. The pre­cept is attended with a large explica­tion, what is meant by Sabbath, and what meant by Keeping it Holy. First we may take notice of the extraordi­nary manner, wherein it is deliver'd; 'tis usher'd in with a Memento; Then what is to be remember'd; the Sabbath and the Sanctification of it: Then fol­lows the explication, What is the Sab­bath? [Page 312] by Opposition first to our dayes of work, the other dayes of the week; six dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy work, which indeed is precept too, as well as concession, no less a Com­mand to oblige us to diligence in our calling, then a Grant to give us leave to follow it. And the injunction is twofold, that we labour, take pains in our imployment, set our selves a work; and that we finish and make an end of our business, and doe all that we have to doe. Then secondly by Position, which punctually sets down the day, But the seaventh day is the Sabbath. What is it next to Sanctify the Sab­bath or keep it holy? To doe no work on that day, nothing of our ordina­ry imployment, wherein the strict­ness of the Command appears, that all of the family as well as the Master, all of the city as well as the Magistrate are concern'd, being set down here by name. Thou master and mistress or magistrate, or whatever go­vernour; [Page 313] and thy natural dependen­cies, thy son and thy daughter: and thy acquired relations, whether by Co­venant or hire, thy man [...]servant and thy maid servant; or by purchase and possession, thy cattle; or by sojourning, the stranger that is within thy gates. The reason is taken from God's own example, whereof we have first the Narration, how he made all things in six dayes and rested the seaventh; and then the Design of his so doing, that he might appoint the Sabbath, where­fore he blessed the Sabbath-day, or (as the Septuagint have it) the seaventh day, and hallowed it.

The fifth Commandement.

This is the hinge of the two Ta­bles, the main joynt of the whole Law, & concerns the Magistrate, who is God's Vicegerent ou earth, and the keeper of both the Tables; wherefore some assign it a place in the first Ta­ble. God having a special care of civil order, and peace in the societyes of men, has therefore set this Com­mandement concerning the obe­dience to superiours, by which peace and good order are preserv'd, imme­diately after those of his own worship, and in like manner back'd it with a reason; whereas all the rest which [Page 335] follow are set down barely in way of Commands without the addition of any promise or threat. So then this Command is made up of two parts, the Precept it self, and the Reason of the Precept: the Precept shews the duty, Honour, and its object, thy Father and Mother: The Reason is a pro­mise of long life, and therefore the Apostle hath call'd it, ^x The first Com­mandement with a promise; (for the Third contains a threat▪ and that of the Second is more threat then pro­mise.) That thy dayes may be long on the Land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

The sixth Commandement.

The fifth directs the offices of Re­lations, the rest shew the general du­tyes that we ow to all men in com­mon; and they are all set down nega­tively to forbid all violence & injury, that being in it's very nature destru­ctive to the constitution of societyes, which cannot be preserv'd and ma­nag'd, without forbearance of wrongs; for Iustice is in the Politick, as Health is in the Natural body, which keeps every part in its due tem­per, so that none have too much or too little; but Injury diseases the civil state, and will, if effectual remedyes be not applyed, in short time bring it to dissolution. Now the greatest [Page 358] wrong that can be offer'd to our selves or our neighbour is in the life, that being the support of all blessings and comforts, if it be not it self one, since they are but leased out to us for life, and depart with it. Nothing sur­vives life, and death by making an end of the person puts a period to all his contents and joyes. Wherefore the security of life is first provided for, and set immediately after the fifth Com­mandement, as the Magistrate's great­est care; since, were our lives expos'd to the wild passions of men, Kings would want subjects, and God wor­shippers, and two or three mighty hunters would depopulate the earth. To kill a man is made therefore the greatest crime, as that which cannot be made amends for (whereas for o­ther losses there may be some repara­tion) and as a sign of mortal hatred, which can be content with nothing but the destruction and annihilation of the thing hated, and is the greatest breach of Charity.

The seaventh Commandement.

The sixth secures life, This orders the preservation of chastity; they both [Page 366] forbid any wicked attempt upon our neighbour's person, That by curbing anger, This by bridling lust; That pro­hibits the killing, This the defiling of our neighbour; and indeed though Life be the first considerable, yet Cha­stity is a greater care, seeing that the abuse of the body by uncleanness draws along with it a greater danger to the injur'd person, then murder, as that, which being commonly attend­ed with consent, makes the sufferer accessary, and wrongs the soul no less then the body. And possibly some such reason there might be for the ^f transposing of these Commande­ments in some copyes, and placing this of adultery and that of theft before murder; the staining or impoverishing one, being as bad as killing one out of the way, and as good have no life at all, as to live in disgrace or want.

The eighth Commandement.

The sixth and seaventh secure our persons, This our goods, and is the fence of propriety; for estates are not to lye in common, but are bounded with Laws, that every one may know his own. The seaventh forbids the community of wives, This of other possessions: And indeed the breach of this Command is the great disorder of society, and the main drift of Laws is to secure estates to the owners, and to judge of titles, and to punish fraud and cousenage; And the various con­dition of men, as it serves to set forth the wisdom of God's Providence, in contriving suitable accommodations to every family and person, so it en­courages [Page 375] industry, seeing every one may by the labour of his hands pro­vide for himself, and exspect a success according to his diligence; whereas were things put in an equality, or laid up in one common stock, the idle would live upon the labours of the painful, and he that were strongest would invade other's right, and make himself master of the greatest share: Well then has this Commandement provided, that men may not think to thrive by idleness or unjust means.

The ninth Commandement.

The eighth requires truth in our dealings, This in our discourse and speech; That provided for our estate and fortune, This for our credit and reputation; That secures our Goods, This our Good name, which is of deerer concern, then any other posses­sion; for a good name is better then [Page 383] life it self: Murder, Adultery & Theft are forbidden in the other three, This prohibits a Lye, which is the cloak and cover of all other sins, and likely accompanyes them, especially this last to a proverbial observation, A Lyar and a Thief.

[Page 392] All the other Commandements doe more immediately order the out­ward man, the first and the tenth look inward, and regulate the thoughts and the desires. The first Commande­ment is the ground-work o [...] Reli­gion, and the tenth the top-stone of Morality; That injoyning the Fear of God, and This requiring Contented­ness and self-denyal. Atheism affronts the Worship of God, and Covetous­ness disorders the Society of Men; That will acknowledge no God, and This will have no Neighbour. Where­fore 'tis well plac'd at the bottom of the second table as the Master-sin, the great enemy of Charity, and that which all the other transgressions re­solve themselves into; The other pre­cepts indeed hold thy hand that thou mayst doe thy neighbour no wrong; This holds thy heart that thou mayst wish him none. Here is the sin forbid­den, Thou shalt not Covet: and the ob­ject particularly express'd either for [Page 393] profit or pleasure, Thy Neighbour's house, his wife, his man servant, his maid, his ox and his ass; and then ge­nerally propos'd, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Of BAPTISM.

THe Institution of Baptisme was after this manner. When Christ had with his Blood sealed the truth of his Doctrine, and purchased to him­self a Church, i.e. a peculiar people, the chosen ones of God, whom he fore knew from all eternitie; (for he was the ^f Lamb slain before the foun­dation of the world was laid;) and had made good this his purchase by his re­surrection, in that the bands of death sell off, and he was released out of the prison of the grave, having paid the debt, for which he as our surety suffer­ed; it was then convenient that this Church thus purchased, should be gathered, and the chosen ones be cal­led, and converted to the saith by the preaching of the Word, and distin­guished from the rest of the world by a profession of the Gospel, and the use of holy ordinances. Wherefore being [Page 411] himself to depart hence & to ascend to Heaven, he leaves his Disciples with instructions, how to propagate the faith, and to order the affairs of his spiritual Kingdom to the end of the world, and to proclaim throughout all quarters of the world, the good tidings of peace and pardon to all such as should by faith and repentance come in and give up their names to Christ; It being God's will ^g that all should be say'd, and come to the knowledge of the truth. Whereupon he sends the Apostles to preach, and by Baptisme i.e. by a solemn rite of washing with water, receive into the bosom of the Church as many as should profess faith in him; giving them this commission before his de­partue, as it is set down by the Evan­gelist, Goe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them, &c. Baptism having bin formerly us'd by Iohn the fore­runner of our Saviour, and honour'd by the example of our Saviour him­self, [Page 412] who ^h at his Baptism was signally own'd from Heaven for the Son of God, the Spirit also in the shape of a Dove lighting upon him.

Our Saviour in these words, where­in he appoints the form and use of Baptism, partly commands, partly promises. The command hath in it a mission, Goe: & a commission, teach, and Baptize. The promise is that who­soever believeth and is Baptis'd shall be saved.

Of the Lord's SUPPER.

AFter that our Saviour had suffi­ciently made known by his Do­ctrine the will of God concerning man's salvation, and proved by many miracles, that he was the Son of God that came down from Heaven, to the end that having put on our nature, he might in our stead satisfy the Law, and undergoe the punishments due to us for our sins, that we through Faith in him might live; It pleased him (that he might leave with us the Symbols of his presence for ever, and preserve the memory of his sufferings afresh in the mind of the faithful) to pre­figure his Death by a Sacrament, ap­pointing Bread, & Wine, the usual sup­plyes of life, for the representing of his sacred Body, which was broken on the Cross, and torn with the nails and the spear: and his Blood which trickled from his sacred Head by the pricking [Page 426] of the thorns, gush'd out of his hands & feet when he was nail'd to the tree, and brake forth of his side when he was wounded with the launce, and plentifully stream'd forth out of every vein of his sacred Body, when he was cruelly scourged with whips.

Now his Body thus broken, and his Blood thus shed, doe no less feed a be­lievers soul, and improve the force of grace, then the body is nourished, and natures strength repaired by Bread and Wine. But this hath a spiritual mean­ing; not that any one doth eat the ve­ry flesh of Christ, and drink his very blood in a gross manner, for that will be as absured to think as 'tis savage to doe; or that Christ can be receiv'd any other way then by Faith, for 'tis a point of Faith that the Body of Christ did goe up to Heaven, and there is to remain till the last day; and 'tis contra­ry to very reason, to say, that the same Body can at the same time be in seve­ral places; and to bring to pass contra­dictions, [Page 427] is a thing out of the power of omnipotence it self; not to say that it is plain even to our outward senses, that the elements of bread and wine doe still remain after consecration the same in substance as well as in colour, and accidents as they were before. In fine it would indeed be no Sacra­ment, if the signs should change their nature, and the thing signified be it self really there; for a Sacrament is nothing else but a figure, and repre­sentation of some thing that is absent, exhibiting to the understanding that which cannot be seen with the eye; and by outward actions resembling the inward virtue and efficacy of that thing of which it is a sign.

This sacred Rite is called the Holy Supper, either by the way of Metaphor to denote the communion, and fel­lowship which the Saints have with one another (for which reason we al­so usually term it with the Apostle Paul, ⁿ the Communion.) The whole [Page 428] family meeting together at that time, when all the business of the day is over, to refresh themselves, and take their repast. Nor is it otherwise with the houshold of Faith, who though imployed in several dwellings and du­tyes of life, yet as members of one and the same body, whereof Christ is the Head, are united to one another by the same spirit, & fed with the same spi­ritual food. So that the Mystical body of the Church is made up of many Saints, just as the bread it self of many corns, and the wine of drops; whence 'tis frequently by the Greek Fa­thers called [...] i.e. the gathering to­gether of the Saints, whither (as some Interpreters would have it) that place hath allusion, ^o where the car case is, that is, the crucified Body of Christ, thither shall the eagles, the quick-sighted, high-flown believers, be gathered to­gether. Or, out of a more particular respect to the Passeover, into the place and stead whereof this Sacrament [Page 429] came; as the other succeeded circum­cision: for the Iews were wont by God's appointment yearly to cele­brate a Feast, whereon at evening in each houshold they slew a Lamb, dressed it, and eat it together in re­membrance of the deliverance from the Egyptian slavery, and from the Angel, who striking all the first born of Egypt pass'd over the houses of the Israelites, who for that purpose had according to that ^p command dash'd the Blood of the Lamb upon the lintel of the door. Now Christ being the substance was to put an end to all ceremonies, & came to make one per­fect sacrifice once for all, who in that he dyed, dyed but once, being the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world; and his death we are to remember in these pledges of his love, whereby he hath delivered us from a spiritual slavery, and wrought salvation for us. And indeed in that very nick of time when our Saviour [Page 430] had finisht the Paschal Supper with his Disciples, he appointed this as to abide for ever in the room of the other. The Lord's Supper it is styled, because ap­pointed by the Lord Jesus, and repre­sents him to be fed on by Faith. The words of the Scripture, wherein the Institution is set down, expresse both time when, and manner how it was performed: the manner again deli­livers partly what he did, partly what he said, in consecrating the bread first, and then the cup.

The Institution of this Sacrament is described by the authour, time, and manner. The Authour, the Lord Iesus. The Time, the night wherein he was betrayed. the Manner consists of two parts, shewing partly what he did, partly what he said; and that severally of these two several signs, by which he would represent his Body and Blood. For this Holy Supper was to consist of spiritual meat and drink; as men use both to eat and drink in [Page 431] their other ordinary meals. The Bread is the sign of his Body; the Cup of his Blood. First, as to the Bread what did he? He took it, he bless'd it, he broke it, he gave it. What said he? Take, eat; this is my Body. Again for the Cup, what did he? he took it, he bless'd it, he gave it. What said he? Drink ye all of it; for this is my Blood, &c.

Now let us goe over each part again, and explain it more fully.