(l) John 19.11 and he obtains leave from God sometimes to try us and so Christ was led (m) Matth. 4.1 by the spirit of God as a Champion to combat Sathan in such case our frailty might make us pray and fear that we might not fall by such a tryal But other times God in his displeasure for one sin suffers us to fall into another not by enticing us but by witholding that grace which should restrain our evil desires and loosing Sathans chain and leaving us encompassed with opportunities and engaging circumstances which we are likely to fall by and this the Scripture phraseth Entring into temptation (n) Matth. 26 44. Ne me inducas in manum peccati nec in manum transgressionis Seder Tephil Lusitan and the Jews in their Forms being led into the hand of temptation or sin And let us remember how often by one sin and desires after more we provoke God to expose us to such circumstances as will infallibly bring us into some grievous transgression but our comfort is that God is our guide and he will direct us and lead us in the right way he foresees the enticing baits and evil objects and wicked company which are in ambush for us and if we rely on his mercy and follow his guidance he will conduct us so as to miss them all or give us strength to overcome them though we have neither wisdome to discover nor strength of our own to avoid the danger wherefore we pray him to lead us who can restrain the powers of darkness and desire we may not provoke him to lead us into evil circumstances and dangerous occasions nor let loose our infernal foes nor leave us to our selves which is the prime intent of this Petition in its first Branch As to the last clause of deliverance from Evil Tertullian and many others take it to be a fuller explication of the former (o) Et respondet clausula interpretans quid sit ne inducas hoc est enim sed dâ—vehe nos à malo de Orat. and by Evil understand the evil of sin as if we were not unwilling to be tempted by afflictions or sollicitations if it be our Fathers pleasure provided he would by his grace prevent us from sinning and falling into iniquity by them temptations and tryals if they occasion not our sin may humble us and quicken our prayers mortifie our lusts and exercise all our graces and therefore we only desire whether God or Sathan by his permission try us we may be innocent Or with the Antients we may take the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Evil one that is the Devil who is so called in Scripture (p) 1 John 3.12 Ephes 6.16 Matth. 5.3 Castal à Diabolâ— ibi Tert. à maligno 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost and thus we shall avoid a Repetition which cannot be supposed in this compendious form and the sense will be that God would not deliver us up to sin least our enemy the Devil taking advantage thereby seize our hearts when God hath abandoned them and we become his slaves and forfeit to destruction Or lastly we may by Evil understand the effect of sin viz. the evil of Punishment that we may not be drawn into any wickedness nor into that which certainly follows it sickness losses crosses death temporal and eternal which are the wages of sin and of which the Devil is the Executioner so that the two last senses may very well stand together viz. That God would not put us out of his protection nor deliver us up into Sathans power either as a Tempter first to entice to sin nor as a Tormenter afterward to execute and inflict upon us what those sins deserve in this world or the world to come The sum is that Sin is a dreadful thing and gives Sathan power over us and possession of us and makes us liable to be hurried on to more wickedness by banishing Gods holy Spirit and by taking off his favour it opens a way for all the miseries and mischiefs of this world and the next to fall upon us upon the serious consideration whereof we not only crave the remission of past sins but earnestly beg that we may never more fall into transgression and then we doubt not but to be safe from all Evil. § 9. For thine is the Kingdome and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen Some have imagined this Conclusion was added by the Greek Church to this Prayer not spoken by Christ because all the old Latine Copies want it wholly and all the Greek in St. Luke and some in St. Matthew nor is it expounded by the Latine Fathers others plead it is agreeable to the Jewish forms and generally found in the Original of one Evangelist and in the Syriack and Arabick both antient Translations and is expounded by St. Chrysostome and Theophilact But our Church hath chosen a middle way and hath annexed it here in the first repetition of the Lords Prayer and in some other offices in other places hath omitted it not as if it were not of Divine Authority but therein following St. Luke as here St. Matthew And it is very unlikely those holy Fathers should presume to add their own inventions to this Venerable Form of Christs own Composure It is more probable that our Lord delivering this Prayer twice did add the Doxology at the first time which is recorded in St. Matthew and leave it out the second which is set down in St. Luke and hence the Latine Copies which were very confused and full of error might leave it out in both least the Evangelist should seem to differ in so considerable a matter But however it was it is most for our profit to wave these inquiries and labour truly to understand it It is known the Jews concluded all their Prayers with a Doxology or form of praise and Drusius saith in these very words (q) In Matth. 6.13 Quia tuum est regnum in secula seculorum regnabis gloriosè and our Lord Jesus delighted in imitating their customs though here the reason is weighty for a Prayer is scarce compleat without praises (r) Philip. 4.6 with thanksgiving it being sordid to ask all from God and return nothing to him Prayers may seem more necessary but Praises are as much our Duty and more lovely Petitions fit the Earth but the glorifying God is the imitation of the Celestiall Quire who sing a song much like this conclusion of the Lords Prayer (s) Rev. 5.12 13. Chap. 11.15 nos Angelorum Candidati jam hinc coelestem illam vocem in Deum oâ—â—cium futurae claritatis ediscimus Tertul. de Orat. and we do well to learn it here against we come to use it there We began these Devotions with his glory and now we end with it that this may be the beginning and end of all our actions (t) Rom. 11.36 Horat. Od. l. 3. od 6. Hinc
forgive thee upon thy humble acknowledgment but that he knows thy sins are as inconsistant with thy happiness oh my soul as they are with his laws and therefore he that desires thy felicity will not forgive the old score unless thou cease to run further in debt for while thou goest on in sin thou art in the way to eternal death and art really dead to all true sense of divine comfort thou art buried alive in lusts and pleasures and thy flesh intombs thy wretched soul and the grave-cloaths of vile affections bind thee hand and foot from moving towards God nor hast thou power to breathe in the pure air of heavenly meditations and canst thou like to stay in this filthy place still when thou didst not see thy misery no wonder if thou calledst this Dungeon and Vault a Pallace But now thou must abhor it when Jesus calls Lazarus come forth Dost thou not find the more thou followest these the less thou lovest thy God and seldomer thinkest of him and movest slowlier toward him and hast meaner apprehensions of him Return then from these evil paths for now thou knowest the dead are there Do not onely seek a pardon but desire a Communion with him who is thy strength and life thy joy and happiness and he will be joyful for thy recovery that he will forget all former unworthy dealings and will only study how to make thee happy hereafter There is nothing can hinder thee unless thou lovest thy sins too well to forsake them and carest so little for him that thou hadst rather dye without him then with him live holily here and happily hereafter which God forbid § VI. ANother sort of men there are who know it to be their Duty to Repent and yet do from day to day neglect it and have more need to be excited then instructed in order whereunto here is provision made of a cogent example and a strict command which may put them upon the practise of this necessary grace First such who are great sinners and yet seldome reflect upon their own condition cannot sure but blush to behold one who had been no customary offender but being once surprised in a deplorable instance never gives over thinking upon it with shame and sorrow * Psalm 51.3 while they that are more guilty never concern themselves The rest of Davids life was a converse with God and a strict observance of his will and if the Jewish conceit of good deeds being weighed over against the evil might be allowed or if after the manner of the Persians (h) Vita anterior simul cum delicto in aestimationem venit quâ major pars vitae atque ingenii steâ—iâ— eâ judicandâ—m de homine Asin Pollio de Persis his former life had been considered with his present transgression surely he might have been excused But he never attempts to hide this one sin in a croud of holy actions nor goes about to extenuate it because it was the first or but one or not great in comparison of others but confesseth it to be very hainous continually laying it open not only before God but before himself that he might recollect with grief and sorrow the guilt and filth whereof the baseness of the act and the danger of the event and fully discover the vileness and horridness thereof and it seems he was not without dreadful apprehensions of Gods anger for we fix our eye on what we fear and cannot get that out of our minds which doth affright us oh how doth this reproach that negligence which we shew who are guilty of so many and so great wickednesses and have no holy actions to set over against them and yet we either cast them behind our backs and grow careless and merry and forget our danger or if we do sometimes look over them we do it slightly and are glad of any occasion to divert us T is certain God sees them and will one day make them all pass before us (i) Psal 50.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tanquam aris armatorum disponam nay muster them up against us unless by looking on them now we learn to abhor them and repent of them and so God of his mercy do for ever hide his eyes from them (*) Psal 51.3 let others be unconcerned when they offend thee and go about to excuse themselves I must and will publish my baseness in offending my heavenly Father Lord I acknowledge with a sad heart my transgression of thy most holy law by this wilful act of wickedness for which I know I have so justly deserved thy wrath that my eye and mind are fixed on what I have done and my sin haunts me continually giving my conscience no rest because it is ever before me and I cannot but view the hainousness of it till thou hast pardoned it Secondly If the shame of such an example make no impression let them hear that strict and positive command (k) Matth. 3.3 which being a summons from God to all the world to repent was proclaimed first by the harbinger S. John in the wilderness to those who had so much devotion as to come to him thither and after it was published by the Lord Jesus himself in Towns and Cities to all those he met with this was his first Sermon (l) Matth. 4.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hierocles and is the first lesson to be learned in Christs School not by some particulars but by all that will be his Disciples he speaks to all and to every particular man repent ye for he knows this duty necessary for every one so that till this be done you have done nothing in Christianity and if any say he will not he despiseth his authority if he plead he need not he impeacheth his Wisdome and if he alledge he cannot yet it seems he dare live in a wilful neglect of his commands Tertullian thinks we ought not to enquire what need or what good there is of repentance (m) Neque enim quia bonum est auscultare debemus sed quia Deus praeceperit ad exhibitionem obsequii prior est authoritas imperantis quà m utilitas serviâ—â—is Lib. de poenitent because his commands by whose favour we hope for eternal happiness are to have weight with us without any appendant reason but here we have a reason of the precept added to shew us he injoyns not this so much to shew his authority as because it is necessary for us and our interest requires it viz. Because the kingdome of heaven or of God which is all one ant pag. 14. is at hand That is either the kingdome of grace as it is sometimes taken in Scripture (n) Matth. 13.24 alibi or the kingdome of glory as it signifies elsewhere (o) 1 Corinth 6.9 2 Thessal 1.5 both which do press this duty when this was spoken by our Saviour he meant it in the first sense viz. that the time being now approaching
prevail but little upon many and some might deny their guilt others despise the summons and others might think to avoid by recrimination Wherefore the Minister comes armed with the sword of the Spirit the Word of God that as the Prophets of the old Testament came with Verbum Jehovae the Word of the Lord so might also the Priests of the New and though the Person may be contemptible yet it is the voice of God which you hear from him and whoever be the proclaimer where the word of a King is there is power (c) Eccles 8.4 who dare disobey when the King of heaven commands He that knows the hearts of all and commands all men every where to repent not onely in the places now read But in sundry other places (d) Isai 1.16 17. Chap. 55.7 Lament 3.40 41. Acts 2.38 Chap. 17.30 even throughout the whole Scripture and miserable will their case be who refuse so many so plain and so earnest calls from such a God We Ministers are exhorted as well as you and we intend to joyn with you and if we request you to joyn with us it is in obedience to the Commission we have from the King of heaven and he that refuseth refuseth not Man but God and that Word of God which now moves you so frequently to repent will be produced against you to condemn you if you obey it not § 3. To acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness We need not here be curious in the difference between these words though acknowledging seems to signifie the granting something laid to our charge as David did when Nathan came to him I have sinned (e) 2 Sam. 12.13 saith he upon the first charge and to confess may import a voluntary act when no man accuseth us which indeed is the more acceptable and ingenuous but it were well if we would but acknowledge our offences For God in his Word by his Ministers and by our own Consciences doth indict us as guilty and he that soonest owns the truth thereof shall easily find mercy But it may perhaps be more material to take notice of the Epithete joyned to our sins manifold which is borrowed from Amos 5.12 and may denote the variety of our transgressions like Josephs coat of many colours for we are clothed with the redness of Anger the paleness of Malice the yellow of Covetousness the blackness of Despair or the green of Presumption in these changeable garments are our souls attired when we put off the white garments of our Innocence Or else as the learned Translator of the Liturgy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Multiplicia those iniquities which are so cunningly twisted and weaved together by that accursed policy which Satan teacheth men to begin with many small thrids of lesser sins and by uniting these and twining them together to proceed till they draw iniquity with cords of vanity and at last sin as it were with a Cart-rope (f) Isaiah 5.18 Peccatum trahit peccatum Dict. R. R we perhaps imagine it a piece of commendable craft (g) Job 5.13 Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filum retortum unde signif multis nexibus implicitum consilium LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Drus to be able thus to contrive our wickedness But alas if Gods Mercy do not unravel it it will at last be strong enough to draw us into eternal flames But we are warned that as we have used much study and pains to twist our sins together that one may strengthen the other so we do now by an humble and hearty confession untwine and separate them again that we be not bound in the bands of death § 4. And that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father It is the language of Satans school that we must cover one sin by committing another which the Scripture pronounceth a woe against (h) 1 John 1.8 9. Isaiah 30.1 and sheweth the folly and danger of it because it doubles the guilt (i) Negatio iniquitatis duplex iniquitas and hinders the pardon See Chap. 1. Sect. 5. p. 18. and therefore Gods Word teacheth us that if we have sinned we must neither dissemble them with excuses as Saul * 1 Sam. 15. and Ananias with his wife †Acts 5. nor cloak them with a flat denial as Gehazi ‖ 2 Kings 5. least we be judged as they were But this is the manner of Hypocrites 1. To extenuate them with dissembling apologies and fair pretences it was the first time I was surprised the effects of it were not very evil others have done worse c. whereas the good man aggravates his sins with all those circumstances that make them heinous and S. Paul calls himself the chief of sinners The worst men will deny they have sinned and reckon themselves among the Righteous as the Pharisee did (*) Luke 18.11 while Ezra (k) Ezr. 9.6 loquitur de Culpis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ne nimium arreganter se caeteris eximere videatur Grotius in loc and Daniel put themselves in amongst sinners and that is by much the safer way for he that feigns himself better then he is or denies himself to be sick before the Physician keeps his disease and looses an opportunity to regain his perfect health But remember thou art in Gods house nay just before his face and dost thou think with a lye or an excuse to deceive him No no this is too thin a veil and to short a cover for thy numerous transgressions and will avail no more then for a Thief to deny he stole that which is found about him before the Bench if thou couldst deny so impudently or dissemble so cunningly as to deceive all the world yet do not hope to impose upon him that is Almighty to find thee out and hath a heavenly all-seeing eye to discern thee and he would shew the kindness of a Father in thy pardon if thou shewest the ingenuity of a Son in confessing wherefore do not deceive thy self nor slight this warning for be sure one time or other your sin will find you out Numb 32.23 § 5. But confess thâ—m with an humble lowly penitent and obedient heart The Word of God is not only a Monitor to remember us of our duty bâ—â— a guide to direct us in the performance of it it interposeth its authority to command us to repent and then affordeth its directions to shew how we may repent and 't is impossible the right disposition of a true penitent heart can be more exactly described in so few words then the Church hath here done it and they that would know how they must be affected when they confess so tâ—at they may be sure to find pardon cannot learn in fewer and more significant expressions 1. An humble and lowly heart viz. to behold our vileness by sin till we have a mean opinion of our selves and can be content that God or Men
wherein the Messias and our Saviour of the world was to set up a spiritual kingdome in the hearts of men it was necessary for all that desired to become his subjects to renounce those lusts to which they had been enslaved and to prepare his way by repentance or else they must remain slaves still and this reason urgeth us now as strongly as ever because our Lord Jesus doth every day now by his Word and Embassadours proclaim liberty to us and offers to become our King but in most of our hearts sin hath usurped his throne and therefore we must first exclude that and if we repent not it seems we love the slavery of Sathan better then the liberty of the Sons of God and do declare we will not have Christ to reign over us and though he may for a while connive at this affront yet remember there is another kingdome of heaven at hand even the kingdome of glory wherein all that shall then have rejected Christ for their King shall be utterly destroyed (p) Luke 19.27 and condemned to unspeakable and endless torments And this ought to fill such lazy persons with fear because for any thing they know the end of all is near at hand however 't is secret that you might not delay and will be sudden when it doth come and if it surprize us we can never repent more and if this world should last 10000 years more it is nothing to us for this kingdome of heaven begins with us when we leave this world and therefore who knows how near the kingdome of heaven may be Matth. 3.3 I see you have committed many sins and do still go on in them and so are neither fit for that grace which is offered you here nor to appear in that judgment which must pass upon you hereafter Wherefore I charge you all repent ye of all your wickednesses and confess them seriously and forsake them speediâ—y for the kingdome of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of the God of heaven is now to be set up in the hearts of all true penitents and for others their death is not 〈◊〉 off and the kingdome of glory is at hand and wiâ—â— surprize them in their trifâ—ing intentions to their utter ruine A Meditation preparatory to Prayer for the quickening of such as neglect repentance IT had been well for my soul if all this while my safety had been equal to my confidence for none ever thought themselves more secure though there was no other ground for it but only because I was resolved not to take the pains to behold my danger I have multiplied my transgressions and lived in sins unamended yea unrepented of and therefore have had the drawn sword of the divine vengeance hanging over my guilty head by the slender thred of my uncertain life which every thing can snap asunder and I have seemed wilfully to shut my eyes chusing rather to feel it and the eternal smart of it then to behold this dreadful sight which would long since have terrified me into amendment and snatched me from under the approaching ruine what prodigious folly hath seized on me what stupid laziness hath benummed me are the pains of escaping greater then the pains of suffering or will the blow be lighter because I resolve neither to see it nor avoid it awake my soul awake while there is a possibility to prevent thy ruine thy sins are so numerous and so hainous that thou canst be ignorant of them the threatnings of Gods wrath are so plain and so positive that thou mayst see they aim at thee thy conscience cryes so loud that thou canst not but hear it and Gods holy spirit pleads so powerfully that thou must take as much pains to exclude these friends as would serve to turn out thy enemies Surely God gave me not wit and understanding to invent a plausible cover for the eyes of my conscience or to contrive bulworks of excuses to intrench my sins in safety and yet I unhappy wretch have been ingenious in nothing so much as in plotting the ruine of my soul and designing to perish undisturbed Behold and blush where holy David lyes covered with shame drowned in tears and overwhelmed with sorrow not able through sear and terror to take his eye of that one offence whilst thou a far greater sinner art careless and unconcerned He sets his before his own face and God throws them behind his back but I who cast them behind me and strive to bury them in oblivion and inconsideration shall have them set before my face when the sight of them cannot conduce to the obtaining of my pardon but the aggravating my eternal misery the sight of them indeed is most unpleasant the object odious and ungrateful but the benefit will abundantly recompence the trouble and if I behold them now so as to repent of them I shall see them no more for ever I will imitate therefore this holy man and ever view the guilt and the danger of them that I may humbly confess them and obtain a pardon for them my wretched heart hath taken pleasure in committing them and it shall have vexation in reflecting on them for I will not take my eyes off from them till the horrid aspect of my grievous iniquities have humbled my soul for them and turned my heart against them The blessed Jesus that sees the hearts and knows the necessities of all hath given a universal command of repentance to all men which yet methinks seems peculiarly directed to me who have neglected this necessary duty hitherto Thou oh Lord seest my danger and pittieth my approaching ruine I bow my head and heart and neither dare nor can disobey so gracious and loving advice so useful and necessary a warning Thy bare word had been sufficient to command obedience from those who expect salvation by thee but thou art pleased farther to convince me I do believe dear Jesus the benefit is great if I shall turn now while thy grace is so freely offered to all people I know the danger is dreadful if I defer any longer since 't is certain thy Kingdome shall come but uncertain how soon either death shall arrest me or judgment surprize me in such delayes I have cause to bless thee that neither of these have happened yet since I have so justly provoked thee by excluding so gracious a King out of my heart rather then I would be at the trouble of preparing for thee yet Lord thou callest still and now I am making what haste I can oh remember not how long I have stayed but consider how little time I have left and by the help of thy grace make my work short and easie proportionable to my time and strength I confess I knew before but I never considered till now and now I dare not stay but through thy help now I come oh do not cast me off for thy mercies sake Amen § VII Lastly If any by dayly use of these offices begin to grow
his promise but for the confirmation of our Faith and as a condescention to our infirmity Indeed all Gods words are most true but not many have an Oath annexed as this hath which he that will not have us swear but upon weighty Occasions would not have added but because the belief of this is the Foundation of all Religion since no man can begin to seek to God till he believe he delights in Mercy (k) Heb. 11.6 and is willing to receive those that turn to him wherefore let us not doubt so great and necessary a truth confirmed with his Oath (l) O beatos nos quorum causa Deus jurat O miserrimos si nec Deo juranti credimus Tert. de poenit who assures us he wills not the death of a sinner (m) LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vatab. num desidero aut volo with his Will nor desires it as we do those things we have pleasure in but is even forced to it against his inclination Which gracious nature of God is here set before the sinners eyes to discover what probability there is for his granting out such a Commission because he that desireth not the death of such will not withold Mercy nay he will by the offer of a Pardon prevent it for this phrase means he desires the life even the everlasting life of all penitents (n) Negatio mali in S. S. notat accumulationem boni Job 3.18 Job 11.26 vide 1 Tim. 2.4 1 Thess 5.9 and if the assurance of Remission will support them and give them encouragement to seek for happiness they shall not want it For to do good is the Nature of God he doth this willingly and readily without the consideration of merit or expectation of reward but Punishments are Extorted from him (o) Lam. 3.33 Vatab. ex corde non est proprium Dei affligere castigare homines sed alienum by mens wickedness and when he inflicts them he expostulates with himself like an indulgent Father about to correct a disobedient child (p) Hos 11.8 Ezek. 33.11 So that it is no incredible thing that he should send a Pardon it is the device of Sathan to picture the Almighty so dreadful that he may be a terror to his Supplicants to make men fear and hate and fly from him rather then serve or love him But God is love and especially kind to Men (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato 1 John 4.8 who have no reason to dishonour God by dismal apprehensions of him Remember I beseech you the Price payed for you the Covenant made with you the Promises given to you call to mind how justly frequently and easily he might have cut you off if he had not designed to be Reconciled and think of the earnestness of his invitations continuance of his patience the arts of his providence and all other means used to preserve you and then blush at your selves for having ever had hard thoughts of God or doubting he would not Absolve you Whoever hath so conceived of God is as bad as an Atheist for he takes away Gods Being and this his goodness as if like the Scythian Deities (r) Meliùs esset nullos credere Deos quam esse putare sed sanguine caesorum hominum laetatos existimare Plutar. de Superstit Scyth Gallorum he rejoyced in humane Sacrifices and we our selves had rather be reported dead then traduced living but though this unbelief do attempt to dishonor God the mischief lights upon it self for God is glorious still in Mercy and he that does not believe it is void of love and hope weak in Faith full of fears and dismal expectations (s) Et faciunt animos humiles formidine divum Depressosque premunt ad terram Luc. and when he that is perswaded of Gods mercy can rejoyce in hearing this Absolution the other quarrels with the Messenger or suspects the Master and tortures himself with endless scruples § 5. But rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live We must be cautious while we endeavour to prevent despair that we encourage not presumption and least any should think when they hear of Gods kindness to sinners that he will allow them their sins (t) Rom. 6.1 this is added to shew that he so desires our happiness as the end that he desires our holiness as the only way thither he would have us live viz. in Eternal glory but his desires cannot be accomplished if we continue in our wickedness because then God is obliged in justice to destroy us therefore he labours to turn us from those evil ways which end in death and to bring us into the safe paths of holiness which are the beginning of Heaven upon earth for the felicity of Heaven is but an addition to and the perfection of that begun holiness in vain therefore does any trust to this Mercy of God who lives wickedly still for what Father would spare his offending Child or what Prince pardon his rebellious Subject but upon condition they will not renew the same Crimes it is possible indeed to deceive men into Remission when the offenders mean not to reform Caesar was stab'd by Brutus a reconciled enemy whom he had adopted for his son Cicero was beheaded by Popilius whom he had saved from publique justice But the All-seeing God knows your purposes and can tell what you will do hereafter so that you deceive your selves in hoping for forgiveness while you remain impenitent but you cannot deceive him to make him grant to it he will not make his mercy the support of your iniquity and it would undo (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 3. sinners if he should too easily forgive such mercy before true repentance would make sin cheap and encourage men to do wickedly Wherefore he sends his Ambassadors to proclaim his gracious intentions of saving you least any should grow desperate with Cain (x) Gen. 4.13 and as the hardened traitor resolve to dye in their rebellion but these Ministers of God are first to turn (y) Acts 3. ult men from their iniquities and if they prevail in that they have a Pardon ready sealed and can assure them of life everlasting and that God who punisheth unwillingly will freely forgive he must either condemn or save you it is most evident he had rather give you life and will rejoyce if you accept it and if you miss it it is because you had rather sin and dye not because he had rather you should so perish § 6. And hath given Power and Commandement to his Ministers Whoever hath a just right and absolute Authority may either exercise it in Person or Depute others by communicating to them their Power subordinately and then these substitutes have a Ministerial right so far as their Commission extends a Temporal Prince can do thus and choose which of his Subjects he pleaseth to act thus in his Name and by
hearts seem to be Know ye therefore that we are Authorised in Gods name to bring to such the message of the Absolution from the guilt and Remission of the punishment of their sins And by vertue of the power and in obedience to the Command given to us by God we do now proclaim that not we but He Pardoneth that can do it by his own right and Absoldeth both from guilt and Punishment all them be they never so many and their sins never so great that are qualified for a Pardon by those conditions which are by him required even them that truly Repent and heartily grieve for all their evil ways longing to be delivered from them and seriously purposing to amend them these shall never be condemned if they will trust in his mercy and Vnfeignedly believe and are firmly perswaded of the excellency of the precepts and the truth of the Promises of his holy Gospel and if they particularly accept this message of his Love therein manifested wherefore since God is so able and willing to pardon and hath sent us his Ministers to offer a Pardon if you repent and believe oh let us not loose the benefit of so gracious an offer but let us all since all are sinners go together to the Throne of grace upon this courteous summons and beseech him earnestly who sent it to us of his favour and bounty to grant us true Repentance such as he can work in us and such as he will accept so as to forgive us thereupon and having thereby cleansed us from by-past sins let us most heartily beg the help of his grace and his holy Spirit to purifie our hearts strengthen our Faith and bless our indeavours of reformation so constantly that we may have all our desires accomplished which petition if God shall grant the blessed event will be that those things even all the duties which you shall now perform and the Absolution now pronounced which is the office of the Minister may please him so as that he hear your Prayers and seal your Pardon and bless all which we do at this present when he hath cleansed us from iniquity and quickened us by his spirit the fruit shall be present acceptance and that the rest of our lives hereafter which formerly have been so sinful may be pure from wickedness sanctified and righteous and holy full of all well-pleasing and that we may persevere all our daies in this happy course so that at the last when Death puts an end to the tedious sorrows and short contents of this mortal life we may come to his eternal joy that is unconceivable and endless without mixture or diminution and which is so much above our deserts that we could not hope ever to obtain it but through Iesus Christ our Lord who by his Death purchased this Pardon by his intercession prevaileth for grace and at his Ascension took possession of this eternal joy for all that are truly Absolved to which we all say Amen Lord be it so unto us Amen SECTION V. Of the Lords Prayer Of the Lords Prayer in General § 1. WHat hath hitherto been performed by the Church was rather a preparation to Prayer then Prayer it self For this Confession and Absolution answers to the Heathen Washings and those the Jews used before they approached their altars So that we may say the first place is by us assigned to the first and chiefest of all Prayers which should have stood in the front of all but only till we had repented of our disobedience we ought not to call God Father and till we have his Pardon we cannot with comfort call him so He that hath been in Rebellion must have his offence forgiven before he presume to petition for acts of grace so we being praedisposed by Confession and Absolution begin with this Prayer And sure this deserves to be first since it was made by Jesus and endited by his divine spirit to be a guide to and a part of our daily Devotions (i) Luc. 11.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Math. 6.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. LXX Numb 6.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Debet benedictio ista proferri linguâ sanctâ cum nomine Dei proprio Fagius in loc to be used as oft as we need our daily bread saying these words or praying in this manner which is all one for that form of blessing Num. 6.23 the Jews are prescribed to use in that manner who yet keep both words and language in the Pronunciation this Prayer Christ had delivered in his first Sermon Matth. 6. but it seems his Disciples did not then understand it for a form (k) See modo Diatrib on Matth. 6.9 so that the next year they requested him for a Form such as the Doctors among them were wont to give their Schollers as a Badge of their Relation to such a Master and then Luke 11.1 our Lord prescribed this set Form which for words and phrases he took (l) Tam longè abfuit Dominus Ecclesiae ab omni affectatione non necessariae novitatis Grotius out of the Jewish forms with little variation (m) Vid. Capelli not in Crit. Sacr. to shew how far he was from all affectation of novelty in Devotion and certainly we may discern in it a lively resemblance of its Author who was the highest and lowest the greatest and least God and Man The Comprehensiveness of it is the admiration of the wisest (n) Quantum substringitur verbis tantùm diffunditur sensibus Tert. the plainess suiting still the meanest capacity for it is so clear that all may understand it so short that any may learn it so full as to take in all our wants and so exact as to shew us what we should be (o) Vnusquisque nostrûm sic discat orare de orationis lege qualis esse debeat noscere Cypr. de Orat. as well as what we should ask and is the Epitome (p) Breviarium Evangelii Tertul. de Orat. of the Gospel Herein we glorifie God in desiring his honour may be made manifest and are mindful of our selves in praying for all Graces Reverence and Fear Sanctification and Purity Submission and Obedience active and passive Faith and Love Diligence and Zeal Constancy and Perseverance and for our Bodies we beg Food and Raiment Health and Strength Riches and Friends a good Name and a long Life so far as they are good for us We look back to our sins past and humbly crave Remission we look forward first to our duty engaging our selves in purposes of holy Charity and then to our danger earnestly intreating his preventing grace and pitty may preserve us from sin and punishment the snares of men and devils finally we look upwards in an humble acknowledgment of his goodness and greatness and just deservings of all honour and glory from us and all the World In this one Form as we represent all our own wants so we exercise all graces (q) Quot simul expunguntur
then he would by fraud or flattery lying or cheating deceive his neighbour of what is justly his If any here object many rich men have goods laid up for many years and need not ask their daily bread I answer The Rich need Gods blessing to prosper and preserve what they have as the poor do to give them what they have not nor can their meat nourish them (l) Matth. 41.4 their garments warm them or their pallaces defend them without his blessing what one hath more then another is here confessed to be the gift of God and Christ teacheth the rich humility by shewing them whence their abundance came and by whom it is continued and least they should despise the poor they learn that if God withdraw his blessing they will soon become both alike wherefore he that hath as well as he that hath not must every day on his knees beg a piece of bread or a power to use it and a blessing upon it And thus we have begun to pray for our selves and Jesus teacheth us to begin at the lowest step and first to ask relief for our bodies assuring us that our Heavenly Father cannot hear his Children cry for bread and not supply them and when he hath done so we may from his kindness in lesser things be encouraged to ask for our Souls which he is more concerned for but it would seem presumption for us to ask the greatest first who do not deserve the least Genes 32.10 § 7. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us The Particle and connects this to the former Petition and declares we are continuing those requests which concern our selves and we have need to look further then our earthly needs least if we obtain a supply for them from his bounty (m) Consequens erat ut observata Dei liberalitate clementiam ejus precaremur quid enim alimenta proderunt si illi reputamur reverà quasi taurus ad victimam Tertull. and do not procure a Pardon from his mercy our food should fat us for the slaughter If we rightly apprehend the danger of our souls all the enjoyments of this life can yield no more pleasure to us then the curious fare presented to that Persian Captive designed to be sacrificed when he remembred the knife and the Altar The fears of Gods eternal vengeance will imbitter all our abundance and therefore we add a prayer for forgiveness without which we cannot relish our daily bread nor do we think our food so necessary as the remission of our offences the want of that could but bring us to a temporal death but without this we shall loose everlasting life and dye in eternal misery and the necessity is also as universal for as no man can live without bread so no man can live comfortably here or happily hereafter without mercy for all men have sinned (n) Rom. 3.23 Sâ—iâ—bat Dominus se solum sine delicto esse Tert. and those sins cannot be done away without mercy which every man that lives by bread must pray for even the best of men and as often as they pray for that even every day they must also ask Pardon of Almighty God because no day is wholly inoffensive and our Lord Jesus would here set our sinfulness daily before our eyes to make us constantly sensible that we are unworthy of the meat we eat and all outward blessings which we receive and to make us continually humble and penitent He knew before that even the best of men had sin and prescribes this petition as daily useful to all his Disciples and those who out of ignorance or pride think they have no sin do exclude themselves out of the number of his Schollers who have all learned to pray for Absolution But to be more particular let us observe how many Duties are exercised in these few words even all that becomes the address of a true Penitent Confession and self-accusation Contrition for and Aggravation of the sâ—ns deprecation of the punishment with acknowledgement of the justice thereof Faith in a Redeemer and hope in his Merits First we herein daily confess our sin our very asking pardon is an acknowledgment we are guilty and we appropriate them to our selves (o) Exomologesis est petitio veniae qui petit veniam delictum confitetur Tert. de Orat. for though Jesus did suffer the Punishment we acted the Crimes which we here being mindful of his bitter Passion do own with sorrow calling them Our Trespasses and in that word we signifie the vast number of our transgressions this plural indefinite word declares them very many which we have committed against God and our neighbour not against one but all his laws not once but many times And further we confess they are as heinous as numerous viz. trespasses and injuries done to God himself by us his poor Creatures (p) 1 Sam. 2.25 in his own person or in his subjects our neighbours of whose Rights he is the Protector and the avenger of their wrongs we have broke down the hedge of Gods laws and by our disobedience disowned his supremacy and denied that duty which we owed to him whereupon sins are called debts (q) Matth. 6.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same Luke 11.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confer Luke 13.2 cum ver 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost de poen 2. Debitum in Scripturis delicti figura est quod perinde judicio debeatur nec evadat justitiam exactionis nisi donetur exactio Tertul. ut supr because God being our supream Lord Creator and preserver we are bound to obey all his pleasure and to do his commands specially having voluntarily promised this in our Baptism wherefore if we pay not God this due and vowed obedience we are debtors to him and must discharge and satisfie by suffering the Penalty (r) Si non reddit faciendo justitiam reddit patiendo miseriam August unless we can find a surety to undertake for us Oh what can set out the heighnousness of sin more lively it is a wrong and injury done by us poor miserable wretches against the Laws and Authority and the Rights of that God who made us and whose Covenant-servants we are and to this we must add that we are liable to his just and severe threatnings and may be if God please summoned to his Bar endited for this Debt nay Condemned for it to eternal Torments for the satisfaction But only that his Mercy and Wisdome hath found a gracious Redeemer who hath taken these Trespasses upon himself and made a fuller satisfaction for them then we could have done by eternal sufferings And it must be supposed we believe the satisfaction of Christs death and by it hope for a Remission or else what encouragement have we to ask pardon and confess a debt when we are insolvent and that to a just and true God that must have satisfaction this were to ask impossibilities
benedicam tibi laudabo nomen tuum c. Vulg. Lat. only altering the Tense and Person Lord help us for we are thy servants paying thee the daily tribute of Praise Whatever thou bestowest on us will not be forgotten nor buâ—ied in ungratefull silence We meet in thy house every day to magnifie thee in this manner and to set our the glory of thy Name in every thing thou dost for u. Withold not thy mercy for we will not withold thy Praise and since we resolve daily to do the work of Angelâ— Lord keep us pure as they are for praise is neither seemly nor acceptable in the mouth of a sinner Let not us who are thy servants in the morning be the devils slaves before night (z) Coepisti meliùs quam desinis ultima primis Distant but preserve us holy all day that our afternoon sins may not rob us of the benefit of this dayes Praises nor indispose us against the next morning when our duty will return Dear Jesus look on our frailty and strengthen us look on our guilt and misery and Pardon us We cry earnestly and double our request Jesus Master (a) Math. 20.30 31. have mercy on us have mercy on us for our needs are great and pressing unless we find mercy for former sins we must be condemned by thee and except we obtain mercy for future assistance we shall be overcome by Sathan Oh shut not out our Prayer consider not our merits but our distress we know we deserve nothing but we have great hopes such is thy transcendent goodness that we shall have what we desire Those that were better then we have put words in our mouths who in the Psalms (b) Psal 33.22 Sit misericordia tua Domine super nos quemadmodum speravimus in te Psal 31.1 In te Domine speravi non confundar in aeternum Vulg. Lat. did not urge thee as if they had been worthy but only trusted in thy mercy and so do we We rely not on our selves or any Creature but on thee alone for we know thou canst help us and we have a persuasion thou wilt All the world sees by our daily attendance on thee that all our expectations are from thee Oh do not disappoint those hopes that are grounded on thy tender mercy least Sathan upbraid us and the world slight us (c) Ezra 8.22 Psal 22.7 8. and then which way can we look Lord be it unto us according to our Faith Amen Amen The Paraphrase of the Te Deum WE Praise thee most heartily for all we have learned out of thy holy Word O God and it shall be our care as it is our duty to observe thy Will since we acknowledge thee to be the Lord to whom we owe all Duty and Obedience We esteem it our happiness and honour to be accounted thy servants who art Lord of all the world and aâ—l the earth with its Inhabitants joyns with us and doth worship thee who aâ—t from Eternity and in all ages hast been acknowledged to be the Father everlasting Nor doth this lower world alone own thy Supremacy but Praise is given to thee by the several Orders of all Anâ—â—â—s who with harmonious voices cry aloud in proclaiming thy glory which is ever set forth by all the hosts of the Heavens the Thrones Dominions Principalities and the Powers that are therein To thee O God triumphant Hymns are sung in that Celestial Quire For the Cherubin on one side and the Seraphin on the other with ravishing melody chart thy Praise and in their mysterious adorations they continually do cry one to another Holy Father Holy Son Holy Spirit three Persons but one Lord thou art tâ—e most mighty God of Savaoth the supream commander of all the hosts of Heaven of us and the innumerable myriods of blessed Spirits Thou makest us happy with beholding and the Sons of men with expecting thy glory so that all the Inhabitants of Heaven and Earth rejoyce in thee because all parts of the Universe are full of those manifestations of thy power and goodness which declare the majesty of thy glory Thus the Angels sing and for our great comfort many of our bretheren now glorified bear a part with them The glorious company of the Apostles who Preached Christ and with unwearied diligence and patience admirable courage and fidelity shewed he was come to save the world these are now in those regions of bliss and there for ever praise thee As also all those harbingers of thy Sons comming inspired at sundry times and in divers manners these are now met in glory and make up the goodly fellowship of the Prophets whose words we read on earth but they now are happy in beholding him of whom they foretold and now continually praise thee To all which blessed numbers are added those undaunted Legions who sealed the truth of the Prophets predictions and the Apostles preaching with their blood even The noble army of Martyrs who conquered infidelity and cruelty by Faith and Patience these now are passed from torments to their reward and they with all other Saints and Angels with united hearts and voices sweetly praise tâ—ee Oh Lord we long to be there that we might see thee as clearly and praise thee as heartily as they do But since we can now know thee only by Faith we must glorifie thee by agreeing with The holy Church even our faithful bretheren throughout all the world in the Confession of that True Faith whereby every good Christian doth acknowledge thee to be what thou hast revealed thy self to be in thy holy word We believe in that Trinity which the Angels worship even in thee the Father who by creating and governing all the World declaredst thy self to be of an infinite Majesty And we believe in him that is equal in glory with thee and one in nature thine honourable true and only begotten Son who hath redeemed us that we of slaves of Sathan might be thy adopted Sons We do believe and acknowledge also the Holy Ghost to be very God equal to and with the Father and the Son and is the advocate for us in Heaven and the Comforter of us on the Earth And these Three Persons are One God Thy grâ—cious condescension O blessed Jesus shall not Eclipse thy Divine Perfection for though thou camest in our likeness to Redeem us yet we believe thou art equal with the Father and the King of Glory for thou ever wa st most glorious in thy self and thou O Christ art anointed of God a King and Priest for ever From eternity thou art God neither hadst thou thy beginning when thou wast made the Son of Man for thou art the everlasting Son begotten of the Father before the world began Yet blessed be thy name thou didst change thy Glory for Misery and sufferedst thy Eternity to be measured by time for when thou tookest upon thee that glorious design to deliver man from eternal death thou didst not abhor the meanest
condition but wast conceived in tâ—e Virgins womb and born like unto us only void of sin How chearfully didst thou embrace a bitter and bloody Passion to satisfie the Divine Justice provoked by our offences and when thou hadst by suffering the wrath due to us overcome the sharpness of that sting of death which our sins had armed it with the whole world found the benefit of thy Cross For by those merits thou didst open those gates of mercy which iniquity had shut against all mankind for hereby alone admittance into the kingdom of heaven is granted to all believers that are or were or ever shall be hereafter And no such can be excluded for now thou sittest as a glorious conqueror at the right hand of God to intercede that the faithful may have the benefit of thy purchase to keep possession for them and finally to receive them to partake with thee in the glory of the Father which thou now injoyest and canst dispose it to whom thou pleasest To our great comfort therefore we believe that thou who hast been our Redeemer and art our Advocate shalt come with millions of Angels in great glory to try all the world and particularly to be our Iudge with full Power to condemn or acquit us We therefore knowing our guiltiness and that we cannot account to thy Justice do before hand beg thy mercy and most humbly pray thee help thy servants with thy infinite merits and abundant grace and to answer for them whom thou hast so deerly bought and redeemed with thy most precious blood that we may not loose the benefit nor thou the glory of thy gracious purchase Since all men must stand or fall then at thy sentence Oh do thou acquit thy faithful ones and by applying thy merits make them to be numbred with thy Saints that being placed on thy right hand they may have a part with thee and them in Glory unspeakable and everlasting And that thou mayest have mercy on them in thy Kingdom give them here all that may fit them for it and bring them to it O Lord save thy people from all evil which might dishearten or defile them and bless thy Church with all good things which may make it flourish as thine inheritance and encourage it in well-doing Be thou a shepheard to watch over and feed thy servants a King to defend and govern them in all thy holy wayes and when Sathan and his instruments design to cast them down rescue and lift them up by thy grace above their power and malice that they may be safe for ever Particularly be mindful of us in this Congregation who will never forget thee but as we daily taste of thy mercies so Day by day we acknowledge them in thy house and we magnifie thee for them with these sacred hymns Thou art an everflowing spring of comfort therefore we ever praise thee and we worship thy name both now in this world and will glorifie it in thy Kingdom ever world without end And as by our daily paying thee this Tribute of Praise we declare our selves thy servants Vouchsafe O Lord to remember our frailty and by thy grace to keep us this day which we have begun in thy service holy pure and without sin that our present sacrifice may be accepted and our hearts fitly disposed against the next opportunity We have so often fallen into sin and so sadly smarted for our folly that we must now most earnestly beseech thee O Lord to forgive and have mercy upon us for all that is past and again to have mercy upon us and deliver us for the remaining part of our lives We beg compassion of thee in all humility O Lord let thy mercy come to us and lighten upon us not for our merits nor after the proportion of our deserts but our faith even like as we incouraged by thy promises most readily and firmly do put our trust in thee and hope for it And though we do not challenge it by desert yet we believe thou wilt not frustrate any of our expectations for every one of us renouncing all other helps can say O Lord in thee alone have I trusted because I knew thy grace and bounty Let me not now ask in vain Oh let me never be put to shame before the world or the devil nor be confounded by being sent away empty Amen The second Hymn after the First Lesson at Morning Prayer § 5. WE shall briefly pass over this Hymn because it is seldom used and sufficiently plain it being an invitation of all Creatures to praise God And though it be not in the Canon of Scripture yet it is an excellent Paraphrase on the 148 Psalm and comes so near it in words and sense that we must reproach that if we despise this And we have the practice of the Primitive Church to justifie our use of it wherein it was not sung only four times in the year as in the present Roman Church but on all solemn occasions in the assemblies of the faithful from the beginning as Ruffinus and St. Augustine (d) In omni solemnitate in sacâ—is fidelium decantatur Ruffinus l. 2. adv Hieron ap Sixâ— Senens Biblioth Aug. Serm. 47. temp assure us And the duty which it invites us to ought to recommend it which is to praise God for all his works 'T is true they are so excellent that they do of tâ—emselves declare the Power and Wisdom of their great Creator (e) Psal 19.1 Bona enim ex sâ—ipsis vâ—ce â—â—emittunt neque enim Sol vel Luna interprete egeâ—◠〈◊〉 ipsa lux palam testatur quod totum mundum illustrant Philo. And yet since we have benefit by them and understanding to observe and speech to express his glory who made them God calls on us to lend them a tongue to glorifie him with and by so doing we may fill our souls with reverence and noble thoughts of the Lord of all things Our aptness to be forgetful of the rare contrivance and unthankful for the usefulness of his works makes this Hymn often needful but it is alwayes proper to be used after the History of the Creation or the relation of those miracles wherein God useth the Creatures as Instruments of his Justice or Mercy And then we may in this Form learn the order of Gods works for the method is exact and beginning with the Heavens and the hosts thereof descends to the air the Earth and Sea reckoning up all the furniture of them and concluding with a particular exhortation to the Sons of Men who are concerned in them all to give praise to the Lord their maker the Order will inform our understanding the exactness quicken our memory and the comprehensive and devout manner of address will enlarge our affections if we attend it and desire to profit by it and then it will need no other recommendations The Analysis of the Benedictus or first Hymn after the second Lesson In this
advantage which occasions that joy wherefore we are most of all obliged to rejoyce with the blessed Virgin both as she was the Mother of our Redeemer according to the flesh and because we may be so according to the spirit the Lesson we now heard is out of the Old Testament and as there we find the Records and Examples of the Divine Mercy to the Pious and humble and of his Vengeance upon the Proud and arrogant so here we find a Form of Praise for those dispensations of Gods Providence and since all the deliverances of Gods people there related are founded on this mercy of our Redemption or flow from it or are directed to it this Hymn will teach us to turn the Old Testament into Gospel and with the holy Patriarchs (l) Gen. 49.18 Non expecto redemptionem Sampsonis quae est salus transitoria sed expecto redemptionem Messiae filii David Targ. ever to apply all to this great salvation of which all other mercies were but types Behold then the Mother of Jesus saying to you Oh praise the Lord with me (m) Psal 34.4 and let us magnifie his name together let us shew forth the greatness of his power and goodness for we cannot set out his Perfections with any advantage nor represent him greater then really he is as we often magnifie one another but then we magnifie the Lord when we declare what we apprehend him to be and let us advance his glory as high as is possible for there is no danger of exceeding our Praises will be short but they must be real wherefore before we can bear a part in this Anthem we must get our souls affected with a sense of his infinite Power and our minds exalted with the belief of his excellent mercy so our praise shall be no complement but our soul and spirit shall bear their part and our thanksgiving may be real as his favours are let his wonderful love present it self to your affections and bring out your wonder and joy your hopes and desires to behold the sweetness till these passions begin to be enamoured on it and moved by it and then they will carry a lovely notion and fair Idea of it to the mind and so effectually recommend it that the whole inward man shall be ravished with the beautiful prospect and every faculty of the soul and part of the affections shall unite into a devout celebration of the divine love and mercy Behold the holiest of Women observe where she fixes her eye and whether she directs her Praises she rejoyceth not in her own excellencies nor doth she magnifie her self but God her Saviour which may check our vanity who are so apt in a prosperous success and unexpected exaltation to sacrifice to our own deserts (n) Hoc ego feci non fortuna dict Timoth. ducis to crown our selves though we snatch it from the head of Heavens King but sure since he gives the blessing he deserves the honour (o) Tuum Domine est bonum tua itaque est gloria Qui enim de bono tuo gloriam sibi quaerit non tibi fur est latro similisque diabolo qui voluit furare gloriam tuam August Soliloqu c. 15. and he that paies it not is a double thief and steals the gift and the glory also for both are his She that was the Mother of Jesus after the flesh thinks it no disparagement to confess her Son to be her Saviour but rejoyceth that he was so let not us then think we are saved from temporal evils or can be from eternal death without him and let us esteem it a greater honour to us and a surer ground of our rejoycing that the most high God is become our Salvation then if we had our strength in our own hands § 2. There is nothing gives the dimensions of Gods love to us more truly then the sight and sense of our vileness when we behold our selves so low and despicable as indeed we are then the glories of the Divine Majesty in stooping to us and looking on us in our low estate will shine in their native lustre when we see how worthless we are and what favour we have obtained beyond our expectations as much as our deserts then our souls will magnifie the Lord in the apprehensions of his greatness and our spirits rejoyce in the admirable goodness of God our Saviour Thus the blessed Virgin was inspired with these Seraphical extasies of joy by looking on the mean Condition in which this infinite mercy surprised her she was not arrived to the honour of marriage and in the opinion of the daughters of Jerusalem who esteemed it a huge reproach and a great affliction (p) 1 Sam. 1.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX pro sterilitate ut Gen. 29.32 to be without Children her estate was disgraceful and her fortunes were really dishonourable for though she sprung from the blood Royal of Judah yet she was then a poor obscure maid unknown to the world but regarded by him that loves to lodge in the lowest hearts (q) Isai 57.15 of the poor and pious as well as in the highest heavens she was in her lowest estate the Lords hand-maid and devoutly served him day and night and her Piety sanctified her Poverty and drew the eye of God to regard her as he will the meanest of us if our obedience equal hers and especially if our minds be as low as our estate is for so was this excellent Virgins who by lowliness here means not her humility for it had argued Pride to have so high a conceit of her lowliness of mind as to believe it obliged Gods favour there it was her meanness and poverty (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abjectionem humilem conditionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verò humilitatem significare asserit Erasmus which she so freely confesseth and heartily praiseth God for regarding No doubt her humility was eminent in her afflicted condition for when she was advanced to be the Mother of the Worlds Saviour she seeks no greater honour then to be stiled the hand-maid of the Lord ver 38. Oh Blessed Soul that was ever the same neither dejected in her affliction nor puffed up with her exaltation but serves God chearfully in the one and praises him heartily for the other She beholds an infinite and lasting honour prepared for her not alone among the daughters of one place or Generation (s) Gen. 30.13 Syr. pro gloriâ med for she was to be the Mother of a Universal and Everlasting blessing which all former ages had desired and all future times should rejoyce in and Both would proclaim her happy above all Women who should be the Instrument of this Mercy And yet she resigns all this glory to him that gave it her and declares whence she received it (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophilac in loc that not her name but his may have the glory and sure she deserves
still Are not our principles surer our hopes clearer and our probabilities fairer and our gains like to be infinitely more Why then do we say these principles over as it were some Lesson that was never to be put in practice Let us turn our Creed into Syllogisms and we shall see what consequences necessarily flow from it And let us so firmly believe it that our Conversation may be the natural conclusion from those premises for there is no man whose natural Logick will not enable him to argue thus He that believes God to be Almighty and that he made him and all the world must love and fear this God and trust in him in all his needs But I believe in God the Father Almighty c. Therefore I must love and fear and trust in him at all times Or thus Whoever deserves and fears Gods wrath cannot truly believe Jesus came to save him from it but he must speedily apply himself to him and thankfully embrace this salvation But I who deserve and fear Gods wrath do believe this c. Therefore I must speedily apply my self to him and thankfully embrace this salvation from him And thus without strictly confining our selves to the rules of Art the most ignorant may with a little consideration find the natural result of every Article and what effect it will produce in any man that heartily doth embrace it And oh that all the world were as willing to live according to their professions as they are able to apprehend the force of these arguings We should not see our practises so frequently opposite to nay destructive of those principles we pretend to believe Let us ask our selves what manner of persons we ought to be who do so solemnly protest our belief that all these things are true In temporal things what we believe dangerous and unprofitable we avoid what we are persuaded is pleasant and advantageous we pursue and if our assent be as firm why should we not do so in spirituals Where the grounds are surer the inferences clearer and the gain and reward infinitely greater 't is too much to be feared we follow not our Creed far enough nor consider what the belief of those Articles would produce in us if cordially embraced Wherefore for the sake of such as could not or would not thus use the Articles of their Faith we have added to the Paraphrase the following Application The Paraphrase and Application of the Creed Art 1. I Believe most firmly in one infinite and eternal God who is a most powerful wise gracious and pure spirit Distinguished into three Persons the first of which is the Father Almighty who is the maker of me and all the Creatures of heaven and earth the preserver and Governor of all the world Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to own him for my God and Almighty Father by loving fearing serving and obeying him and to acknowledge him the Creator of all by admiring his works rightly using his Creatures and relying on his Providence for whatever I want in this world which is at his disposal And I am encouraged to call upon this my mighty God and merciful Father for my self and all the world for a competent measure of food and raiment health and wealth peace and plenty and not to doubt but that he who can do what he please will take care of the work of his own hands Art 2. And I do most firmly believe in the second Person of the glorious Trinity even in Iesus Christ our anointed Saviour who is very God equal to the Father being his only Son by eternal generation and is now become our Lord by the merciful redemption of our souls from death and hell Wherefore I am obliged and resolved most thankfully to commit my salvation to the management of my glorious and gracious Redeemer and as anointed by God to be a Prophet Priest and King to observe his teaching rely on his attonement and submit to his Authority and to walk answerable to the price that is payed for me And I am encouraged to pray in his name with faith and comfort for deliverance from my spiritual enemies and the salvation of my soul for a safe Pasport to Gods Heavenly Kingdome since his only Son is my Redeemer Art 3. I do also most firmly believe it was this very son of God who became man and yet was conceived free from sin by the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost and that assuming our Nature and uniting it to his own Divine Nature was born of the blessed Virgin Mary so that he was both God and Man two Natures in one Person Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to be most thankful for that miraculous condescension and to learn to submit to the meanest condition to do good and to be careful not to defile my Nature which Jesus hath united to the Divinity And I am encouraged to pray that I may be sustained under the necessities of my frail estate which Jesus was acquainted with and purged from the corruptions which he was freed from and that being regenerate like him by the power of the Holy Ghost I may be partaker of his Nature as he was of mine Art 4. I do also most firmly believe that the holy Jesus being to satisfie the Divine Justice for our offences suffered the wrath which we had deserved and under Pontius Pilate the Romane Governor though most innocent in himself he was crucified till with cruel torments both of body and soul he had offered up his life a sacrifice for sin He was really dead and buried and took possession of the regions of darkness for he descended into hell and remained under the power of death for a time Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to lament for and crucifie my sins the cause of his bitter Passion to beware least by continuing in them I bring my self under the same curse and loose the benefits of this all-saving death and also to learn from him to suffer patiently and dye chearfully when God pleaseth And I am hereby encouraged to pray that I may not suffer what Christ hath endured for me that this sacrifice may be accepted as a satisfaction for all my transgressions and that the remembrance of it and the grace obtained by it may mortifie and kill in me that which hath crucified him Art 5. I do also most firmly believe that when he had paid the full price for the sins of the world death could no longer hold him so that the third day after his suffering by an infinite power he arose again assuring us that justice was satisfied and our enemies conquered since he was delivered from the dead among whom our iniquities and Gods anger had laid him Wherefore I am obliged and resolved in my lowest estate to trust in his power for my safety to rely on his All-sufficient merits for my Pardon and to endeavour to rise from the death of sin to walk in newness of life And I am encouraged