Prayer not a drousy Devotion not only that we hear but take heed how we hear not only that we serve him but serve him instantly not only run but so run The great thing that is put into the Ballance of the Sanctuary when God comes to weigh the Actions of Men what doth he consider He weighs the Spirits Prov. 16. 2. All the Ways of Man are right in his own Eyes but the Lord weigheth the Spirits That is he considers vvith vvhat frame of Heart and in vvhat manner vve go about any thing vve do for him And therefore this is the main thing vve should look after in what manner we serve him even as the Angels do in Heaven not in an ordinary but perfect manner But wherein doth the Resemblance hold How should we be as the Angels 1. In conformity to the Angels we must serve God readily The Angels are represented as with Wings Isa. 6. 2. And the Angel Gabriel is said to flie swiftly upon God's Message They are hearkning for God's Word and go on God's Errand So we should be ready and speedy in our Obedience Psal. 119. 60. I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commandments It is not enough to keep God's Commandments but vve must make haste that is before the strength of the present Impulsion be lost and those Fervors which are upon us be cool'd 2. Willingly and chearfully and without murmuring Angels are ready at God's beck they are ministring Spirits even to the meanest Saints God hath sent them abroad for the Heirs of Salvation they are as Guardians to them to look after them in all their Ways The Devils what Christ bids them do do it murmuringly the unclean Spirit would not come out without rending and tearing Mark 9. Christ's presence was a Burthen to them Mat. 8. When we do things with reluctancy murmuringly we are more like the Devil than the Angels When the Devils obey his Word they are forced to it by the absolute Power of Christ yet they do it not with Willingness and Freeness as the good Angels do But we are to do it freely I delight to do thy Will O my God Psal. 40. 8. And Iohn 4. 34. It is my Meat and Drink to do the Will of him that sent me That was the Dish Christ loved 3. Constantly and unweariedly Thus do the Angels in Heaven The Devils they abode not in the Truth but Angels they do it without weariness they rest not Day nor Night but are still lauding praising and serving God and are never weary God in Communion is ever new and fresh to them the Face of their heavenly Father is as lovely as at first moment no Weariness or Satiety creeps upon those good Spirits Thus should we do it without Weariness and then we shall reap if we faint not 4. Faithfully not picking and chusing They hearken to the Voice of his Word whatever it be be it to ascend or descend So we if it be to go backward for God tho it be against the Bent of our Hearts David is said to be a Man after God's Heart because he did all God's Will Acts 13. 22. All which should be a Patern for us and we should strive to come up to it Give us this day our daily Bread WE are now come to the second sort of Petitions that concern our selves as the former did more immediately concern God Now you may observe the Stile in the Prayer is altered It was before Thy Name Thy Kingdom Thy Will now it is Give us and forgive us c. Before our Lord had taught us to speak in a third Person Thy Will be done and now in a second Person Give us this day Which is not so to be understood as if we were not at all concern'd in the former part of the Lord's Prayer In those Petitions the Benefit is not God's but ours When his Name is sanctified his Kingdom cometh and his Will is done these Things do not only concern the Glory of God but also our Benefit It is our Advantage when God is honoured by the Coming of Christ's Kingdom and the Subjection of our Hearts unto himself But these latter Petitions do more immediatly concern us Now among these in the first place we pray for the necessary Provisions of the present Life Some make a scruple why such a Prayer should be put in the first place Surely not to shew the Value of these Things above Pardon and Grace but this is the last of the Supplications The Lord's Prayer may be divided into Supplications and Deprecations Among the Supplications there we pray'd first for the Glory of God next for the Kingdom of God next for our Subjection to that Kingdom and in the last place we pray for daily Bread or Sustentation of the present Life But the other two are Deprecations and that either of Evil already committed and so we pray for Pardon of Sin Forgive us our Trespasses Or Deprecation of Evil that is likely to be admitted and so we pray against Temptation Lead us not into Temptation So that this Request is put into a fit Order First we seek God's Glory as the End his Kingdom as the primary Means our Subjection to that Kingdom as the next Means and last of all our comfortable Subsistence in the World as a remote subservient Help that we may be in a capacity to serve and glorify God In this Petition there is I. The Thing asked and that is Bread by which is meant all Things necessary for the maintenance of this Life Now this is set forth 1. By a Note of Propriety Our Bread 2. By an Adjunct of Time Daily Brea◠II. The Manner of asking Give we ask it as a Gift of God III. The Persons for whom we ask Give us as many as are supposed to be in a Family together Those that can call God Father by the Spirit they may come with most confidence to God about daily Supplies IV. The renewing of our Request 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This day There is very much in that we ask but from Morning till Night Give us this day our daily Bread Before I come to explain these Circumstances let me observe in general Doct. I. That it is the Lord which doth bestow upon us freely and graciously the good Things of this Life It is Bread we ask and we ask it of God and to God we say Give All which Circumstances do fully make out the Point This Point again must be made good by parts 1. That God giveth it 2. That he freely and graciously giveth it First I shall shew you how God is interested in the common Mercies we do enjoy and how every one high or low rich or poor full or in a mean Condition of what rank soever they be even those that have the greatest Store and Plenty of worldly Accommodations they must come from Morning to Morning and deal with God for daily Bread Those common Mercies which we do enjoy 1.
Thomas Manton DD. A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's-Prayer BY The late Reverend and Learned Divine THOMAS MANTON D.D. LONDON Printed by I. D. and are to be sold by Ionathan Robinson at the Golden-Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard 1684. The Preface SUch is the Divine Matter and admirable Order of the Lord's Prayer as became the Eternal Wisdom of God that composed and dictated it to his Disciples In it are opened the Fountains of all our regular Petitions and the Arguments contained to encourage our Hopes for obtaining them In our Addresses to Men our study is to conciliate their favourable Audience but God is most graciously inclin'd and ready to grant our Requests therefore we are directed to call upon him by the Title of Our Father in Heaven to assure us of his Love and Power and thereby to excite our reverent Attention to raise our Affections to confirm our Confidence in Prayer The supream end of our desires is the Glory of God in Conjunction with our own Happiness This is exprest in the two first Petitions That His Name may be Hallowed and His Kingdom come that we may partake of its Felicity In order to this our Desires are directed for the Means that are proper and effectual to accomplish it And those are of two kinds the good things that conduct us and the removal of those Evils that obstruct our Happiness The good things are either the Spiritual and Principal Means to prepare us for Glory an intire cordial and constant Obedience to the divine Commands exprest in the third Petition Thy Will be done on Earth as 't is in Heaven Or natural and subservient the Supports and Comforts of this Life which are contained in the fourth Petition Give us this Day our daily Bread The removal of Evils is disposed according to the order of the good Things we are to seek We pray that our Sins may be forgiven the guilt of which directly excludes from his glorious Kingdom that we may be preserved from Temptations that withdraw us from observing the Divine Commands and to be delivered from all afflicting Evils that hinder our arrival at our blessed End The Conclusion is to strengthen our Faith by ascribing to our Heavenly Father the Kingdom Power and Glory and to express our ardent desires of his Blessing by saying Amen This divine comprehensive Prayer is the Subject of the following Sermons wherein the Characters of Dr. Manton's Spirit are so conspicuous as sufficiently discover them to be his and the Reader is assured they have been diligently compared with his own Copy WILLIAM BATES ADVERTISEMENT DR Manton's second Volumn of Sermons in Folio on the 25th Chapter of St. Matthew the 17th of St. Iohn the sixth and eighth Chapters to the Romans and the fifth of the second Epistle to the Corinthians being perused by Dr. Bates Dr. Collins and Mr. How is now in the Press and will be finished with all Expedition there being three Presses already at work and two more will be shortly imployed for the dispatch thereof Therefore all Persons who expect the benefit of the Proposals are desired to send in their Money forthwith The Proposals are to be had at Ionathan Robinson's at the Golden Lion in St. Pauls Church-yard AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's-Prayer MATTH 6. 6 7 8. But thou when thou prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut the Door pray to thy Father c. I Intend to go over the Lord's Prayer and to make way for it I shall speak a little of these foregoing Verses wherein our Lord treats of the Duty of Prayer and the Necessity of being much therein In the beginning of this Chapter our Lord taxeth the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees which was plainly to be seen in all their Duties their Alms their Prayers and their Fasting I. For their Alms. Christ deals with that in the four first Verses It seems it was their Fashion when they gave Alms to sound a Trumpet and their Pretence was to call all the Poor within hearing Or to give notice that such a Rabby giveth Alms to Day Now our Lord sheweth that tho this were the fair pretence to call the Poor yet their Heart was meerly upon their own Glory their own Esteem with Men and therefore he perswades his Disciples to greater Secresy in this Work and to content themselves with God's Approbation which will be open and manifest and honourable enough in due time when the Arch-Angel shall blow the Trumpet to call all the World together 1 Thes. 4. 16. And Christ shall publish their good Works in the hearing of Men and Angels Matth. 25. 34 35 36. Thus he deals with them upon the point of Alms. II. For their Prayers Christ taxeth their Affectation of Applause because they sought out places of the greatest Resort the Synagogues and Corners of the Streets and there did put themselves into a praying Posture that they might be seen of Men and appear to be Persons of great Devotion and so might the better accomplish their own Ends their Publick Designs upon the Stage for the Pharisees were great Sticklers at that time and also their private Designs upon Widows Houses that they might be trusted with the management of Widows and Orphans Estates as being devout Men and of great Sanctity and Holiness In which Practice there was a double Failing 1. As to the Circumstance of Place performing a personal and solitary Prayer in a publick Place which was a great Indecorum and argued the Action to be Scenical or brought upon the Stage meerly for publick Applause And certainly that private Praying which is used by Men in Churches doth justly come under our Lord's Reproof 2. Their next Failing was as to their End Verily they do it to be seen of Men. Object But what Fault was there in this Doth not Christ himself direct us in his Sermon Mat. 5. 16. Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven And yet the Pharisees are here taxed for praying fasting and giving Alms that they might be seen of Men How can these Places stand together By way of Answer 1. We must distinguish of the different Scope and Intention of Christ in these two places There Christ's Scope is to commend and enjoin good Works to be seen of Men ad edificationem for their Edification Here his Scope is to forbid us to do good Works to be seen of Men ad ostentationem for our own Ostentation There Christian Charity to the Souls of Men is commended and here Vain-Glory is forbidden 2. Again Good Works are to be distinguished Some are so truly and indeed others only in outward shew and appearance Good Works that are truly so and indeed Christ enjoins there Hypocritical and feigned Acts that are only so in outward shew and semblance are forbidden here To pray is a good Work take inward and outward Acts of it together and so 't
us over-born with Sollicitude but look no further than this day 6. Christ would teach us that worldly things should be sought in a moderate Proportion if we have sufficient for a day for the present Want we should not grasp at too much Ships lightly loaden will pass through the Sea but when we take too great a burden the Ship will easily sink with every Storm We have sore Troubles to pass through in the World now when we are over-burdened with present things we have more Snares and Temptations 7. Christ would train us up with thoughts of our Lives Vncertainty Iames 4. 13. say not This and this I will do to day or to morrow What is your Life it is but a Vapor One being invited to Dinner the next day said for these many Years I have not had a to-morrow meaning he was providing every day for his last day We do not know whether we have another day but are apt to sing Lullabies to our Souls and say Soul take thine Ease thou hast Goods laid up for many Years Luke 12. 19. We are sottishly secure and dream of many Years whereas God tells us only of to day 8. To awaken us after heavenly things When we seek Bread for the present Life then give us this day but now come to me saith Christ and I will give you Bread that shall nourish you to eternal Life Bread that endureth for ever Iohn 6. 27. Labour not for the Meat which perisheth but for that Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life There is Meat that will endure for ever but for the present we beg only for this day 1 Pet. 1. 4. To an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you That 's an eternal State this is but of a short and of a small continuance You see what need you have to go to God that he will most plentifully provide for you And forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtoâ—s WE have now done with the Supplication of this Prayer and are come to the Deprecations The Supplications are those Petitions which we make to God for obtaining of that which is good The Deprecations are those Petitions we make to God for removing of that which is evil Now of this latter sort there are two 1. We pray for the Remission of Evil that is already committed 2. We pray for the prevention of the Evil which may be inflicted The first of these is the Petition we have now in hand Here 1. The Petition is proposed Forgive us our Debts 2. 'T is confirmed by an Argument As we forgive our Debtors In the first take notice 1. Of the Object or Matter of this Petition and that is Debts 2. The Subject or Persons praying Vs. 3. The Person to whom we pray our Heavenly Father who alone can forgive our Sins 4. The Act of God about this Object Forgive Then the Petition is confirmed by an Argument which is taken from our forgiving of others In which there 's an Argument 1. A Simili from a like Disposition in us Thus what is good in us was first in God for he is the Patern of all Perfection If we have such a Disposition planted in our Hearts and if it be a Vertue in us surely the same Disposition is in God for the first being wanteth no Perfection 2. The Argument may be taken à dispari or à minori ad majus from the less to the greater If we that have but a drop of Mercy can forgive the Offences done to us surely the infinite God that is Mercy it self he hath more Bowels and more Pity For his ways are above our ways as high as the Heaven is above the Earth Isa. 55. 9. So it seems the Argument is propounded Luke 11. 4. Forgive us our Sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us 3. The Argument may be taken from the Condition or the Qualification of those that are to expect Pardon They are such that out of a sense of God's Mercy to them and the Love of God shed abroad in their Hearts are inclined and disposed to shew Mercy to others So Christ explains it vers 14. making it a Condition or Qualification on our part If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you But this will be more abundantly clear when I come to examine that Clause Before we come to the Petition it self the Connection is to be considered for the Particle And links it to the former Petition After Hallowed be thy Name he doth not say And thy Kingdom come they are propounded as distinct Sentences but Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our Debts for three Reasons 1. Without Pardon all the good Things of this Life will do us no good They are but as a full Diet or as a rich Suit to a condemned Person they will not comfort him and allay his present Fears Until we are pardoned we are under a Sentence ready for Execution and therefore we cannot have that Comfort in outward Things until we have some Interest in God's fatherly Mercy A Man that is condemned hath the King's Allowance until Execution So it is the Indulgence of God to a wicked Man to give him many outward Things tho he is condemned already We should not satisfy our selves with daily Bread without a sense of some Interest in pardoning Mercy 2. To shew us our Unworthiness Our Sins are so many and grievous that we are not worthy of one Morsel of Bread to put in our Mouths When we say Give us this day c. we need presently to say Forgive us our Sins There is a Forfeiture even of these common Blessings Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies and of all the Truth which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant All that we have we have from Mercy and it is Mercy undeserved As we are Creatures there can be no common Right between God and us to engage him to give temporal Blessings for we owe our selves wholly to him as being created out of nothing Children cannot oblige their Parents But much more as we are guilty Creatures it is meerly of the Mercy of the Lord. 3. These are join'd together because Sin is the great Obstacle and Hindrance of all the Blessings which we expect from God Ier. 5. 25. Your Sins have with-held good Things from you When Mercy comes to us Sin stands in the way and turns it back again so that it cannot have so clear a Passage to us Therefore God must forgive before he can give that is bestow these outward Things as a Blessing on us Having spoken of this Connexion let me observe something from the Petition it self The first Thing I shall observe is the Notion by which Sin is set out Forgive us our Debts The Point is Doct. I. That Sins come under the Notion of Debts In Luke 11. 4. it is Forgive us our