things reuealed done by all that loue and conscionably serue him 11 His goodnesse in himselfe and toward all things that haue being of him 12 His grace by which he declareth himselfe in Iesus Christ the father of vs all 13 His mercy in which he couereth our sinnes and pardoneth all our iniquities 14 His righteousnesse by which hee iustifieth his elect and condemneth the vngodly In all these God is glorious in his Church and his Church confesseth it 2 He is glorious in his workes It is a worke for the Sabbath to thinke of them Dauid makes two good vses of them 1 To debase himselfe 2 To exalt God O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy name in all the earth 3 He is glorious in his word 1 In veritate it is called verbum veritatis 2 In aeternitate durat in saeculum Truth maketh vs free and eternity crowneth vs with indesinent perpetuity Our faith is hereby supported that seeing our God is the King of glory and all our prayers are directed to his glory that he will therefore heare vs from heauen and when he heareth he will haue mercy And in that faith we all say Amen to these our holy deuotions MATH 6.13 Amen THis is the last gaspe of this heauenly prayer 1 Consider we what Amen is 2 To what it is said 3 By whom it must be said 4 How we must say it 1 What Amen is It is one of those Hebrew words which is retained in the vse of the Church in all languages and Gabriel Gerson saith it is vsed in Scripture three wayes 1 Nominaliter 2 Aduerbialiter 3 Verbaliter 1 Nominaliter and that 1 Personaliter 2 Realiter Thus it signifieth the truth of the person and so it is the appellation of Christ These things saith Amen the faithfull and true witnesse onely proper to Christ Ego veritas omnis homo mendax Thus it signifieth the truth of things so called all the promises of God in him are yea and Amen that is perfect truth 2 Aduerbialiter So it signifieth verily a word of earnest asseueration sometimes vsed single sometimes double Amen Amen Our Sauiour vseth it much in the Gospell alwaies in serious matters 1 In doctrina Baptism Verily I say vnto you nisi quis renatus fuerit c. 2 In doctrina Euchar. Amen Amen dico vobis Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud you haue no life in you 3 In doctrina orationis Amen Amen dico vobis quaecunque petieritis patrem in nominâ— meo dabit vobis 4 In the doctrine of comfort in afflictions Verily verily I say vnto you ye shall weepe and lament and the world shall reioyce but your sorrow shall bee turned into ioy So it is vsed in many other important passages in holy Scripture Origen per quod verbum vernaculo Hebraeorum sermone vera fidelia esse quae scripta sunt dicta consignatur Therefore where you finde that word beginne the sentence expect some thing of great moment to follow Attendite credite 3 Verbaliter And thus it is equiualent to So be it and is vsed in the close of 1 Thankesgiuing 2 Praise 3 And prayer 1 Of thankesgiuing The Apostle taketh care that this seruice bee performed lingua familiari Idiomate noto that Amen may be said to it 2 Of praise or blessing of God Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from euerlasting and to euerlasting Amen and Amen Blessed be the Lord for euermore Amen and Amen God teacheth his Leuites to blesse his people when they dismisse the congregation He addeth They shall put my name vpon the children of Israel Amen is his name and the seale of that blessing 3 Of prayer So our prayers end generally and it hath a double vse which I learne of two Fathers 1 Signaculum consensus nostri 2 Votum desiderij nostri 1 It sheweth our vnderstanding well informed 2 Our affections feruently inflamed 2 To what it is said 1 To the Preface 2 To the seuen petitions 3 To the Conclusion 1 To the Preface Here are three things of import 1 That wee chalenge interest in God and call him ours 2 That wee seeke his face as his children and call him Father 3 That we lift vp our hearts to him as being in heauen In all these we vse Amen both aduerbialiter and verbaliter 1 Amen verily he is ours it is vox fidei wee beleeue him so to be 1 We beleeue our right in him noster 2 His loue to vs in Pater 3 His prouident power ouer vs by reason his dwelling is in heauen from whom euery good and perfect gift commeth Amen verily as Aquila fideliter as Origene ad confirmationem omnium quae dicta suut all this is true This is signaculum fidei He that sealeth to his conscience a full perswasion that God dwelling in heauen is his father may be bold to goe on with all the seuen petitions He that will pray let him aske in faith and wauer not Heare the Church prayer Looke downe from heauen and behold from the habitation of thy holinesse and glory where is thy zeale and strength and the multitude of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards me are they restrained Doubtlesse thou art our Father though Abraham bee ignorant of vs though Israel acknowledge vs not thou O Lord art our Father our redeemer c. Say Amen to this and pray on There is also another vse of Amen by way of blessing our selues in the name of the Lord. Amen So be it for this is votum desiderij nostri 1 That he may owne vs and call vs his 2 That he may loue vs and call vs children 3 That he may possesse the place From whence euery good gift commeth That his prouidence may be our storehouse to supply all our wants That his loue may be our banner That his power may be our fenced citie So be it 2 Amen to the petitions Amen to the whole body of the prayer Amen to euery part of it not onely to euery petition but to euery member thereof 2 Aduerbiabiter 1 For our hearts must be established with a full perswasion that it cannot goe well with vs by any meanes except all this be done that we pray for 1 The name of God which is our tower and refuge must be hallowed else quo fugiemus 2 The kingdome of God must come else who shall raigne ouer vs 3 The will of God must be obeied by vs and fulfilled vpon vs for it is his will to saue vs. 4 And if this will of God be not obeyed on earth according to the patterne of heauenly obedience performed by the Angels and Saints of God it will not be accepted in his sight 5 If he giue vs not bread and his blessing with it we shall not liue in his sight 6 If he forgiue vs not wee
bowels and therefore he prayeth Cast me not off in the time of old age O forsake me not when my strength faileth To establish this faith and to make it fruitfull of obedience God himselfe giuing his law to his people saith I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt out of the house of bondage And we may say God hath sed and clothed me and preserued me hitherto therefore my trust is in him for he neuer forsaketh those that trust in his mercy This made Dauid confident against Goliah when Saul the king discouraged him saying Thou art not able to goe against this Philistin to fight with him for thou art but a youth and he a man of warre from his youth But Dauid called to minde how God had enabled him against a Boare and a Lion that attempted one of his Lambes which hee kept and hee slew them and he resolued This vncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them Faith buildeth vpon this rock and trusteth not to any selfe abilility And is strong only in the strength of Gods might keepe faith then and keepe thy selfe This is the mercy of the Church Gods gratious protection Ionah calleth it so They that obserue lying vanities forsake their owne mercy God is euer prior in amore he reserueth mercy for thousands of them that feare him So that the mercy of protection from euills is our owne if wee forsake it not this is the patrimony and birth-right of the Church for mercy imbraceth them on euery side for if God be ours as we call him here our Father His mercy is to them that feare him throughout all generations Dauid describing his safety vnder this protecting and supporting mercy of God The Lord is my shepheard c. concludeth from this proofe and experience of Gods good fauour Surely goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the daies of my life They haue not this faith and so forfeit their interest in this mercy who hauing growne vp like yong Plants watered with Gods early and later raine to whom God hath beene a sunne to enlighten and warme them a shield to defend them the more they receiue from God the more they feare and cruciate themselues with the sollicitous and anxious iealousie of losse and want The faith here meant to be holden in the whole course of life is a constant and equall dependance vpon God casting all our care vpon him because he hath declared that he careth for vs. 2 Another thing to ensure Gods protection from euils is the holding fast of a good conscience this makes our life a continuall feast that is when we haue the secret testimonie of our heart that In simplicitie and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisedome but by the grace of God we haue had our conuersation in the world This godly sincerity I conceiue to be best exprest 1 In our generall vocation to the Church of God for therein wee must labour to be sound in our knowledge of the truth and will of God without those crotchets fancies which commonly possesse the phanaticall brains of such as study new wayes as heretiques and schismatiques doe Without that dead and dull ignorance which implicite faith-founders doe cast and mould into deuotion And without hypocrisie the leauen of Scribes and Pharisees which turnes all religion into a formall outside of pretence and hath no heart this is rottennesse at the core 2 Sincerity in our priuate callings which keepes from idlenesse the moath and rust that corrupteth the whole conuersation and exposeth vs to Sathans temptations Herein we must walke as in our wayes and we may promise our selues a guard of Angels to protect vs and we need not to waste and consume our selues with cares of the world but cast the successe of all vpon God 3 In sincerity of godly conuersation not giuing not taking euill counsaile not defiling not defiled with euill example eschuing ill words and corrupt communications vaine delights and wicked and vngodly company hauing no fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse but rather reprouing them They that goe in this way may not promise themselues any priuiledge from the calamities of life for if the deuill or the Pope can doe such a shrewd turne he will but they may boldly and faithfully put themselues vnder the wings of Gods sauing protection and pray to him Libera nos a malo 3 This as the rest imposeth on vs all the dutie of charity for we pray not euery one for himselfe but each for all libera nos that law proximum vt teipsum doth make vs as much obliged to procure the good of our neigbbour as our owne good which reproueth 1 Those whose care begins and ends with themselues the lash of calamity doth not smart vpon them if it fall not vpon their own particular these make themselues entire bodies they are not members of the whole body of Christ the Church and they had need of a particular Mediatour for cutting themselues from the body they are no members of Christ neither can they haue any interest in the common saluation 2 These are much more to be reproued who worke their owne good out of the common euill and heale themselues with the wounds and soares of the Common-wealth for if the procuration of common good be an incumbent care on euery member both of Church and Common-wealth when we pray libera nos a malo we pray to be deliuered from all those proiectours and deuisers of new rods to scourge their brethren 3 This reproueth them that curse and banne their brethren with all bitternesse of imprecation that by secret or open meanes doe practise the vexation and molestation the impouerishing or defamation of their brethren Christ teacheth vs to pray one for another that we may be all deliuered from ill Dauid biddeth Pray for the peace of Ierusalem he promiseth They shall prosper that loue thee he directeth them in a forme of blessing Peace be within thy wals He putteth them on by his owne example For my brethren and companions sake I will wish thee now prosperity For the house of Gods sake I will seeke to doe thee good It was Cains voyce Am I my brothers keeper we may answere thou art to the vtmost of thy power To thee belongeth the care and custody of thy brother to saue and keepe him from hurt if thou maiest if any euill come to him which thou mightest haue diuerted thou art answerable to him before God for it but if thou procure his hurt or but wish it in thy heart or if thou ioy in his griefe this petition is thy accusation 4 This last petition doth teach vs the Apostles doctrine pray continually in all things giue thankes For there be so many euils towards vs by reason of our continuall trespasses that we are euer in danger Iuge peccatum Iuge periculum so that there is not a moment of our life but it had neede be
Arias Montanus giues this note vpon these words in Saint Matthew Animaduerte lector hanc clausulam non esse de textu he addeth also that in the Greeke Church the congregation doth neuer repeate this clause but when they haue with the Minister said libera nos a malo The Priest onely pronounceth these words quia tuum est regnum c. And learned Erasmus thinkes that these words might be added to the Lords prayer by the vse of the Church as at the end of the Psalmes we added that holy acclamation of Gloria patri filio spiritui sancto yet neither of these Apocryphicall or without diuine authority for Dauid is said to blesse the Lord before all the congregation saying Thine O Lord is the greatnesse power and glory and the maiesty and the victory for all that is in the heauen and earth is thine Thine is the kingdome O Lord and thou art exalted as head aboue all Therefore approuing the vse of this conclusion of the Lords prayer we proceed in it 1 And call it by the name which is giuen to it by the holy Ghost our Blessing of God after prayer this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 We will consider it as a motiue to God to grant vs the requests made in the seuen petitions 3 As it is a strengthening of our faith to aske all these things at the hands of God 1 This is a blessing of God We are said to blesse God when we doe praise him and giue him the honour due to his name So Saint Paul meant it Blessed be God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort And it agreeth well with our duty that we petitioning this father in this prayer for all mercies and all comfort and wrastling with him in our prayer as Iacob did for his blessing vpon vs should also blesse him and praise his name Rea. 1 And for our direction herein we haue our Sicut in coelo in terra for Iohn heard euery creature which is in heauen and in earth and vnder the earth and such as are in the sea saying Blessing honour glory and power bee vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and vnto the lambe for euer and euer Rea. 2 Let vs consider what Dauid saith Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised We pray in our first petition Hallowed be thy name for the name of God is great and Dauid saith According to thy name O God so is thy praise vnto the ends of the earth thy hand is full of righteousnesse We labour to open that hand by our prayers that we may partake of his righteousnesse therefore to him belongeth praise for his names sake We are created to this end to glorifie God in our bodies Rea. 3 and in our soules and this is the way to honour him ipse dixit Who so offereth praise glorifieth me Dauid often calleth it Sacrificium laudis And he calleth these kinde of sacrifices the sacrifices of righteousnesse These be called vituli labiorum in Hose they are called fructus labiorum confitentium nomini eius by the author to the Hebrewes The Saints of God haue vsed to cast themselues downe at his feete that in their humiliation he may bee exalted when we kneele or prostrate our selues to one that standeth by vs we make him shew high ouer vs therefore when the Lords faithfull seruants come to him to worship they fall low on their knees before him They euacuate themselues and put off all honour and estimation from themselues to giue it all to him this is blessing of God So doe we in this prayer all petition then confession 2 Consider this as a motiue to God to grant the petitions herein contained 1 Wherein obserue that we haue no arguments to induce God to goodnesse towards vs but such onely as are drawne from himselfe and his owne holy and great attributes Therefore Daniel renounceth all respects drawne from himselfe as vnpleadable Wee doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne righteousnesse but for thy great mercies therefore he prayeth O Lord heare O Lord forgiue O Lord hearken and doe deferre not for thine owne sake O my God So Nehemiah in his prayer doth make a contrite confession of his sinnes to God and the sinnes of all the people and his plea for mercy and forgiuenesse and for further grace and fauour of God is the promise of God Remember the word that thou commandedst by thy seruant Moses So we pray remember thine owne kingdome thy power and thy glory when we aske of thee these petitions for we haue nothing of our own worth the remembring for whose sake thou shouldest grant our requests 2 Let vs consider how these may be motiues to perswade our God to heare our prayers we doe herein acknowledge and ascribe to God 1 Kingdome as Dauid saith The Lord is King the earth may be glad thereof he is no tyrant but a King to whom belongeth the procuration of the good of his Subiects Hee is our King of old saith Dauid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is therefore the breath of our nostrils he is the common father of vs all ruling vs with authority and loue And because thou art our King we pray thee to glorifie thine owne name in thy Church to let thy kingdome come to it To aduance thy will in it To sustaine vs thy subiects with all the necessaries and conueniences of life To seale thy pardon of all our sinnes To keepe vs from the infection of new sinnes from relapses into our old ones To defend vs from the power of the deuill and to saue vs from any thing that may offend and hurt vs. 2 Power is ascribed to God Wherein we appeale to the omnipotency of our Father we acknowledge him able to doe whatsoeuer hee will in heauen and earth So Nehemiah beginneth his prayer O Lord God of heauen the great and terrible God So began Daniel O Lord the great and dreadfull God This confession of Gods power doth incline the greatnesse and might of God to stoope it selfe to vs for power takes no ioy in aduancing it self against weaknes Amongst men there be of those barbarous and inhumane natures which abuse power to vnmercifull tyranny and oppression but when we confesse the power of God we submit to it and thereby moue the God of power to declare the same to our good He hath power in spirituall graces to bestow them on vs that we may serue him in the hallowing of his name his power can extend his kingdome ouer all his power onely can make vs able to doe his will this power commandeth heauen and earth to minister to our necessities He hath power to pardon all sinnes and to preserue vs from temptation and euill Therefore the consideration of our confession of his power moueth him to grant our requests in all
sensible of our wants and that we may thereby make profession of our dependance vpon him and confesse all the good that we haue as from the opening of his hand Therefore whereas some haue argued to what purpose should I pray to present my wants necessities to God who knoweth them well enough and better then we already Our answere is that our Sauiour hath made that a reason why we should pray for your father knoweth what things you haue need of before you aske him Euery beggars plea is if you knew my miserie and necessity you would relieue me and shew me mercy For many complaine without cause and pretend more want then they feele but we goe to God as to one that knoweth what we want who hauing commanded vs to seeke and aske and knocke wee cannot hope to haue our wants supplied by any other way then by his reliefe of vs. Therefore Salomon in the dedication of his house of praier to God doth not begge that God would giue vs what we want but by the way of petition and so his praier runneth for though he charge God with a promise made to Dauid his father concerning the establishing of his throne yet he asketh it of God by supplication and desireth that promise to bee giuen to his praiers Yet haue thou respect vnto the prayer of thy seruant and to his supplication O Lord my God to hearken vnto the cry and to the praier which thy seruant prayeth before thee And when hee praieth for such as haue trespassed against God he desireth not their pardon but vpon their praier for it When they pray and thou hearest forgiue Whereas God hath determined what he will doe before all beginnings of time not onely in the generall administration of the whole but in the particular and indiuiduall manage of all things in seuerall it may seeme that whatsoeuer our necessities are the decree of God hath fixed a resolution how all things shall be against which there is no speeding in our praiers and which will be by vertue of his decree whether we pray or no which seemeth to make prayer altogether vselesse Our answer is that the example of Christ is cleere both 1 For praying for those things which he knew determined by God to be done 2 For praying against those things which hee also knew appointed by God to be done And if Christ should not haue praied in these cases hee should neuer haue praied 1 He knew that God had giuen him a light for the Gentiles and yet God the Father biddeth him to aske this of him by prayer And though Christ knew that he came into the world to suffer and lay downe his life for his Church and he told his Disciples in the way to Ierusalem Behold wee goe vp to Ierusalem and the sonne of man shall be deliuered c. Yet hee praied three times in the Garden that if it were possible that cup might passe from him that hee might not drinke of it the reason whereof is this For the punishment which hee did willingly suffer as our mediatour he did wisely decline as man who may lawfully pray Libera nos a malo Therefore Christs prayer is exemplarie to vs and tels vs that for all good things supplication against all euill deprecation is so necessary that in both we must resort to God Let no man alledge the constant will of God by no meanes to be swerued as an euasion from praier for the will of God is reuealed that he will be sought by prayer 2 A further vse of praier for maintenance of our familiar acquaintance with God nothing draweth vs neerer to him that putteth vs in his sight in his eare and abstracteth vs from the world euen from our selues in an holy rapture Come saith the Lord let vs reason together then God and wee reason together when hee speaketh to vs in his word wee to him in our prayer and that was another reason why our Sauiour did pray often and all the Saints of God delight in praier aboue all other exercises of religion for the conuersation with God The way of religion and holy obedience is called walking with God and as they that walke together doe commonly comfort the way and passe the time of their iourney in conference so doe the faithfull conferre and talke with God It is a great ease of the heart to open our griefes to one that can and will comfort to reueale our ignorance to one that can informe vs aright our wants to one that can supply vs. The interest that we haue in the loue of ou◠familiar friend doth extend to a communication of good things and good offices to one another This accesse to God in all our occasions by our humble praier keepes vs in his eye and eare and confirmeth vs in his present protection and supply of all wants Daniel will not neglect the times by him appointed to giue God meeting by his praiers though the Kings contrary decree make it death to pray to any God but him 3 Another reason of the vse of praier is the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worship that is done and giuen to God in it for it is our reasonable seruing of God the lifting vp of our hands that is praier is our sacrifice in incense these be the odours the sweet odours of the Saints And we are an holy Priesthood to offer vp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ these be thanksgiuing praier these Christ offered to his Father both for vs 1 ad beneficium 2 ad exemplum It is not here recorded what praier Christ vsed to his Father or what hee praied for but no question his praier was for his Church for so he saith I pray for these I pray not for the world He praied for vs that our faith might not fall hee praied that God would keepe all those that he had giuen him in his name that he would saue vs from euill And being now at the right hand of God he maketh intercession for vs for wee are his care and hee careth for vs. Concerning the place where he praied it is not here named neither needed it for all places are oratories for priuate praier the Lyons denne is Daniels Chappell the belly of the Whale Ionahs Isaac praieth in the field Daniel in his chamber Ezechiah vpon his bed And as all places are alike so are all times at morning at noone at night in the middest of the night all the night as occasion may sort so that we auoid the vanity of ostentation by Christ forbidden Publike praier with the congregation is a common worship of the Church wherein the Minister and the people meete in a fit place and in a solemne and reuerent manner to seeke the face of God Here to auoyd confusion the Minister is the voyce of the congregation to God so saith Ioel. Let the Priests the Ministers of
these sinne God correcteth them like a Father pro peccato magno paululum supplicijs satis a patre saith one For he that is called our Father is called pater misericordiarum and Deus omnis consolationis If these begge a suit manum suam implet saturat dat cito dat abunde dat quod est vtilius therefore Dauid O Ye sonnes of men how long will ye looke after vanity and seeke after leasing But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himselfe And as a father hath compassion of his children so hath the Lord compassion of all them that feare him Princes and great persons are called filij excelsi in respect of the eminence of their places and the trust of authority and power committed to them these are filij celsitudinis Dei but that honoureth them onely amongst men because they represent the authority and dominion of God here on earth filij quos honorat But there is another sort of Sonnes who be filij amoris and these doe represent their father in his holinesse and goodnesse and these are the Lords delight S. Iohn calleth this a prerogatiue so many as receiued him he gaue them a prerogatiue so be the sonnes of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Either dedit eis licentiam 2 Or dedit eis Ius 3 Dedit eis honorem dignitatem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sheweth that there is a new making required to this filiation for we are fallen from our first creation so farre as from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The honour therefore is great to vs in that wee are the sonnes of God 1 Because God who had an onely begotten Sonne the expresse forme of his substance equall to himselfe whom hee made heire of all things needed not to adopt any other sonnes or to cast the inheritance as Abraham once thought to doe vpon a seruant yet euen so O Father thy good pleasure was such 2 Because by this adoption he hath brought vs into the society of inheritance with that sonne and hath made vs coheires with Christ without derogation to the heire without diminution to the inheritance for we are the sonnes of God here it appeareth not yet what we shall be but this we know that when we shall see him we shall be like him so vnited to him as that his interest in the Father shall be ours I may adde one reason more that there is no name Rea. 7 wherein God doth more delight or in which God is more honoured then the name of a Father S. Cyprian obserueth that God hath no title that giues him so much honour in his Church as this of Father For as God is called Iehouah which is the name of his being so he either enioyeth himselfe eternally or he communicateth himselfe at large to all things that are But in his title of Father hee is impropriate to his Church and hereby he magnifieth himselfe in that diuine attribute which excelleth all his workes for his mercy is aboue all his workes And it is confest of all hands that the worke of Redemption was a greater and more honourable worke then the Creation You heare of no ioy of Angels at the Creation at the natiuity of the sacred Heire ye know what Iubilation there was ioy to all the earth The Angels doe search into this mystery and stoope themselues to the inquisition And the manifold wisedome of God in this worke of our redemption is by the Church reuealed and made knowne to the principalities and powers in heauenly places I conclude this point with the holy exhortation of S. Peter If ye call on the Father who without respect iudgeth according to euery mans worke passe the time of your soiourning here in feare and as before as obedient children not fashioning your selues according to your former lusts in your ignorance c. Let vs make conscience of doing the duty belonging to that gratious name in imitation of our elder brother who saith I come to doe thy will O my God yea thy law is written in my heart For him God testified This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased If we will ambulare sicut ille as S. Peter biddeth vs we must beginne where he began at lex eius scripta est in corde meo And then we shall not sinne against him then shall the power of this Father protect vs from all euill the prouidence of this Father shall supply all our wants the loue of this Father shall be a banner to vs the wisedome of this Father shall be a guide to vs to gouerne all our waies and the eldest sonne of this Father shall speake a good word for vs that we may haue an inheritance amongst those that be sanctified So long as by our faith and obedience we can continue this God our Father we are in good case we shall want nothing he will bring vs by riuers of waters and feede vs in greene pastures Doubtlesse mercy and louing kindnesse shall follow vs all the daies of our life and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for euer 2 Our this word expresseth the interest that we haue in him to whom we pray From whence we are taught 1 To whom our prayer is addressed not to the first person of the holy Trinity God the Father but to the whole Trinity the Father Sonne and holy Ghost For the first person hath but one Sonne to call him Father and he is called Primogenitus and vnigenitus but God that is the holy Trinity is our Father hee is the common father of all the elect Yet if you demand whether it may be lawfull to direct our prayers to each of the persons seuerally My answer is that I finde inuocations of each in Scriptures and holy stories but so as the whole Trinity is euer sought because the prayers of the Church doe alwaies respect the whole godhead so that hee which calleth vpon God the Father doth vse the mediation of God the Sonne and is assisted therein by God the holy Ghost The Father is principally respected in the worke of Creation the Sonne in the worke of Redemption the holy Ghost in the worke of Sanctification yet neither of these persons is alone in any of these but one God in three persons doth worke all our good in vs. And the Apostle blesseth in that holy name The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the loue of God and the communion of the holy Ghost be with you and wee baptize ye in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost for the three distinct persons doe subsist in one godhead 2 We say Our to expresse our faith for whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne and our prayers are turned into sinne if we wauer and doubt in them but our faith doth apprehend an interest in the loue of our God to vs if we pray
did first by his apostolique authority bring the Gospell into this kingdome And inferreth that he being his successor and equall in name and dignity though inferiour to him in sanctity and vertue should follow his footsteps in restoring the gospell to this land againe But the assertion of Gregories first plantation of the Gospell in England is most false for Parsons in his Booke of the three conuersions of England to the Gospell doth make that of Gregory the third and not the first conuersion But were it true the argument followeth not that hee who now carrieth his name but is inferiour to him in holinesse and vertue should haue the same power or hope to worke the same effect that hee did for the instruments of God in the conuersion of soules doe not worke by name and dignity but by sanctitie and vertue And euen herein this Gregory that then vsurped the Church Monarchie is inferiour to Gregory the great in holinesse and vertue because Gregory the great did not onely abstaine from the name of vniuersall Bishop and the common Father of the Church but he wrote most inuectiuely against it For he wrote an angry reprehension to Eulogius Patriarch of Alexandria for stiling himselfe vniuersall Biship And when Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople vsurped that vndue title he wrote to him to rebuke it hee called it nefandum stultum superbum vocabulum he saith that the Councell of Chalcedon offered his predecessours at Rome that title sed tameÌ„ nullus sibi hoc temerariuÌ„ nomen arripuit But now Bellarmine hath charged the late Kings Maiestie with denyall of the faith because he supposeth that in the oath of alleageance he denyeth the Pope the title of supreame Father of the Church I had not diuerted thus farre to the Popes vsurpation of this honour of Our Father but that the times grow sicke of a surfer of light and truth and beginne to incline and propend to apostacie that the God of mercies grows impatient thereof and by admirable iudgeiudgement declareth his indignation against it Therefore restoring this title of Our Father to God to whom onely it belongs and taking it away from the Pope who blasphemously vsurpeth it we say Our is vox charitatis and calleth all the faithfull sonnes of God brethren all the world ouer Christ Iesus our elder brother being the author maintainer of this brotherhood It is the said Kings Maiesties learned obseruation vpon this word that it sheweth the communion which is among the Saints and that euery one is a member of a body of a Church that is compacted of many members contrary to those vpstart Amsterdam sects where two or three make a Church Who as S. Cyprian saith doe sibi extra Ecclesiam contra Ecclesiam constituere sibi conuenticula perditae factionis And yet nothing is more vsuall with them then to giue the name of the Brethren to their irregular societies and schismaticall complices But this common interest of the faithfull in God vniteth them in one holy society and they that diuide this into factions are schismatiques they that breake forth into new opinions against the truth of God are heretiques onely they are brethren truely who encrease the truth of God in vnity and these doe pray to God omnes pro omnibus singulis singuli pro omnibus singulis 4 There is no pride in them they are not ashamed to call one another brethren King Dauid cals his subiects Brethren and Companions for my Brethren and Companions sake c. One is your Master euen Christ and all ye are Brethren one is your Father which is in heauen This Father is no accepter of persons he is as much father to the poore as to the rich and though here on earth the difference of ranke and degree doth much aduance some and deiect others in this court of supreme audience Princes haue no more right to the fatherhood of God then their meanest vassals their wants are no sooner seene their miseries no sooner pitied and releiued their petitions no sooner receiued and answered then of those that lye in the dust and they that wander vp and downe in Sheepe skins and Goat skins derided despised persecuted are as gratiously inuited and with as much welcome receiued with our Father as those that haue their pathes annointed with butter and whose portion is the fattest It is a certaine rule that the proud man who despiseth his brethren cannot pray hee that will not owne his brethren our Father will not owne him The common duty of Christians is as the Apostle admonisheth in giuing honours goe one before another This very compellation calling God Our Father doth honour all the faithfull seruants of God with the honour that is due to them according to the precept of the Apostle Honour all men And we not knowing who belong to the kingdome of God and not daring to iudge are therefore to esteeme all men our brethren and to honour them with the name of brethren I beseech you let prayers and supplications be made for all men for seeing Christ hath prayed not onely for his twelue but for all those that shall beleeue through their word we doe charitably conceiue that all men are either in present profession or in Gods gratious expectation our brethren Let vs not boast our selues either against them who are not yet come into the Church or against them that are gone out for such pride God resisteth and let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall Let nothing be done in strife vain glory but in lowlinesse of minde let each esteeme others better then himself Looke not euery man on his owne things but euery man also on the things of others This is called the same mind that was in Iesus Christ and they that pray to God in Christs words and not with his minde loose labour They be flatterers that ouerdoe in giuing honour belying men to their faces with false and vndue ascriptions They be slanderers that put vniust aspertions vpon their brethren they be proud or worse that ouerlooke them as vnworthy of their regard humility findeth an equality in the hoâ—shold of God and they say with the sonnes of Iacob we are brethren the sonnes of one God our Father which is in heauen we are all one mans sonnes in the land of Canaan There is no malice in them that say aright Our Father they pray one for another and wish the welfare of one another They remember that they were all at first in the loynes of the first Adam and that now they are in the loue and fauour of the second Adam and this reuiueth that principle of nature facâ—â—lijs fieri quod cupis ipse tibi It is not lawfull for vs to begge any thing of God for others that we would not wish to our selues Why should we striue saith Abraham to Lot seeing we are brethren and therefore he that biddeth vs to
complaine of the great want of this zeale euen in his Church amongst those that make confession of his name For the common swearing by the name of God and the ordinary idle naming that holy name vnholily with long custome of euill doing is growne to such an habite of sinne that few of vs doe lay it to heart as we ought We do neither refraine from this iniurie to the name of our God our selues nor seeke to reforme it in others But where the zeale of Gods glory is truly kindled it both consumeth all this euill in our selues and it flasheth out to the combustion of it in others For that wee pray in this petition that the name of God may be hallowed not onely by our owne sanctification of it but by the preparation of others for it the prouocation of others to it and the reformation of others as much as in vs lieth who offend against it This zeale then of the name of God doth require of vs both a conscionable care of the glorie of Gods name within our selues expressed in thought word and deed but with it a charitable care of our brethren that we admonish them and reproue them if you heare them at any time speake vnreuerently of the name of God Remember the word of Gods Commandement Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour that thou beare not sinne for him Obserue that place well and therein note 1. That if a brother that is any man or woman with whom we doe conuerse doth doe any thing to the dishonour of Gods name we must not presently hate him for it as Gods enemie Therefore he is called our brother to endeare him to vs. 2 That we must seuerely rebuke him which is exprest in the Hebrew phrase in rebuking thou shalt rebuke him 3 This must be done as to a brother in loue of thy neighbour shewing him the right and conuincing of euill 4 Note the danger least thou beare sinne for him that is least thou make his sinne thine by thy silence Reproofe is Oleum Sanctorum let the righteous smite me and reproue me saith the Psalmist it is balsamum amicitiae it sheweth true loue and therefore must be performed very discreetly the Hebrew Doctors say Leniter molli Lingua let vs take heed of putting our brother to shame till it come to Dic Ecclesiae and thou spare him not that he may be ashamed and repent him of his sinne 3 The next duty is to sanctifie God in thy life that is confesse him with thy mouth to be holy beleeue him to be so in thy heart teach others that he is so and let thy godly conuersation testifie of thee that thou seruest him so that the name of God be not euill spoken of for thy sake For they be Gods enemies that take his name in vaine the Psalmist saith It is to no purpose to pray daily that the name of God may be hallowed if our life and carriage our words and workes doe dishonour God Therefore let this petition of ours to God remember vs of Gods command to vs Sancti estote the very Idols of the Heathen had that honour done them that the Law went for them Deos caste adeunto And if seruants must Count their Masters worthy of all honour that the name of God be not euill spoken of much more must we esteeme our heauenly father worthy of honour least he be violated in his name This Sanctifying of God in our life extendeth to the vse of his good creatures our food and raiment our dwellings and such like riches of Gods mercy when we doe 1 Preserue them from abuse 2 Employ them to the end for which they are ordained of God and bestowed on vs. 3 When we receiue them with thankesgiuing praising the name of God for them 4 When we suffer the want of them with patience learning as wel how to want as to abound I conclude this point Consider how the name of God suffereth without the Church by Turkes and infidels that worship a God without a Trinitie by Iewes that deny Iesus Christ come in the flesh by all the barbarous nations of the world who haue their seuerall Gods by Papists who rob God of his glory giuing it to images By Anabaptists Schismatikes that serue God in separation by the prophane of the world There are but few left to hallow his name let them doe it well 2 Petition Thy Kingdome come When we haue prouided for the honour of the name of our heauenly father that that may be beleeued and confessed to be holy and that due reuerence may be giuen by vs to it our next request is for the aduancement of the kingdome of God vpon earth This is another addition to the glory of God our father when we desire that he may reigne sole Soueraigne Lord of heauen and earth and that none may rise vp against him For our better vnderstanding of this petition we must consider 1 What is meant by the kingdome of God 2 How we would haue this kingdome come 3 What duties we are taught here 1 What is meant by this kingdome The Kingdome of God is three fold 1 Regnum potentiae 2 Regnum gratiae 3 Regnum gloriae 1 Regnum potentiae In the first we consider God as the Almighty Creator maker of heauen and earth and the high possessor of all that is in them contained as the mighty gouernour and protector of his creatures applying them al to his seruice and to the good of each other So he is called King of kings and Lord of all Lords of this the Psal The Lord hath prepared his throne in heauen his kingdome ruleth ouer all A voyce from heauen told proud Nebuchadnezar that his kingdome was departed from him that he must be humbled with great iudgements Vntill thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdome of men and giueth it to whom soeuer he will This proues him a lyar who told Christ shewing him the kingdomes of the world All this power will I giue thee for it is deliuered vnto me and to whom soeuer I will I giue it For indeed the Lord is king and he doth whatsoeuer he will in heauen and in earth and in all deepe places Vnder this vniuersall dominion hee hath subiect to him all Creatures Angels and Men and Diuels heauen and earth and hell nothing is in being that is not in subiection to this vniuersall Monarchy 2 Regnum gratiae This is Gods speciall power and goodnesse in the gouernment of his elect people the throne of this kingdome is his Church Iudah is his Sanctuary and Israel his dominion The subiects of this kingdome are the faithfull people of God to whom he speaketh by his Prophet The meeke of the earth which haue wrought his iudgement who seeke righteousnesse and seeke meekenesse all those that feare the Lord and thinke vpon
it exceeding ioy when ye fall into diuers temptations this is probatio fidei Dauid beggeth this of God proue me O Lord and try me Saint Augustine Hic vre hic seca this is euer meant to Gods glory and for our good we deprecate it not wholly we pray against the first of these which is Gods leading vs into temptation ad poenam cùm delinquimus for this is Gods act for the punishment of some former to leaue vs to Sathans power for a time 3 Desertio in poena So Iob was by God led into temptation when God gaue Sathan leaue to vexe him with many afflictions wherein God did so hide and conceale his protection that the faith and patience of Iob were staggered and suffered a very hard assault And in like manner was Ieremiah led into temptation when his passion brake forth into some extremities And Saint Paul knew that it was God who led him into that great temptation when the Angell of Sathan buffeted him and hee therefore did thrice beseech the Lord that he might depart from him this was one of Gods desertions wherein hee left his faithfull seruants for a time of which himselfe speaketh by his holy Prophet For a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee for a little season During the fit the seruants of God wanting the light of this countenance of God discouer great weakenesse as you haue heard in the former examples and it will better appeare if you heare themselues vtter their own passions Dauid felt this desertion strongly when he complained Will the Lord cast off for euer and will he be fauourable no more Is his mercy cleane gone for euer doth his promise faile for euermore Hath God forgotten to be gratious hath he in anger shut vp his tender mercies Here Gods desertion led Dauid into temptation This kinde of desertion in punishment the Sonne of God himselfe felt on the Crosse which brake forth into that bitter complaint when he said My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Here was no doubt of the loue of God but here the plaintiue smarted and in the anguish of his paine complained of what he suffered being for the time engulfed in afflictions This was Gedeons case the Angell of the Lord said to him The Lord is with thee he replyed O my Lord if the Lord be with vs why then is all this befallen vs where be all his miracles which our Fathers told vs of saying Did not the Lord bring vs out of Egypt but now the Lord hath forsaken vs and deliuered vs into the hands of the Midianites Many of Gods faithfull seruants finde and feele in themselues a decay of faith an vnwillingnesse and vnablenesse to pray a feare and almost a despaire of the presence and fauour of God a quenching of the spirit in them Some are so farre gone in this desertion as to apprehend the disfauour of God so deepely as to see no way out of it for the time and therefore they iudge themselues vnworthy to liue any longer and are tempted by Sathan to destroy themselues Some are left in their sinnes as Dauid and Peter were and many of Gods Saints who doe many things amisse All these cases are full of danger and require of vs to be importunate suiters to our God for his fauour that hee would not leade vs into any of these temptations that he would not be a looker on or stand farre off when we are thus assaulted that he would not keepe in the influence of his grace from working effectually in vs first ne veniant secondly ne vincant And here for comfort of the faithfull in these kinde of temptations we are taught 1 That there is danger in these temptations but God hath in mercy directed vs where to seek helpe remedy euen from our father which is in heauen and hee that biddeth vs aske his helpe hath promised to giue to them that aske and to open to them that knocke at the gates of his mercy therefore Christ biddeth vs pray ne nos inducas 2 That it is God that leadeth his seruants into these temptations from whence we may comfortably conclude 1 That they shall not preuaile totally and finally against vs for God will suffer no man to be tempted beyond his strength but will giue issue to the temptation though they doe not sodainly finde the way out of them and though they presse and oppresse vs for the time with great violence for his compassions faile not 2 That he which taught vs this prayer the sonne of God was man and himselfe indured temptation and was in all things tempted like to vs and ouercame these temptations for vs. 3 That Christ our Sauiour doth assist vs in our temptations with his prayers to the Father as he said to Peter But I haue prayed for thee that thy faith may not faile 4 That God in these spirituall and temporall desertions doth giue vs grace for grace that if he hide himselfe from vs by with-holding one necessary grace the want whereof doth disquiet vs and put vs in feare yet he gratiously supplieth vs otherwise with some other fauour wherein he secretly signifieth to vs that he hath not quite forsaken vs. So when Dauid by the treasonable insurrection of his sonne saw a curtaine drawne betweene him and the face of his God yet God in fauour gaue him an humble and patient heart to cast himselfe at his foote and to tarry in expectation of his will If the Lord thus say I haue no delight in thee behold here I am let him doe to mee as seemeth good in his eyes Though he giue not the grace of taking away from vs the Angell of Sathan that buffereth vs as he did Paul he saith my grace is sufficient for thee he armeth vs with such fortification and munition as shall safeguard vs from Sathans victory Or if he giueth not the grace of remoue of our temptations from vs in stead thereof hee remoueth vs in grace and good fauour from them The righteous is taken away from the euill to come so to Iosiah Behold I will gather thee to thy fathers in peace and thine eyes shall not see the euill that I will bring vpon this place Or if he take away from vs the sense of his loue and feeling of the comforts of his spirit in stead thereof hee giueth vs an holy desire and longing after him which the Apostle calleth sighes and groanes which cannot bee exprest as in Dauid I cryed vnto God with my voyce euen vnto God with my voyce and hee gaue eare vnto me 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord my soare â—â—nne in the night and ceased not my soule refused to be comforted Reade on and you shall find that God did not leaue him comfortlesse but when hee could not feele the fauour of God he found the grace of prayer and perceiued that God heard him By this that
also telleth vs by his experience Man that is borne of woman is of few daies and full of trouble The best of Gods seruants commonly smart most in these daily grieuances for iudgement beginneth at Gods house Dauid makes great moane often in his Psalmes griefes in his body vnquietnesse in his soule persecutions from his enemies and innumerable vexations S. Paul complaineth of laboures stripes imprisonments shipwrack many perils by land and by sea wearinesse painfulnesse watching fasting hunger thirst cold nakednesse And who is he that walketh conscionably in the feare of God that hath not cause to complaine with Dauid Innumerable troubles haue compassed me about 2 The remedy of this Pater noster libera nos The deliuerance here desired of our father is that copiosa redemptio plentifull redemption which Dauid doth speake of which is By grace of preuention to keepe them off from vs ne ingruant 2 By grace of subuention to support vs in these euils ne opprimant 3 By grace of full deliuerance to remoue them vtterly from vs ne destruant 1 For the grace of preuention Dauid was very neare a shrewd turne when Saul the king threw his iauelin at him So was he when Michall conueied him away through a window that he might escape the messengers which Saul sent of purpose to kill him S. Paul had such a deliuerance In Damascus the Gouernor vnder Aretas the king kept the city with a garrison desirous to apprehend me And through the windowes in a basket I was let downe by the wall and escaped The Scripture is full of examples of this kind and he that obserueth well the course of his own life will find many of these gratious preuentions of euill wherewith the hand of our great deliuerer hath kept off many euils from him Destruction was come euen to the very gates of Niniueh and within forty daies all had perished had not mercy interposed In 88. when Spaine girded on her harnesse against this land and came hitherward with purpose to inuade with the Popes promise to conquer and possesse this kingdome here was the Deuill suggesting the Pope abetting and the Spaniard attempting and God preuenting In 1605 the machination of the powder treason by the sonnes of Belial men of blood the corroboration of the plot by the agents for the Pope the secret abetment of it from Spaine the prosecution of it to the day of destruction lost all their strength and spit their venome vpon themselues in the defeat of their treason the destruction of the traitours and in the perpetuall reproach of Popish religion to all the ends of the world and to the last period of time All this by this preuenting goodnesse of God who kept vs from the euill and would not suffer vs to fall into the pit that they had digged for our soules For this Christ prayed his father Pater si possibile est transeat hic calix And this is that which is promised to the faithfull There shall no euill befall thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling He shall giue his Angels charge ne offendas This is the chiefest of Gods deliuerances and the fullest of Gods temporall mercies this also is a common and usuall tendernesse of God to vs to preserue vs from danger but this is neither so sensibly perceiued nor receiued so thankfully as it deserues It may bee we may report our strange escapes with wonder and tell them for newes but we do not commonly giue God the honor due to his name for them by praysing him for them as we ought 2 The grace of subuention in euils This was the fauour that the father did to the sonne in the agony that he suffered in the garden for hee sent to him then And there appeared to him an Angell from heauen strengthening him Christ our louing Sauiour chose rather to be comforted in his sorrowes then to bee kept quite from them for he did vndergoe them for vs as S. Ambrose sweetly saith Suscepit tristitiam meam vt mihi largiretur laetitiam suam and againe Debuit dolorem suscipere vt vinceret And God sent to him his Angell to comfort him in this distresse as Beda saith Sicut propter nos tristis est propter nos confortatur that we might know that so many as are by faith vnited to Christ haue interest in Gods spirituall consolations in the middest of all troubles Thus Saint Paul was comforted aboord the ship in his dangerous voyage to Rome the Angell of the Lord appeared to him and promised him his owne life and all their liues that sailed with him Thus was Noah supported in the deluge of the whole world Lot in the conflagration of Sodome Daniel in the den of Lyons the three Children in the fierie furnace Ioseph in the prison Peter also being in ward Our Father to whom wee pray euen as Ionah from the belly of hell is called the father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforteth vs in all our tribulations that we may be able to comfort you which be in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selues are comforted of God So he himselfe is a comforter and he would haue vs comforters one to another and his Angels be comforters Yet for all this to make vp a full consolation Christ saith I will giue you another comforter and he promiseth his abode with vs for euer This grace of subuention though it doe not quit the afflictions yet it taketh away the euill of them so that the Saints of God are exprest reioycing in tribulations which they could not doe if the euill thereof were not remoued This mercy of subuention if neither charitie nor zeale desire it yet smart and paine will extort it from men for who suffers paine or griefe or losse or infamie but in the pang of the fit he cryeth God helpe me 3 The grace of full deliuerance Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of them all The snare is broken we are deliuered This fauour Noah and Lot had so had Daniel and the three Children first comforted in tribulations then deliuered from them and Ioseph of whom it is said that they put his feete in the stockes the iron entred into his soule He had the innocency of his cause to comfort him and though for a time he did suffer this affliction in the prison as a malefactor for so we must vnderstand the storie yet after some time of suffering God did giue him fauour in the sight of the Keeper and then he had comfort in his captiuity And as the Psalmist saith he abode there vntill the time that his word came the word of the Lord tryed him The King sent and loosed him the ruler of the people and let him goe free The time when his word came was the time when he interpreted to Pharaoh his double dreame then the word of