to God and they become his proper Name God is Holy Wise Powerful Just Merciful True c. and so are likewise some of his most excellent Creatures whom he hath made like unto himself but then the difference between God and them consists in this That his Wisdom and the rest of his Attributes are originally from him theirs derivatively from him his infinite and boundless theirs limited and stinted his invariable and unchangeable their 's subject to mutations and decays and total abolition So that in these Three respects even the communicable Attributes of God are themselves incommunicable and so they are his Name whereby he is known and differenced from all other Beings whatsoever But may it not be here said to me as it was to Manoah Judges 13.18 Why askest thou after my Name seeing it is secret and wonderful Indeed we can no more find out the Name of God to perfection than we can his Nature and Essence for both are infinite and unsearchable And there are Two expressions in Scripture that make this Knowledge impossible the one of them quite contrary to the other One is that God dwelleth in that light to which no Man can approach 1 Tim. 6.16 Scrutator Majestatis opprimetur à Gloriâ He that will too busily pry into Majesty shall be oppressed and dazled with Glory And the other is that he dwells in thick Darkness 2 Chron. 6.1 both implying the same impossibility of searching out the Almighty to perfection as Job speaks ch 11. 7. But though this comprehensive Knowledge be impossible yet God hath given us hints and traces of himself by which we may discover enough for our Adoration though not perhaps for our satisfaction And there are Two ways whereby God hath made known himself and his Name unto us and they are by his Works and by his Word First We may spell out God's Name by his Works and to this end serve those two great Capital Letters of Heaven and Earth the Air and Sea yea there is no one Creature how vile and contemptible soever it be but it reads us Lectures of the Power Wisdom and Goodness of the great Creator in which sence the Apostle tells us Rom. 1.20 The invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and God-head Secondly More expresly and distinctly by his Word for the Scriptures are Nomenclatura Dei By these we come to a more clear and evident Knowledge of these Attributes of God which the Works of Nature held forth to us in a more obscure and confused manner And by this likewise we attain to the Knowledge of those perfections of God which the Works of Creation and Providence could never have instructed us in as of a Trinity in Vnity of the Eternal Generation and Temporal Incarnation of the Son of God of the whole Mystery of Religion and the tenure of the Covenant of Grace which are things that could never have been known but by Divine Revelation Indeed we may from the Works of God alone gather Knowledge enough of him to make us inexcusable if we Worship him not as God for so did the Heathens as the Apostle speaks in the forecited place Rom. 1.20 but it is only from the Word that we know so much of God as to make us Eternally Blessed and Happy Here he hath displayed his Name the Lord God Gracious and Merciful pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin Here alone hath he made known himself to be our Father in Jesus Christ and appointed the Spiritual Worship of himself that might prepare us for the Eternal Enjoyment of him in Glory So that now we see what is meant by the Name of God his Titles as King Lord Creator Father Redeemer and the like And his Attributes both Communicable as Justice Holiness Wisdom Mercy and Truth c. and incommunicable as Infinite Eternal Vnchangeable Omnipotent Independent and such like and that both this Name both of Titles and Attributes are made known to us either by the Works of God or by his Word Let us in the next place enquire what it is to Hallow this Name of God To Hallow is nothing else but to Sanctifie or make Holy so that Hallowed be thy Name is no other than let thy Name be made Holy But here may be a Question How can Creatures be said to make God Holy whereas it is God that makes them Holy I answer There is a Three-fold way of Hallowing or Sanctifying a thing or person One by Dedication A Second by Infusion And a Third by Declaration First A thing may be Hallowed or made Holy by Dedication setting them a part for Holy Uses and Services so the First-born are said to be Sanctified to the Lord Exod. 13.2 And that because among Men the First-born were to be Priests unto the Lord and among Beasts they were to be Sacrificed And thus Aaron and his Sons and the whole Tribe of Levi whom God took in Exchange for the First-born are said to be Consecrated and Sanctified Exod. 28.41 and many more instances might be given to the same purpose were it needful And thus at least we are said to be Sanctified by Baptism Ephes 5.26 That is we are by that Holy Ordinance set apart and Consecrated to the Service of God Thus one Creature may Sanctifie and make another Holy namely by Dedication or Separatiom to some Sacred Use and Service And so the Ministers of Christ do Sanctifie and Hallow the Elements in the Holy Communion setting them apart from common and ordinary use to that Blessed Mystery Secondly There is a Sanctification or Hallowing by Infusion or Implanting the real Principles and Habits of Holiness into that which is Hallowed And thus God Sanctifies his Elect by Infusing of his Grace into them and making them Holy in some measure and similitude like himself So our Saviour Prays John 17.17 Sanctifie them through thy Truth thy Word is Truth And the Apostle 1 Thes 5.23 Prays The very God of Peace Sanctifie you wholly In neither of these Two Sences is God's Name to be Sanctified or Hallowed by us for thus to Pray were to Blaspheme Thirdly There is a Sanctifying by Declaration when we acknowledge and reverence that as Holy that is indeed so And thus only it is that Creatures may Sanctifie the Name of God the Creator So we have it used Isa 29.23 They shall Sanctifie my Name and Sanctifie the Holy One of Jacob and shall fear the God of Israel Now thus to Sanctifie the Name of God is the very same with that other Expression that commonly occurs in Scripture of Glorifying God We can add nothing to his infinite Perfections nor to the Lustre and Brightness of his Crown yet then are we said to Sanctifie and Glorifie God when in our most Reverend Thoughts we observe and admire his Holiness and the bright Coruscations of his Attributes and when we endeavour by all Holy ways to declare them
sinceall partake of the same common Nature much more as we partake of the same especial Grace To interest one another in our Prayers and thereby maintain the Communion of Saints Q. But since God is every where present why hath our Saviour taught us to direct our Prayers to our Father in Heaven A. First because Heaven is the most glorious Place of God's Residence and therefore God is represented to us in Heaven to affect us with his Glory and Majesty Secondly Because God no where hears our Prayers with acceptation but onely in Heaven For there onely are they represented by Christ's Intercession which he makes in both Natures Q. What learn ye from our being commanded to direct our Prayers to God in Heaven A. That we should so pray as to pierce Heaven which cannot be done by the strength and intention of our Voice but of our Zeal and Affection Q. Is the Voice necessary in Prayer A. It is onely upon three Accounts 1. As that which God requires should be imployed in his Service 2. VVhen in secret it may be an help to raise our Affections still keeping it within the Bounds of Decency and Secrecy 3. In our joyning with others it is an help likewise to raise and quicken their Affections Q What is the first Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Hallowed be thy Name Q. What is here meant by the Name of God A. First God's Name is himself Psal 20.1 The Lord hear thee in the Day of Trouble the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee and many other Places Secondly The Name of God is any perfection ascribed unto him whereby he hath made himself known unto us Q. What are the Names of God A. His Titles and his Attributes Q. What are his Titles A. They are many as Jehovah which signifies Being and giving being Creator denoting his Infinite Power Lord and King denoting his Authority and Dominion Father signifying his Care and Goodness towards his Creatures Redeemer noting his Mercy and Grace in delivering them from Temporal Evils and especially from Eternal Death Q. What are the Attributes of God A. They are of two Sorts either Incommunicable or Communicable Q. Which are his incommunicable Attributes A. Such as are so proper to the Divine Essence that they cannot in any Measure or Resemblance be ascribed to the Creatures Such are the Eternity Immensity Simplicity and Immutability Q. What are his communicable Attributes A. They are such as may in some Analogy and Resemblance be found in the Creatures As Holiness Justice Mercy Truth VVisdom and Power Q. Since they are to be found in the Creatures how are they then the proper Names of God A. They are the proper Names of God when they are applied to him free from all those Imperfections that attend them in the Creatures Q. What are these Imperfections A. They are Three 1. First That all the Perfections of the Creatures are not Originally from themselves but derivatively from God 2. Secondly They are not infinite but limited 3. Thirdly They are not unchangeable but mutable Q. How then do these become the Names of God A. VVhen we ascribe them unto God as Originally from himself and infinitely and unchangeably in himself Q. What is it to hallow this Name of God A. It signifies to make his Name Holy Q. How can God or his Name be made Holy A. Neither by Dedication to Holy Uses nor by Infusion of Holy Habits both which are frequently in Scripture called Hallowing or Sanctifying but onely by Declaration of his Glory and Holiness Q. How do we hallow the Name of God by Declaration A. VVhen in our most reverend Thoughts we observe and admire the Expressions of his Attributes and indeavour to set them forth to others both in VVords and Actions Q. What pray you for in this Petition Hallowed be thy Name A. For three Things in the General 1. First VVe beg such Graces for our selves as may inable us to sanctifie the Name of God Q. What are they especially A. Knowledge and Understanding of his Nature VVill and VVorks Thankfulness for every Mercy Patience under every Affliction Faith in his VVord and Promises For to believe God's VVord gives Glory to his Name Rom. 4.20 He staggered not at the Promise of God through Vnbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God An Holy and Exemplary Life whereby we especially glorified God and induce others to do so too Matt. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And lastly savoury and well ordered Speech that we may not prophane the Name of God by Oaths or Curses or vain using it but speak of him with all Holy Fear and Reverence Q. What else do we beg of God in this Petition A. VVe beg that others also may receive Grace to inable them to sanctifie his Name And Thirdly we beg that God would so over-rule all Things that his Glory may be promoted by them Q. What learn you from Christ's making this the first Petition of his Prayer A. 1. First That the Glory of God is to be preferred by us before all other Things whatsoever John 12.27 28. Now is my Soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this Hour But for this Cause came I unto this Hour Father glorifie thy Name Then came there a Voice from Heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again 2. Secondly That in the Beginning of our Prayers we ought to beg Assistance from God to present them that his Name may be hallowed Q. What is the second Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Thy Kingdom come Q. How manifold is the Kingdom of God A. It is two fold either Universal or else his peculiar Kingdom Q. What is God's Vniversal Kingdom A. The whole VVorld both Heaven and Earth and Hell it self and all things in them Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all Q. How doth God exercise his Dominion over this Kingdom A. By the Power of his Providence disposing of all his Creatures and all their Actions according to his VVill. Q. But since wicked Men are Rebels against God how doth he maintain his Dominion over them A. Three ways 1. First In that they cannot sin without his Permission 2. Secondly In that he restrains them when he pleaseth 3. Thirdly In that he justly punisheth them for their Sins sometimes in this Life always in the next Q. What is God's peculiar Kingdom A. His Kingdom of Grace which is the Church and that either Militant here on Earth or else Triumphant in Heaven Q. How is the Church Militant to be considered A. As it is either Visible or Invisible Q. What is the Visible Church of God here on Earth A. It is a Company of People openly professing the Truths that are necessary to Salvation and celebrating the Ordinances appointed by Jesus Christ Q.
makes to God ought to be ratified with an Amen sent from our very hearts which if we sincerely and affectionately perform we have abundant assurance that what is confirmed by so many suffrages on Earth shall likewise be confirmed by our Father which is in Heaven And how beautiful how becoming would this be when the whole Church shall thus conspire together in their Requests St. Jerome tells us It was the custom in his days to close up every Prayer with such an unanimous consent that their Amens rung and echoed in the Church and sounded like the fall of Waters or the noise of Thunder This would be a Testimony of our hearty consent to the things we Pray for And if any two that shall agree upon Earth touching any thing that they shall ask they shall have it granted them as our Saviour hath promised Matth. 18.19 then certainly the joynt Prayers of a whole multitude of Christians must needs have a kind of Omnipotency in them and be able to do any thing with God And thus I have with God's Assistance given you a brief Exposition of this most excellent Prayer of our Saviour The Lord Sanctifie it unto you and make it a means to help you to Pray with more understanding with stronger Faith and with greater Fervency The End of the Larger Exposition A Catechistical EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's Prayer By way of QUESTION and ANSWER By the Right Reverend Father in God EZEKIEL Lord Bishop of Derry by which he examined the Youth each Lord's-Day during the whole Time he preached upon the Lord's Prayer Quest IS the Lords Prayer a Form of Prayer or onely a Pattern for Prayer Answ It is both That it is to be used as a Form appears Luke 11.2 When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. That it is a Pattern Matt. 6.9 After this Manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven c. Q. What are the Parts of this Prayer A. They are Four 1. The Preface or Introduction 2. The Petitions and Requests 3. The Doxology or Praise-giving 4. The Conclusion and Ratification Q. What is the Preface to this Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. What observe you from it A. That in the Beginning of our Prayers we ought seriously to consider and reverently to express the glorious Attributes of God as an excellent Means to compose us into an Holy Fear of his Divine Majesty Q. How many are the Petitions contained in this Prayer A. Six Whereof the three first respect God's Glory and the three last our own Good Q. What learn you from this Order and Method A. That we ought first to seek God's Glory before any Interests and Concerns of our own Q. How are those Petitions divided which immediately concern the Glory of God A. In the first of them we pray that God may be glorified in the other two for the Means whereby he is glorified Q. How divide you those Petitions which concern our own good A. One relates to our Temporal the other two to our Spiritual good Q. What observe you from placing the Petition for our Temporal good in the Midst of this Prayer A. That we are onely to bait at the World in our Passage to Heaven and onely refresh our selves with our daily Bread in our Way and Journey thither Q. What are the Petitions which relate to our Spiritual good A. They are two One whereby we beg the Pardon of our Sins the other whereby we beg Deliverance from them Q. What ascribe you to God in the Doxology A. Four of his most glorious Attributes 1. First His Sovereignty Thine is the Kingdom 2. Secondly His Omnipotence And the Power 3. Thirdly His Excellency And the Glory 4. Fourthly The Eternity and Unchangeableness of all these They are Thine for ever Q. What signifies that Particle Amen at the End of this Prayer A. It signifies two Things So be it Which notes our Desire for the obtaining of what we ask So it shall be Which notes our Assurance of being heard Q. What is the Preface to the Lord's Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. What doth this teach us A. That in our Entrance into Prayer we should seriously consider both the Mercy of God as he is our Father and likewise his Majesty as he is in Heaven That the one may beget in us Filial Boldness and the other awfull Reverence and by the mixture of both we may be kept from Despair and Presumption Q. In what Respects may God be stiled Father A. In three especially 1. First in respect of the Eternal Generation of his Son And so this Title is proper onely to the first Person of the Trinity 2. In respect of Creation and Providence and so he is the Father of all Mal. 2.10 Have we not all one Father Hath not one God created us 3. In respect of Regeneration and Adoption And so he is the onely Father of the Faithfull John 1.12.13 But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believed on his Name Which were born not of Blood nor of the VVill of Flesh nor of the VVill of Man but of God Rom. 8.15 16. For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to Fear But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Q. In what Respects do we call God Father in this Prayer A. In the two last As he hath created us and doth preserve us and as he hath regenerated and adopted us Q. When ye stile God the Father do ye mean onely God the Father the first Person of the Trinity A. No. For God the first Person is eminently called the Father not in respect of us but in respect of Christ In respect of us the whole Trinity both Father Son and Holy Ghost is our Father which is in Heaven Isaiah 9.6 For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderfull Counsellour The Mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace John 3.5 Jesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Q. What is implied in this Particle Our Our Father A. That God is the Father of all Men He is the Father of the VVicked by Creation and Providence but especially of the Godly by Regeneration and Adoption Q. Is it proper in our secret Prayers to say Our Father A. It is For so we find Dan. 9.17 Now therefore O our God hear the Prayer of thy Servant and his Supplications and cause thy Face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's Sake Q. What learn we by stiling God our Father A. First to esteem one another as Brethren
teach us First To admire his Infinite Condescension and our own unspeakable Privilege and Dignity 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God Indeed for God to be a Father by Creation and Providence though it be a Mercy yet is no Privilege for in that Sence he is Parens Rerum the common Parent of all things yea the Father of Devils themselves and of those Wretches who are as wicked and shall be as miserable as Devils But that God should be thy Father by Regeneration and Adoption that he should make thee his Son through his only begotten Son that he should rake up such dirt and filth as thou art and lay it in his Bosom that he should take Aliens and Strangers near unto himself and Adopt Enemies and Rebels into his Family Register their Names in the Book of Life make them Heirs of Glory Co-heirs with Jesus Christ his Eternal Son as the Apostle admiringly recounts it Rom. 8.17 This is both Mercy and Miracle together Secondly It should teach us to walk worthy of this High and Honourable Relation into which we are taken and to demean our selves as Children ought to do in all Holy Obedience to his Commands with Fear and Reverence to his Authority and an Humble Submission to his Will This God Challengeth at our hands as being our Father Mal. 1.6 If I be a Father where is mine Honour and 1 Pet. 1.17 If we call on the Father pass the time of your sojourning here in fear And likewise by giving thee leave to Style him by this Name of Father he puts thee in remembrance that thou shouldst endeavour by a Holy Life and Conversation to be like thy Father and so approve it to thine own Conscience and to all others that thou art indeed a Child a Son of God Thirdly Is God thy Father this then may give us abundance of assurance that we shall receive at his hands what we ask if it be good for us and if it be not we have no reason to complain that we are not heard unless he should turn our Prayers into Curses And this very Consideration seems to be the reason why our Saviour chooseth this among all God's Titles and Attributes to prefix before this Prayer and indeed it is the most proper Name by which we can Style God in our Prayers unto him for this Name of Father emboldens Faith and is as a Pledge and Pawn before hand that our requests shall be heard and granted and therefore our Saviour for the Confirmation of our Faith argues very strongly from this very Title of Father Matth. 7.9 10 11. What Man is there of you whom if his Son ask him for Bread will he give him a Stone or if he ask a Fish will he give him a Serpent If ye then being evil know how to give good things when your Children ask them how much more shall my Father give good things to them that ask him Indeed it is a most encouraging Argument for if the Bowels of an Earthly Parent who yet many times is humorous and whose tenderest Mercies are but Cruelties in respect of God If his Compassions will not suffer his Children to be defeated in their reasonable and necessary requests how much less will God who is Love and Goodness it self and who hath inspired all Parental Affections into other Fathers suffer his Children to return ashamed when they beg of him those things which are most agreeable to his Will and to their Wants What dost thou then O Christian complaining of thy Wants and sighing under thy Burthens Is not God thy Father Go and boldly lay open thy Case unto him his Bowels will certainly rowl and yern towards thee Is it Spiritual Blessings thou wantest spread thy requests before him for as he is thy Father so he is the God of all Grace and will give unto thee of his fullness for God loves that his Children should be like him Or is it Temporal Mercies thou wantest why he is thy Father and he is the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort And why shouldst thou go so dejected and disconsolate who hast a Father so able and so willing to relieve and supply thee only beware that thou askest not Stones for Bread nor Scorpions for Fish and then ask what thou wilt for thy good and thou shalt receive it Fourthly Is God thy Father This then may encourage us against Despair under the sense of our manifold sins against God and departures from him For he will certainly receive us upon our repentance and returning to him This very apprehension was that which wrought upon the Prodigal Luke 15.8 I will arise and go to my Father The Consideration of our own guilt and vileness without the Consideration of God's infinite Mercy tends only to widen the breach between him and us for those that are altogether hopeless will sin the more implacably and bitterly against God like those the Prophet mentions Jerem. 2.25 That said there was no hope and therefore they would persist in their wickedness But now to consider that God is our Father and that though we have cast off the Duty and Obedience of Children yet upon our Submission he will bid us welcom and instate us again in his Favour this to the ingenious Spirit of a Christian is a sweet and powerful motive to reduce him from his wandering and straying for it will work both upon his shame and upon his hope Upon his shame that ever he should offend so Gracious a Father and upon his hope that those offences shall be forgiven him through that very Mercy that he hath abused Thus we read Jerem. 3.4 5. Wilt thou not henceforth cry unto me My Father thou art the Guide of my youth Will he reserve his Anger for ever will he keep it unto the end Noting that when we plead with God under the winning Name of Father his Anger cannot long last but his Bowels of Mercy will at last overcome the sentiments of his Wrath and Justice And thus much concerning the endearing Title of Father which our Saviour directs us to use in our Prayers unto God Secondly The next thing observable is the Particle Our Our Father which notes to us that God is not only the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ but he is the Father of all Men. He is the Father of all by Creation and Providence And therefore we have the Interrogation Mal. 2.10 Have we not all one Father Hath not one God Created us But he is especially the Father of the Faithful by Regeneration and Adoption who are born not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God John 1.13 This therefore should teach us First To esteem one another as Brethren Outward respects the Grandeur and Earthly Priviledges and Advantages of the World make no disparity in God's Love to us or in our Relation to
to our Father in Heaven God indeed hears us upon Earth for there is not a Word in our Tongue but behold O Lord thou knowest it altogether but this will not avail us unless God hears our Prayers a second time as repeated over in the Intercession of Jesus Christ and perfumed with the much Incense which he offers up with the Prayers of all the Saints Since then we are directed to pray to our Father which is in Heaven This First May inform us that there is no circumstance of time or place that can hinder us from praying for Heaven is over thee and open to thee wheresoever thou art there is no Clime so remote which is not over-spread with that Pavillion and thou art in all places equally near to Heaven and God is in it sitting upon his Throne of Grace to receive and answer thy Requests wheresoever thou offerest them up unto him And therefore we find in the Scripture some praying in God's House of Prayer some making their Houses Houses of Prayer St. Peter pray'd on the House-top when he fell into his Trance Isaac in the open Fields our Saviour on a Mountain Jonas in a Whale's Belly Abraham's Servant in his Journey and Asa in the midst of a tumultuous and bloody Battel yea whatsoever thou art doing thou mayest pray so long as Heaven is over thee and God in it Whatsoever Company thou art in whatsoever Employment thou art about thou mayest still pray for thy Father that is in Heaven still hears thee He hears thy Thoughts and thy Desires when either they are too big or when it is not expedient to articulate them into Words Indeed the Voice in Prayer is not always necessary nay sometimes it is not convenient yea it is never necessary but only upon three Accounts First As that which God requires should be employed in his Service for this was a great end why it was given us that therewith we might Bless and Praise God With the Tongue saith the Apostle we bless God even the Father Jam. 3.9 Or Secondly When in Secret it may be a means to help to raise up our Affections keeping it still within the bounds of Decency and Privacy Or Thirdly In our joyning with others it helps likewise to raise and quicken their Affections otherwise were it not for these three Reasons the Voice is no more necessary to make our Wants and Desires known unto God than it is to make them known to our own Hearts For thy Father which is in Heaven is not certainly excluded from any part of the Earth he is with thee and lays his Ear to thy very Heart and hears the Voice of thy Thoughts when thy Tongue is silent And thou mayest whatsoever work or business thou art doing dart up a Prayer and a winged Desire unto him which shall be as acceptable and effectual as the more solemn performance of this Duty at stated times Secondly Is thy Father in Heaven thy Prayers then should be made so as to pierce the Heavens where God is But how can this be done since the distance between Heaven and us is so infinite This is not to be done by the intension of raising thy Voice but by the intension of raising thy Zeal and Spirit for Zeal and Affection is a strong Bow that will shoot a Petition through Heaven it self Let all thy Petitions therefore be ardent and carry Fire in them and this will cause them to ascend to the Element of pure Celestial Fire from whence thy Breast was at first inflamed It is a most remarkable place Exod. 14.15 when the Red Sea was before the Israelites and the Aegyptians pursuing them behind and unpassable Mountains on each side the People murmuring and Moses their Captain and Guide in an unextricable Streight we read not of any Vocal Prayer that Moses then put up and yet God calls to him Why cryest thou unto me a Prayer it was not so much as accented not so much as whispered and yet so strong and powerful that it pierced Heaven and was louder in the Ears of God than the Voice of Thunder And thus much shall suffice to be spoken concerning the Preface of this Prayer Our Father which art in Heaven Let us now proceed unto the Petitions themselves the first three of which relate unto God's Glory the other to our Temporal and Spiritual Good Of those which relate to God's Glory the First desireth the advancement of this Glory it self Hallowed be thy Name The Second The means of effecting it Thy Kingdom come The Third The manifestation of it Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven I begin with the First of these Hallowed be thy Name In the Explication of which we shall enquire First What is to be understood by the Name of God Secondly What it is to Hallow this Name of God Thirdly What is contained in this Petition and what we pray for when we say Hallowed be thy Name First What is meant by the Name of God To this I Answer That the Name of God is any perfection ascribed to him whereby he hath been pleased to make himself known to the Sons of Men For Names are given to this very intent that they might declare what the thing is to which that Name doth belong Thus when God had created Adam and made him Lord of this visible World he caused the Beasts of the Field and the Fowls of the Air to pass before him as it were to do Homage to their new Sovereign and to receive Names from him which according to the plenitude and perfection of his knowledge did then aptly serve to express their several Natures and were not only Names but Definitions too So when mention is made in Scripture of the Name of God it signifies some expression of his infinite Essence in which he is pleased graciously to condescend to the weakness of our capacity and to spell out himself to us sometimes by one perfection and sometimes by another since it is utterly impossible for us finite Creatures to have a full and comprehensive knowledge of that Being which is infinite for so God is only known to himself being as infinite to all others so finite to his own Knowledge and Understanding And therefore he hath displayed before us his Name to give us some help and advantage to conceive somewhat of him though his Nature and Essence are in themselves incomprehensible to us and shall be so for ever even in Heaven it self Now this Name of God may well be distinguished into two sorts his Titles and his Attributes First His Titles are his Name and so he is in Scripture frequently called Jehovah God Lord Creator and the like and most of these his Titles are relative respecting us so his Name of Creator denotes his infinite Power giving Being to all things Lord and King signifie his Dominion and Authority in disposing and governing all that he hath made Father signifies his Care and Goodness in providing for his
Creatures Redeemer his Mercy and Grace in delivering them from Temporal Evils and Calamities or especially from Eternal Death and Destruction Now these relative Titles though they properly belong unto God yet are they not absolutely essential to him but connote a respect unto the Creatures And therefore though before the Creation of the World God was for ever the same infinitely Blessed Being that he now is and by the Creation of it no accession was made to his infinitely perfect Nature for in him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning but he is yesterday and to day and the same for ever yet could he not be called by the Name of Creator or Lord or Redeemer or Father unless in respect of his Eternal Son But all these Titles result from the Relations wherein we stand unto God of Creatures Subjects and Children These Names therefore had their beginning some in the beginning of time and some since and yet they do very properly signifie unto us that God who is without beginning or end Secondly As his Titles so his Attributes are his Name and these are of two sorts either incommunicable or communicable First The incommunicable Attributes of God and these are those which are so proper to the Divine Essence that there is scarce the least foot-steps or resemblance of them to be found in any of the Creatures and such are his Eternity which denotes a duration as well without beginning as without end For though there are some Creatures whose Beings shall never have a period set to them as Angels and Men yet there is no Creature that never had no beginning of its existence And so God's Infiniteness and Immensity filling all places and exceeding all which was most excellently set forth in that most significant yet unintelligible Paradox of the Heathen Philosopher That God was a Circle whose Centre was every where but its Circumference no where His simplicity also excluding all Composition and Mixture which no Creature doth for take the most simple of them as Angels and the separate Souls of Men yet they are at least compounded in their Essences and Powers and Acts for the Power of Understanding is not the Soul nor the Act of Understanding the Power therefore in these there is one thing and another But it is not so in God but whatsoever is in God is God himself being one most pure and simple Act. Hence follows his immutability and unchangeableness there being nothing in God which was not from all Eternity And in the same rank are his Omnipotency and All-sufficiency his Omniscience and Independency and the like which are incommunicable Attributes and cannot without Blasphemy be ascribed unto any of the Creatures Secondly There are other Attributes of God that are communicable and are so called because they may in some Analogy and Resemblance be found in the Creatures also so to be Holy Just Merciful True Powerful and the like are the Names of God and yet may be ascribed to the Creatures So in that most Triumphant Declaration of his Name to Moses Exod. 34.5 6 7. we find that the most of the Letters that compose it may be found in some degrees even among Men the Lord proclaimed his Name the Lord God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and Abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin Now this Name of God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and Abundant in Goodness which he seems so much to delight and glory in and which he adorns with such fair flourishes he himself would have us to own and intimate Luk. 6.36 Be ye merciful as your Father is merciful To aspire to a resemblance with God in his incommunicable Attributes and Name is a most horrid and blasphemous Presumption a Pride that cast the Devils from Heaven to Hell But to aspire to a resemblance unto God in his communicable Name is the tendency of Grace and the effect of the Spirit of God conforming us in some measure to his Purity and making us partakers in this sence of the Divine Nature And therefore it is press'd upon us Levit. 29.2 You shall be Holy for I the Lord your God am Holy And Mat. 5.48 Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect Now these communicable Attributes of God though they may in some respects be found in the Creatures yet then are they properly the Names of God when they are applyed to him free from all those Imperfections with which they are necessarily attended in the Creatures Abstract them from all Imperfections and we may apply them to God as his Name Now these Imperfections are of two sorts either Privative or Negative A Creature is then said to be Privatively imperfect when he falls short of what he ought to be And so are the best of Men imperfect in this Life Merciful they are but still retain a mixture of Cruelty Patient they are but still they have Impatience mix'd with it Holy they are but yet not Spotless as the Law requires them to be And therefore in ascribing Holiness Mercy and Patience unto God we must be sure to separate from them all such Imperfections as are found in us through the mixture of the contrary Corruptions with those Graces otherwise they will be so far from being the Name of God that they will prove Blasphemous Derogatives from him neither is this enough but we must remove all Negative imperfections also Now a Creature is said to be Negatively imperfect when though it hath all the perfections that is due unto it or required from it yet it hath not all perfection that is possible or imaginable Thus the Holy Angels and the Spirits of just Men in Heaven although they are made perfect so as to exclude all Privative imperfection their Holiness and their Graces there being as perfect as they should be and as God requires from them yet have they a Negative imperfection that is there is some perfection of those Graces and of that Holiness further possible which they have not nor is it within the Sphere of their Natures to attain unto in which sence it is said Job 4.8 He chargeth his Angels with Folly that is not as if they wanted any Wisdom or Righteousness that was due unto their Natures but they had not all that Wisdom that was possible and so were at least Negatively imperfect In all perfections of the Creatures whether Angels or Men be they never so great or excellent there are Three imperfections that will necessarily attend them First That they have them not originally from themselves but derivatively from another who is the Author and Embellisher of their Natures Secondly That they have them not unchangeably but may not only increase but decrease yea or utterly lose them Thirdly That they have them not infinitely but in a stinted and limited measure Now in all the communicable Attributes of the Divine Nature remove from them these Three Negative Imperfections and then apply them
the one is whether God will the other is whether he can grant us what we ask And that our Faith might not boggle at either of these our Saviour hath as it were hedged in and inclosed all our Prayers with these two great fences for our Faith God's willingness and his Power to help the Preface to this excellent Prayer contains the one and the Conclusion of this Prayer the other He is our Father and therefore if Earthly Parents whose Bowels of Mercy are but finite are yet so tender over their Children and ready to do their utmost to contribute what assistance they can towards them much more will our Heavenly Father whose Mercies and Compassions are infinite and boundless But lest our Faith should yet stagger and suspect the Power and Ability of God to relieve and help us the Conclusion of this Prayer puts in a caution against all unbelieving scruples in this case Thine is the Power So that we have abundant security for our Faith in whatsoever we desire of God because he hath declared himself both willing and able to supply our wants and satisfie our desires Indeed the Power of God alone is not a sufficient plea for we have before seen that God is able to effect infinitely more than he will but then the Power of God is a strong and forcible plea when it is joyn'd with his Will And when we are once assured by the Promises of his Word that God is willing to bestow upon us the Blessings that we ask then to bend the force of this plea towards him that he is likewise able will most certainly prevail And that Prayer that is directed in Faith and winged with both these motives shall never return into our Bosoms in vain and ineffectual Thus have I finished the two first Attributes of God made use of by our Saviour in this Prayer his Sovereignty and his Omnipotency It remains now that we speak something to the third Attribute of God which our Lord here teacheth us to make use of in praying to him and that is the Glory of God For thine is the Glory But this is an Attribute so bright and dazling so surrounded and fring'd about with Rays of inaccessible light that the Holy Angels themselves cannot stedfastly behold it but twinkle and glimmer yea vail their Faces at the full Beams of that Object the Vision of which is yet their Eternal Joy and Happiness And therefore whensoever weak or vile Man can either speak or conceive of the infinite Glory of the great God will instead of exalting debase it and we shall but defame while we attempt to celebrate it so infinitely do the Perfections of the Deity surmount our most raised Affections that our very Praises thereof are but lessening of it And whatsoever we ascribe unto God is but detracting from him Think with your selves a little if two blind Men that never saw the Sun were discoursing together about it what strange uncouth and improper fancies would they form of its Light and Splendour Surely such yea vastly more confused and disproportion'd are all our notions and conceptions of the Glory of God which is a Light that is invisible obscurity that is dazling and whatsoever else is most inconceivable to humane capacities For the Scripture sometimes describes God's dwelling-place to be in that Light unto which no Mortal Eye can approach And sometimes that his Pavillion is dark Clouds which no Eye can penetrate And both to signifie how impossible a thing it is to search out God and to find out the Almighty to perfection Yet since he hath been graciously pleased to give us some refracted and allay'd Rays of himself such as we are able to bear both in the Works of Creation and Providence and likewise in his Holy Word let us with all humble modesty take notice of those discoveries which he hath made of his Glory wherein we shall find enough if not to satisfie our curiosity yet to excite our veneration and by seeing some glimpses of his back-parts which he causes to pass before us our desires will be made more earnest after that Estate of consummate Happiness where we shall for ever behold his Face where we shall no longer see him darkly through a glass but shall see him as he is and know him as we are known by him Glory therefore according to the true and genuine import of the Word signifies any Excellency or Perfection in a Subject that either is or deserves to be accompanied with Fame and Renown And hence we may well distingiush a Two-fold Glory in God the one Essential the other Declarative The Essential Glory of God is the Collection and System of those Attributes which Eternally and immutably belong unto the Divine Nature The Declarative Glory of God is the manifestation of those his Attributes so that his Creatures may take notice of them with Praise and Veneration Both are here intended by our Saviour when he teacheth us to ascribe the Glory unto God God is Essentially Glorious in all those Attributes which appertain unto his infinite Being for each of them is infinitely perfect in its self and the complexion and concentring of them altogether make up a Glory infinitely great and incomprehensible Thus his Holiness is Glorious Exod. 15.11 Glorious in Holiness His Power is Glorious 2 Thess 1.9 They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power Col. 1.11 Strengthened with all Might according to his Glorious Power His Majesty is Glorious Psal 145.5 I will speak of the Glorious Honour of his Majesty His Kingdom is Glorious Psal 45.11 They shall speak of the Glory of thy Kingdom His Grace and Mercy is Glorious Ephes 1.6 To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved And from all these result the Glory of his great and terrible Name which hath in it an excessive brightness and lustre from the Constellation of so many Glories united in it Deut. 28.58 That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God Yea so infinite is this Essential Glory of God that it diffuseth and sheddeth abroad its Light and Glory upon those things which have but Relation to him therefore the Church is said to be Glorious because made in some faint resemblance like unto God Psal 45.13 The King's Daughter is all Glorious within Ephes 5.27 That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle The Gospel is therefore Glorious because it is that Glass wherein we see the Glory of God by a reflected Light And as the Beams of the Sun falling upon a Glass make it shine with an exceeding brightness So the Glory of God striking upon the Gospel and from thence re-bounding off to us hath stampt it with an excellent Glory and Lustre 1 Tim. 1.11 According to the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God His Throne is Glorious Jerem.
by our Prayers we shall receive in his Service and to his Praise Psal 50.15 And call upon me in the Day of Trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Q. What directions have we concerning the Seasons and Frequency of praying A. The Scripture commands us to pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5.17 Pray without ceasing To pray always and not to faint Luke 18.1 And he spake a Parable to this end that Men ought always to pray and not to faint To pray always with all Prayer and Supplication Ephes 6.18 Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit Q. Must we therefore be always so actually ingaged in this Duty as to do nothing but pray A. No For therefore we pray that we may obtain Grace from God to perform other Duties of Religion and a Christian Life neither ought the Duties of our particular Callings to be neglected by us for we justle out one Duty by another besides the sinfull Omission of what we should perform that which we do perform becomes unacceptable because unseasonable and so we commit two Sins in doing one Duty Q. What then is it to pray without ceasing A. Prayer may be said to be without ceasing four ways 1. When we observe a constant Course of a Prayer at fixt and appointed Times Thus Gen. 8. ult God promised that Winter and Summer Day and Night should not cease And so the daily Sacrifice is called a continual burnt-offering Exod. 29.42 And yet it was offered onely Morning and Evening 2. When we are frequent and importunate in our Prayers so Acts 12.5 The Church is said to make Prayers for Peter without ceasing And our Saviour spake the Parable of the importunate Widow to this end That men ought always to pray and not to faint Luke 18.1 3. When we frequently dart up short mental Prayers and Ejaculations unto God which we may and ought to do whatsoever else we are employed about Neh. 2.4 So I prayed to the God of Heaven 4. When we keep our hearts in a praying Frame and Temper so that they are on all Occasions fit and ready to pour out themselves before God in Prayer and thus we habitually pray always Q. What must we observe to maintain and cherish such a praying Spirit A. Two things especially 1. That we ingulf not our selves too deeply in the Businesses and Pleasures of this Life for these will dark and deaden the heart to Prayer 2. That we fall not into the Commission of any known and presumptuous Sin For guilt will fill us with slavish Fear and Shame and both will drive us from God Q. What are the kinds of Prayer A. Three 1. Publick As we are Members of the Church 2. Private As we stand engaged in Family Relation And 3. Secret As we are particular Christians Q. Who is to send up publick Prayers A. The Minister and all the Congregation joining with him And these Prayers though they must needs be more general yet with all are more effectual than any other Matt. 18.19 Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on Earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven Q. Who is to make private or family Prayers A. Every Master and Governour of a Family And this he is not to do seldomer than every Morning and Evening In the Morning Prayer is the Key that opens the Treasury of God's Mercies In the Evening it is the Key that shuts us up under his Protection and Safe-guard TWO SERMONS Preached by the same AUTHOR A Discourse upon Providenec Matth. x. 29 30. Are not two Sparrows sold for a Farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father But the very Hairs of your Head are all numbred THe Mystery of God's Providence next to that of Man's Redemption is the most Sublime and Inscrutable 'T is easie in both to run our selves off our Reason For as Reason confesseth it self at a loss when it attempts a search into those Eternal decrees of electing Sinners to Salvation and designing Christ to save them so must it likewise when it attempts to trace out all those entangled Mazes and Labyrinths wherein the Divine Providence walks We may sooner tire reason in such a pursuit than satisfie it unless it be some kind of satisfaction when we have driven it to a Non-plus to relieve our selves with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out This knowledge therefore being too wonderful for us I shall not presume to conduct you into that secret Place that pavillion of Clouds and surrounding Darkness where God sits holding the Rudder of the World and steering it through all the Floatings of Casualty and Contingency to his own foreordained ends where he grasps and turns the great Engine of Nature in his hands fastening one Pin and loosing another moving and removing the several Wheels of it and framing the whole according to the Eternal Idea of his own understanding Let us content us to consider so much of God's Providence as may affect us with comfort in reflecting on that particular care which he takes of us rather than with wonder and astonishment by too bold a prying into those hidden methods whereby he exerciseth it Our Saviour Christ in this Chapter giving Commission to his Apostles and sending them forth to preach the Gospel obviates an Objection they might make concerning the great danger that would certainly attend such an undertaking To send them upon such an hated employment would be no other than to thrust them upon the Rage and Malice of the World to send them forth as Sheep into the midst of Wolves who would doubtless worry and devour them sure we are to have our Message derided our Persons injured and that holy name of thine on which we summon them to believe Blasphemed and Reviled and tho our word may prove a word of life to some few of the Hearers yet to us who are the Preachers of it it will prove no other than Death A vile and wretched world the whilest when the Gospel of Peace and Reconciliation shall thus stir up Enmity and Persecution against the Embassadours who are appointed to Proclaim it Now to this our Saviour Answers First By shewing what the extent of their Adversaries power is how far it can reach and what mischief it can do when God permits it to rage to the very utmost And this he doth in the 28th Verse the verse immediately foregoing the Text Fear not them who kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul Or as St. Luke expresseth it Chap. 12.4 They can kill the Body but after that have no more they can do Alas are such Men to be feared who when they do their worst can only destroy your worst part which if they do not yet Accidents