Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n
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A12554
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A paterne of true prayer A learned and comfortable exposition or commentarie vpon the Lords prayer: wherein the doctrine of the substance and circumstances of true inuocation is euidently and fully declared out of the holie Scriptures. By Iohn Smith, minister and preacher of the Word of God.
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Smyth, John, d. 1612.
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1605
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STC 22877.1; ESTC S117609
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137,387
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190
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the deserued punishment of sinne which is the will of God most righteous and iust Thirdly wee must take heede that our owne priuate reuenge bee not the motioner of our prayers for wee must not seeke to auenge our selues but the cause of God and of the Church which are matters publike ought to stirre vs vp in imprecation Lastly because wee know not what God hath decreed of them finally wee must alwaies remember to pray distributiuely and conditionally as for example thus If they appertaine to thy election conuert them and in the meane time represse them if not confound them Thus the second person for whom we are to pray is distinguished The third person to be considered in prayer is through whom or in whose name we are to pray and that is in the name and through the mediation and interposition that I may so speake of Iesus Christ who doth mediate our cause with the Father And here two points are to be remembred and handled The one is affirmatiue or positiue wee must pray in Christs name The other is exclusiue containing in it a negatiue we must pray in Christs name onely and not in the name of any other First wee are generally to remember that the name of Christ signifieth Christs merit mediation redemption intercession obedience VVhat it is to pray in Christs name or what else Christ did or suffered for our reconcilement and reuniting vnto God and that to pray in Christs name is to desire the Father to graunt that wee aske through and for the dignitie and worthines of Christs person and actions which he vndertooke and performed in our behalfe VVe must pray in Christs name This generally promised of the signification of Christs name the first point to be handled is that we must pray in Christs name for Christ being the meane betwixt God and vs he is the fittest to be our Mediatour for therâ—fore is Christ Mediatour Christ is a meane in diuers respects because he is medius now Christ is medius the meane betwixt God and vs in diuers respects obseruable First in regard of his person which is compounded let not this word be misexpounded of two natures the deitie and the humanitie so that Christ Iesus is God and Man in that hee is God hee hath the nature of God in that hee is man hee hath the nature of man and so hee bâ—ing God-man is a meane person betweene God and man and so fit to be interposed as Mediatour on both parts Secondly Christ is medius a meane in respect of his fauour and loue which in regard of God is passiue and in regard of vs is actiue for he is beloued of God as being the onely begotten sonne of the Father and we are beloued of him as being parcels of his owne flesh In that he is beloued of the Father hee is fit to obtaine things needfull for vs in that hee is louing to vs we are likely to obtaine good things through him so that Christ being fauoured of God and fauourable to vs is perfectâ—y qualified for the office of a Mâ—diatour Thirdly Christ is also Medius or a meane in respect of his actions or workes which in his owne person out of his loue he hath â—â—ought for vs his actions are compound as his person and his loue is they are works not of a meere man nor of God alone but of a person hauing the qualification of God and man that the Godhead might dignifie and the manhood might fit the worke that in respect of the Deitie the worke might be propitiatorie dâ—seruing mercie of God and in regard of the Manhood applicatorie fit to bee imputed to vs that wee being inuested therewith Gods iustice may bee satisfied and wee reconciled through the worke S eing therefore that Christ Iesus is the onely Meane person betwixt God and vs he is the only Mediatour betwixt God and vs and therefore in his name wee must pray so saith the Euangelist Ioh. 16.23 1. Ioh. 2.1 Aske in my name and ye shall receiue And againe in another place He is the true Aduocate with the Father Matth. 3 17. Ioh. 11.42 and in him God is well pleased with vs and the Father doth alwaies heare him whatsoeuer hee asketh as hee himselfe witnesseth because he is so dearely beloued of his Father Wherefore for conclusion of this point as it is impossible that a thing should moue ab extremo in extremum sine medio from one place to another without a meane way as for example from earth to heauen and not passe through the ayre euen so cannot our prayers which are sinfull come into Gods presence who is most iust without the meanes and mediation of Iesus Christ and thus the first point is plaine that wee must pray in the name of Iesus Christ The other followeth which is negatiue and exclusiue VVe must pray onl◠〈◊〉 Christs name that we must pray in his name onely and in the name of no other and here are excluded foure sorts of persons who are not to bee mediatours of intercâ—ssion 1. The first sort is the Father and the holy Ghost 2. The Angels are the second sort 3. The third sort are the Saints departed and liuing 4. The fourth sort is our selues For the first The Father and the h â—y Ghost are not our intercessors we are to know that the first and third persons in Trinitie are excluded from the office of intercession for though each person in Trinitie hath his seuerall office in all the workes which are termed ad extra wrought vpon the creature as creation redemption sanctification c yet there are some particular acts and motions in these seâ—erall workes which are proper to some one person and incommunicable to the rest as namely such actions which are relatiue between person and person for example sake the Father seated and sent the Sonne into the world the Sonne was sent of the Father the Father did not send the holy Ghost to take our nature neither did the holy Ghost take our nature but the Sonne onely So in the case propounded the Father doth not make intercession with the Sonne but the Sonne maketh intercession with the Father so neither doth the holy Ghost For neither the Father nor the holy Ghost were incarnate suffered or merited for vs but the Sonne onely The Father accepteth our prayers the holy Ghost teacheth vs to pray which is called intercession by the Apostle Rom. 8.26 but in a generall signification the Sonne onely meriteth and deserueth and obtaineth our prayers hauing onely assumed our nature and therein merited and prayed and obtained Seeing then of all the three persons in Trinitie the Sonne onely is our intercessor therefore in the name of Christ alone wee must pray The Angels are not our intercessors For the second the Angels are excluded also from this work of intercession as being not persons qualified thereto sufficiently which consideration groweth vpon the former for if
duleuâ—in but this quircke hath bin so sufficiently answered by diuers of our learned countrimen that I dare scarse attempt any thing in it The second reason therefore followeth which may be collected out of the Apostles word Rom. 14. how shall they call vpon him on whom they haue not beleeued which may be framed thus To him only we must pray on whom we beleeue but we onely beleeue in God therefore we must only pray to God for seeing prayer hath two parts desire and faith if faith be wanting prayer is imperfect Now I doe suppose that there is no papist dare say that we may trust in the Saints or Angels which were flâ—t idolatrie and cursed is he that putteth his trust in an arme of flesh Wherfore for conclusioÌ„ of this fourth point seeing we are only to beleeue in God and to serue God therefore we must onely pray to God Furthermore this fourth person to whom we must make our prayers which is God is expressed vnto vs two waies First by a name of relation in that he is intituled Father Secondly by the place he inhabiteth Heauen VVhether Father be a word of nature or person For this title Father which is here mentioned it is to be enquired whether it is Naturae or Personae nomen that is to say whether it is to be referred to the first person in Trinitie or to the whole Trinitie whether we speake to God the Father of his onely begotten sonne Christ or to God the Father and maker of all his creatures for answere whereof thus much it seemeth that there is no absurditie to take it either way or both waies rather if Christ prayed this prayer as it is probable he did then without doubt it was directed to the first person in Trinitie and it signifieth personally if Christ prescribed it to his disciples for a forme of prayer then in all likelihoode it signifieth the whole Trinitie who is to be called vpon by the creature Now as I coniecture for that Christ did both pray it and prescribed it to others for a forme of prayer therefore I incline to thinke that there is a compound meaning of the word signifying both the first person in Trinitie and the whole Trinitie which affordeth vs this instruction That when we pray we are so to direct our prayers to the Father as that we do not exclude the other persons of Trinitie who with the Father are equally to be worshipped being God equall with him And here it shall not be impertinent to consider how we are to conceiue of God in prayer which ariseth partly out of the title which is giuen to God partly out of the place where he dwelleth this point may be comprehended in fiue positions which followe First we must not think God like any creature as the Papists haue painted him for in the fourth of Deuteronomie Moses expresly forbiddeth the Israelits so to doe Hoâ— we must concâ—iue of God in prayer Deut. 4.15 and he rendreth a reason in that place because they saw nothing when the law was deliuered and therefore the practise of many now adayes is reprouealbe who though they will not paint God yet they paint two hands giuing the two tables one to Moses and another to Aaron which is false monstrous and idolatrous false because the tables were giuen onely to Moses monstrous because there are hands without a body idolatrous because there are hands whereas God hath no shape at all any way sensible Secondly although in the holy Scripture figuratiuely there are hands armes feete face eares and other manly parts attributed to God yet we must not thinke that God hath any of these parts properly indeede God hath something answerable to these parts or rather something whereunto these parts in the creatures are sutable for God made man not onely according to his image which consisteth in holines and righteousnes but also according to his similitude for the words may aptly be distinguished so that man is a similitude of God Gods armes and hands and fingers argue his power and actiuitie his feete argue his vbiquitie his face eyes and eares declare his wisedome and fauour c. and proportionable to these attributes of God there is a configuration of the lineaments of the body in man wherein man is like God Psal 115. wherefore we may say and so we must conceiue of God contrarie to the gods of the heathen They haue eyes and see not but God seeth and yet he hath no eyes they haue feete and walke not but God walketh euery where and yet hath no feete and so of whatsoeuer other part may be applied to God which figure is called Anthropopathia being a speciall metaphor Thirdly we must conceiue of God as he hath reuealed himselfe in his word and workes namely most mightie iust mercifull wise true holy simple and euery way infinit eternal and blessed Creator Redeemer Sanctifier and Sauiour of all his creatures c. Fourthly we must so direct our prayers to one person as that we doe not exclude the other for that is idolatrie to diuide the persons which are onely distinct Lastly for order sake we must pray to the Father directly and primarily and that through the merit and mediation of the Sonne with the instinct and inspiration of the holy Ghost yet it is not vnlawfull to direct our prayers to the Lord Iesus Christ 2. Cor. 13.13 or to the holy Spirit personally according to the example of the Apostle who blesseth the Corinthians from the Father Sonne and holy Ghost which blessing is a prayer Genes 48.16 and by the example of Iacob who prayeth that the Angell which deliuered him from all euill which Angell was Christ would blesse the sonnes of Ioseph We see then to which person of Trinitie our prayers are primarily to bee directed with the manner how we are to conceiue of God in time of prayer This may serue for the title Father Now followeth the place which God inhabiteth which is the second argument descriptiue and that is vttered in these words which art in heauen which also doth impart vnto vs his condition that hee is heauenly of which two points a little in order How God is in heauen First God is in heauen not circumscriptiue as though he were included within the compasse of heauen for he is infinit and therefore euery where neither is he in heauen definitiue as though when he were in heauen he were no where else for he is euery where at once for God is in euery place and yet not included in any place he is out of euery place and yet excluded from no place but God is in heauen first because that in heauen he doth especially manifest himselfe in his mercie grace and glorie to the elect Angels and Saints through the humanitie of Christ Iesus which is exalted in heauen secondly because that from heauen he doth visibly manifest himselfe to the creatures in the works of his