all our prayers and St. Luke will make out farther that it is a form of prayer to be constantly used by them who would be taken for Christ's disciples And no question but as it is the most ancient and best prayer which ever was in the Christian Church so 't was meant for constant use and rehearsal in the sacred offices of the Church This assertion proves Liturgy as lawfull as the prevention of blasphemy schism and non-sense make it convenient if not necessary which the opposers of set forms perceiving and fearing least the spirit as they term it should be bound if Christ's own form should pass free make bold not only to disuse but to abuse it too and cry it down as if his words could offend God whose very name doth so much prevail with him in prayer Wherefore they would have Luke be understood according to Matthew's expression which by their favour is not to be granted them for St. Matthew's way of speaking is often taken in St. Luke's meaning but on the contrary 't will be hard for them to find an instance of their arguing Nor will the variation of a word in the middle of it or the omission of a clause at the end of it stand them in much stead as we shall see anon This excellent form and pattern then of prayer is both for matter and form and order so full and compleat and comprehensive so well order'd and fitly suited and hansomly exprest that were the command for the use of it laid aside it seems to commend it self to a Christian's daily practice as a short yet full Liturgy This Prayer may be divided into three parts the Preface the Prayer it self and 〈◊〉 Conclusion The Preface is a compâ—â—tion of him whom the prayer is addressed to to wit God who is described partly by a title which shews his relation to us and our interest in him Our Father partly by the place wherein he dwels and shews forth his glory which art in Heaven The body of the Prayer it self contains in it a compleat sum and total of all holy desires and a perfect breviat of things pray'd for both spiritual and temporal and hath six or as some would have it by parting the last into two seaven Petitions The three former whereof concern God's glory the three later belong to us and our necessities both unto this life and that which is to come So that the glory of God and the Salvation of man which are the two pillars upon which the frame of providence and work of grace do stand are mainly here consider'd and run in each vein of this Prayer The sense of all may be briefly reduced into these two 〈◊〉 verses 1. Name 2. Kingdom 3. Will be done 4. Bread 5. Debts 6. Temptation The conclusion or indeed peroration hath in it a Doxologie or excellent form of confession and praise reflecting upon the three first petitions and carrying along with it a reason of the whole prayer thus Thy Kingdom come For thine is the Kingdom Thy will be done For thine is the power and Hallowed be thy Name For thine is the glory That God's glory is in our prayers as it ought to be in all our actings the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first and the last the beginning from which all things came at first and the end to which all things tend at last And the Petitions themselves have a mutual respect and seem to look to one another after this manner That we may hallow thy name and praise thee in the Land of the living preserve our life by supplying us with food That thy Kingdom may come into us and grace may rule in our hearts blot out our past iniquities and justify us by forgiving our sins That we may perform a due obedience to thy will remove every offence out of the way and suffer us not to fall into sin by giving us up to the power of temptation or leaving us to our selves This in general To come to the Prayer it self in the compellation wherein we call God Father we do not mean only the first person of the blessed Trinity excluding the other two persons the Son and the Spirit but take in all three the word Father here being not appropriated to one person as in relation to another to wit of the Father to the Son but applyed to God according to his essence i.e. to all three Persons for they all three are one and the self-same God in opposition to us who say the prayer The Father Son and Spirit being each of them one as well as the other a Father in respect of all created things and particularly of men it being usual with the Heathens so to term their Jupiter Father of Angels and of men FATHER God is the great Father of the universe the master of the world from whom and to whom are all things He made all things by the word of his power and of his â—eer goodness preserves all things wisely orders all events and deals with the whole world no otherwise then a â—ather doth with his child He is not only in himself an infinite being as his name Iehovah shews including in it all the differences of time Past Present and Future who was and is and is to come but the immens fountain of beings whence every thing that is had its originalâ— not that his very essence or substance was or could be communicated to any created thing as man begets man a Father the Son in his own likeness then every thing would be God which is the 〈◊〉 blasphemy to say No the nature of God is quite of another kind then that of the creatures and altogether incommunicable For how can we imagine that his infinite essence could have streamed forth it self into such a various and particular existence cloathed it self with those accidents and submitted it self to those lawes of change which all created things lye under 'T was his almighty Word which produced all things of nothing light out of darkness order out of confusion that was the womb that afforded the fruitful seed out of which all things grew He spoke and they were made and 't was well observ'd by the Heathen Critick that Moses used expressions suitable to the Majesty of a God when he writes God said let there be light and there was light ' T is true he hath imprinted upon every creature some character of himself that we may know by looking on the piece by the Image and superscription whose handy work it is And in this sense we may say every thing he has done is like him as we would of an absolute artist whose rare pieces will at first sight show what hand they came from Nor did he only make things and then leave them to themselves as some unnatural parents expose their children But takes care of and provides for every thing looks after them wears them in his thoughts
of honour set him above Angels principalities and powers and hath committed to his trust the Government of the world FROM THENCE To wit out of Heaven whither he ascended and where he now is Christ God Man at the last day in the end of the world riding upon the clouds shall shew himself and HE SHALL COME Attended with innumerable Angels and Saints with the voice of a Trumpet in a glorious manner to the joy of his servants and the terrour of his enemies TO JUDGE For all mankind shall be gathered together from the four quarters of the earth and we must all appear before the Iudgment-seat of Christ to give an account of our works Then shall the books be open'd and every man's conscience shall witness against him and that which hath bin done in secret shall be made known and the thoughts of the heart shall be discovered Then righteous sentence shall proceed from the Iudges mouth according to the Law and the Gospell Then shall be put a difference betwixt the good and bad the righteous and the wicked when God shall reward his servants with a Crown of Glory and destroy his enemies with an everlasting destruction endless torments There is a twofold coming of Christ Christ came first to be judged the second time he will come to judge THE QUICK Those who shall then be found alive who shall be suddenly changed in the twinckling of an eye and without death shall pass from death to life AND THE DEAD For the dead shall rise again as many as from the beginning of the world throughout all ages have lived upon the face of the earth and though they have been mouldered into dust or torn by wild beasts or buried in the waves of the Sea yet they shall take up the very same bodies again to which the soul may again be united God's power bringing this about and his justice so requiring it that every man may in his body reap the fruit of those things which he hath done in the body I BELIEV With the same Faith by which I believ the Father and the Son I believ also in the third Person of the holy and blessed Trinity Being verily perswaded that he is true God and the power of the most High depending upon his assistance and finding by experience that whatsoever good I either doe or have comes all from him IN THE SPIRIT He is therefore called Ghost or Spirit because he partly proceeds from the Father and the Son by way of breathing partly because he breaths into us good thoughts and holy desires wherefore it is added HOLY Seeing that he is not only Holy in himself with such holiness as far exceeds all other blessed Spirits both Angels Saints but also makes us holy by an effectual working of grace in our hearts He it is that applyes the benefits of Christ's death unto us and makes us partakers of the salvation which he hath purchased for us by his blood The holy Prophets and Apostles were the penmen of the Holy Ghost who wrote as they were inspired by him He gathers the Church by the Preaching of the word having furnisht the Apostles with the gifts of tongues provided a ministry and other holy ordinances for the propagation of the Gospell filling up the number of the elect and bringing souls to life THE CHURCH The company of believers whom God hath ordained to life before the foundation of the world was laid whom he hath called out of a state of sin to the profession of Faith in Christ and a holy conversation whom he also doth rule by his Word and Spirit HOLY Gathered and guided by the Holy Ghost distinguished from the rest of the world by holy appointments adorning their profession with holy works CATHOLICK or Vniversal in respect of time place and persons being to last through all ages of the world spread abroad over all quarters of the earth consisting of men of all ranks and conditions God having shut the gate of his Kingdom to none but such as wilfully refuse to enter Now the Holy Ghost bestows upon the Church which he gathers by the word and sanctifies by grace these Blessings which follow THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS Whereby the Saints who are the faithfull ones the chosen and the children of light are united to Christ as their head and amongst themselves as members of the same body the Church drawing virtue life and efficacy from Christ and performing to one another all offices of Charity as being knit together with a spirit of love and bond of peace THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS Which the spirit on our unfeined repentance assures us of by applying the merit of Christ and sprinkling our consciences from dead works with his blood which he powred forth to be a price of souls neither doth he onely seal to our hearts a pardon of former offences shewing us the favour of God reconciled in his Son but doth withall give us power to resist sin for the time to come cleansing us from every defilement of the flesh and spirit subduing our lusts changing our wils and renewing our natures according to righteousness THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY For in the last day when Christ shall come to judgement the trump shall sound and the dead shall arise with the very same bodyes that they had before and every one shall receive according to his works For as much as the wicked shall be thrown into Hell there to be tormented with the Divel with the worm which never dyes and the fire which is never quenched But the good shall enter into LIFE EVERLASTING Where they shall rest from their labours and enjoy God for ever living in abundance of joys and pleasures which neither eye hath seen nor ear hath heard nor can the heart of man conceiv And all these things I believ not onely with an Historical Faith but appropriate unto my self being fully perswaded that God made me by his power preserves me by his goodness and provides for me both in soul and body by his infinite wisdome And that the Son of God whatsoever he hath done or suffered he performed and underwent for my sake that I through him might live And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in me working in me Faith Repentance that I am a true member of the Church that my sins are forgiven me that I shall rise again and see my Redeemer with these eyes who shall out of his free bounty reward me his unworthiest servant with the Glory which shall have no end FINIS THE EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDEMENTS The Ten Commandements Exodus xx GOD spake all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth
the head this in the heart Again Faith is divided into Historical Temporal and Saving Faith The first the Divels have who believ and tremble The second is of hypocrites who believe for a time and fall off The last doth properly belong to the elect who are therefore called Believers and the faithfull who hold out to the end live by their Faith Now Faith is a full perswasion of mind and a sure confidence by which we depend upon him in whom we believ IN GOD. We are said to believ a God when we acknowledge that there is a God and he that is such an one as he hath discovered himself in his word and works to believ God when we are perswaded that his word is the very truth and that whatsoever he hath promis'd or threatned in holy Scripture shall surely come to pass to believ in God when we place all our hope and trust in his power and goodness who both will help those that trust in him because he is a Father and can because he is Almighty God is of an infinite nature which exceeds all bounds of time or place much less can be comprehended by our shallow understanding we cannot know but we must believ and this very Faith doth as much exceed reason as reason doth sense in evidence and certainty The Holy Trinity by which three Persons are one God and the Incarnation of the Word by which two Natures meet into one Person are high and deep mysteries not to be reached by the eye not to be fathom'd by the plummet of our reason but Faith takes the heighth with a Iacob's staff and humble Hope fastens her Anchor in the bottom of this depth and diffusive Charity embraceth the whole compass of Divine truth THE FATHER The Deity is distinguished into three Persons the Father the Son and Holy Ghost and these Three are One and the same God the Father begets the Son the Son is begotten of the Father the Holy Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son God is the Father also of all things for of him and to him and through him are all things ALMIGHTY Who can doe all things and doth whatsoever he pleaseth both in Heaven and in Earth neither is there any thing too hard for him for who hath resisted his will Yet God cannot lye call back yesterday or make the same thing to be and not to be at the same time for these are marks of extream impotence not omnipotence and God would not be God if he could doe them MAKER God's power is not idle Even before he made he decreed to make and his thoughts were busy about the work of creation from eternity He made not as workmen doe of stuff lying before them for he made all things of nothing nor with pains and weariness for he spake and they were made He did not only make the world and then leave it to it's self as Masons doe houses they build but he preserves and governs too and disposes all events to his own glory OF HEAVEN AND EARTH That is of the whole world whereof heaven and earth are the principal parts He spred out the earth as a floor and built up the wals and laid the roof of heaven he stored the elements with several creatures the heaven with stars as lamps hung out the aire with birds the water with fishes the earth with beasts He made heaven earth and all things therein contained in the space of six dayes but the chief of all his works were Angels the citizens of heaven and Men the inhabitants of the earth made after his own likeness and indued with understanding and excellent gifts But some of the Angels with Lucifer by reason of pride left their station and turned Divels All mankind fell in Adam by disobedience from a state of innocence and happiness into a state of sin and misery so that by nature we are the children of wrath but by grace become the children of God and that by means of the Son of God who became the Son of Man that he might save the children of men The second Article Here begins the part of the Creed concerning Christ the second Person Now Christ is considered either in his Person or in his State which is two-fold the state of Humiliation and the state of Exaltation And in Iesus Christ his onely begotten Son our Lord. The Person of Christ consists of two natures Divine and Humane for as soul and body make up man so God and man are one Christ. He is described here by his names titles The names are Iesus and Christ by which are noted his offices The titles which are given him that he is the only Son of God and our Lord shew partly his essence partly his dignity AND. He who believes the Father must also believ the Son for he who denieth the Son hath not the Father IN. It must be the same saith by which we believ Father and Son since both Father and Son are the same God I and the Father are one saith he and therefore as Ye believ in the Father believ also in me JESUS That is Saviour for he came into the world to save sinners that he might reconcile God and man and recover fallen man out of the state of sin and misery into a state of grace and glory He saves from sin and from the punishment due to sin and freeth us as well from the power as guilt of sin CHRIST Messias in Hebrew and Christ in Greek is all one as in Latin anointed Now three kinds of men were wont to be anointed that is to be consecrated to their office by powring oyl upon their heads to wit King Priest and Prophet Christ was anointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows that is extraordinarily furnisht with gifts of the holy Spirit Melchizedeck was King and Priest Samuel Priest and Prophet David Prophet and King Christ alone the thrice greatest King Priest and Prophet King by subduing our enemies the world the flesh and the Divel and ruling our hearts by his word and spirit Priest by offering up a perfect sacrifice for us satisfying divine justice for our sins and by blessing us by a perpetual intercession Prophet by revealing the will of the Father and discovering to us all things which belong to salvation HIS ONELY BEGOTTEN SON God hath many sons but Christ is the onely begotten God is stiled the Father of lights and the Father of spirits and the Angels are called the sons of God Magistrates children of the most High because they resemble him in power and dignity and all Godly men are by grace made the children of God Now there is a vast difference betwixt Christ and these All creatures by creation blessed spirits by imitation Princes and Rulers by institution Believers by adoption become God's children But Christ alone is his Son by eternall generation of
in his â—y supplyes their wants opens his hand and fils them with his goodness cherishes and maintains them And having built this goodly frame of heaven and earth doth with his everlasting armes what vain story sayes of Atlas support and uphold it or rather as his Vice-gerents are pictur'd with a Globe in one hand and a Scepter in the other grasps the whole world in his hand and dandles it in his lap as a tender hearted mother her playsom child Can he that implanted so tender an affection in all mothers dammes to their young ones himself be without large bowels of compassion full breasts of mercy and a tender bosom of love His goodness exceeds all comparison Though a mother should forget her child yet saith he I will not forget my people Providence is that great dug at which every creature hangs and draws its comfort by which all things are maintain'd whence are issued forth daily allowances and constant provisions dealt out For he commands blessing and deliverance Thou art my shepheard saith the Psalmist and I shall want nothing The Spirit of God saith the sacred Historian mov'd upon the face of the deep that Chaos and first matter out of which the several kinds of creatures were afterwards to be particularly produced A word proper to birds that sit upon their eggs brood them He flutter'd and sate upon it and kept it in a lively warmth and quicken'd that rude lump that he might out of that great confused ball wherein the seeds of things lay jumbled which therefore an ancient Philosopher call'd Natures Egg hatch a well order'd world And since God hath compar'd himself in one place to a broody eagle Christ in another himself to a hen the one teaching her young ones to fly and shift for themselves by carrying them on her back the other clucking her chickens with great pains scraping up their subsistence cherishing them under her wings and with all her might protecting them from rapine We may from these similitudes learn what a dear love and careful fear God hath for all his least they come to hurt God then may very well be styled a Father in this sense too that he hath not only as a Father given being to all things but as a Father of a family provides for al about him furnishing them with convenient accommodations and seasonable supplyes Nor is this all yet but he orders all things disposes chance overrules events to his own ends doing whatsoever he pleaseth both in heaven and earth even as Fathers order the affairs of their family or as magistrates who are the Fathers of their country manage the civil state making lawes and putting them in execution rewarding the obedient punishing the disobedient Indeed all government is naturally bottom'd upon this relation and grounded in a paternal authority the Father at first exercising all power even to life and death over those of his own family nor is a city or common-wealth any other then a more numerous family subject to the same ruler and govern'd by the same laws God then it is that gives order for every thing by whom and when and how it should be done Not a sparrow fals to the ground without his leave The whole series of second causes is but that golden chain the Poets fancied whose uppermost link is fasten'd to Iove's chair He is the Lord of Hoasts such as are the stars in their courses thunder lightning hail snow rain wind and storm fulfilling his word nay frogs and lice when he hath service for them will muster into armies and the locusts gather themselves into bands He knows best what will make for our good and his own glory and by his wise contrivance carry's things in that nature that they shall all work together for those ends He is in the world as a King in his Kingdom Where his word is there is power and who shall say to him what dost thou Angels are his attendants and menials the other creatures his utensils But men though they are term'd vessels too in his great house yet they are priviledg'd with a nearer relation to him They are his children for he is our Father OUR This word denotes a propriety and closer interest seeing he is not our Father alone in that general sense in that he made us not we our selves as he is styled the Father of rain and the Father of lights nor for the greater likeness we have to him more then our fellow creatures which is common to us with the Angels who are therefore call'd the Sons of God But by redemption also having purchas'd us by the Blood of his Son and made us a peculiar people to himself and having begotten us anew by the word and spirit and adopted us by grace that we who are by nature children of wrath might be made the children of God and to which of the Angels ever said he thus my Son Oh! what a condescension of love that God should suffer himself to be styled our Father who have corruption for our mother that Christ should become our brother whose sisters are the worms For if we be sons then are we heirs and if heirs then coheirs with Christ Oh infinite love and kindness unspeakable how dearly obliging an expression that our Saviour who is the only Son of God begotten of his substance should not permit but command us to call God our Father too my Father and your Father sayes he Now as Father is a word of authority and signifies love and care bespeaking from us a reciprocal love a filial reverence and obedience so Our is a note of indearment which should teach us charity which indeed the whole prayer breaths in all the parts of it Give us Forgive us and Deliver us bringing in all mankind to partake the benefit of our prayers And seeing it hath pleased God to own us for children and Christ to make us partners of his relation to become brethren it would very ill beseem the best of saints or greatest of men to disdain any of their fellow-brethren he they never so miserable never so wicked Since were there not a community of the same nature the sense of humanity the tyes of reason and religion and the laws of nations to bring us to some kind of unity and mutual affection God's love to us is an invincible argument why we should love one another WHICH ART And there is none beside thee For whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee Indeed the original doth not so express it making use of the article alone and leaving the verb to be understood which as 't is elliptical so 't is an emphatical kind of speaking He or The in Heaven which should note a superlative excellence above all others to whom the title of Father can belong the
Lord God the King of glory immortal infinite eternal the greatest the best in a word the Heavenly Father And this distinguishes him from the fathers of our flesh our earthly parents who are weak men dwelling in houses of clay of a limited life love whose breath is in their nostrils and when they return to the dust all their thoughts perish who cannot do for us as they would and sometimes will not do us that little good they can short-handed and narrow-hearted who if they supply our outward and bodily wants give us a handsome education and provide us a fashionable way of life they do as much as is expected more then can be requited but cannot bestow grace on us nor bless us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places And yet to these parents we are required next to God to pay our service and thanks to the utmost and shew all possible honour Nor did our Saviour who finds fault with the Pharisaical interpretation of that precept and the sorry evasion of the Corban mean to slacken that natural bond of affection and duty which is betwixt parents and their children when he bids us call no man Father upon earth But he speaks that comparatively to heighten our reverences dutyes to our heavenly Father that in comparison of him we should take no notice of our earthly relations nor think them worthy of our least respect as himself sayes elswhere He that hateth not father and mother c. that is doth not infinitely less love them then he doth me my wayes and my concernments he cannot be my disciple Wherefore how great an aw ought we to bring along with us before such a glorious presence what distance should we stand at what reverence should we bear to his name since he is in Heaven and we on earth what obedience should we have for his word with what humility should we come and fall down at his feet kneel before the Lord our Maker How should every one with the prodigal cry out Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son IN HEAVEN God is every where omnipresent fills all places Both lands and tracts of sea heaven high Whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there But he is said in a peculiar manner to be in heaven there he dwels in unapprochable light there he displayes his glory and scatters his goodness out of his treasures his sun and his rain thunder and lightning hail storm fulfilling his word There are the dreadful remarks of his presence and the brightest appearances of his Majesty which made the very heathens place their imaginary deityes in heaven that though they mistook in the object of their worship yet they hit right in the place where they were to seek God For heaven is his dwelling place but the earth hath he given to the children of men The word is in the Heavens not in these lower regions of the sky where the winds bluster and the clouds thicken where the sun and moon and stars observing their courses carry light about the world But in the third heaven in the Heaven of Heavens whence he is called Elion the Highest Poor short-sighted Pagans dazled with the glories of these luminaries which shine in the firmament and are but the servants of nature tapers which God has hung up in the vault and cover of the world directed their devotions no farther and so came short of the glory of God who dwelleth on high far above the very light of nature and the laws of change whereas things here below are subject to continual vicissitudes roll'd about with the wheel of chance alwayes flowing or ebbing the world it self being but a sea of glass there 's a perpetuity of good and a constant happiness which knows neither change nor end Besides it became the infinity of God which cannot be bounded or coop'd up with any term of locality to choose heaven for his mansion whose vast circumference and compass is of that wide extent that in the Natural Philosopher's opinion the whole globe of earth is but as a point to it and this clod in which men make such a quarter and bustle in persuit of their interest is a sorry ant-hillock in respect of that stately arch and spangled roof nay the nations are as the Prophet hath it as the small dust of the balance and a drop of a bucket Lastly the incorruptible God thought fit to set his seat on high far above the sphere of corruption to which all sublunary things are liable and advance himself to the greatest distance from earth the grounds and dregs of nature the bottom of the world the sediment and mother of things There he dwells in liquid and clear regions of glory and bliss the invisible God whose face no man can see and live attended by millions of Angels and blessed Saints departed this life yet is pleased to look down from on high on the children of men and have his ears open to their prayers when they call upon him Nor doth he only dwell in heaven and as with reverence I may say keep house there with his courtiers and domesticks about him but he sits there too as a Iudge The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens Heaven is his throne and earth is his foot stool And let things run never so much at random here on earth there is one in heaven to render to every one according to his works whose wrath as 't is unsufferable so his power is irresistible and his knowledge infallible He has girt the whole round of nature that there is no escaping him the whole world is his close prisoner and let wicked men use all their shifts though the mountains should fall upon them and the hills cover them yet God's hand shall find out his enemies and bring them to punishment For He is there as a spy too upon us he beholdeth us afar of and observes our carriage and takes notice of all our doings not an idle word scapes him nor is there a thought in the heart which he knows not long before His piercing eyes walk too and fro through the earth and his ey-lids try the children of men And this argument our Saviour uses where he perswades to secret good and sayes he thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly What care then should we have to our wayes to our words who are alwayes in sight in hearing of our heavenly Father with what reverence should we approach to his throne in what aw should we stand of his power How should we be struck flat to the ground like Paul at his conversion amazed and astonished with the considerations of a heavenly Majesty How should our hearts be set on fire with heavenly flames and the
desire of heavenly things How should we slight and trample upon earth and all earthly concernments in comparison of Heaven where our Father hath many mansions of glory and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore How should our appetites be flatted to the relish of all sensual contents when we think of those good things which the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation hath laid up for us in heaven What a mean esteem should we have for all the glittering vanities the paltry preferments deceivable riches the guilded hopes and pleasures as false as base of this lower world when we think of the glories and the joyes above How should these ravish our soules and make them impatient till they have weighed anchor and be with Christ How highly should we prize our spiritual birth-right and heavenly inheritance How should we now indeavour to have our conversation already in heaven How should we fear the displeasure of so great so good a Father more then hell How careful should we be of disparaging our high birth and heavenly calling by any indecency or foul miscarriage How should we strive to be like our Father which is in heaven holy as he is holy merciful as he is merciful perfect as he is perfect that we may be known by our conversation to be the children of God children of the highest the children of light to whon belongs the Kingdom of Heaven For 't is God's presence and favour makes heaven Heaven would not be heaven unless he were there Where ever grace is there 's heaven for God dwels there entertaining himself in an humble heart as much in the highest heavens To make short how should we admire him worship him fear him and love him and joy in him with a holy ecstasy of affections and heavenly reptures of devotion that have leave to use these words Our Father which art in Heaven This appellation with the other title of Father assures and makes up our confidence compleat For being our Father he will do us all the good he can and being in Heaven he can do what he will so that the goodness of a Father and the power of heaven stand ingaged for us as the two pillars of our hope and two sureties that all our petitions following will be granted and made good unto us Amongst which as 't was fit those which belong to his own glory have the first place and God having made all things for himself cannot be unmindfull of providing for that But he loves to be ask'd to do even what he means of himself to do that man's will may be brought into a compliance with God's and the execution of decrees become the return of prayers Thus he delights to oblige where he can force and that which he hath with an unchangeable purpose from all eternity resolv'd with himself makes it the product of his creatures will as if he had more kindness for the desires of men then for his own resolv's and would not perform his own eternal decrees unless man first consent and make it his request And indeed it is man's concernment that is driven throughout the prayer for 't is not for God's sake that we pray but for our own What advantage gets God by our prayers unless giving be getting His name is holy his Kingdom is everlasting and his will irresistible whether we pray or no. But we pray that all this may be order'd for our good and we are as much concern'd in this as in our daily bread God so ordering all the administrations of his providence and grace that his glory and man's salvation go hand in hand and that all things may work together as for his glory so for our good the good of those that love and fear his name HALLOWED BE THY NAME The name is the first thing we enquire after about any thing we desire to know as Moses when he talked with God at his first appearance to him told him the Israelites would ask him who sent him and what was his name There hath alwayes been taken great care for the imposition of names that they might be suitable and proper to the nature of things For things are distinguished and known from one another by their names Wherefore God himself named the greater pieces of his work which being of vast unruly bulk were to be under his own immediate government as Heaven and Earth and the Sea and 't is said he calls the stars all by their names c. But those creatures which he meant to put under mans feet he brought to him to name The like care hath been constantly taken by parents and others in providing fit names for their children that families and persons may be sufficiently distinguished for which purpose the day on which the child was circumcised amongst the Iews which was the eighth day from his birth and about the same time among the heathens but amongst us Christians at the baptisme this solemnity of naming the child is perform'd a thing of such concernment that it hath been delivered sometimes by the message of Angels other while by miracle And that was a signal token in the prophecie wherein he calls his anointed Cyrus by name four hundred years before he was in being 'T is a nice consideration but there may be something in it and of more then ordinary consequence that God should take such care about names that he should think fit to give and change them either in favour or displeasure as in the instance of Abraham Conjah Peter c. and that he is said to write the names of his elect in the book of life and to give them a new name and to blot out the names of the wicked and to threaten that their names i.e. their memory shall perish Let them take heed that forbear to Christen their children and give them names least they design their childrens ruin God finding no names they have in the church-roll to copy into his book Is not he rightly named Iacob saith Esau for he hath supplanted me this twice And Nabal was as very a churl as his name gave him for and very many scripture-names are thus signicant And Melchizedeck whose true name if 't were Shem was Name according to the signification of the Hebrew word denotes as the Apostle explains it the character of the person King of righteousness who was also King of Salem that is King of peace God out of a familiar love to mankind is pleased to dress himself as 't were and set forth his nature by those wayes which are usual amongst men and therefore hath made himself a name Now the name of God is any thing by which God hath made himself known and hath in the Scripture-language several acceptions For sometimes the name is taken for the person himself whose name it is as in reckoning so many names And so we say of God to call upon the name of the Lord i.e.
the same nature and essence with the Father begotten of his substance before all time God of God Light of Light very God of very God equal to him in all things as to the God-head Christ as the Son of God had no Mother as the Son of the Virgin no Father who became Man that he might in the flesh satisfy for the sins of the flesh yet continued God that he might appeas the anger of an offended God Man that he might suffer death God that he might overcome it God and Man that he might be a perfect Mediator and might reconcile God to Man by atoning wrath and man to God by destroying sin wherefore he took up humane nature put not of the divine But these two natures were united and as it were married in the one Person of Christ. OUR LORD In respect of God Christ is called the Son which shews his essence in respect of us a Lord which shews his dignitie Now he is our Lord both by right of creation because he made us and by right of redemption because he hath bought us with a price and purchased us with his blood to be a peculiar people We are no longer then our own that we should fulfill the lusts of the flesh But we are Christ's the Lord's to doe his Will and keep his Commands The several Steps by which Christ humbled himself and Divine Love moved towards us are his Conception Birth Passion Crucifixion Death Burial and Descent to Hell The infinite is conceiv'd the everlasting is born the Blessed suffers the King of Heaven is nailed to a Cross the immortal dyes the Immense is buried and the King of Glory goes down to Hell What strange contradictions have our sins put the Son of God upon who to procure our Salvation denyed himself and put on the form of a servant Which was conceived of the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary CONCEIVED That is cloathed with flesh formed and fashioned into bodily parts indued with sense motion and a reasonable soul inlivened cherished produced preserved increased and in one word made man Humane nature being taken up and joyn'd to the Divine OF THE HOLY GHOST Not begotten of his substance for then the third Person should be Father too which is contrary to Faith but by the operation of the holy Spirit the power of the Highest overshadowing her the Virgin without the help of man conceived which is a miracle foretold by the Prophets and fulfill'd in our Messias Behold a Virgin shall conceiv and bring forth a Son now the holy Ghost did separate that most pure mass of flesh blood of which the Body of Christ was to be formed from all corruption of our nature and the stain of sin to which all other the Virgin her self not excepted are lyable who are born after the ordinary way of generation Behold saith David a man after God's own heart I was conceived in sin and in iniquity hath my mother brought me forth Moreover 't was necessary that he should be born without sin who came to die for other's sins and the Lamb of God which was to take away the sins of the world should himself be spotless He could not have been our surety had he been himself a debtour nor satisfied justice for us could the law have charged him with any guilt of his own BORN Having taken upon him a true body being in all things made like unto us sin only excepted flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone that he might truely become the Son of Man he observed the lawes and customs of humane nature and after he had continued in the womb the usual time he was at length brought forth into light laid in a manger wrap't in swadling cloaths and attended by the Virgin and bred up passed his child hood in performing obedience to his parents and grew in stature and wisdome OF THE VIRGIN It became God thus to be born not without a miracle Our Faith is full of miracles a Three-One God a God-Man Christ a Virgin-Mother Mary A Virgin she was before her delivery in her delivery and after her delivery for they who are called the brethren of the Lord are after the manner of the Hebrew speech to be understood as Kinsmen She was indeed espoused to Ioseph but she knew no man Her Virginitie dignifies a single life her betrothing justifies the married state It pleased God to choose a woman without the help of man in the business of our salvation for the honour and comfort of that sex that as by the disobedience of the first woman mankind fell so it might be recovered by the birth of the Virgin and Mary might make amends for the miscarriage of Eve MARY For the greater certainty the name of the Royal Maid is expressed she being of the tribe of Iudah of the linage of David the King according to the Prophecies concerning the Messias Yet the Mother of the Lord this Blessed Virgin was very poor to shew that Christ's Kingdom was not of this world and in this were the blind Jewes offended that they looked for outward pomp the glory of an earthly crown little heeding the foretellings of the Prophets wherein Christ is described a man of sorrows to suffer all the punishment due to our sins to wit death and all the miseries of an afflicted life Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried We pass immediately from his birth to his Passion for indeed his whole life from his cradle to the Cross was nothing else but a continual passion being spent in hunger thirst fasting watching and travelling grief reproach and shame and he was therefore sent into the world that he might die and to this end God prepared him a body that he might lay down his life for His. SUFFERED Having undertook our cause he satisfied divine Iustice by undergoing those penalties which God in his word hath threatned to the transgressors of the law He was by the sentence of an earthly Iudge condemned to death that we might be acquitted before the heavenly Father UNDER PONTIUS PILATE In that time wherein Pontius Pilate was Governour of Iudea being set over that Nation by the Roman Emperour when was fulfilled that Prophecie which foretold the coming of the Messias should be when the Scepter was departed from Iudah that is when the Iews should be subject to a forreign power having lost their own government CRUCIFIED Christ being betraid by Iudas forsaken of his disciples apprehended as a malefactor is brought to the judgement hall and having been spit upon and mocked by the souldiers accused by the Priests with the charge of blasphemy persecuted with the hatred of the people crying Crucifie him Crucifie him scourged with whips crowned with thorns and besprinkled with large showers of his innocent blood is at last by Pilate delivered up to the will malice of his enemies who nailing his blessed hands stretched wide open to the Cross
beam and his holy feet closed together to the upright beam of the Cross exposed him naked to publick shame being hung betwixt two theevs in a place without the city at the Feast of Passeover and when he had given up the ghost with many pains and groans a souldier pierced his side with a launce that that saying might have place they shall look on him whom they have pierced DEAD By the separation of soul and body for his body remain'd upon the Cross and his soul return'd immediately to God as himself told the penitent theef This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise He was not born after an ordinary manner neither dyed he a common death for as much as beside the extream pain he suffered whilest he hung with the weight of his body upon the Cross and the great shame to which he lay open he lay under a curse the Law pronouncing him cursed that hangs upon the tree AND BURIED Taken down from the Cross embalm'd with spices wrapped up in fine linnen and laid in a tomb where none had lay'n before by the care and cost of Ioseph of Arimathea And the malice of his enemies persued him beyond death and attended him to his very grave who that he might not rise again as himself had promised rolled a great stone to the mouth of the tomb and clapping on their own seals set a guard to watch him HE DESCENDED INTO HELL That is he went down into the lower-most parts of the earth and for the space of three dayes remain'd in the grave amongst the dead Or as some expound it he suffered the pains of Hell and the wrath of God due to our sins and underwent the curse of the law and terrours of conscience to which we were lyable Others take the words as they sound of the place that he did coveigh himself into the regions of darkness and discovered to the divels and to the wicked spirits the glory of his presence and routing the powers of Hell leading captivity captive and trampling Satan that old serpent the enemy of mankind under his victorious feet according to the first Prophesie of Christ The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head And in this sense this article is the beginning of Christ's exaltation The other degrees are his Resurrection his Ascension his Sitting at the right hand of God the Father and his Coming to judgement THE THIRD DAY After that he had lain three dayes in the grave as Ionas who ws the type of the Son of Man continued three days in the whale's belly It being observ'd that on the fourth day the body begins to corrupt which was not to happen to Christ David thus speaking concerning him My flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption Wherefore early in the morning on the third day which was for that reason appointed the Christian Sabbath HE ROSE AGAIN Partly raising himself by his own virtue and divine power as himself saith I lay down my life that I may take it up again I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again Partly being raised by God the Father who when his Iustice was fully satisfied released Christ out of the prison of the grave and to that purpose sent his Angels to roll away the stone death having now no more dominion over him who having finisht the work of our redemption rose again for our justification FROM THE DEAD He return'd to life appeared to his Disciples and others several times shewed the wounds which he had received on the Cross and made Thomas who was hard of belief to feel his side that he might know it was a true body And having for fourty dayes together conversed upon earth and given orders to the Apostles how they should goe into all the world and preach the Gospell and plant churches promising them the assistance of the spirit he took his leave of them in this manner as followeth HE ASCENDED In the sight of his Apostles from the top of mount Olivet where he had bin formerly used to spend much of his time in holy retirements and spiritual exercises he lifted up himself from the ground and so mounting upward through the aire was received by a cloud and to the wonder of them all carried aloft out of sight two Angels telling them as they stood gazing that as they had seen him goe away so he should come again INTO HEAVEN The seat of the blessed where God sits on his Throne attended by millions of Angels far above the sphear of the stars the sky to wit the highest heaven For having dispatched the business for which he came down on earth he return'd to the Father by whom he had bin sent to intercede with him in our behalf and make out to us thence the benefit of all those things which he had done and suffer'd for us here And having conquer'd sin and death and broken the power of Hell what remains but that he should as in triumph ride upon the wings of the wind ascend to Heaven as the prize of his glorious conquest AND SITTETH To note that he hath fully accomplished the work of our Salvation he is said at last to sit down that he may as it were rest from his labours For the servant stands or goes whilest he is employ'd and sits not down till his work be done Now Christ put on the form of a servant and came as he saith of himself to wait not to be waited on That he sits also is a token of that authority which the Father hath given him having delivered unto him all power both in heaven and in earth and put all things under his feet So God sits in Heaven to order all things at his pleasure Again to sit sometimes signifies stay he sits there not to return before the end of the world Lastly by this word is expressed the blessed and glorious condition of the Saints in the life to come who shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore to shew the greatness of the dignitie to which Christ according to his humane nature is advanced is added At the right hand of God the Father Almighty The right hand usually expresseth strength and honour power and glory besides to give the right hand is a sign of fellowship and friendship wherefore God calls him the man my fellow Now to speak properly God hath no right hand or left nor any bodily parts but that he may apply himself to our capacities he doth use to speak of himself after the manner of men Becuse earthly Princes are wont to place those at their right hand whom they favour and would shew a particular honour as Solomon entertained his mother The meaning is that God hath raised him to the highest pitch
administer and receive the blessed Sacraments who have had no regard to the Feasts and Fasts other ancient usages of the Church but have set aside dayes of our own and have fasted for strife and given thanks for blood who doe not take care that we and our houses may serve the Lord nor make any account of this sacred time who spend the day in sloth and riot and vain sports and do not sanctifie it and keep it holy to the Lord who doe not improve the blessing of the Sabbath to the advantages of a holy life but continue still in gross ignorance and profaneness so that we may very well use the Churches Prayer Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The fifth Commandement This is the hinge of the two Tables the main joynt of the whole Law concerns the Magistrate who is God's Vicegerent ou earth and the keeper of both the Tables wherefore some assign it a place in the first Table God having a special care of civil order and peace in the societyes of men has therefore set this Commandement concerning the obedience to superiours by which peace and good order are preserv'd immediately after those of his own worship and in like manner back'd it with a reason whereas all the rest which follow are set down barely in way of Commands without the addition of any promise or threat So then this Command is made up of two parts the Precept it self and the Reason of the Precept the Precept shews the duty Honour and its object thy Father and Mother The Reason is a promise of long life and therefore the Apostle hath call'd it The first Commandement with a promise for the Third contains a threat and that of the Second is more threat then promise That thy dayes may be long on the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee HONOUR This shews a different degree and condition amongst men and God's Law maintains the distinction In all societyes there are some superiours some inferiours The Law is not for levelling Honour would not be a duty if all were equal Now Honour implyes respect and obedience subjection and service THY FATHER AND MOTHER whether thy natural parents or civil Magistrate or spiritual governour or whatsoever superiour which are all by a usual propriety of the Hebrew language styled Fathers Father having been the first dignity of the world and all rule and government whatsoever founded on the right of paternal Authority which aggravates an offence done to a superiour makes the offender as ungracious as one that dishonours his father Here are meant then all manner of persons in relation Parents and Children Magistrates and Subjects Ministers People Master Scholar Husband wife Master and Servants old young noble and base rich and poor c. Nor so onely but here is included also by the rule of contraryes the duty of superiours to their inferiours that they be kindly affected to them rule them in God's fear according to righteousness and faithfully mind the dutyes of their place Now the duty of Inferiors is only mention'd because they are the more likely to fail in their duty their neglect is of worse consequence Disobedience dissolving unloosening order and peace which are the bands of society whereas oppression does but strain and gird the tyes of government too close No Tyranny of the most wicked Prince can be so mischievous and destructive to the publick as the Rebellion of Subjects let them pretend never so much religion for it The great Interest of society is to obey since the resisting of a lawfull governour will in the end destroy government it self and bring all things into confusion THAT THY DAYES MAY BE LONG Long life is the promised reward of obedience but the disobedient shall not live out half their time but shall be cut off by some untimely death and by their seditious actings and wilfull oppositions forfeit their lives to the Law The Hebrew word may be rendred that they i.e. thy Father and Mother may prolong or lengthen thy dayes as if the parent's blessing could instate a dutyfull child into a long life This is sure that parents at first and afterwards civil Magistrates had power of life and death in their familyes and within their own territories and so might justly by Capital punishment shorten the lives of the disobedient UPON THE LAND WHICH THE LORD THY GOD GIVETH THEE Here is meant the Land of promise which the Israelites were now going to possess wherefore the Septuagint call it the good Land Which word is now wanting in the Hebrew copy though possibly express'd at first for taking that word in there are all the Letters of the Alphabet to be found in the Decalogue without it there will be one wanting And if Moses was the first Inventor of the Hebrew Letters as some think and it is probable he being the most ancient writer 't is as probable that there was a Specimen essay of them given in the Commandements the only speech which God hath by his own mouth utter'd This part belongs most properly to the Israelites wherefore 't is added that the Lord thy God gives thee but may be extended to us all And here are two or three notes in 't upon the Land that notes that the loyal and faithful shall not be turn'd out of his possessions live an exil'd life in forreign countryes but prolong his dayes and live in peace at home whereas rebels and traytors forfeit their estates and loose their fortunes by seeking unjustly to greaten them The Land or the good Land the Land of Canaan notes the Land of thy forefathers of ancient inheritance and a Land abounding with all conveniences of life to shew that obedience shall possess the ancient demeans of the family live in plenty when the rebellious shall seek their bread in a strange Land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee notes God's particular bounty to the obedient and that what they injoy comes with a blessing and is the fruit of a promise 't is as if he should have said obey thy Father and Mother and they shall give thee life and I will give thee Land In Deuteronomie are inserted these words That it may be well with thee and that thy dayes may be long for otherwise a long life spent in toil and hardship exercis'd with want and misery is a Curse rather then a Blessing and indeed the word which here signifyes the lengthning of dayes has also a signification of health for life of it self is not pleasant but a burden rather unless it be attended with those enjoyments blessings which make it comfortable as Health Peace Plenty Prosperity c. And such a life it is that is here promis'd as the reward of obedience But it seems in the ordinary oeconomy of Providence to fall out otherwise many times when the dutyfull child is caught away