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
him And therefore howsoever thou mayest be advanced in Wealth or Honour or parts above others yet still remember that they are thy Brethren as they partake of the same common Nature and much more if they partake of the same special Grace Yea Christ himself who is the Lord of all is not ashamed to call them Brethren Heb. 2.11 And shalt thou who art but an Adopted Son no otherwise than the meanest Saint be ashamed of the Relation especially considering there is no Eldership nor right of First-born in the Family for they are all First-born all Kings and Heirs with Christ Jesus himself Secondly If thou art mean and low in the World this should teach thee to be well content with thy present State and Condition for God is thy Father and a Father to thee equally with the greatest There is not the highest person upon Earth but if he belong to God prefers that Relation above all his other Titles If he can write Prince King or Emperour and can afterwards subjoin a Child of God all his other Titles stand but for a Cypher with him This O Christian how mean how despised soever thou art this is thy Priviledge and a Priviledge it is that equals thee with David with Solomon and with all the great ones of the Earth that ever laid down their Diadems and Scepters at the feet of God What says the Apostle Gal. 3.28 There is neither bond nor free but all are one in Christ Jesus Thirdly Since when we Pray we must say Our Father this teacheth us to interest one another in our Prayers Our Father would not have us selfish so much as in our Prayers but in the very entrance into them we are put in mind of the Communion of Saints to beg those Blessings for all that belong to God which we ask for our selves for as Christ hath made us all Kings so he hath made all Priests to God and his Father Now the Office of a Priest is Intercession And therefore when we go to God we should bear upon our Breasts the Name of our Brethren and present them before God through the Intercession and Mediation of Jesus Christ our Great High-Priest that both we and they may be accepted of God And this we ought to do both in publick and private It is true in our secret Prayers we may pray particularly for our selves and we have frequent instances for it in Scripture yet ought we in every Prayer that we make to God to be mindful of the State and Condition of our Brethren Yea and it is very Lawful and Commendable even in secret between God and our own Souls in those cases that are common to us with the rest of God's Saints and People to joyn them in our Prayers and although we are all alone yet to say Our Father For we find Daniel praying Dan. 9.17 O Our God when yet he was in secret O Our God hear the Prayer of thy Servant And this is to shew that near and entire Communion which ought to be between all the Saints praying with and praying for all the Members of the Body of Jesus Christ and esteeming their Interest as our own Fourthly This shews us likewise the high Priviledge of the Children of God that they have a Stock of Prayers going to Heaven for them from all their fellow Saints throughout the World yea from those whom they never knew whom they never heard of yet are they continually appearing before the Throne of Grace on their behalf And thou who wouldst think it a great Favour if thou wert interested in the Prayers of some who are mighty in Prayer and whom thou hast begged to recommend thy Condition to God mayest here have abundant Comfort in that thou art nearly concerned and interested in all the Prayers that are put up to God throughout the whole World by all those that are most prevalent at the Throne of Grace yea which is more thou hast an interest in all the Prayers that have ever been preferred to Heaven by all the Saints from the beginning of the World unto this very day for not only this present Church but the Church in all Ages is the Body of Christ and every Member of it imitates the Pattern of Christ's Intercession John 17.20 Neither Pray I for these alone but for all those that shall believe in me The difference is that Christ's Intercession was Authoritative theirs only Charitative And thus much shall suffice to be spoken concerning God's Goodness and Mercy expressed in those Words Our Father The next expression sets forth his Glory and Greatness Which art in Heaven But is not God every where present Doth he not fill Heaven and Earth and all things Yea is it not said that the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him How then are our Prayers to be directed to God in Heaven only since he is as well on Earth as in Heaven And were he only in Heaven and not every where present on Earth it would be in vain for us to pray because our Prayers could never reach his Ears nor arrive to his notice I Answer It is true God is every where present and all that we think we think in him and all that we speak we speak unto him he understands the silent motion of our Lips when we whisper a Prayer to him in our Closets yea the secret motions of our Hearts when we only think a Prayer Therefore when our Saviour bids us direct our Prayers to our Father in Heaven this doth not imply that God is no where present or that he no where hears Prayer but only in Heaven But this expression is used First Because Heaven is the most Glorious Place of God's residence where he hath more especially established his Throne of Grace and there sits upon it Now because it is a most Glorious and Majestical thing to hear the Suits and receive the Petitions that are tendred to him therefore the Scripture ascribes it to the most Glorious and Majestical Place and that is to Heaven And therefore we are commanded to pray to our Father which is in Heaven to keep alive a due sense of his Majesty upon our Hearts He would not have us think it a mean and trivial thing to have our Prayers heard and therefore he represents himself to us arayed in all his Glory and sitting upon his Throne in the highest Heavens willing to be thought a God never more Glorious than when he is a God hearing Prayer Secondly Our Prayers are directed to our Father in Heaven because though he hears them wheresoever they are uttered yet he no where hears them with acceptance but only in Heaven and the Reason is because our Prayers are acceptable only as they are presented before God through the Intercession of Christ Now Christ performs his Mediatory Office only in Heaven for he performs it in both Natures as he is God and Man and so he is only in Heaven And therefore we are still concerned to pray
a Discerner of the Thoughts and intents of the Heart doth strictly prohibit and condemn these callow unfledg'd motions of our Hearts to be Concupiscence the sad effects of Original sin and the fruitful cause of all actual And therefore if we would be delivered from evil we have very great cause first to pray that we be not led into Temptation For some Temptations do almost so inseparably follow one upon another that this will be our best security against those secret desires and wouldings and first smatterings and rudiments of wickedness which else the compliance of our corrupt hearts with Satan's Temptations will certainly betray us unto Hence it is that when God in Scripture frequently dehorts us from sin he extends the prohibition to all Temptations and Occasions of sinning Yea those things which in themselves considered may be lawfully and innocently done by us yet because they may prove Snares and Temptations to us we must as carefully refrain from them as we earnestly desire to keep our selves far from sin And therefore it sufficeth not the Wise Man to command If sinners entice consent thou not Prov. 1.10 but that thou mayest be sure not to consent thou must order thy Actions and Converse so as that thou mayest not be enticed by them in the 15. verse says he Walk not thou in the way with them refrain thy feet from their path And so we have the same Counsel given us by him in another Chapter that we may not be inveagled by the allurements of a strange Woman be sure to avoid all occasions thereof Prov. 5.8 Remove thy way far from her come not near the door of her House And again Prov. 4.14 15. Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil Men avoid it pass not by it turn from it pass away Here is earnestness even to a tautology as some may prophanely think but Sacred Writ can admit of no such thing But there are so many expressions heaped up signifying the same thing only to denote how great the necessity of avoiding Temptations and Occasions to evil is to those who desire to avoid the sin We have treacherous and deceitful hearts within us that have often betrayed us when we have trusted them And I beseech you call to mind when you have emboldned your selves to venture upon Temptations and sinful Occasions being confident and fully resolved not to yield to them Have you not often been surprized and led away Captive contrary to your Hopes contrary to your Intentions contrary to your Resolutions contrary to the vain Confidences with which you were before possess'd Methinks former experience should make you cautious never again to trust those hearts with such opportunities and advantages for wickedness since they have been so often already treacherous and deceitful to us Venture them not therefore upon Temptations for what security have you that a sinful heart will not sin yea and betray you to commit those great abominations which possibly you cannot now think of without horrour and shivering And thus much I thought fit to note to you from the connexion of this part of the Petition with the former Lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil. In the words themselves we have two things chiefly considerable The thing that we pray against and the Person to whom we pray That which we pray against is Evil that we may be delivered from it The Person to whom we pray is God our Heavenly Father That which we pray against is Evil. Some limit this word Evil only unto Satan making the sence to be deliver us from the Evil one founding this Interpretation upon that Article that is joyned with the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but this is not always descretive but sometimes indefinite as for instance Matth. 12.35 and many other places And therefore considering the Comprehensiveness of this Prayer we ought to allow the Word a large extent and to comprehend under it First Satan whose proper Style and Epithete it is to be called the Evil one and so we find this black Title given him in Scripture Matth. 13.19 The wicked one cometh and snatcheth away that which was sown And 1 John 2.13 19. You have overcome the wicked one He is the wicked one eminently and singularly He is the chief Author of Evil his Temptations are all unto Evil his delight is only in Evil he is the Father of all those that do Evil. And therefore this is the most proper and significant Character of the Devil But yet it is also ascribed unto Men according to their resemblance of him Secondly All other Evils are here meant whether they be of sin or sorrow whether they be Transgressions or Punishments and that either Temporal punishments in those Judgments which God inflicts upon sinners here or Eternal Judgments such as he hath threatned to inflict upon them hereafter From all these we pray to be delivered but the greatest of all these is Sin For First It is greatest in the Nature of it as being the only thing that is contrary to the greatest Good even God for in all other things else in the World there is something of Good even as much as derived and participated of God And so the very Devils themselves have a Metaphysical Goodness in them as they are Creatures and have received their Beings and Powers from God who is the Author of nothing that is Evil. But Sin hath not the least ray or footsteps of Goodness in it but is only defect and irregularity And that alone which as his Soul always hates so his Hands never made Secondly It is the greatest Evil in the Effects and Consequences of it It once turn'd Glorious Angels into hideous Devils and tumbled them down from Heaven to Hell filled the World with Woes and Plagues brought Death and Diseases and a vast and endless sum of Miseries into it it torments and terrifies the Conscience kindles Hell-flames exposes the Soul to the eternal and direful revenges of the great God and is so perfectly and only Evil that the worst of things here were they free from the Contagion of Sin would be excellent and amiable To pray therefore against the Evil of Sin is to pray against all other Evils whatsoever for the Devil the Evil One cannot hurt us but by Sin And no other Evil can befall us but for Sin God inflicting them as the due Guerdon and Reward of our Transgressions Sin therefore being the chief and Principal Evil and all others but retainers to it I shall at present speak only of God's delivering us from Sin Now as there are Two things in Sin which make it so exceeding Evil the Guilt of it whereby it Damns and the Filth of it whereby it Pollutes the Soul so God hath Two ways to deliver us from it First By removing the Guilt already contracted which he doth in justifying and pardoning the Sinner Secondly By preventing us from falling
Honour thy Glory lies bleeding and suffers through the Sins of Men Why commit thy care to God He will certainly so weild their Lusts as that they shall bring about and effect his own ends God is glorifying himself even by these things and why then should we be troubled This thought kept alive on our hearts would cause us to rest satisfied amidst all the tumults we observe and hear of in the World For though we know not how to unwind these ravelled dispensations to the bottom of his Glory yet he can and will There is an invisible and wise hand that moulds and fashions all and though the parts by themselves may appear rude and unpolish'd yet put the whole frame and series of Providence together and that will appear most admirable and glorious Now to the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God Father Son and Holy Ghost be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen The End of the first Sermon A Discourse concerning the use of the Holy Scriptures Colossians III. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all Wisdom THis Epistle if any other is a rich mine of Heavenly Treasure and abounds both in the discovery of Gospel Mysteries and the injunction of Christian Duties It is furnisht throughout with that which may either instruct us in Knowledge or direct us in Practice And the Apostle having already laid down many Excellent things in order to both these and seeing it would be an endless task to discourse unto them all the Truths or exhort them to all the Duties of Religion in particular he therefore speaks compendiously in the words of my Text and referrs them to the perfect Systeme in which is contained an account of what a Christian ought to know or do and that is the Holy Scriptures Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly The words of this Exhortation are very full and laden with weighty Sence We may resolve them into two parts First Here is the Nature and Substance of the Exhortation which is to a diligent Study and plentifull knowledge of the Holy Scriptures Secondly The manner how we ought to be Conversant in them So that it may dwell in us richly in all Wisdom In the former we may take notice that the Scripture is called the word of Christ and that upon a double account both because he is the Author that composed it and likewise he is the subject matter of which it principally treats Now though in both these respects the Scriptures of the New Testament be more especially the word of Christ yet also may the Scriptures of the Old Testament as truly and properly go under his Name For First He is the Author of them all He may well write this Title upon our Bibles The Works of Jesus Christ All the Prophets before his Incarnation were but his Amanuenses and wrote only what he by his Spirit dictated to them 2 Pet. 1.21 Prophecy came not in old time by the will of Man but holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and certainly the Holy Ghost inspired them by Christ's Authority and Commission and what he declared he took from him and shewed it unto them John 16.14 15. He shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you Secondly Christ also is the principal subject and matter of the whole Scripture The sending Christ a Saviour into the World is that great Business which hath employed the Counsel of the Father the Admiration and Ministration of Angels the Tongues and Pens of Prophets Apostles and holy Men of all Ages before the Scriptures were Written when Revelation or Tradition were yet the only positive Rules for Faith and Practice The Patriarchs saw him by these Abraham saw my day and was glad Joh. 8.56 Afterwards the People of the Jews saw him by Types Promises and Prophecies recorded in the Scriptures He was that Excellent Theme that hath filled up many Chapters of the Old Testament as the first draught of a Picture represents the features and proportion of the Person but afterwards is added the complexion and life to it So is it here the Pens of the Prophets drew the first Lineaments and Proportion of Christ in the Old Testament and the Pens of the Apostles and Evangelists have added the Life and Sweetness to it in the New Yea Christ is so truly described in the Old Testament by his Life by his Death by all the greater Remarks of either that in his Contest with the Jews he appeals thither for a Testimony John 5.39 Search the Scriptures for they are they which testifie of me And St. Peter Acts 3.24 Affirms That all the Prophets as many as have spoken have foretold of these days And Acts 10.43 To him give all the Prophets Witness Christ who is the true Expositor being himself the true Author makes them all speak his Sence Luke 24.27 Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the sayings concerning himself So that St. Chrysostom's Observation holds true that the Gospel was in the World before Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It took root in the writings of the Prophets but flowed forth in the preaching of the Apostles so that in both these respects the Holy Scripture may well be called the Word of Christ of Christ as the Author and as the Subject of it And in both these lies coucht a very cogent Argument that may inforce this exhortation of the Apostle and excite them to a diligent study of the Scriptures For First Is Christ the Author of them and shall we not with all care and diligence peruse these Books which he hath Composed The writings of Men are valued according to the Abilities of their Authors If they be of approved Integrity profound Knowledge solid Judgment their works are Esteemed and Studied And shall we not be much more Conversant in these which are set forth by the Author who is truth it self and the essential wisdom of the Father These that were dictated by the imediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost and writ as it were with a Quill of the Heavenly Dove Secondly Christ is the subject of the Scriptures And what is all other Learning and Knowledge but beggarly Elements if compared with this Here we have the Cabinet of God's Counsels unlockt the Eternal purposes of his Grace in sending his Son into the World publickly declared Here we have the Stupendous History of God's becoming Man of all the Miracles this God-man did upon Earth of all the Cruelties he Suffered Here we have the Description of his Victory in his Resurrection of his Triumph in his Ascention of his Glory in his Session at the right hand of the Majesty on High Surely great is the Mystery of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory as the Apostle with admiration recounts it