some to command and some to obey some to governe and some to be in subjection their commandement and authority he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our obedience and subordination hee calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13. And in that same place hee threateneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him that opposeth himselfe to that ordination Thirdly God hath ordained a just and beseeming order in his Church in times places persons and proceedings In times a Sabbath is appointed for his service In places hee hath appointed his Church to bee the place wherein his name shall be called on In persons some must teach some must observe and correct and some must collect and distribute almes In the proceedings also of the Church there must bee order for admonition must goe before censure and smaller censures before the greater according to that which is written Let all things be done with order and decencie 1. Cor. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fourthly there is order also in our severall families for there hee placed the husband and the wife the parent and the children the master and the servant and all to this end that they who are in authority may command and they who are subordinate may obey Finally in every mans private carriage there is an order to bee kept that wee walke not inordinately as busie bodies every man talking and pratling of his neighbours charge with the neglect and contemptible forgetfulnesse of his owne these the Apostle 2. Thess 3 calleth Busie bodies and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are two things also which I had almost forgot in which order is to be found looke to the grave yea and to hell it selfe to the grave for wee shall rise in our order 1. Cor. 15. The dead in Christ shall rise first To hell for there is a Beelzebub the prince of devils Now if in all things it hath pleased God to establish an order in the heavens in the elementary spheares in common wealths and civill societies of men in the Church communion of his Saints in our private families in our private charges and conversasions in our graves and in hell it selfe O how carefull should man be to submit himselfe to order in this life not onely in things temporall but also in things spirituall remembring in all our supplications which wee present to God First the duty wee owe to God himselfe Secondly the duty we owe to our own soules Thirdly the duty wee owe to our fellow-brethren as mutuall members with us in the mysticall body of Jesus Christ and what better order can bee given and followed for the rule of thy life then first in all things and above all things to looke unto God from him to reflect thy contemplation upon thy owne soule as the seat of his Image and from thy owne soule to cast a ray and beame of commiseration on thy brother and his necessities knowing assuredly that though in the matter of reckoning rationis reddendi every man must beare his owne burthen yet in the matter of compassion Infirmitatis tolerandae every one of us is borne and bound to beare one anothers burthen and to commiserate not onely their temporall but also their spirituall necessities as well as our owne for hee that wants the sympathy and fellow-feeling of a member of the body declares himselfe not to be of the body But thou wilt say unto me shal a man pray for that which hee beleeves doe we not acknowledg and confesse in our beleefe the forgivenesse of our sinnes why do wee then pray for that which wee doe beleeve I answer I doe not doubt but according to the Articles of our Creed God hath pardoned and forgiven mee my sinnes and my fellow brethren their sinnes yet will I pray daily hourely for their further pardon whereby I may feele engraven in my heart the assurance of that pardon for as every particular sinne weakeneth the particular assurance of our pardon so is it well done on our part by renewed reiterated supplications to renew and reiterate our confidence and assurance of mercy not that I thinke in any case the eternall and immutable pardon of God given us from eternity in the blood of Jesus can ever bee fully or finally lost or inverted no no the gifts and callings of God are without change or alteration but because the frequencie of our sinnes doe weaken our confidence and hope of pardon therefore it is requisite that by the reiteration of our prayers wee may strengthen and renew our hope confidence of remission and that as oft as our sinnes are reiterated and renewed But it may bee yet enquired why the word should be plurall Vs and not Mee It is written in the Scripture There is a sinne for which thou shouldst not pray and againe Many are called but few are chosen Now brethren if there bee some sinnes and some sinners for whom wee should not pray how is it that we are commanded here to pray for all men as well as for our selves To this I answer I may and should pray for the greatest sinners in the world the reason is because the purpose of God concerning the salvation or cōdemnation of man though one in it selfe yet is two wayes to bee considered of us first as hidden and kept close in the bosome of the Father Secondly as revealed and manifested by his word whilst the salvation and reprobation of man is only knowne to God wee are bound to pray for them and the pardon of their sinnes but if at any time God in his word make their rejection manifest then and then onely is it time for us to shut up our mouthes and not to pray for them This truth shall be cleared by examples whilst Samuel was ignorant of the purpose of God concerning Saul hee ceased not continually to pray for him but how soone God once made his secret purpose of rejection knowne to Samuel hee stopped his mouth prayed no more for him Whilst David knew not the will of God concerning his child begotten with Bathsheba hee fasted prayed and would not be comforted but how soone God made his secret will manifest by the death of the child hee mourneth no more but riseth straight refresheth himselfe and eateth bread Finally this was the ground of all that partiality which by many is condemned in Rebecca concerning her sonne Esau shee was acquainted with the secret purpose of God concerning him I have loved Iacob and hated Esau And againe The elder shall serve the yonger Thus so long as God makes not his secret purpose known concerning man wee are bound to pray for all men but so soone as God maketh knowne his will concerning mans last end where God ceaseth to love we should cease to pray It is the part therfore of a good Christian to pray for all men to love them that hate us to blesse thē that curse us and to pray for them that persecute us that wee not being overcome of evill
and that which is infinite eternall and incorruptible Woe bee unto that man that shall be thus audaciously blasphemous as to say hee hath merited any thing but condemnation For that man appearing before God and wanting his wedding garment the righteousnesse of Jesus shall surely be stripped naked and his nakednesse shall be seene of men and Angels But thou wilt enquire If man bee not able to obey the Law how can God in his justice give him a Law or correct him for the breach thereof To the first I answer thee out of naturall reason Although thou hast rendered thy selfe unable to obey what injustice is it with God to exact thy obediēce for he created thee able to obey whatsoever hee required of thee Is it not so amongst the sonnes of men in civill actions but what is more God giveth thee although thou be unable a law to square thy life by for three causes Vt scias quid acceperis ut videas quid amiseris ut intelligas unde repetendum sit quod amiseris and as he requireth the obedience of his law of thee for these 3 causes so doth he also correct the breach therof for 3 causes 1. Ad ostētationē debitae miseriae 2 ad emendationem labilis vitae And 3. ad exercitationē necessariae patientiae Vse Since in the tenour of the Law and the Gospell the revealed will of God is shut up as in a treasury or store-house Why is it that man delights in ignorance for from the knowledge of the will of God in these there ariseth light to the understanding and sanctification to the affections If it bee so why then doth the Church of Rome inhibit her followers the reading of the Scriptures and injoyne to them an implicite faith Is this any thing else but to make the blinde lead the blinde that both may fall or is it any thing else but to shut up the key of knowledge and neither enter themselves into the kingdome of God nor suffer others to enter And finally is this any thing else but to keep captive in chaines of darknesse the poore people making them by the tradition of men to account the will of God of no effect The Lord open their eyes to see the vanity of the way wherein they walke and the Lord establish our hearts in the obedience of the light revealed to us lest this be our condemnation that light hath shined but wee have continued contemners of the light because our workes were evill The second thing offered to our consideration is what are the points of his revealed will and what are the duties which hee requireth to bee done of us To this I answer It were a tedious worke to runne over all the duties of a Christian required of him in this word yet for an instance the word of God requireth of us 1. The knowledge of Gods will 2. Faith in his word 3. Obedience to the word beleeved 4. Suffering for the testimony thereof when wee shall be called to it 5. And finally an hungring after our dissolution because we cannot get these things done I say first God requireth of us to know him for thus it is written This is life everlasting to know thee to bee the onely true God And againe I have decreed to know nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified But thou wilt say how shall I know God I answer God is knowne by nature for the naturall man although hee know not the true God yet by naturall knowledge hee propoundeth something to himselfe for a God And this shall serve for a witnesse against him for whilst by nature hee doth the things of the Law he becommeth a law to himselfe By his workes God also is knowne For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are knowne in the workes of his hands Yet this is not sufficient to salvation For the more a man knoweth of the works except hee bee sanctified the more hee evanisheth in the vanity of his owne imaginations and his foolish heart is the more replenished with darknesse By his word hee is knowne for in the Law hee sheweth what wee ought to doe And in the gospell what we should beleeve For the Law was but a pedagogue to Jesus Christ and all the ceremonies figures and types thereof were but shadowes of things to come the body was Jesus Christ and whosoever in his difficulty hath not recourse to the Law and to the testimony it is because there is neither light nor life in him By grace God is knowne for all the knowledge that man can have of God either from the Law or from the Gospell is in vaine unlesse our hearts bee inclined by the spirit of grace to obey or beleeve for it is written As many as are lead by the Spirit of God are the Sonnes of God and heires of glory By glory wee shall know him fully for here wee know but in part but there we shall see as wee are seene and know as wee are knowne being exchanged to his image from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. The second thing that God in his word willeth us to do is to beleeve in him for there is a faith that beleeveth God to be there is a faith that beleeveth God to bee true and there is a faith that beleeveth in God Every faith is not a saving faith this onely saveth when we beleeve in God and rest upon him for the life of our bodies saying Give us this day our daily bread And for the life of our soules saying Forgive us our sinnes So that in faith there must bee three things Sensus assensus appropriatio sense assent and appropriation Now it is the applying faith that saves for it is written Thy faith hath made thee whole The third thing God requireth of us in his word is a sanctified obedience of that which we know and beleeve For it is written This is the will of God even your sanctification Againe Be ye holy as I am holy who hath called you And againe Let your light so shine before men c. For it is not hee who cryeth Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven but hee that knoweth the will of my Father and doth it It is the will of God that wee suffer for him for it is written Let him that would follow me deny himselfe and take up his crosse and follow mee Brethren this is a lesson the hardest of all for man to learn concerning God for man would learne to know God out of curiosity that he might dispute and reason concerning him Man would beleeve both Gods word and Gods worke out of necessity when they cannot better do Like Pharaoh and his Magicians confessing the finger of God Man also out of custome for civill shame will some time obey God for feare of punishment more then for filiall affectiō but let these all be knit together they shall not so evidently demonstrate the
of Jesus and as the weight thereof pressed the Sonne of God downe to the grave and then if thou dare come and call sinne veniall I hope thou wilt not when it turned the moisture of Davids body to the drought of summer when it made Ezechiah chatter like a swallow and mourne like a dove when it made Iob that hee could not swallow his spitle was there any word of a veniall nature in sinne no no no such thing The Saints of God have not known this dialect nor spoken in this Idiom it is but the voice of him that is dead in sinne and trespasses The Lord learne us to see our sinnes aright and then surely wee shall confesse that our sinnes are not veniall but mortall Secondly as this serveth for the rebuke of our neighbour Church in Rome so it serves also for our comfort and consolation whom God hath delivered from the yoke of that bondage and the night of that darknesse for tell mee O man what greater consolation can come to the soule of the Christian burthened with the weight of sinne then to say thy sinnes are forgiven thee but such is the force of these words Forgive us our debts for as in the word of debt he sheweth the weight of our misery so here in the words of forgivenesse hee sheweth us the riches of his mercy Was it not I pray you a great worke a work passing the capacity of man when God created the world he made all things of nothing whē nature telleth us that of nothing nothing can bee was it not a great worke to call for light out of the midst of darknesse and by the power of a naked word to make a glorious splendor of light shine out of the midnight of darknes Finally was it not a great worke to animate a peece of clay and by blowing on the dust of the earth to make it a living soule All of these were great indeed as workes of creation but as it was said behold a greater then Salomon is here so is there here in the matter of our redēption a worke greater then all these for loe he made not all things of nothing but of that which is worse then nothing sinne for sinne is nothing but a privation Hee brought light out of darknes but here a greater light out of a greater darknesse for when wee sate in darknesse and in the shadow of death hee made a great light to arise unto us for in his light hee made us to see light hee animated our clay and breathed the breath of life in our nostrels being dead in sinnes and trespasses hee quickned and begot us to the hope of immortality finally here is that worke passing in excellence and eminent above all humane admiration that wee being his debtors for tenne thousand talents not having one farthing to pay him hee hath freely forgiven us all our debt to the admiration both of man and Angels when the Angels who fell have not obtained a way of reconciliation hee hath found out for poore man a way of peace insomuch that what man could not pay hee hath freely fully and finally released requiring nothing of man but that hee should in sincerity say Forgive and it shall bee forgiven him Now what more could hee doe to thee O man or what lesse could he require of thee What more could hee do to thee then lay downe his life for thee and what lesse could hee require of thee then that in true sorrow forthy sinne and in full assurance of his mercy thou shouldst come unto him and say Forgive mee that so thou maist be forgiven The word in it selfe is so full of comfort I cannot as yet passe by it There is another place in Scripture that lookes so like to this place like Hippocrates two twinnes they are borne together they live together and dye together The place is the 12. of Matthew Come to mee all yee that are weary and laden and I will ease you There as the Saviour and Redeemer of the world and the true Physitian of soules that are sicke hee desires him that is spiritually sicke to come to him and he promiseth to ease him and give him rest but upon a condition that hee feele his sore and acknowledge his burthen Now it is remarkable that hee first promiseth ease and then rest first ease from the cōmanding power of sin next rest frō the condemning power of sin It is even so here that the spirituall Physition of our sick wearied soules leadeth us to bee sensible of our soule that by sinne wee are made Gods debtors and lyable to his judgements In the next place the cure of this our disease is given for wee shall no sooner confesse and acknowledge our sinnes to him but hee shall forgive it But you will say to mee what is this that hee forgives mee I answer looke to the place of Scripture immediately before cited see there what he promiseth to ease thee of as also all these things he here promiseth to forgive thee hee promiseth there to ease thee of all thy burthen of sinne of the law of affliction Of sinne for the burthen of it is as a talent of lead Zach. 5.6 And David saith it is a burthen too heavy for him to beare Of the law for it is a yoake which neither wee nor our fathers nor our forefathers were able to beare Act. 15. Of affliction for it is a weighty crosse and hee that follows Jesus Christ must take it up and follow him daily Of sinne while he not knowing sinne was made sin for us Of the Law whilst hee was made of a woman and made under the law Of affliction not by taking all afflictions from us but by sanctifying them unto us both in their nature and their end Their nature whilst hee maketh them testimonies of our adoption their end whilst he by them keepes us to eternall life for as the lyon that killed the Prophet kept still his dead body so afflictions may well kill the naturall man yet they do keepe the life of God in our soules Now know then for your comfort that what there hee promised to ease us of here hee promiseth to forgive and to forgive is more then to ease for a Physitian will ease his patient for a while of a hard binding which afterward he will binde againe And a master will ease his servant of the taske of captivity and slavery but afterwards hee will imprison him And finally a beast will be eased of his burthen for a while but afterwards it will be imposed and laid upon him but such is the great and rich depth of the mercy of our God what hee easeth us of that hee forgiveth us for while hee giveth pardon to man and speakes peace to his soule he pardoneth not as man pardoneth neither giveth he peace as man giveth peace My peace I give you my peace I leave with you not as the world giveth peace give I
I must then tell you in so farre as it concerneth man it is of two sorts or rather considered by man in two divers manners First as it is hidde and couched up in Gods owne bosome And secondly as it is revealed to us either by his Vivâ voce or by his written word In the first sense it is called Gods secret will In the second it is called his manifest and revealed will Of the first to wit Gods hidden and secret will it is that which Paul saith O deepnesse c. Rom. 11. How unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Of the second it is said Not he who cryeth Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of God but hee who knoweth the will of my Father and doth it And of both conjunctly it is said by Moses that secret things belong to the Lord Things revealed to us and to our children that we may do them First then of the first point It may bee enquired if in this Petition we do or should pray for his secret will I answeare No for his secret will shall come to passe For hee dwells in heaven and according to the secret pleasure and counsell of his will all things in time and after time shall be moderated Is it not lawfull then in any condition to meddle with the hidden and secret counsell of God Yea surely providing it bee with modesty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. For first wee may enquire why it is so called 2. What is our duty in respect of it 3. And how farre it can have any fellowship with the evill that is in the world and with the sinfull actions of men Why is it so called I answere for two causes First because it is hidden from man who cannot reach to it untill God reveale it For no man knoweth the Father but the Sonne and hee to whom the Sonne revealeth him Secondly because when it is revealed man cannot comprehend it except hee be enabled from above For the reasons of Gods secret wayes exceeds humane capacity And the more that humane reason looketh on it the lesse it understandeth Why God loved Iacob and hated Esau Why he rejected Saul for one fault and forgave David many and why he condemned Iudas for selling of him and spared Peter that did forsweare him Enquire the reason hereof at man hee cannot give it you yea God hath revealed it I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and whom I will I harden And now as man could not give this reason untill God revealed it So now when God hath revealed it man cannot comprehend it For nature would say that it was injustice in God of two men equally evill by nature to choose the one and forsake the other Thus Gods will is called secret first because man knoweth it not and secondly because hee cannot comprehend it 2. What is our duty in respect of this will I answere it is our duty not to search into it too deeply Nam nonest curiose investiganda sed religiose adoranda whether God in his secret counsell hath ordained thee to be poore or rich high or low whether thou shalt die of a lent or a fervid Ague Since it is Gods secret counsell it is not fit thou shouldest enquire it Stoope under the abstruse and hidden secrecy thereof But to enquire of it ere God reveale it is but a torment before the time and sure I am it shall never be laid to thy charge in the day of Judgement how farre thou hast searched into the secret counsell of God But how farre thou hast obeyed the revealed will of God Thirdly concerning the secret will of God it may bee enquired since there is so much evill in the world how farre and in what sort God by his secret will concurreth and hath cooperation with the same for men looking on the evills that are in the world and finding them so frequent and fearefull and withall comparing them with the omnipotence of God against whose will nothing can bee done and not being able to solve this riddle have either with the Libertine cast over the cause of their iniquities upon God and made God the Author of sinne Or else fearing to speake blasphemously of God they have with the Manicheans invented two chiefe and prime causes of all things one of good another of evil both equally supreme and absolute in their kinde which is altogether false for God is only the supreme and absolute good but Sathan is not an absolute evill But for cleering of this question a little understand and know The evill is two-fold An evill of sinne and an evill of punishment and this is Tertullians distinction writing against Marcian lib. 2. cap. 180. Concerning the evill which we call the evill of punishment there is no question for it is not a true evill in it selfe it is but thought so of us for the punishment of sinne though it seemes evill to the offender yet it is no evill in it selfe for it is a good of justice The question is only concerning the evill of sin and how farre God communicates with it not being the author thereof nor tainted himselfe therewith This question is so much the more remarkable by how much Scripture seems to give way to it For it was a sinne in Pharaoh to harden his heart Yet Scripture saith that God willed it and that hee did it It was a sinne in Sathan to be a lying spirit in the mouthes of Achabs Prophets Yet Scripture shewes us that God willed it It was a sinne in Sathan to vexe Iob unjustly and yet Scripture sheweth that God willed it And it is a sinne in man to stoppe his eare against the truth and to beleeve a lie and yet Scripture sheweth that God willeth it For solving of this doubt there is a very good answere given by our Divines to this question whilest they say that wee must distinguish the action of the sinner from the sinne that is in the action And they make God the author of the action but not of the viciosity and evill that is in the action And this they cleere by the examples of the Sunne the Earth and the word of God This I grant is good but not sufficient But wouldest thou know O man how God willeth sinne and over-ruleth sinne and yet is free from sinne Then thou must know that sinne and the way of sinne hath a beginning a progresse and also an end God hath a will working on sinne and over-ruling sinne in all these three respects For shall we looke to sinne in the beginning thereof Gods will hath beene two wayes exercised First by way of inhibition in giving a law against it forbidding sinne in the thoughts of the heart in the words of the mouth and in the actions of the conversation By way of permission leaving a lawlesse man to a lawlesse way For it is a righteous thing with God when man knowing him to be God will not glorifie him as
livest now and what reason had God to bring them from afarre and take their life from them and to give thee liberty to use them but his mercy and not thy merit his favour not thy deserving that the sense hereof may teach thee that his grace is every way his grace though thy sin be out of measure sinfull Adde hereunto that as prepremeditation is requisite before their use so sobriety in their use for it becomes us not to sit downe and glut with them as if wee had nothing to do but to fill our bellies and satisfie our desires No no meat is ordained for the belly and the belly for meat but God will destroy them both And he that hungers but for the food that perisheth may satisfie himselfe for a while but in the end hee shall both hunger and thirst and shall not bee satisfied at all This was the advertisement that our Master Christ Jesus gave to his Disciples Take not care for your belly what you shall eate or for your back what you shall put on for your heavenly Father knoweth whereof ye stand in need before you aske and he will not suffer you to want the thing without the which you cannot serve him Use then the things of this life soberly for thou hast more thē thou broughtest into the world with thee thou hast more then thou usest well and thou hast more then thou canst take out of the world If thou get therefore food and raiment learne therewith to be content Thirdly before thou rise from the table examine thy selfe and see wherein thou hast made thy selfe unworthy of the succeeding use of his creatures by the abuse of those which thou hast received For I will assure thee when man is full hee waxeth wanton and the plenty of his table maketh him oftentimes fall into those sinnes which the hungry heart falleth not into Is was not in the time of Noahs sobriety that his nakednesse was discovered but in the time of his excesse It was not in the time of Lots sobriety that hee fell into incest but in his excesse It was not in the time of Ammons fasting that hee fell before Absolon but in the time of his feasting When God therefore hath filled our bellies with good things let us not rise without due examination of our owne hearts to see wherein wee have sinned Let us with Iob sacrifice every morning after our festivities for it may bee that the fulnesse of our cups hath made us blaspheme our God as it was with Israel they sate downe to eate and to drinke and rose up to play and they felt the wrath of God upō thē in the fatnes of their bodies in the leannesse of their soules Since therefore God hath coupled these things together let no man put them asunder but let all flesh in trembling examine himselfe and when hee hath said Give us this day our daily bread let him withall adde And forgive us our trespasses Now I feare I spend too much time in the description of the dependance and coherence of this petition with the former and of the uses arising therefrom It resteth now that wee come to the Petition it selfe In which two things are remarkable a supplication and a covenant or condition by which the supplication is sealed first the supplication is Forgive us our trespasses the condition sealing the covenant is As wee forgive them that trespasse against us We must return to the supplication it selfe in which five things do subordinately offer themselves to our consideration First what wee are by nature sinners Gods debters Secondly what wee aske concerning our naturall estate in sinne and that is pardon and forgivenesse Thirdly from whom it is that wee aske this pardon and it is neither from Angels in heaven nor man on earth but from God our Father in Jesus Christ whose habitation is in heaven and who hath given us in his Sonne the hope of the same inheritance Fourthly wee have to consider the interest wee have unto this sinne that wee crave to be pardoned and it is Ours Fiftly and lastly wee must consider the extent of this our supplication and it reacheth not onely to our selves alone but also to all our brethren and fellow-members of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ and therefore wee say not Forgive mee but forgive us and this I thinke is the true and lively anatomy and opening up of the first part of the Petition the other wee shall weigh and examine when we come to it The first thing considerable here is our estate condition by nature which is two waies expressed first in the essence thereof next in the denominatiō the one privatly couched in the bosome of the other the other publique manifesting the death of mans misery the essēce of his misery is that hee is a sinner The true title indigitatiō of that his estate in sin is that it maketh him to be Gods debter But to return our estate by nature is not essentially set downe here but by way of denomination for here Matthew saith Forgive us our debts while St Luke saith in his 11. Chap. Forgive us our sinnes Now to returne to the consideration of this our naturall estate it is here set downe two wayes first by denomination and then by confession It is denominated a debt it is confessed whilst wee begge pardon for it The denomination is a debt many titles and names of signification are given to sinne in Scripture Sometimes it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and here it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All of these words important enough to signifie and expresse the depth of that misery into the which man by sinne hath fallen Yet none doth more truly expresse his misery then this that by sinne hee is become Gods debtor but thou wilt say O man How comes it to passe that by sinne man is made Gods debter seeing God neither requireth sinne of man nor is sinne a debt due to God But to answer this I would have thee to know that there are divers sorts of debts which man oweth there is a naturall debt which man oweth there is a spirituall debt and there is a civill debt which hee oweth The naturall debt is that which hee oweth to death and shall pay it will hee nill hee for wee came all of us into the world but upon this condition that wee shall goe out of it againe for dust wee are and to dust wee must returne for it is appointed for all men once to dye and after death judgement shall come Our earth must returne to earth and our spirit to God that gave it Finally this earthly house of our tabernacle must bee dissolved c. And this is called the first death which is nothing else but a separation of
promulgated wee shall finde it that it is onely to the elect vessels of mercy and to the children of Gods free love whereas to the reprobate men and Angels there is neither promise nor hope of pardon left For their judgement is sealed and their condemnation sleepes not Againe as to Jesus Christ the mediator of the new covenant a free pardon hee obtained not he paid the utmost farthing that was requisite for the satisfaction of the justice of God onely to man and the elect amongst the sonnes of men hath God voluntarily and freely forgiven the burthen and the debt of sinne And I call this a voluntary and free forgivenesse for three respects In respect of God the Father in respect of God the Sonne and in respect of God the Holy Ghost For I say first in respect of God the Father for hee who said In the day that thou shalt eate thou shalt surely die said also the seed of the woman shall tread downe the head of the serpent And againe God so loved the world that hee sent his owne Sonne to the death of the Crosse that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have eternall life It is free also in respect of God the Sonne for hee as willingly and freely assented to the great worke of mans redemption howsoever the way was sharpe and thorny as the Father was willing in his eternall wisedome to propose it And therefore it is written of him that he laid his life down and tooke it up againe hee laid it downe for none could take it from him and hee tooke it up againe for it was impossible that hee could bee holden of the sorrows of the grave Lastly the pardon and remission of our sinnes is free in respect of God the Holy Ghost for willingly and freely without any merit on our part he commeth downe and dwelleth in our soules illuminates our understanding rectifieth our will sanctifieth our affections makes intercession for us with sighs and groanes that cannot be expressed and keepes us by the power of his grace through faith to eternall salvation for it is written Because wee are sonnes God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father And againe because wee of our selves know neither how to pray nor what to pray the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us with sighs that cannot bee expressed And also it is written That as hee hath begotten us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the death to an inheritance which is immortall and undefiled that withers not away but is reserved for us in the heavens So also he keeps us by the power of the Spirit through faith to eternall salvation Vse Now having thus cleared the meaning of the word it rests that wee make use of it for our instructions and the uses that arise from it are two the one serveth for rebuke the other for comfort the rebuke falleth on the Church of Rome the comfort shall returne to us and to every soule in whom the grace of God dwelleth The rebuke that ariseth to the Church of Rome is this in these words wee are commanded to crave pardon for our debts in the plurall number and indefinitely now wee know this to bee true that those Propositions which are indefinite are universall in correspondence Whilst then wee crave pardon and forgivenesse of our debts wee universally begge mercy and pardon for all our sinnes for both originall and actuall sins For our sinnes of infirmity and our sins of presumption for sinfull omissions and commissions for the sinfull thoughts of our heart and words of our mouth and actions of our conversation Now in respect of all these wee have need to draw neere unto God and to say Forgive What meane those Doctors of the Romish Church to teach that there is a sort of sinne which in it selfe and of it selfe is veniall and that some onely are mortall but it is cleare out of the word of God that there is not any sin which is not mortall for every sinne is a breach of the law and every sinne and transgression shall receive a just recompence of reward Hee that sinneth without the law shall perish without the law and hee that sinneth under the law shall bee judged by the law and againe The wages of sinne is death I graunt indeed if wee looke to that excellent price that was given for our sinnes no sinnes are mortall for such is the worth and excellencie of that blood of Jesus which speaketh better things then the blood of Abell that whosoever shall have part in it shall stand without spot or blemish before the presence of the glory of God with joy and whosoever shall have but a drop of it to sprinkle on the posts of the doore of his soule the destroying Angell shall not come neere him but though his sinnes were as red as scarlet yet by vertue of his blood they shall bee as white as snow But on the other part if thou shalt looke upon thy sinne in its owne nature and because of thy esteeme and account of it it seeme veniall to thee wilt thou therefore say that it is veniall in it selfe O foole that thou art thou deceives thy owne soule The smallest coyne and the basest bullion that beareth the Kings stampe on it is as currant as the richest and purest gold that is seaven times tryed in the fire and to counterfeit that coyne is as reall treason as hee that either adulterates or falsifies the purest coyne It is so with us in our debts to God the meanest offence wee can commit is as culpable of judgement as those that are of greater nature for wee must not judge of our sinnes according to the quantity number or quality but chiefly according to the person and Majestie against whom they are committed Is not hee as great a theefe that robs the cottage of the poore as hee that robs the Palace of the Prince yes surely and greater for the Prinâ—e hath wherewithall to repaire his losse but the poore hath not Tell mee I pray you is there any sinne in the world smaller then the point of a thorne no surely yet the meanest thorne that was in the crowne of Christ drew blood of him The thornes that were in that crown were thy sinnes it was thy sinnes that drew blood of him and peirced his heart while there came blood and water out of it gushing and yet vaine man that thou art thou wilt say they are veniall how canst thou call that veniall and of no weight which was rated at so great a value as the sufferings of the Sonne of God the least drop of whose blood was of more worth then all the worme-eaten children of men on the earth Looke never therefore O man upon â—hy sinne in the judgement and with the eyes of nature that is but a false prospective and deceiving glasse looke on it as it lay on the backe
last thing remarkable in the words is the person at whose hands wee sue for this release and pardon of sinne which is neither man nor angell nor Saint departed but God alone for all these with the wise virgins haue adoe with their owne lamps except this onely to wit God for it is against him onely that wee sinne and it is hee onely who can forgive sinne and if pardon of sinne bee in the Church it is onely a conditionall declaration no absolute condonation LECT 17. As wee for give our debtors NExt to the consideration of that part of this Petition which is supplicatory wee come to that which is restipulatory The first part was supplicatory in begging pardon of our sinnes against God this carries the restipulation of the covenant and promiseth in our names the pardon and forgivenesse of our brethren whensoever they sinne against us The covenant of it selfe in it selfe is hard so much the harder by how much it hath both the fairer provocations for obedience and the fouler stumblings in disobedience It hath the fairer provocations to obedience for in all the covenāts that God hath made with man there is none like to this God hath made three covenants with man a naturall a Legall and an Evangelicall The naturall covenant was made with man in the day of creation The legall in the day of his temporall redemption and the Evangelicall in the fulnesse of time when the Sonne of God being made man and not knowing sinne was made sinne for our sakes and expiated our sinnes by his sufferings The tenor of the first covenant was naturall and just Naturall because he made man in nature perfect and just because hee required nothing of man but that to the obedience whereof hee had given him naturall ability The second covenant was in some condition preternaturall and just preternaturall in so farre that nature could not obey it yet just because he once strengthened nature to obey it The third covenant was supernaturall and gracious Supernaturall in requiring things that nature could not give yet supernaturally gracious in finding out a remedie for the defect of nature making the Sonne of God to become man and him that knew not sinne to bee made sinne for us that wee in him might bee made partakers of the riches of the mercy of God Now remember I pray you what I have said I said that this covenant was so much the harder by how much the provocations were gracious and the disobediences foule To have sinned against the covenant of nature was foule indeed because nature was made perfect and able to doe what was required of the naturall man To sinne against the covenant of workes which I called preternaturall was foule also for howsoever nature was then corrupt and weake yet their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt prefigurating to them the hope of a better deliverance and therefore rendred the smell of their disobedience the more odious and abominable by how much in it they had not onely the pardon of their naturall uncleannesse but also the hope of a better inheritance sealed up unto them But above all the breach of this covenant made with us in the blood of Jesus under the Gospell is so much the more foule and abominable by how much the seale of the covenant was gracious and easie For the condition of the first covenant was strict because naturall The condition of the second was fearfull because supernaturall for the time But the condition of the last covenant was easie be cause gracious and our rebellion so much the more foule because it was easie and to the corrupt nature of man so much the more hard by how much it was facilitated by the obedience of another for it is written the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth after envie And againe I do not the good that I would but the evill that I would not yet the Law in it selfe is pure holy righteous and just Well then it hath pleased God in his wisedome to adjoyn these words As we for give c. To the former to be a seale of his righteousnesse and withall to be a testimony of our uncleannesse and prevarication A seale of his righteousnesse in that hee hath freely forgiven us our sinnes A seale of our uncleannesse and prevarication in that wee cannot forgive one another Now the words being thus taken up in their dependence it is requisite that wee looke upon them in their severall stations and from thence gather their severall uses for our instruction If wee shall narrowly look upon them foure things offer themselves to our consideration First a condition imposed to man serving for the seale of the covenant As. Secondly to whom this condition is both proposed and imposed wee Thirdly the duty annexed to the condition Forgive Fourthly the persons to whom wee are obliged in this duty to our debters or them that finne against us To returne to the first of these the condition As the words are diversly read in divers Evangelists Matthew saith Forgive us our debts as wee forgive our debtors Luke in his 11. Chapter saith Forgive us our sinnes for wee even forgive them that sinne against us And according to the diversitie of the readings so hath there also diversitie of interpretations of the words arisen Some looking too strictly upon the particle of similitude here used As have been led a little to doubt of the free pardon and remission of their sinnes For if God shall forgive man no otherwise then man forgiveth his neighbour then for the most part our sinnes shall neither bee fully freely nor finally forgiven for as I have showne you in our last Sermon mans pardon is but partiall constrained and for a time and the rest laid up against the day of revenge and his more full retaliation On the other part the reading of this prayer as St Luke hath recorded it to us by way of causality in the word For hath led many to presumption thinking that if they can pardon their neighbours their sinnes then God is bound to pardon them theirs and so they would inforce by way of merit their pardon at Gods hands But that the words may be cleared and the wisedome of God in them freed from both these impostures know that the word used by Matthew is not set downe by way of parity but by way of seale And the word used by Luke is not set downe by way of causality but by way of commiseration I say that the word used by St Matthew as is not a word of parity and reciprocation but of seale so that the purpose and meaning of God in it is not to tye man to that strict and precise rigour of his conformity which either the severity of his Law or the sincerity of his nature requireth but in mercy hee leadeth man to bee confident and assured of the remission of his sinnes at Gods hands by the seale of his owne heart for by this as