and centre of it it being encompassed round about with Petitions for Heavenly and Spiritual Blessings And this may intimate to us that we are only to bait at the World in our Passage and Journey to Heaven that we ought to begin with Spirituals and end with Spirituals but only to take up and refresh our selves a little with our daily Bread in our way Thirdly In the Doxology or Praise there are Four things contained First God's Sovereignty Thine is the Kingdom Secondly God's Omnipotency And the Power Thirdly God's Excellency And the Glory Fourthly The Eternity and Unchangableness of them and of all God's other Attributes noted to us in that Expression For ever Fourthly and Lastly Here is the ratifying Particle Amen added as a Seal to the whole Prayer and it importeth a desire to have that confirmed or granted which we have prayed for And thus Benaiah when he had received Instructions from David concerning the establishing of Solomon in the Kingdom answereth thereto Amen and explains it 1 Kings 1.36 The Lord God of my Lord the King say so too So that when we add this Word Amen at the end and close of our Prayers it is as much as if we had said the Lord God say so too or the Lord grant these Requests For the proper signification of Amen is so be it or so it is or so it shall be the former notes our Desires the latter our confidence and assurance of being heard Now of all these Four parts of which this Prayer is composed I shall speak in their order First therefore Let us consider the Preface in these Words Our Father which art in Heaven And here God is described by two of his most eminent Attributes his Grace and Glory his Goodness and his Greatness by the one in that he is stiled Our Father by the other in that he is said to be in Heaven And both these are most sweetly tempered together to beget in us a Holy Mixture of Filial Boldness and aweful Reverence which are so necessary to the sanctifying of God's Name in all our Addresses to him We are commanded to come to the Throne of Grace with boldness Heb. 4.16 and yet to serve God acceptably with reverence and with fear Heb. 12.28 Yea and indeed the very calling of it a Throne of Grace intimates both these Affections at once It is a Throne and therefore requires Awe and Reverence but it is a Throne of Grace too and therefore permits holy Freedom and Confidence And so we find all along in the Prayers of the Saints how they mix the consideration of God's Mercy and his Majesty together in the very Prefaces and Preparations to their Prayers So Neh. 1.5 Lord God of Heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth Covenant and Mercy for them that love him So Dan. 9.4 O Lord the great and dreadful God keeping Covenant and Mercy for them that love him Now this excellent mixture of aweful and encouraging Attributes will keep us from both the Extreams of Despair on the one Hand and of Presumption on the other He is our Father and this may correct the despairing Fear which might otherwise seize us upon the consideration of his Majesty and Glory And he is likewise infinitely Glorious a God whose Throne is in the highest Heavens and the Earth his Foot-stool And this may correct the presumptuous irreverence which else the consideration of God as our Father might perhaps embolden us unto Now here I shall first speak of the Relation of God unto us as a Father and then of the Place of his Glory and Residence in Heaven and of both but briefly for I must not dwell upon every particular First To begin with the Relation of God to us as a Father Now God is a Father Three ways First God is a Father by Eternal Generation Secondly By Temporal Creation and Providence Thirdly By Spiritual Regeneration and Adoption First God is a Father by Eternal Generation having by an inconceivable and ineffable way begotten his Son God Co-equal Co-eternal with himself and therefore called The only begotten Son of God Joh. 3.16 Thus God is a Father only to our Lord Jesus Christ according to his Divine Nature And whensoever this Title Father is given to God with relation to the Eternal Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ it denotes only the First Person in the ever Blessed Trinity who is therefore chiefly and especially called the Father Secondly God is a Father by Temporal Creation as he gives a Being and Existence to his Creatures creating those whom he made Rational after his own Image and Similitude And therefore God is said to be a Father of Spirits Heb. 12.9 And the Angels are called the Sons of God Job 1.6 There was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And so Adam upon the account of his Creation is called the Son of God Luke 3.38 where the Evangelist runs up the Genealogy of Mankind till it terminates in God Who was the Son of Adam who was the Son of God Thirdly God is said to be a Father by Spiritual Regeneration and Adoption and so all true Believers are said to be the Sons of God and to be born of God John 1.12 13. To as many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God even to as many as believed on his Name which were born not of the will of Man but of God So Rom. 8.17 we are said to receive the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father For the Spirit it self witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Now in these two last Significations this Expression Our Father which art in Heaven is to be understood and so they denote not any one particular Person of the Blessed Trinity but it is a relative Attribute belonging equally to all the Three Persons God is the Father of all Men by Creation and Providence and he is especially the Father of the Faithful by Regeneration and Adoption Now as these Actions of Creation Regeneration and Adoption are common to the whole Trinity so likewise is the Title of Father God the first Person in the Blessed Trinity is indeed Eminently called the Father but not in respect of us but in respect of Christ his only begotten Son from all Eternity In respect of us the whole Trinity is our Father which is in Heaven both Father Son and Holy Ghost and in praying to our Father we pray to them all joyntly for Christ the Second Person in the Trinity is expresly called the Father Isa 9.6 Vnto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and his Name shall be called Wonderful Councellor the Mighty God the Everlasting Father And we are said to be born of the Spirit John 3.5 Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit Now that God should be pleased to take this into his Glorious Style even to be called Our Father it may
makes to God ought to be ratified with an Amen sent from our very hearts which if we sincerely and affectionately perform we have abundant assurance that what is confirmed by so many suffrages on Earth shall likewise be confirmed by our Father which is in Heaven And how beautiful how becoming would this be when the whole Church shall thus conspire together in their Requests St. Jerome tells us It was the custom in his days to close up every Prayer with such an unanimous consent that their Amens rung and echoed in the Church and sounded like the fall of Waters or the noise of Thunder This would be a Testimony of our hearty consent to the things we Pray for And if any two that shall agree upon Earth touching any thing that they shall ask they shall have it granted them as our Saviour hath promised Matth. 18.19 then certainly the joynt Prayers of a whole multitude of Christians must needs have a kind of Omnipotency in them and be able to do any thing with God And thus I have with God's Assistance given you a brief Exposition of this most excellent Prayer of our Saviour The Lord Sanctifie it unto you and make it a means to help you to Pray with more understanding with stronger Faith and with greater Fervency The End of the Larger Exposition A Catechistical EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's Prayer By way of QUESTION and ANSWER By the Right Reverend Father in God EZEKIEL Lord Bishop of Derry by which he examined the Youth each Lord's-Day during the whole Time he preached upon the Lord's Prayer Quest IS the Lords Prayer a Form of Prayer or onely a Pattern for Prayer Answ It is both That it is to be used as a Form appears Luke 11.2 When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. That it is a Pattern Matt. 6.9 After this Manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven c. Q. What are the Parts of this Prayer A. They are Four 1. The Preface or Introduction 2. The Petitions and Requests 3. The Doxology or Praise-giving 4. The Conclusion and Ratification Q. What is the Preface to this Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. What observe you from it A. That in the Beginning of our Prayers we ought seriously to consider and reverently to express the glorious Attributes of God as an excellent Means to compose us into an Holy Fear of his Divine Majesty Q. How many are the Petitions contained in this Prayer A. Six Whereof the three first respect God's Glory and the three last our own Good Q. What learn you from this Order and Method A. That we ought first to seek God's Glory before any Interests and Concerns of our own Q. How are those Petitions divided which immediately concern the Glory of God A. In the first of them we pray that God may be glorified in the other two for the Means whereby he is glorified Q. How divide you those Petitions which concern our own good A. One relates to our Temporal the other two to our Spiritual good Q. What observe you from placing the Petition for our Temporal good in the Midst of this Prayer A. That we are onely to bait at the World in our Passage to Heaven and onely refresh our selves with our daily Bread in our Way and Journey thither Q. What are the Petitions which relate to our Spiritual good A. They are two One whereby we beg the Pardon of our Sins the other whereby we beg Deliverance from them Q. What ascribe you to God in the Doxology A. Four of his most glorious Attributes 1. First His Sovereignty Thine is the Kingdom 2. Secondly His Omnipotence And the Power 3. Thirdly His Excellency And the Glory 4. Fourthly The Eternity and Unchangeableness of all these They are Thine for ever Q. What signifies that Particle Amen at the End of this Prayer A. It signifies two Things So be it Which notes our Desire for the obtaining of what we ask So it shall be Which notes our Assurance of being heard Q. What is the Preface to the Lord's Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. What doth this teach us A. That in our Entrance into Prayer we should seriously consider both the Mercy of God as he is our Father and likewise his Majesty as he is in Heaven That the one may beget in us Filial Boldness and the other awfull Reverence and by the mixture of both we may be kept from Despair and Presumption Q. In what Respects may God be stiled Father A. In three especially 1. First in respect of the Eternal Generation of his Son And so this Title is proper onely to the first Person of the Trinity 2. In respect of Creation and Providence and so he is the Father of all Mal. 2.10 Have we not all one Father Hath not one God created us 3. In respect of Regeneration and Adoption And so he is the onely Father of the Faithfull John 1.12.13 But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believed on his Name Which were born not of Blood nor of the VVill of Flesh nor of the VVill of Man but of God Rom. 8.15 16. For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to Fear But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Q. In what Respects do we call God Father in this Prayer A. In the two last As he hath created us and doth preserve us and as he hath regenerated and adopted us Q. When ye stile God the Father do ye mean onely God the Father the first Person of the Trinity A. No. For God the first Person is eminently called the Father not in respect of us but in respect of Christ In respect of us the whole Trinity both Father Son and Holy Ghost is our Father which is in Heaven Isaiah 9.6 For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderfull Counsellour The Mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace John 3.5 Jesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Q. What is implied in this Particle Our Our Father A. That God is the Father of all Men He is the Father of the VVicked by Creation and Providence but especially of the Godly by Regeneration and Adoption Q. Is it proper in our secret Prayers to say Our Father A. It is For so we find Dan. 9.17 Now therefore O our God hear the Prayer of thy Servant and his Supplications and cause thy Face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's Sake Q. What learn we by stiling God our Father A. First to esteem one another as Brethren
AN EXPOSITION ON THE Lord's Prayer WITH A Catechistical Explication Thereof by way of QVESTION and ANSWER For the Instructing of YOUTH To which is added some SERMONS On Providence and the Excellent Advantages of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures By EZEKIEL HOPKINS late Lord Bishop of London-Derry LONDON Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the Kings-Arms and Edward Mory at the Three Bibles in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1692. EZEKIEL HOPKINS EPISCOPUS DERENSIS Printed for Nathanael Ranew Imprimatur Guil. Lancaster R. P. D. Henrico Ep. Lond. Ã Sacris Domesticis April 7. 1692. THE PREFACE TO THE READER Christian Reader THe following Discourses upon that Excellent and Divine Prayer of our Blessed Saviour contain so much of Practical Divinity necessary to be known by all Christians and are so Solidly and Judiciously handled that they need no Epistle Recommendatory unto the World having the Stamp of the Divine Authority upon the Truths contained in them But if any shall curiously enquire whether this Reverend and Learned Prelate designed and finished them for the Press I may truly return the same Answer that is given in Print by the present Bishop of Cork and Ross to the same Question in his Epistle to the Reader before this Author's Exposition on the Ten Commandments namely That they were Transcribed by himself and by him deposited in the hands of a Minister whom he could intrust to be made Publick after his Decease whose Epistle should have been prefixed hereunto but that he is far distant in another Nation and the Press cannot tarry so long for it the Book being just finished And as a further Confirmation that his Lordship intended it should be made Publick appears by his so often quoting this his Discourse on the Lord's Prayer in his Treatise on the Commandments which could not be seen or read by others but by the Printing of it Vpon which many Persons have been very desirous and inquisitive after it Vnto this large and general Exposition on the Lord's Prayer there is added a brief and short Catechistical Explication thereof by way of Question and Answer made use of by his Lordship for the instructing of the younger and more ignorant Christians in the Knowledge and Vnderstanding of those Divine and Heavenly Truths contained in this most Excellent Prayer And for a Conclusion of all there are added several Sermons Preached by this Learned Prelate upon the Providence of God and on the Excellency and Usefulness of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures All which have been diligently and carefully perused by several Persons of the Author's Acquaintance both of the Clergy and others with very good Acceptance and Satisfaction and the whole is now with Approbation exposed unto publick view And that the present Publication of them may tend much to the promoting of the Honour and Glory of God and the Edification of many Souls in Grace and Holiness is the hearty Prayer of the Publisher Farewell The Vanity of the World with other Sermons in Octavo Discourses and Sermons on several Scriptures in Octavo An Exposition on the Ten Commandments with other Sermons in Quarto All Written by Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry and Sold by Nathanael Ranew A Practical EXPOSITION ON THE LORD'S PRAYER Matth. VI. 9 10. c. After this manner therefore Pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this Day our daily Bread And forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever Amen HAving often seriously considered with my self of the great use that is made of this most excellent Form of Prayer composed by our Blessed Lord and Saviour himself as also of the great Benefit and Advantage that might accrue unto all those that with understanding make a due use of it in their daily Devotions I thought it might be very necessary for your Instruction and greatly conducible unto your Salvation to lay before your consideration as brief and succinct an Exposition thereof as the large extent and various copiousness of the matter contained therein will permit The Blessed Apostle St. Paul in 1 Cor. 14.15 tells us That he would pray with the Spirit and he would pray with Vnderstanding also And indeed when we pray to pray with Understanding what we pray is one great requisite to make our Prayers Spiritual and through the prevailing Intercession of Jesus Christ to become acceptable unto God the Father But to mutter over a road of Words only as the Papists are taught and as multitudes of many ignorant Persons among us do also without understanding what they signifie or being duly affected with those Wants and Necessities which we beg of God the Supplies of is not to offer up a Prayer unto the Almighty but only to make a Charm Now because there is no Form of Prayer that ever we have heard or read of that is deservedly so much in use as this of our Lord's is I shall endeavour in some Discourses thereupon to unfold to you those Voluminous Requests which we offer up unto God when we thus pray as our Saviour here teacheth us wherein as I doubt not but as I may greatly instruct the Ignorance of many so possibly I may bring very much to the remembrance of those who have attained to great understanding in Religion those things which may provoke their Zeal and excite their Affections and both these Undertakings through the Blessing of God upon it may be very usefully profitable to enable them to pray with Understanding and with the Spirit also when they approach the Throne of Grace to present their Petitions unto the Great God as by the Intercession so in the Words of his dear Son In this Chapter which contains in it a great part of our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount our Lord lays before his Hearers several Directions concerning two necessary Duties in a Christian's Practice and they are Alms-giving and Prayer the former a Duty relating more immediately unto Men the latter a Duty in a more especial manner respecting God himself in both which he not only cautions us against but strictly forbids all Ostentation and Vain-Glory Therefore says he when thou dost thine Alms do not sound a Trumpet before thee for this is the Practice of Hypocrites that they may have Glory of Men verse 2. And when thou prayest be not as the Hypocrites for they love to pray in the Synagogues and Corners of the Streets that they may be seen of Men verse 5. Thus must we not do in either of these Cases For as we must not give Alms that we may be seen of Men so neither must we pray that we may be heard and observed of Men For what can be more absurd and ridiculous as well as wicked and impious than to be begging Applause from some when we
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
Operation nor Device in the Grave whither we are going And certainly if ever we would do the Will of God in Heaven we must accustom our selves to do it here on Earth Here we are as Apprentices that must learn the Trade of Holiness that when our time is out we may be fit to be made free Denizons of the New Jerusalem Here we are to tune our Voices to the Praises of God before we come to joyn with the Heavenly Choire Here we are to learn what we must there for ever practise And thus I have done with the Petition it self Thy Will be done in Earth The next thing observable is the proportion of it As it is in Heaven But you will say Is it not utterly impossible while we are here on Earth and clogg'd with Earthly Bodies and encompassed about with manifold Infirmities Is it not impossible ever to attain unto a Celestial and Heavenly Perfection in our Obedience I Answer True it is so but yet this Prayer is not in vain for it teacheth and engageth us to aim at and endeavour after the perfect Holiness of Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect We are commanded to be Holy as God is Holy and to be Perfect as our Heavenly Father is Perfect whose Perfection is impossible for us to equalize Yet these excessive commands have their use to raise up our endeavours to a higher strain and pitch than if we were commanded somewhat within our own power As he that aims at a Star is likely to shoot much higher than he that aims at a Turf Thus though it be a thing altogether impossible for us in this Life to attain to an Angelical perfection in our Obedience yet the command that obligeth us to it and our Prayers for it are not in vain because by our utmost endeavours after further measures and degrees of Holiness we may very much assimilate our Obedience to that Obedience that is yielded to God's Will in Heaven it self and therefore this Particle As is rather a note of similitude than of equality But though our Obedience on Earth cannot be equal to the Obedience that is yielded to God in Heaven yet we pray that it may bear as much similitude proportion and conformity unto it as is possible for us to attain unto while we are here in the Body And therefore that we may the more fully understand what it is we pray for when we present this Petition to God Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven we shall briefly enquire how the Holy Angels and Blessed Spirits do the Will of God in Heaven And First Their Obedience is absolutely perfect and that both with a perfection of Parts and Degrees They do all that God enjoyns them not failing in the least Tittle of Observance and therefore they are said To follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes Revel 14.14 Hence it is ascribed to them as their proper and peculiar Character Psal 103.20 Bless the Lord ye his Angels that excel in strength that do his Commandments hearkning to the voice of his Word And again they do the whole Will of God with all their Might with all their Mind with the greatest Intention that is possible even to an Angelical Nature never are they remiss in their Service or slack in their Attendance but are continually Blessing and Praising of God standing ready to receive and execute his Commands and Commissions Now when we pray that we may do the Will of God on Earth as it is done in Heaven we pray for this Heavenly temper that we may bear an Universal respect unto all God's Commandments no more sticking or pausing at any thing that God requires of us than an Angel or a Glorified Saint would do But infolding all our Interest and Concerns in God's Glory might respect nor value nothing but what tends to the promotion of that This is to do God's Will as the Angels do it in Heaven Secondly Their Obedience is cheerful not extorted from them by violent constraints of Fear or of Suffering but it is their Eternal Delight and their Service is their Felicity And thus should we pray and endeavour to do the Will of God with Alacrity and Cheerfulness not being haled to it as our Task but esteeming the Commands of God to be as the Angels do our Glory and our great Reward But alas how infinitely short do we fall of our Pattern we think the Sabbath long and Ordinances long and tedious and are secretly glad when they are over And what should such as we are do in Heaven where there is a Sabbath as long as Eternity and nothing but Holiness there And therefore we had need pray earnestly that God would now sit and prepare us for the Work of Heaven while we are here on Earth for else Heaven will not be Heaven or a place of Happiness unto us Thirdly The Will of God is done in Heaven with zeal and ardency and therefore it is said Psal 104.4 That God maketh his Angels and Messengers a Flame of Fire And have not we abundance of need to pray for Conformity with them in this respect also We do the Will of God so coldly and indifferently that we our selves scarce take notice of what we are doing We often bring Sacrifices to God and either bring no Fire with us but are frozen and dull or else offer them up with strange Wild-fire and usually are heated more with Passion and irregular Affections than with Holy and pious Zeal And Fourthly The Will of God is done in Heaven with celerity and ready dispatch they are quick in executing the Commands of the great God and their Lord and therefore are said to have Wings and to fly Esai 6.2 And this expression of Wings and the flying of Cherubims and Angels is frequently mentioned in Scripture only to intimate to us the expedition they use in the Service of God But alas how dull and slow are we how long do we consult with Flesh and Blood and are disputing the Will of our Sovereign Lord when we should be obeying it When we are clearly convinced that such a Duty is necessary to be done how many delays and excuses and procrastinations do we make being willing to stay the leisure of every vile Lust and vain Impertinency thinking it then time enough to serve God when we have nothing else to do Certainly this is not to do the Will of God on Earth as it is done in Heaven where upon the first intimations of God's Will they take Wings and execute it speedily Fifthly The Will of God is done in Heaven with all possible Prostration Reverence and Humility And therefore it is said Rev. 4.10 that the four and twenty Elders fell down before him that sat upon the Throne and Worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne Crowns are themselves Ensigns of Majesty but here they cast their very Crowns all their Dignity and Glory at the
deliverance in all our dangers for supports under all our troubles and for comfort under all our sorrows because he is Eternal and therefore the same God who hath heretofore in all Ages of the World done great things for all those who trust in him And therefore the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory which were a forcible plea with God in former times a plea to which he could deny nothing when urged in Faith have still the same efficacy and validity now For these and all other of God's Attributes are his for ever Therefore O Christian now lay hold on God's strength and plead with him what he hath done for his Children in former Ages How he hath forgiven the Penitent revived the Contrite restored Joy and Salvation to dejected and despondent Spirits how he hath wrought for the Sanctification of his great Name by what wonderful providences and wise methods he hath established and inlarged his Kingdom how he hath strengthened the weak hands and feeble knees and made those who were without Might able by his Grace to perform the hardest Duties in fullfilling his Will and Commandments how he hath provided for all their necessities rebuked the temptations of the wicked one and kept them in the World from the evil of the World And then urge Lord thou art still the same God Eternal in thy Essence Immutable in thy Attributes thy Power thy Wisdom and thy Mercy are the same that ever they were and therefore vouchsafe unto us the same Favour This plea offers an holy violence to Heaven a violence that is pleasing and acceptable unto God which he will not he cannot resist If we endeavour to be of the same dispositions and affections with the Saints of old we may be sure to obtain of God's hands the same Mercy and Salvation See how Asaph instructs the Church to make use of the Memorials of God's former loving kindnesses and the great and wonderful works that he had wrought for their Fathers Psal 78.4 6 7. We will shew to the Generations to come the Praises of the Lord and his strength and the wonderful works that he hath done that one Generation may declare them to another that they may set their hope in God And therefore the consideration of the Eternity and unchangableness of God is of vast and infinite comfort and a mighty advantage for the strengthening our Faith in pleading with God for the same Mercies which he hath formerly bestowed upon others because he is the same yesterday to day and for ever And thus I have finished the Doxology and therein considered the four Glorious Attributes ascribed unto God in it his Sovereignty his Omnipotence his Excellency and his Eternity There remains but one thing more to be spoken of in this Prayer and that is the Conclusion and Ratification of all in that short Particle Amen Of this I shall speak but very briefly and so shut up this whole Subject This word Amen is sometimes prefixed before a Speech and sometimes affixed after it When it is prefixed before it is assertory and so we find it very often in the Evangelists for wheresoever our Saviour useth the word verily it is no other but Amen Verily verily Isay unto thee i. e. Amen Amen I say unto thee which is a vehement assertion of the Truth and necessity of what he speaks And our Saviour useth it to gain the more attention and belief to what he desires Thus John 3.5 Amen Amen I say unto thee except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven So John 16.23 Amen Amen I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my Name he will give it you And so in many other places in the Evangelists How backward are we to believe since our infidelity is such that it constraineth the Son of God who is Truth it self to use asseverations and protestations to win our assent unto him Secondly As this Particle Amen used in the beginning of a Speech is Assertory of the undoubted Truth of it so when it is subjoined and used at the end of it is Precatory and signifies our earnest desire to have our Prayers heard and our Petitions granted Psal 41.13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Amen and Amen Psal 72.19 Let the whole Earth be filled with his Glory Amen and Amen Psal 106.48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the People say Amen In the former sence of the words as it is prefixed to a Speech it signifies so it is In this Latter as it is added to a Petition or Request it signifies so be it Now this teacheth us to put up all our Petitions First with understanding duly weighing and considering what it is we ask of God For when we use vain and insignificant babling how can we seal and close them up with an hearty Amen And this condemns the mockery of the Papists who because God understands what is uttered in a language to them unknown think that they may lawfully pray to him in a Tongue which they themselves understand not But with what Zeal with what affection can they close up such Prayers with an Amen This is like setting a Seal to an Instrument which they know not what it contains and is expresly condemned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.16 How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of Thanks seeing he understands not what thou sayest Secondly It teacheth us to present all our requests to the Throne of Grace with fervent Zeal and Affection Amen is a wing to our Prayers it is the Bow that shoots them up to Heaven And although every Petition as we utter them before God should be accompanied with an earnest and hearty desire to have them heard and granted yet at the close of them all we are to redouble and repeat this our desire in the word Amen Wherein we do as it were briefly and succinctly Pray over again all that we had prayed before and in one word beg of God That he would give us all that we had before asked of him And therefore whether we Pray our selves or joyn in Prayers with others and make their Petitions ours we ought to attest our understanding of our assent unto and our earnest desires after the Mercies that are begged by Sealing up the Prayers with an Amen And certainly it would be a very beseeming thing if Amens were audible and sounding unless we are ashamed to be thought to Pray when others Pray and to make use of others expressions to present our Petitions When we come to the publick Worship we are not to look upon the Minister only as Praying for the People but he is the Peoples Mouth unto God and it is or ought to be the Prayer of the whole Congregation which he presents They Pray with him and by him and every Petition that he