in his â—y supplyes their wants opens his hand and fils them with his goodness cherishes and maintains them And having built this goodly frame of heaven and earth doth with his everlasting armes what vain story sayes of Atlas support and uphold it or rather as his Vice-gerents are pictur'd with a Globe in one hand and a Scepter in the other grasps the whole world in his hand and dandles it in his lap as a tender hearted mother her playsom child Can he that implanted so tender an affection in all mothers dammes to their young ones himself be without large bowels of compassion full breasts of mercy and a tender bosom of love His goodness exceeds all comparison Though a mother should forget her child yet saith he I will not forget my people Providence is that great dug at which every creature hangs and draws its comfort by which all things are maintain'd whence are issued forth daily allowances and constant provisions dealt out For he commands blessing and deliverance Thou art my shepheard saith the Psalmist and I shall want nothing The Spirit of God saith the sacred Historian mov'd upon the face of the deep that Chaos and first matter out of which the several kinds of creatures were afterwards to be particularly produced A word proper to birds that sit upon their eggs brood them He flutter'd and sate upon it and kept it in a lively warmth and quicken'd that rude lump that he might out of that great confused ball wherein the seeds of things lay jumbled which therefore an ancient Philosopher call'd Natures Egg hatch a well order'd world And since God hath compar'd himself in one place to a broody eagle Christ in another himself to a hen the one teaching her young ones to fly and shift for themselves by carrying them on her back the other clucking her chickens with great pains scraping up their subsistence cherishing them under her wings and with all her might protecting them from rapine We may from these similitudes learn what a dear love and careful fear God hath for all his least they come to hurt God then may very well be styled a Father in this sense too that he hath not only as a Father given being to all things but as a Father of a family provides for al about him furnishing them with convenient accommodations and seasonable supplyes Nor is this all yet but he orders all things disposes chance overrules events to his own ends doing whatsoever he pleaseth both in heaven and earth even as Fathers order the affairs of their family or as magistrates who are the Fathers of their country manage the civil state making lawes and putting them in execution rewarding the obedient punishing the disobedient Indeed all government is naturally bottom'd upon this relation and grounded in a paternal authority the Father at first exercising all power even to life and death over those of his own family nor is a city or common-wealth any other then a more numerous family subject to the same ruler and govern'd by the same laws God then it is that gives order for every thing by whom and when and how it should be done Not a sparrow fals to the ground without his leave The whole series of second causes is but that golden chain the Poets fancied whose uppermost link is fasten'd to Iove's chair He is the Lord of Hoasts such as are the stars in their courses thunder lightning hail snow rain wind and storm fulfilling his word nay frogs and lice when he hath service for them will muster into armies and the locusts gather themselves into bands He knows best what will make for our good and his own glory and by his wise contrivance carry's things in that nature that they shall all work together for those ends He is in the world as a King in his Kingdom Where his word is there is power and who shall say to him what dost thou Angels are his attendants and menials the other creatures his utensils But men though they are term'd vessels too in his great house yet they are priviledg'd with a nearer relation to him They are his children for he is our Father OUR This word denotes a propriety and closer interest seeing he is not our Father alone in that general sense in that he made us not we our selves as he is styled the Father of rain and the Father of lights nor for the greater likeness we have to him more then our fellow creatures which is common to us with the Angels who are therefore call'd the Sons of God But by redemption also having purchas'd us by the Blood of his Son and made us a peculiar people to himself and having begotten us anew by the word and spirit and adopted us by grace that we who are by nature children of wrath might be made the children of God and to which of the Angels ever said he thus my Son Oh! what a condescension of love that God should suffer himself to be styled our Father who have corruption for our mother that Christ should become our brother whose sisters are the worms For if we be sons then are we heirs and if heirs then coheirs with Christ Oh infinite love and kindness unspeakable how dearly obliging an expression that our Saviour who is the only Son of God begotten of his substance should not permit but command us to call God our Father too my Father and your Father sayes he Now as Father is a word of authority and signifies love and care bespeaking from us a reciprocal love a filial reverence and obedience so Our is a note of indearment which should teach us charity which indeed the whole prayer breaths in all the parts of it Give us Forgive us and Deliver us bringing in all mankind to partake the benefit of our prayers And seeing it hath pleased God to own us for children and Christ to make us partners of his relation to become brethren it would very ill beseem the best of saints or greatest of men to disdain any of their fellow-brethren he they never so miserable never so wicked Since were there not a community of the same nature the sense of humanity the tyes of reason and religion and the laws of nations to bring us to some kind of unity and mutual affection God's love to us is an invincible argument why we should love one another WHICH ART And there is none beside thee For whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee Indeed the original doth not so express it making use of the article alone and leaving the verb to be understood which as 't is elliptical so 't is an emphatical kind of speaking He or The in Heaven which should note a superlative excellence above all others to whom the title of Father can belong the
the head this in the heart Again Faith is divided into Historical Temporal and Saving Faith The first the Divels have who believ and tremble The second is of hypocrites who believe for a time and fall off The last doth properly belong to the elect who are therefore called Believers and the faithfull who hold out to the end live by their Faith Now Faith is a full perswasion of mind and a sure confidence by which we depend upon him in whom we believ IN GOD. We are said to believ a God when we acknowledge that there is a God and he that is such an one as he hath discovered himself in his word and works to believ God when we are perswaded that his word is the very truth and that whatsoever he hath promis'd or threatned in holy Scripture shall surely come to pass to believ in God when we place all our hope and trust in his power and goodness who both will help those that trust in him because he is a Father and can because he is Almighty God is of an infinite nature which exceeds all bounds of time or place much less can be comprehended by our shallow understanding we cannot know but we must believ and this very Faith doth as much exceed reason as reason doth sense in evidence and certainty The Holy Trinity by which three Persons are one God and the Incarnation of the Word by which two Natures meet into one Person are high and deep mysteries not to be reached by the eye not to be fathom'd by the plummet of our reason but Faith takes the heighth with a Iacob's staff and humble Hope fastens her Anchor in the bottom of this depth and diffusive Charity embraceth the whole compass of Divine truth THE FATHER The Deity is distinguished into three Persons the Father the Son and Holy Ghost and these Three are One and the same God the Father begets the Son the Son is begotten of the Father the Holy Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son God is the Father also of all things for of him and to him and through him are all things ALMIGHTY Who can doe all things and doth whatsoever he pleaseth both in Heaven and in Earth neither is there any thing too hard for him for who hath resisted his will Yet God cannot lye call back yesterday or make the same thing to be and not to be at the same time for these are marks of extream impotence not omnipotence and God would not be God if he could doe them MAKER God's power is not idle Even before he made he decreed to make and his thoughts were busy about the work of creation from eternity He made not as workmen doe of stuff lying before them for he made all things of nothing nor with pains and weariness for he spake and they were made He did not only make the world and then leave it to it's self as Masons doe houses they build but he preserves and governs too and disposes all events to his own glory OF HEAVEN AND EARTH That is of the whole world whereof heaven and earth are the principal parts He spred out the earth as a floor and built up the wals and laid the roof of heaven he stored the elements with several creatures the heaven with stars as lamps hung out the aire with birds the water with fishes the earth with beasts He made heaven earth and all things therein contained in the space of six dayes but the chief of all his works were Angels the citizens of heaven and Men the inhabitants of the earth made after his own likeness and indued with understanding and excellent gifts But some of the Angels with Lucifer by reason of pride left their station and turned Divels All mankind fell in Adam by disobedience from a state of innocence and happiness into a state of sin and misery so that by nature we are the children of wrath but by grace become the children of God and that by means of the Son of God who became the Son of Man that he might save the children of men The second Article Here begins the part of the Creed concerning Christ the second Person Now Christ is considered either in his Person or in his State which is two-fold the state of Humiliation and the state of Exaltation And in Iesus Christ his onely begotten Son our Lord. The Person of Christ consists of two natures Divine and Humane for as soul and body make up man so God and man are one Christ. He is described here by his names titles The names are Iesus and Christ by which are noted his offices The titles which are given him that he is the only Son of God and our Lord shew partly his essence partly his dignity AND. He who believes the Father must also believ the Son for he who denieth the Son hath not the Father IN. It must be the same saith by which we believ Father and Son since both Father and Son are the same God I and the Father are one saith he and therefore as Ye believ in the Father believ also in me JESUS That is Saviour for he came into the world to save sinners that he might reconcile God and man and recover fallen man out of the state of sin and misery into a state of grace and glory He saves from sin and from the punishment due to sin and freeth us as well from the power as guilt of sin CHRIST Messias in Hebrew and Christ in Greek is all one as in Latin anointed Now three kinds of men were wont to be anointed that is to be consecrated to their office by powring oyl upon their heads to wit King Priest and Prophet Christ was anointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows that is extraordinarily furnisht with gifts of the holy Spirit Melchizedeck was King and Priest Samuel Priest and Prophet David Prophet and King Christ alone the thrice greatest King Priest and Prophet King by subduing our enemies the world the flesh and the Divel and ruling our hearts by his word and spirit Priest by offering up a perfect sacrifice for us satisfying divine justice for our sins and by blessing us by a perpetual intercession Prophet by revealing the will of the Father and discovering to us all things which belong to salvation HIS ONELY BEGOTTEN SON God hath many sons but Christ is the onely begotten God is stiled the Father of lights and the Father of spirits and the Angels are called the sons of God Magistrates children of the most High because they resemble him in power and dignity and all Godly men are by grace made the children of God Now there is a vast difference betwixt Christ and these All creatures by creation blessed spirits by imitation Princes and Rulers by institution Believers by adoption become God's children But Christ alone is his Son by eternall generation of
the same nature and essence with the Father begotten of his substance before all time God of God Light of Light very God of very God equal to him in all things as to the God-head Christ as the Son of God had no Mother as the Son of the Virgin no Father who became Man that he might in the flesh satisfy for the sins of the flesh yet continued God that he might appeas the anger of an offended God Man that he might suffer death God that he might overcome it God and Man that he might be a perfect Mediator and might reconcile God to Man by atoning wrath and man to God by destroying sin wherefore he took up humane nature put not of the divine But these two natures were united and as it were married in the one Person of Christ. OUR LORD In respect of God Christ is called the Son which shews his essence in respect of us a Lord which shews his dignitie Now he is our Lord both by right of creation because he made us and by right of redemption because he hath bought us with a price and purchased us with his blood to be a peculiar people We are no longer then our own that we should fulfill the lusts of the flesh But we are Christ's the Lord's to doe his Will and keep his Commands The several Steps by which Christ humbled himself and Divine Love moved towards us are his Conception Birth Passion Crucifixion Death Burial and Descent to Hell The infinite is conceiv'd the everlasting is born the Blessed suffers the King of Heaven is nailed to a Cross the immortal dyes the Immense is buried and the King of Glory goes down to Hell What strange contradictions have our sins put the Son of God upon who to procure our Salvation denyed himself and put on the form of a servant Which was conceived of the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary CONCEIVED That is cloathed with flesh formed and fashioned into bodily parts indued with sense motion and a reasonable soul inlivened cherished produced preserved increased and in one word made man Humane nature being taken up and joyn'd to the Divine OF THE HOLY GHOST Not begotten of his substance for then the third Person should be Father too which is contrary to Faith but by the operation of the holy Spirit the power of the Highest overshadowing her the Virgin without the help of man conceived which is a miracle foretold by the Prophets and fulfill'd in our Messias Behold a Virgin shall conceiv and bring forth a Son now the holy Ghost did separate that most pure mass of flesh blood of which the Body of Christ was to be formed from all corruption of our nature and the stain of sin to which all other the Virgin her self not excepted are lyable who are born after the ordinary way of generation Behold saith David a man after God's own heart I was conceived in sin and in iniquity hath my mother brought me forth Moreover 't was necessary that he should be born without sin who came to die for other's sins and the Lamb of God which was to take away the sins of the world should himself be spotless He could not have been our surety had he been himself a debtour nor satisfied justice for us could the law have charged him with any guilt of his own BORN Having taken upon him a true body being in all things made like unto us sin only excepted flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone that he might truely become the Son of Man he observed the lawes and customs of humane nature and after he had continued in the womb the usual time he was at length brought forth into light laid in a manger wrap't in swadling cloaths and attended by the Virgin and bred up passed his child hood in performing obedience to his parents and grew in stature and wisdome OF THE VIRGIN It became God thus to be born not without a miracle Our Faith is full of miracles a Three-One God a God-Man Christ a Virgin-Mother Mary A Virgin she was before her delivery in her delivery and after her delivery for they who are called the brethren of the Lord are after the manner of the Hebrew speech to be understood as Kinsmen She was indeed espoused to Ioseph but she knew no man Her Virginitie dignifies a single life her betrothing justifies the married state It pleased God to choose a woman without the help of man in the business of our salvation for the honour and comfort of that sex that as by the disobedience of the first woman mankind fell so it might be recovered by the birth of the Virgin and Mary might make amends for the miscarriage of Eve MARY For the greater certainty the name of the Royal Maid is expressed she being of the tribe of Iudah of the linage of David the King according to the Prophecies concerning the Messias Yet the Mother of the Lord this Blessed Virgin was very poor to shew that Christ's Kingdom was not of this world and in this were the blind Jewes offended that they looked for outward pomp the glory of an earthly crown little heeding the foretellings of the Prophets wherein Christ is described a man of sorrows to suffer all the punishment due to our sins to wit death and all the miseries of an afflicted life Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried We pass immediately from his birth to his Passion for indeed his whole life from his cradle to the Cross was nothing else but a continual passion being spent in hunger thirst fasting watching and travelling grief reproach and shame and he was therefore sent into the world that he might die and to this end God prepared him a body that he might lay down his life for His. SUFFERED Having undertook our cause he satisfied divine Iustice by undergoing those penalties which God in his word hath threatned to the transgressors of the law He was by the sentence of an earthly Iudge condemned to death that we might be acquitted before the heavenly Father UNDER PONTIUS PILATE In that time wherein Pontius Pilate was Governour of Iudea being set over that Nation by the Roman Emperour when was fulfilled that Prophecie which foretold the coming of the Messias should be when the Scepter was departed from Iudah that is when the Iews should be subject to a forreign power having lost their own government CRUCIFIED Christ being betraid by Iudas forsaken of his disciples apprehended as a malefactor is brought to the judgement hall and having been spit upon and mocked by the souldiers accused by the Priests with the charge of blasphemy persecuted with the hatred of the people crying Crucifie him Crucifie him scourged with whips crowned with thorns and besprinkled with large showers of his innocent blood is at last by Pilate delivered up to the will malice of his enemies who nailing his blessed hands stretched wide open to the Cross
commands partly promises The command hath in it a mission Goe a commission teach and Baptize The promise is that whosoever believeth and is Baptis'd shall be saved GOE YE INTO ALL THE WORLD Christ himself being sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel confin'd his own walk within the bounds of Iewry but at his death the vail of the Temple being rent in twain and the partition wall broken down all other Nations of the world were receiv'd into the covenant of grace and made partakers of that salvation which the Iews put from themselves In order to this the Apostles were furnisht with the gift of tongues to the end that they might discourse with all people in their own language of which they gave a notable essay at the Feast of Pentecost and not long after they had meeting and agreed amongst themselves what quarter of the world every one should take upon him as his Province and accordingly travell'd some one or other of them over all the parts of the known world at least there being yet remaining in several places of the East in Asia as amongst the Chineses and the Indians and of the South in Africk as amongst the Abyssines under the command of Prester Iohn that is the Apostolick Prince c. several monuments of the Apostles preaching Nor are there wanting in America it self footsteps of the Gospel as in the Island of the Holy Cross. AND TEACH ALL NATIONS or preach the Gospell to every Creature Now indeed does the Sun of rightteousness being the light that enlightens every one that comes into the world set forth upon his course and makes his compass from one end of Heaven to the other darting forth the rayes of his heavenly Doctrine to all Nations and diffusing light and heat by the Apostles no otherwise then the Sun in the Firmament makes his passage through the twelve signs of the Zodiack By this means Churches were planted up down Cities and countryes converted to the Faith and the sound of the Gospel went throughout the world What an excellent story would the rest of the Acts of the Apostles have made if they had bin committed to writing or preserved as St. Paul's and Peter's were whereas we have scarce any thing of them but fable and the variety of changes since and ferity of the nations at present makes it almost impossible to find out the truth of their travels acts and strange successes BAPTIZING This hath a double meaning either Teach and Baptize or Teach by Baptizing The former is thus After you have instructed people in the faith and made known to them the Gospel of Christ and acquainted them with the will of God touching their salvation receive them into the Church and washing them with water assure them of the pardon of their sins engage them into a profession of the Christian Faith and of a holy life The later speaketh thus Teach by Baptizing that is to say preach the Gospel to all and whomsoever you shall find willing to renounce their former error to give up themselves to the obedience of the Gospel make them my Disciples which indeed is the importance of the Greek word by dipping or sprinkling them with water by which ceremony as by a peculiar badge my Church which is the company of believers shall be distinguish'd from the rest of the world From both we learn that the administration of the Sacraments doth properly belong to those whose duty it is to preach the Gospel to wit the Ministers of God's Word and that they are to Baptize who are to Teach the Sacraments being but the seals and appendages of the doctrine THEM Men and women and children persons of all conditions sex age whole countryes whole cities whole families according as your preaching shall find success And this no question was the practise of the Apostles at first as hath been of the Church ever since to admit all even little ones as Christ did suffer little children to come to him and the Infants of believers to Baptism for so Circumcision in place of which Baptism came was performed upon children of eight dayes old And why should the sign of the Covenant be denied little babes who are in Covenant with the God of their Fathers who hath promis'd to be our God the God of ours What an unkindness is it that a parent should shut the gate of life against his child and deprive it of the priviledge of a new birth seeing that believers children are born heirs of the promise and have as good title to the spiritual blessing of their Fathers as they have to their temporal estate if the word of God be good evidence What hard-hearted person can look upon it's child no otherwise then a heathen brat then the young one of some brute damm I will not say lamb or kid or calf which God appointed to be offered to him and accepted in the Iewish service And will any one then be backward in bringing his child to the Temple and presenting him to the Lord or fear God's displeasure for so doing O rigid course to pass a sentence of excommunication upon children till they come to years of discretion And why so because they have no faith Suppose they have not The very Baptising a child makes him a Disciple if thou understandest Greek And art afraid of making thy child a Disciple too soon Besides who dares to be so peremptory and void of charity as to deny little ones faith since faith though it do ordinarily come by hearing yet it is a grace infus'd by God into the soul capable of such infusion nay holy writings have left it upon record that some children were sanctified in the womb and that Iohn the Baptist â—eapt in his mother's belly at the entrance of the Virgin Mother layes it down for a general observe that God hath out of the mouths of babes sucklingâ— ordained strength or prepared for himself a strong and solid praise IN THE NAME i.e. by virtue force of a divine command and appointment and by that authority which is deliver'd to the Son by the Father and which through the Spirit I doe also impart to you my Ministers Or into the Name for so the words sound in the Greek i.e. into the profession of Christian Faith and of Gospel-obedience Now the highest point of Christian Doctrine is to believe in God distinguished into three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost OF THE FATHER Who made us and begets us a new by his word and ordinances OF THE SON Who redeemed us and washes away our stains with his Blood AND OF THE HOLY GHOST Who sanctifies us for we are born again of water and the spirit Each Person hath its peculiar operation is severally represented in the holy rite of Baptism For whereas by washing of water is meant the doing away of sin the Father pardons sins the Son purchased the pardon the Spirit by
all our prayers and St. Luke will make out farther that it is a form of prayer to be constantly used by them who would be taken for Christ's disciples And no question but as it is the most ancient and best prayer which ever was in the Christian Church so 't was meant for constant use and rehearsal in the sacred offices of the Church This assertion proves Liturgy as lawfull as the prevention of blasphemy schism and non-sense make it convenient if not necessary which the opposers of set forms perceiving and fearing least the spirit as they term it should be bound if Christ's own form should pass free make bold not only to disuse but to abuse it too and cry it down as if his words could offend God whose very name doth so much prevail with him in prayer Wherefore they would have Luke be understood according to Matthew's expression which by their favour is not to be granted them for St. Matthew's way of speaking is often taken in St. Luke's meaning but on the contrary 't will be hard for them to find an instance of their arguing Nor will the variation of a word in the middle of it or the omission of a clause at the end of it stand them in much stead as we shall see anon This excellent form and pattern then of prayer is both for matter and form and order so full and compleat and comprehensive so well order'd and fitly suited and hansomly exprest that were the command for the use of it laid aside it seems to commend it self to a Christian's daily practice as a short yet full Liturgy This Prayer may be divided into three parts the Preface the Prayer it self and 〈◊〉 Conclusion The Preface is a compâ—â—tion of him whom the prayer is addressed to to wit God who is described partly by a title which shews his relation to us and our interest in him Our Father partly by the place wherein he dwels and shews forth his glory which art in Heaven The body of the Prayer it self contains in it a compleat sum and total of all holy desires and a perfect breviat of things pray'd for both spiritual and temporal and hath six or as some would have it by parting the last into two seaven Petitions The three former whereof concern God's glory the three later belong to us and our necessities both unto this life and that which is to come So that the glory of God and the Salvation of man which are the two pillars upon which the frame of providence and work of grace do stand are mainly here consider'd and run in each vein of this Prayer The sense of all may be briefly reduced into these two 〈◊〉 verses 1. Name 2. Kingdom 3. Will be done 4. Bread 5. Debts 6. Temptation The conclusion or indeed peroration hath in it a Doxologie or excellent form of confession and praise reflecting upon the three first petitions and carrying along with it a reason of the whole prayer thus Thy Kingdom come For thine is the Kingdom Thy will be done For thine is the power and Hallowed be thy Name For thine is the glory That God's glory is in our prayers as it ought to be in all our actings the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first and the last the beginning from which all things came at first and the end to which all things tend at last And the Petitions themselves have a mutual respect and seem to look to one another after this manner That we may hallow thy name and praise thee in the Land of the living preserve our life by supplying us with food That thy Kingdom may come into us and grace may rule in our hearts blot out our past iniquities and justify us by forgiving our sins That we may perform a due obedience to thy will remove every offence out of the way and suffer us not to fall into sin by giving us up to the power of temptation or leaving us to our selves This in general To come to the Prayer it self in the compellation wherein we call God Father we do not mean only the first person of the blessed Trinity excluding the other two persons the Son and the Spirit but take in all three the word Father here being not appropriated to one person as in relation to another to wit of the Father to the Son but applyed to God according to his essence i.e. to all three Persons for they all three are one and the self-same God in opposition to us who say the prayer The Father Son and Spirit being each of them one as well as the other a Father in respect of all created things and particularly of men it being usual with the Heathens so to term their Jupiter Father of Angels and of men FATHER God is the great Father of the universe the master of the world from whom and to whom are all things He made all things by the word of his power and of his â—eer goodness preserves all things wisely orders all events and deals with the whole world no otherwise then a â—ather doth with his child He is not only in himself an infinite being as his name Iehovah shews including in it all the differences of time Past Present and Future who was and is and is to come but the immens fountain of beings whence every thing that is had its originalâ— not that his very essence or substance was or could be communicated to any created thing as man begets man a Father the Son in his own likeness then every thing would be God which is the 〈◊〉 blasphemy to say No the nature of God is quite of another kind then that of the creatures and altogether incommunicable For how can we imagine that his infinite essence could have streamed forth it self into such a various and particular existence cloathed it self with those accidents and submitted it self to those lawes of change which all created things lye under 'T was his almighty Word which produced all things of nothing light out of darkness order out of confusion that was the womb that afforded the fruitful seed out of which all things grew He spoke and they were made and 't was well observ'd by the Heathen Critick that Moses used expressions suitable to the Majesty of a God when he writes God said let there be light and there was light ' T is true he hath imprinted upon every creature some character of himself that we may know by looking on the piece by the Image and superscription whose handy work it is And in this sense we may say every thing he has done is like him as we would of an absolute artist whose rare pieces will at first sight show what hand they came from Nor did he only make things and then leave them to themselves as some unnatural parents expose their children But takes care of and provides for every thing looks after them wears them in his thoughts
take up the yoke and bear the burden quietly and cast it upon the Lord who will bring it to pass That we may not boldly pry into his decrees nor presume upon a rash confidence or despair in distrust of his love but adhere to the plain rule of his word and busy our selves in doing his will That we would tread carefully in the path of duty and mind the business of our general and particular calling and trust God with the success in the use of all lawfull means That we may not be discontented peevish and froward when our humours and interests are cross'd and when his providence answers not our desires but bless God when he takes away as well as when he gives and give him the glory whatever befalls us That we may resign all to his blessed will and rest fully satisfied with his determinations that in all cases we may say with our Saviour Not my will but thine be done That he would write his laws in our hearts and teach us his statutes and acquaint us with his will that we may doe it That he would assist us with his grace and strength from above for the performance of his commandements That he would mortifie our lusts and the corrupt desires of the flesh that we may not set up them in opposition to his Holy will but bring every proud imagination in obedience to him That we may be so acted by his spirit that we may be quickend in every good way and work and be carried on from strength to strength till we come to perfection That we may have a holy emulation for the blessed spirits above and endeavour to imitate them in yielding an obedience without delay without murmuring and without weariness That we may endeavour to the utmost to find out what that good that acceptable and perfect will of God is and to perform it and never think we can doe too much for him or suffer too much for his sake That we would lay aside all worldly cares and serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life and fit our selves for the business of eternity by having our conversation in heaven whilest we are here on earth Thus the three Petitions do immediately concern God and may also have particular reference to the three Persons of the Trinity That the name of the Father who is God blessed for ever may be exalted and glorified That the Kingdom of his Son and his glorious presence may be hastned That the spirit would frame our hearts to the obedience of his will And to the three offices of Christ By whose name as he is our Priest we are saved whose name is above every name holy and excellent who as King rules in our hearts and will come in triumphant manner at the last day to own his faithfull subjects and be avenged of his enemies And who lastly as Prophet hath declared unto us the will of the Father and came to do his will on earth as it is in Heaven with an exact unsinning obedience Nor is the word Thy idle but hath a great significance commending to us that great Gospel-duty of self-denial which is indeed the essential character of a right Christian who can be content to part with all so God may have his due For so the opposition is to be understood Thy name not our honour Thy Kingdom not our interest Thy will not our humour And thus the three petitions seem to be levell'd at the world's Trinity Honour Riches and Pleasure We ought not to study our own honour but to doe all for the glory of God we must not strive for deceivable riches but set the Crown upon Christ's head We should not follow our own pleasure and pursue our own satisfactions and contents but submit to God's will It is no wonder that this holy form of Prayer was so displeasing to the ambitious and factious spirits of these latter times a generation of self-seeekers who meant to advance their own names and get the power of the Kingdom into their own hand and pretended a divine authority for their own will as if they would have prayed rather Our will be done in heaven as it is on earth nor did they stick to say as much when they father'd all their mischiefs on providence and from their successes concluded God's approbation of their wickedness These last words On earth as it is in Heaven may seem to look back upon the three precedent Petitions after this manner on earth as in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done May we men on earth praise and glorify thy name adore thy power and Majesty perform thy commands and submit to thy holy will even as the Angels those ministring spirits and the blessed Saints doe in Heaven saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth Now follow the Petitions which concern us and our necessities which are either temporal supplyes of food and a comfortable subsistence and a dayly provision and sustenance or spiritual wants such as are the Pardoâ— of our sins and justification by the blood of the Son of God which was shed for the remission of sins and the strength of assisting grace whereby we may resist and overcome temptation sanctification wrought by the spirit of God dwelling in us and cleansing our hearts by faith So that these three also may have respect to the three persons seeing that they seem particularly directed to the Father for maintenance to the Son for pardon to the Spirit for grace BREAD What more natural for children to ask or for a father to give Bread is the staff of life the stay and support of nature the chief nourishment and that which alone will keep nature in repair and the body in health but is usually taken by a Synecdoche for all manner of food whatsoever even for flesh meat and drink whence to eat bread with one was a common form of speech meant for sitting down at table dining or supping and being entertain'd and indeed feasted with varieties And yet more largely sometimes as here it is for all the provisions and accommodations of life not only food but raiment habitation health strength money friends estate preferment vigour of mind soundness of body success in our undertakings a blessing upon our labours comfort from our relations with all other temporal concernments as seasonable weather the early and the later rain fruitfull fields plenty peace deliverance from dangers long life and a good old age with all those good things of mind of body and of fortune as we call them which may be the objects of a right order'd natural desire and all those additional advantages which the custome of countryes hath made convenient and agreeable to people according to their severall ranks and qualities which are all here comprehended under the name of Bread to teach us frugality and contentedness that if we have but bread we
of honour set him above Angels principalities and powers and hath committed to his trust the Government of the world FROM THENCE To wit out of Heaven whither he ascended and where he now is Christ God Man at the last day in the end of the world riding upon the clouds shall shew himself and HE SHALL COME Attended with innumerable Angels and Saints with the voice of a Trumpet in a glorious manner to the joy of his servants and the terrour of his enemies TO JUDGE For all mankind shall be gathered together from the four quarters of the earth and we must all appear before the Iudgment-seat of Christ to give an account of our works Then shall the books be open'd and every man's conscience shall witness against him and that which hath bin done in secret shall be made known and the thoughts of the heart shall be discovered Then righteous sentence shall proceed from the Iudges mouth according to the Law and the Gospell Then shall be put a difference betwixt the good and bad the righteous and the wicked when God shall reward his servants with a Crown of Glory and destroy his enemies with an everlasting destruction endless torments There is a twofold coming of Christ Christ came first to be judged the second time he will come to judge THE QUICK Those who shall then be found alive who shall be suddenly changed in the twinckling of an eye and without death shall pass from death to life AND THE DEAD For the dead shall rise again as many as from the beginning of the world throughout all ages have lived upon the face of the earth and though they have been mouldered into dust or torn by wild beasts or buried in the waves of the Sea yet they shall take up the very same bodies again to which the soul may again be united God's power bringing this about and his justice so requiring it that every man may in his body reap the fruit of those things which he hath done in the body I BELIEV With the same Faith by which I believ the Father and the Son I believ also in the third Person of the holy and blessed Trinity Being verily perswaded that he is true God and the power of the most High depending upon his assistance and finding by experience that whatsoever good I either doe or have comes all from him IN THE SPIRIT He is therefore called Ghost or Spirit because he partly proceeds from the Father and the Son by way of breathing partly because he breaths into us good thoughts and holy desires wherefore it is added HOLY Seeing that he is not only Holy in himself with such holiness as far exceeds all other blessed Spirits both Angels Saints but also makes us holy by an effectual working of grace in our hearts He it is that applyes the benefits of Christ's death unto us and makes us partakers of the salvation which he hath purchased for us by his blood The holy Prophets and Apostles were the penmen of the Holy Ghost who wrote as they were inspired by him He gathers the Church by the Preaching of the word having furnisht the Apostles with the gifts of tongues provided a ministry and other holy ordinances for the propagation of the Gospell filling up the number of the elect and bringing souls to life THE CHURCH The company of believers whom God hath ordained to life before the foundation of the world was laid whom he hath called out of a state of sin to the profession of Faith in Christ and a holy conversation whom he also doth rule by his Word and Spirit HOLY Gathered and guided by the Holy Ghost distinguished from the rest of the world by holy appointments adorning their profession with holy works CATHOLICK or Vniversal in respect of time place and persons being to last through all ages of the world spread abroad over all quarters of the earth consisting of men of all ranks and conditions God having shut the gate of his Kingdom to none but such as wilfully refuse to enter Now the Holy Ghost bestows upon the Church which he gathers by the word and sanctifies by grace these Blessings which follow THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS Whereby the Saints who are the faithfull ones the chosen and the children of light are united to Christ as their head and amongst themselves as members of the same body the Church drawing virtue life and efficacy from Christ and performing to one another all offices of Charity as being knit together with a spirit of love and bond of peace THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS Which the spirit on our unfeined repentance assures us of by applying the merit of Christ and sprinkling our consciences from dead works with his blood which he powred forth to be a price of souls neither doth he onely seal to our hearts a pardon of former offences shewing us the favour of God reconciled in his Son but doth withall give us power to resist sin for the time to come cleansing us from every defilement of the flesh and spirit subduing our lusts changing our wils and renewing our natures according to righteousness THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY For in the last day when Christ shall come to judgement the trump shall sound and the dead shall arise with the very same bodyes that they had before and every one shall receive according to his works For as much as the wicked shall be thrown into Hell there to be tormented with the Divel with the worm which never dyes and the fire which is never quenched But the good shall enter into LIFE EVERLASTING Where they shall rest from their labours and enjoy God for ever living in abundance of joys and pleasures which neither eye hath seen nor ear hath heard nor can the heart of man conceiv And all these things I believ not onely with an Historical Faith but appropriate unto my self being fully perswaded that God made me by his power preserves me by his goodness and provides for me both in soul and body by his infinite wisdome And that the Son of God whatsoever he hath done or suffered he performed and underwent for my sake that I through him might live And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in me working in me Faith Repentance that I am a true member of the Church that my sins are forgiven me that I shall rise again and see my Redeemer with these eyes who shall out of his free bounty reward me his unworthiest servant with the Glory which shall have no end FINIS THE EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDEMENTS The Ten Commandements Exodus xx GOD spake all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth
Self-denyal which is the principle of Christianity Self-preservation has been set up and Interest made our Idol when we have been so far discontented at our present condition that we have over-run all orders to mend our private fortunes have ruin'd the publick when we walk disorderly and are immoderate in the use of our pleasures and are taken up with the love of the world and impure affections and cannot rellish the things of God when we cannot indure one another and require that of others we would not allow them and set our selves at irreconcileable distances when we indulge our selves in carnal joyes and have no compassion for our suffering Brethren when our hopes depended on an arm of flesh and the fear of man deterred us from our duty so that we would not trust God for our delivery in the performance of our duty when every small thing puts us into passion and in our zeal we design a revenge on the person more then a reformation of his vice when we follow the guidance of a deluded conscience and mistake both covetousness and ambition for zeal when we prefer publick mischief before our own disappointments and had rather Church State should be indanger'd then our design should miscarry when we hug temptations and make much of our lusts and lull them on the pillows of ease and security when we wish for things unlawful and take unlawful courses to get them when all our desires are let out for carnal satisfactions and we make it the great business of our lives to provide for our content and yet can never be contented When by our covetousness and evil concupiscences we have thus broken not only this but all Gods Laws and Commandements we may very well desire God's pardon for what is past and his assistance for the time to come in the Churches form Lord have mercy upon us and write all these thy Laws in our hearts we beseech thee FINIS AN EXPLANATION Of the SACRAMENTS The II. SACRAMENTS Baptism GOe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every ereature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned The Lords SUPPER THe Lord Iesus the same night in which he was betraid took bread And when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said Take eat this is my body which is broken given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also he took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for you for many for the remission of sinnes This doe ye as â—ft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Of the SACRAMENTS THe Sacraments That is to say Holy Rites or Ceremonies or mysteries used in the Church appointed by Christ himself Now Sacrament is a military term and signifyes that oath whereby souldiers were wont to engage to be true and faithfull to their General in the War against the enemyes of their countrey And thus it is with us Christians who have vow'd obedience to Christ the Captain of our Salvation and sworn to fight under his Banner that we may by his strength overcome the world the flesh and the Divel The Sacraments are but two Holy Baptisme and the Holy Supper which come in the place of Circumcision and the Iewish Passeover By Baptism we are admitted into the bosom of the Church and as it were entred into God's family being by nature aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and of the children of wrath become heirs of the promise The Supper affords us a spiritual repast and by it we grow up and are intimately united to Christ and are preserved and fed to life everlasting There are two things to be considered in a Sacrament an outward Sign and an inward Grace signified Sign in Baptisme is Water which washeth the filth of our body the Thing signified is the Blood of Christ whereby our souls are cleansed from the filth of sin The outward Elements in the Supper are Bread and Wine by which the strength of nature is repair'd and maintain'd The Things signified are the Body of Iesus crucified and his Blood shed which being partaken by Faith doe heighten our graces and nourish the souls of believers Baptisme then is the laver of regeneration and the Supper is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. In a word the Sacraments are annexed to the Word of God as the seals of the promise conveyances of grace and evidences of the Spirit by which he doth effectually apply to believers the love of the Father and the merits of the Son assuring their hearts confirming their Faith fastning their Hope and enlarging their Charity Of BAPTISM THe Institution of Baptisme was after this manner When Christ had with his Blood sealed the truth of his Doctrine and purchased to himself a Church i.e. a peculiar people the chosen ones of God whom he fore knew from all eternitie for he was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world was laid and had made good this his purchase by his resurrection in that the bands of death sell off and he was released out of the prison of the grave having paid the debt for which he as our surety suffered it was then convenient that this Church thus purchased should be gathered and the chosen ones be called and converted to the saith by the preaching of the Word and distinguished from the rest of the world by a profession of the Gospel and the use of holy ordinances Wherefore being himself to depart hence to ascend to Heaven he leaves his Disciples with instructions how to propagate the faith and to order the affairs of his spiritual Kingdom to the end of the world and to proclaim throughout all quarters of the world the good tidings of peace and pardon to all such as should by faith and repentance come in and give up their names to Christ It being God's will that all should be say'd and come to the knowledge of the truth Whereupon he sends the Apostles to preach and by Baptisme i.e. by a solemn rite of washing with water receive into the bosom of the Church as many as should profess faith in him giving them this commission before his departue as it is set down by the Evangelist Goe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them c. Baptism having bin formerly us'd by Iohn the forerunner of our Saviour and honour'd by the example of our Saviour himself who at his Baptism was signally own'd from Heaven for the Son of God the Spirit also in the shape of a Dove lighting upon him Our Saviour in these words wherein he appoints the form and use of Baptism partly
faith applyes that purchase So then we are sav'd by the mercy of the Father by the merit of the Son and by the efficacy of the Spirit This form of Baptism is one of the clearest proofs of Trinity in all Scripture and indeed when our Saviour was Baptiz'd of Iohn all Three did shew themselves present Christ himself whom Iohn did Baptize was the second Person the Spirit descended upon him in the shape of a Dove and the Father spoke out of the Cloud saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased In the Command is set down the rite or outward action i.e. the washing with water The Promise delivers the grace signified and conveyed by the action to wit remission of sins The analogie betwixt the outward sign and the inward grace lyes in this that as Water being powred or sprinkled on the body washes off the filth so the Blood of Christ which was the Fountain open'd for the cleansing of iniquity doth purge the conscience and doe away sin whether original or actual and present us clean without spot in the sight of the Father by the virtue of the Spirit HE THAT BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED SHALL BE SAVED Faith is the soul's hand by which a man receives and applyes to himself the benefits purchased by Christ. By Faith we are justified Baptism is the laver of regeneration the seal of the Covenant the conveyance of Grace They are both necessary neither can either of them serve turn by it self There must be an Ordinance to ground Faith upon and there must be a Faith to make the Ordinance effectual For every appointment as the just man doth lives by Faith Faith without Baptism were a bucket without water and Baptism void of Faith were but a well without a bucket to draw up the waters of life He that believes by confessing his sins and professing Faith resolves upon amendment of life and gives himself up to Christ's discipline and then is baptiz'd obliges himself by vow enters into Covenant of strict walking with God He shall be sav'd from his sins the punishments due to them being free as well from the power as from the guilt His nature shall be renewed and by the continual supplyes of grace if he make good use of it he shall be enabled more and more to withstand temptations get ground of his lusts he shall be put into a state of salvation and every day set forward on his way to bliss through the paths of holiness till with Christ at last he arrive at perfection have his grace changed into glory HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT SHALL BE DAMNED This is a threat annexed to the promise which holds good by the law of contraries for if those that believe shall be saved then those that believe not must expect nothing but damnation We must observe that there is not added here any mention of Baptism because unbelief it self is enough to shut the gates of Heaven against any one and send him to Hell wherefore it is not said he that believes not and is not Baptiz'd for the unbeliever whether he be baptiz'd or no is lyable to this sentence If he hath been baptiz'd it will be look'd upon as a formal cheat a cloak to disguise his hypocrisy And if he hath not the very neglect of Baptism serves for an open discovery of his unbelief so that either way he aggravates his sin by being on one side hypocrite on the other profane The meaning of these words then is this But on the contrary whosoever doth not with true Faith entertain my Doctrine and with sure purpose of mind resolve on the keeping my Commands but doth either so far disbelieve Christian Truth that he will not so much as take upon him the outward profession of it or having been baptiz'd is of loose opinions and practises and disparages his profession with foul errors or wicked manners such an one will have no benefit by Christ no share in the salvation wrought by him but brings upon himself the guilt of his own sins and continues still in a state of wrath and perishing in his unbelief will assuredly be cast into everlasting torments If the One Sacrament may be termed the Bosom of the Church by which we are entred and have admittance into the fellowship of the Saints The Other may not without reason be call'd the Churches Breast by which we are nourished to a spiritual growth and are refreshed and fed to life everlasting Of the Lord's SUPPER AFter that our Saviour had sufficiently made known by his Doctrine the will of God concerning man's salvation and proved by many miracles that he was the Son of God that came down from Heaven to the end that having put on our nature he might in our stead satisfy the Law and undergoe the punishments due to us for our sins that we through Faith in him might live It pleased him that he might leave with us the Symbols of his presence for ever and preserve the memory of his sufferings afresh in the mind of the faithful to prefigure his Death by a Sacrament appointing Bread Wine the usual supplyes of life for the representing of his sacred Body which was broken on the Cross and torn with the nails and the spear and his Blood which trickled from his sacred Head by the pricking of the thorns gush'd out of his hands feet when he was nail'd to the tree and brake forth of his side when he was wounded with the launce and plentifully stream'd forth out of every vein of his sacred Body when he was cruelly scourged with whips Now his Body thus broken and his Blood thus shed doe no less feed a believers soul and improve the force of grace then the body is nourished and natures strength repaired by Bread and Wine But this hath a spiritual meaning not that any one doth eat the very flesh of Christ and drink his very blood in a gross manner for that will be as absured to think as 't is savage to doe or that Christ can be receiv'd any other way then by Faith for 't is a point of Faith that the Body of Christ did goe up to Heaven and there is to remain till the last day and 't is contrary to very reason to say that the same Body can at the same time be in several places and to bring to pass contradictions is a thing out of the power of omnipotence it self not to say that it is plain even to our outward senses that the elements of bread and wine doe still remain after consecration the same in substance as well as in colour and accidents as they were before In fine it would indeed be no Sacrament if the signs should change their nature and the thing signified be it self really there for a Sacrament is nothing else but a figure and representation of some thing that is absent exhibiting to the understanding that which cannot be seen with the eye and by
Scripture The one was when he came in the flesh in the form of a servant to die for us that he might reign upon the tree as some readings have it in the Psalms The other will be when he shall come in the clouds with power and glory attended with Angels to judge the world at that great and dreadful day when the trumpet shall summon all to appear before the tribunal And when that 's done he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father and the time of this his coming and the end of the world he hath left here to be the subject of our prayers and not of our inquiries to exercise devotion not curiosity the uncertainty of the time being an argument to quicken our diligence in preparing for it that we may watch and pray he having told us afore-hand that he will steal upon us as a thief in the night But what need we trouble our selves about the age of the world when our own time is so uncertain that we cannot call the next hour our own and know not how soon the arrest of death may hurry us away to judgement He that dies now in the Lord rests from his labour his good works follow him and if we cannot properly say that the Kingdom of God is come to him we may safely say he is gone to it At the end of the world then is Christ's great coming and the general judgement but at every single death there is a particular doom past when the soul immediately after it's delivery out of the body is dispatched either into the regions of life or lodged in the chambers of death so that in this sense Christ may be said to come too And there is a gracious visit when he comes and knocks at the heart and calls to his beloved by his word When he comes into us to a feast and banquet of love furnished with the consolations of the spirit The sum of this request is that God would declare his power even to the heathen that know not his name and make discoveries of his Majesty by his outward administrations not leaving himself without witness but convince profane spirits that there is a God that rules in the world that he would manage the affairs of the world for his peoples good and for the advancement of the Kingdom of his Son that he would bless the civill societies of men that he would fill Soveraigns with wisdom to go in and out before the people and people with loyalty to their rulers and with love to one another That he would establish the state wherein we live in peace and order preserving us on one hand from the tyranny and oppression of superiours and on the other hand from rebellion and conspiracy of inferiors That he would save the King whom he hath set under himself our supream Head and Governor from all treasons and treacherous designs that he would subdue the people under him cloath his enemies with shame and upon himself let his crown flourish that he would give the King his judgements and make our Magistrates men of courage fearing God and hating covetousness That he would preserve us from all dreadfull calamities the plague pestilence and famine from wars fires inundations from murder and sudden death That he would take a special care of his Church and his chosen ones that he would send labourers into his vineyard that he would endue his Ministers with righteousness that he would illuminate all Bishops and Pastours with true knowledge and understanding of his word that both by their preaching and living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly That he would inlarge the tents of Japhet remember his ancient people the Iewes gather in the remnant of the gentiles send forth his Gospell into the dark corners of the earth and publish the glad tidings of salvation unto all mankind that he would fill up the number of his elect and hasten the glorious appearance of Christ That he would confound the devices of all that have evill will to Zion and turn the hearts of hereticks schismaticks and bloody tyrants That he would assist those that suffer for the testimony of a good conscience with strength from above and send them the comforter That he would destroy the man of sin with the breath of his mouth That he would garrison our hearts with his grace that he would teach us his laws that we may walk in his statutes and keep his commands That he would mortify the desires and lusts of the flesh subdue us to himself and make us a willing people in the day of his power That he would open our hearts for the receiving of his word and rule in them by his spirit That his Kingdom may first enter into us that we may enter into it Lastly that we may have our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospell live in a constant exspectation of our great change that when our Lord comes he may find us doing his will on earth as it is in Heaven And blessed is he whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing THY WILL BE DONE The nature of God is not made up of a body and soul nor hath he bodily parts as eyes hands feet c. or faculties of mind as understanding memory affections and 't is no less improper to say of God that he knows or wills any thing as that he walks sees c. which are metaphorical expressions taken from men God being pleased in holy writ to condescend to our capacity and speak of himself after the manner of men God is all understanding all will nor is there any thing in God which is not infinite i.e. himself His will then is not a thing really distinct from his understanding or indeed from his essence neither is it a blind power as it is in us that needs the guidance of reason and the light of another faculty to be convey'd into it to represent the object and advise it to choose the good and eschew the evil but is of it self most free most wise most good It self is a law and rule to it self determins it self and is the measure and standard of all goodness righteousness and holiness The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works And his pracepts are more to be desired then gold yea then fine gold sweeter then hony the hony-comb Now there is a twofold will of God that of his decrees and that of his commands Nor do these two cross and oppose the one the other as if God decreed one thing should be and commanded the contrary but they keep a sweet harmony and mutuall correspondence God's word and his providence may seem sometimes to clash and justle one another yet they do keep the same road of righteousness nor does God ever contradict himself or speak one thing and mean another Let God be true and every man a lyar '
Law of the Lord must meditate in it day and night that so he may time his duties aright and be like the tree planted by the river side which bringeth forth its fruit in due season and thus whatsoever he does shall prosper GOD SPAKE Three months after the children of Israel's departure out of Egypt when they had pitch'd their Tents in the wilderness of Sinai when they had fresh in memory that wonderful deliverance which God wrought for them in their passage over the red-Sea from Pharaoh and his hoast besides those many dreadful miracles which he had shown in Egypt God mindful of the Covenant which he had made with Abraham and his seed the Israelites being now in a convenient place in a desert retired from the observation as well as the invasion of their enemies strikes a league with them that if they will obey his voice and keep his Covenant he will own them for his peculiar people and upon their acceptance of these terms after two dayes solemn preparation the Divine Majesty came down with Thunders and Lightnings and thick Clouds and seated himself upon the top of the Mount Sinai in the midst of fire and smoke with the noise of Trumpet that the Mountain and the Camp both shook with fear and whether by the ministry of an Angel or rather by some other more immediate way with audible voice face to face pronounced the tenour and conditions of the Covenant comprehended in the words of the Law ALL THESE WORDS Christ the second Person is called the Word but he is the word begotten as the Word is the immediate and essential issue of the Mind The whole Scripture too is God's Word that is was by God inspired into the holy pen-men they writing according to the dictates of the Spirit whence that form of speech especially among the Prophets Thus saith the Lord and The Word of the Lord came unto me But these Words God himself utter'd which therefore call for the more heedfull attention and awfull regard If the Lyon roares shall not the beasts of the forrest tremble every word should sound in our eares like a clap of Thunder cause an Earth-quake in our bowels for the Highest hath utter'd his voice even a mighty voice All these words too which requires an universal obedience We are not to pick and choose but receive them all with a like readiness of Faith as the clear manifestations of God's will God at the first creation for every dayes work spoke and it was done Oh! that he would so speak to our hearts that his Spirit may accompany his Word and help us to doe what he commands us to doe O Lord give us strength to perform thy Commands and then command what thou wilt SAYING The Rabbins have a tradition or fiction that God pronounc'd the Law twice over the first time with that hast as if the whole Law had been but one word but at the second going over leisurely and distinctly Whereupon they say that in this portion of Scripture the accents are upon every word doubled to denote that double delivery the one a note of speed the other of stop and pause This I suppose they gather from the two words here used as if he spoke them in hast and said them at leisure or whether they thought it fit the Law should be delivered twice by word of mouth as well as twice written upon tables Whether this were so or no matters not much only it should be our prayer and endeavour that they might be spoken over twice to us to the ear first and then to the heart to the inward man as well as to the outward though we have not the advantages of those terrours and dreadful circumstances wherewith the Law was at first delivered to prepare us with a prostrate humility and a devout reverence yet let us imagine that we hear the trumpet sound to judgement and awaken our attention and let us think we see the flames of Hell those everlasting burnings whither the transgressors of this Law must be dispatch'd and possess our souls with fear and hearken what the Lord will say to his servants The Preface Had God surpris'd them with this terrible appearance they might have been swallow'd up in their fears and been lost in those dazling amazements therefore he gave them two dayes time to prepare themselves here before he makes known to them his Law he acquaints them with the Lawgiver and that he might put their affections into a suitable temper for so solemn an occasion he makes an Introductory Preface wherein he lays down the arguments of their obedience taken partly from his power Soveraignty in that he is the Lord partly from his mercy and kindness seen first generally in that relation wherein he plac'd himself to them as being their God and more particularly discover'd in a late great deliverance he wrought for them and that both in respect of place out of a strange country he had brought them forth out of the Land of Egypt and in respect of condition out of a slavish and toilsom drudgery out 〈◊〉 the House of bondage I Who now speak to thee from the midst of fire out of the thick cloud the fear of thy Fathers Abraham Isaac and Iacob I that appear'd to Moses in the burning bush cloathed with Majesty and dread I who have carried thee upon Eagles wings and have brought thee thus to my self to shew my statutes unto thee and to make known my laws Hear O Israel and fear and observe to do for I AM THE LORD The maker of all things the absolute Soveraign of the World Iehovah the Fountain of beings who give being also to my word and promise there is nothing resists my will for my power is infinite wherefore stand in aw and fear before me the subjection and homage of all creatures being due to me by right of creation all things are my servants for from me and to me are all things I spake the Word and they were are created I made all things according to my good pleasure and for my own glory and men more especially for my service and amongst all the sons of men I have chose you for my select people for I am THY GOD by Covenant as well as by Creation by promise no less then by providence I made my self known to thy Fathers and engag'd my loving kindness to them and to their posterity after them I took a particular care of you when you were but few in number that the Nations about you might do you no harm I supported you under your burdens in Egypt and multiply'd you when you were sorely oppress'd in so much that of seventy persons you are become a great people I have own'd you as my charge and have done wondrous things for you in the land of Cham and HAVE BROUGHT THEE OUT with a strong hand and stretched out arm in the sight pursuit of Pharaoh all his hoast