of God to soften that heart again 2. Make a frequent and serious Examination of thy past Actions measure them by the Rule of the Word of God and find out that accursed thing whatsoever it be that is displeasing to him so that as much as may be thou maist distinctly and with reference to particular sins or faults or failings pray over this Petition There is not a day but by a wary observation thou wilt not only find a general indistinct distemper which is to be the subject of this request but particular special eminent Evils that deserve a particular reflection upon them in the repetition of this Petition Let us search and try our wayes and turn to the Lord our God And to this end 3. Endeavour to keep thy Conscience always Wakeful Vigilant Tender be content to listen to her chidings she soldom quarrels without a cause but suppressing checking and stifling the language of Conscience makes her at last either sullen or senseless or outragious A vigilant Conscience will prevent thee from many sins but if it do not it will tell thee of them and bring thee upon thy knees and make this Petition seasonable and a Pardon gotten thereupon acceptable and comfortable for how can that Man with any sense beg Pardon for a sin when he scarce finds himself sensibly guilty of any This Petition is delivered up but carelesly and coldly and fruitlesly by such a person 4. Give God the Honour of his Justice even when thou suest for the Benefit of his Mercy in aggravation of thy sins to the due height in owning damnation and utter rejection as the just reward of every sin humble thy Soul truely and deeply for it This will make thy Prayer earnest and thy Pardon dear it gives to God the Honour of his Justice and the Glory of his Mercy which is all the Tribute thou can'st pay unto him for his free Goodness in giving thee that Pardon without which thou wert eternally lost 5. Give thy Mediator the Honour and End of thy Redemption Thy Saviour died it is true to obtain thy Pardon but wilt thou continue in sin that Grace may abound sin that thou maist be pardoned and renew thy sins that God may renew his Pardon God forbid Thou dost as much as in thee lyeth disappoint the End of Christ's Death who therefore died that he might redeem unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Let the begging of thy Pardon be ever accompanied with a resolution not to offend again otherwise God that sees thy heart looks upon thy asking of Pardon as a higher and more impudent and presumptuous sin than that which thou seemest to beg the forgiveness of 6. Upon the discovery of any particular sin which in a special manner concerns thee beware of these things 1. Sleeping in it without recourse to God for Pardon for it or slipping over it in thy Prayer without a particular animadversion upon it Be content to open this sore The longer it is kept covered the worse it is Thou must know that every sin is written before God with a point of a Diamond and though thou art contented to forget it or by incursion of time to wear out the remembrance or at least the horror of it yet it is written and thou shalt be sure to hear of it and the longer it continues the harder thy heart grows and the deeper doth the canker and stain of that Sin work and spread into thy Soul and the more difficultly is thy Pardon obtained and yet the less earnestly sought It is a secret curse in thy bosom that makes all thy services to God unacceptable and unsavory and who can tell when the decree may come out when this Sin will ripen into an eminent Judgment Therefore clear thy account with God betimes let not the guilt of a Sin lye long upon thy conscience but make thy peace betimes sue out thy Pardon speedily Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth 2. Yet after a Sin freshly committed fall not presently to beg thy Pardon till thou hast humbled thy Heart and put it into a fit frame to come into the presence of God till thou hast got a sense that it is an evil thing and a bitter to depart from him till thou hast crept to thy Saviours Feet for his Blood to wash thee and for his Righteousness to cover thee and for his Mediation to bring thee otherwise a defiled polluted creature into his Fathers presence under his Patronage till thou hast mourned over him whom thou hast pierced and been ashamed before him of thy miscarriage and acted thy Faith upon his All-sufficient satisfaction till thou hast taken up Resolutions of future amendment and then in the Name and Mediation of thy Saviour fall upon thy knees and beg thy Pardon As we forgive our Debtors Luk. 12. For we forgive our Debtors Here we Learn 1. That it is our Duty to forgive others Matt. 18.21 22. Upon their repentance Luk. 17.4 If he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him and that upon these considerations 1. From that conformity that is or should be in our Nature to the Nature of God he is slow to anger and of great Mercy Psal 145.8 Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy Mic. 7.18 And Christ coming to renew the broken Image of God in Man and to renew him after the Image of him that created him doth enjoyn imprint this part of the Divine Image Luk. 6.36 Be ye merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful And Mercy in the Heart is that excellent habit from whence forgiveness proceeds And hence it is that where the Spirit of Christ comes it assimilates the Nature to that disposition Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is Long-suffering Gentleness Meekness 2. From that great commandment enjoyned by God in the Moral Law Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self And much more inforced under the new Covenant even to the Love of our very Enemies Matt. 5.44 I say unto you Love your Enemies and consequently forgive your Enemies for Love is that affection that produceth Pardon and this injunction lyes upon us under the same obligation whereby we are bound to love our Brethren for the Love we owe to God is that grand Obligation that binds to whatsoever he commands Joh. 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments Therefore if ye love me love and pity and pardon your Enemies 3. From that great Equity and Reason the proportion of Gods dealing with us Matt. 18.32 I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee Colos 3.13 Forbearing one another and forgiving one another even as Christ
himself the Glory and Honour and Praise thereof might return unto himself who only can be the adequate End of himself of all he doth Thanksgiving therefore and Praise answers the greatest and most noble End in the World If I want and pray for what I want my immediate End therein is my own Good and yet that End is too narrow if I propound not to my self to Praise and Glorifie the Bounty of that God which answers my Prayer 3. Again whereas all the Irrational and inanimate Creatures in the World do passively praise Almighty God in that they bear every one of them the Inscription of his Wisdom Goodness Power The Reasonable and Intellectual Natures of Men and Angels have that noble Advance that they can and may Actively and Intentionally Glorifie and Praise the Goodness of God and it is indeed the noblest Harmony that they can make when they summon all their Understanding Will Affections all that is within them to Praise that God to whom they owe their Being and Benefits And the Wise and Glorious God doth therefore Communicate the sensible Experimental Eminent Influences of his Mercy Goodness and Bounty unto the Reasonable and Intellectual Natures of Men and Angels that they might touch and strike upon those noble strings of the Heart and Mind and Affections that may thereupon return the Harmony of Thanksgiving and Praise to the great Lord of the World And surely the Nature of Man in its true state and temper is as naturally and effectually moved to the returning of Thanksgiving to God for Mercies received as a well tuned Lute or other Instrument doth give an Harmonious sound upon the touches of a skilful Artist And most certainly that nature is strangely out of Tune and Order that upon Mercies received makes not a sweet return of Thanksgiving and Praise This therefore as it is the noblest so it is the most natural production of the Reasonable Nature the fullest of Congruity to the right disposition of its Faculties Almighty God sends upon the Children of Men Benefits Blessings Deliverances Favours And the fruit that he doth and that most justly expect is a Crop of Praise Glory Honour and Thanksgiving Call upon me in the day of Trouble and I will Deliver thee and thou shalt Glorifie me And it is a barren degenerate stupid Heart that yields not such fruit of such a Semination So that Praise and Thanksgiving is Con-natural to our very Faculties the tribute that the Rational Nature naturally payes to the Divine Being as his Benefactor the very fruit that the great Lord of the Harvest expects for all his Goodness and Mercy 4. The truth is Thanksgiving is the very End of Prayer and as the End is more noble than the means conducible to the End so therefore is the Duty the business of Thanksgiving in its self though equally necessary yet more noble than Prayer it self I want something that I would desire Almighty God to give me and I therefore pray my Merciful Lord grants me my desire and gives me what I pray for and therefore gives it and gives it upon my Prayer to him that therefore his Mercy and Goodness may be more Evident unto me and that thereupon I may Praise and Glorifie and give Thanks unto him And if with the Nine Lepers in the Gospel I receive the Benefit I ask and do not with the Tenth give Glory to God for the Benefit I receive I disappoint both the Giver of what he designed in the Gift and disappoint my very Prayers in that which is their just and proper End And hence it is that our Blessed Lord in that absolute form of Prayer which he hath taught us premiseth the first and greatest Petition of the Hallowing or Glorifying of the Name of God and the first the great the regnant Petition that is to influence all the rest that follow especially those that are for the supplies of our own wants 5. Whereas in Prayer we ask that we may receive from God Almighty God hath been pleased to Honour and Dignifie our Duty of Thanksgiving with so much condescention of his Majesty that he receives or at least interprets it as a Receipt from his poor Creature It is true our Praises add nothing to his Perfection and self-sufficiency Nay our very Thanksgiving and Praise is but a gift that he gives to himself He gives us a Being that may be Capable to Praise him gives us Hearts and Affections that may be willing to Praise him gives us Grace that may enable us to Praise him gives us Benefits that may Excite us to Praise him gives us Directions how to Praise him gives us Laws Commands Promises Encouragements to Praise him So that in truth our very Thanksgivings and Praises to him are but his own work and yet such is his Goodness that he takes and accepts and Rewards our Praises and Thanksgivings as if they were our own Actions And whereas in Prayer we receive from him in Thanksgiving he is pleased so far to Honour this Duty as if he received somewhat from us and accordingly accepts and rewards it Meditations UPON THE Lord's Prayer MEDITATIONS UPON THE Lord's Prayer Matth. 6.9 After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father c. BY the Sin of Adam and the Corruption and Obliquity that thereupon entred into the humane nature Mankind had contracted a three-fold mischief 1. Guilt that needed an Expiation 2. Blindness that needed an Illumination 3. Perverseness and Rebellion that needed Power and Victory to subdue it In the fulness of time God sent his Son into the World with healing for all these Diseases 1. He sent his Son to be our Sacrifice and our Priest and not only so in his own Person but by derivation unto those that believe on him he hath imprinted upon them and communicated unto them a participation of his own Office and hath made them Kings and Priests 1. By making an Atonement for them with his Father whereby they are accepted John 16.26 27. I say not unto you I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you not to Exclude the continuance and Efficacy of his Intercession but to intimate the fulness of our Reconciliation that having made us of his houshold Ephes 2.19 we may have access to the Master and Father of the Family Ephes 2.18 for through him we have access unto the Father 2. By sending his own Spirit to instruct and warm and fit our spirits to come into the presence for through him we have access by one Spirit Ephes 2.18 teaching what to ask and inabling us to ask as we should Rom. 8.26 For we know not what we should pray for as we ought 2. As he made him a Sacrifice for our Guilt so he sent him to be a Light for our darkness John 1.5 the World was all in Darkness and Error the most Exact Sublimate Wits inscribed their Altar To the Unknown God They were ignorant of things to be known and of
comes or keeps off from God the more or less of his Goodness he participates Now in this act of prayer we endeavour to lay hold of his Goodness and Promises Necessary it is therefore we bring our hearts by preparation as near to him as we can 1. That we may be near unto him and in this nearness consists an advantage of Communion with him 2. That we may be like him and that likeness is every day increased by our beholding of him whereby we are in some measure translated into the same Glory 3. That we may be in our proper place God hath communicated his goodness to all things according to their several degrees of perfection in those stations wherein his own Great and Infinite Wisdom placed them and the place of Man was nearer to God by his nature than he can now arrive unto in this Life in his own Person though we have a High-Priest that continually bears our names before our Father And certainly if it be at any time seasonable for a Man to wind up his heart in the greatest nearness to God that he can do it is when he comes before him in Praises for the things he hath and Petitions for the things he wants Learn therefore in general to bring up thy heart as near as thou canst to the great God in preparation and meditation before thou offerest thy Prayer that thy sacrifice may be mingled with a true fire and thy Soul may be raised up with the due consideration of what thou art about and who thou art to deal withal Touching the Particulars in this Preamble Our Father Two things are herein considerable 1. How God is said to be our Father 2. What Frame or temper of heart and spirit this blessed relation and conception of him as a Father ought to raise in us especially when we come before him in Prayer As to the first God hath the appellation or relation of a Father principally in these respects 1 By Creation Thus he is the Father of all things But in as much as Paternity and Filiation are relations of persons not of bare subsistency properly therefore in this respect he is called Father in relation to Angels and Men to Men Isa 64.8 But now O Lord thou art our Father we are the clay and thou our potter Mal. 2.10 have not all one Father hath not one God created us Luke 3.38 which was the Son of Adam which was the Son of God And as to Men so in a more near relation to the Souls of Men and the blessed Angels who participate more immediately of his Image and perfection Jam. 1.17 The Father of lights Heb. 12.9 The Father of Spirits Zec. 12.2 The former of Spirits Job 38.7 And all the Sons of God shouted for joy 2. By special susception or undertaking either without an intervenient Contract thus he is pleased to own a more special Paternity towards those that have most need of him Psal 68.5 A Father of the Fatherless or by an intervenient Contract thus he was a Father in a more near Relation to the Jewish People who as a Child is called by the Name of his Father so they did as it were bear his Name Jer. 14.9 We are called by thy Name leave us not Isa 63.16 Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and accordingly he evidenced himself towards them in all the care and tenderness of a Father Deut. 32.11 As an Eagle fluttereth over her Young c. Hos 11.1 When Israel was a Child I loved him Rom. 9.4 and called my Son out of Egypt But these Relations are yet too large and spacious 3. By Adoption in Christ Which Relation is thus wrought by an Eternal Stipulation between the Father and the Son the Son was to take upon him our Nature by a supernatural Conception and to stand as a publick Person and Mediator between the Father and lapsed Man and appointed that as many as should by true Faith lay hold on him there should be a kind of Union wrought between Christ and that Believer and in that Union the Father looks upon all that which was in the Believer as imputed to Christ and all that which was in Christ as imputed to the Believer Was there Sin and Guilt in the Believer it is laid on Christ and he bears all Iniquities Isa 53.6 Is there Righteousness in Christ the Believer hath that Righteousness the Righteousness which is of God by Faith Is Christ the First-born of God Psa 89.25 26. Though we cannot partake of his Primogeniture yet we partake of his Sonship John 1.12 As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God John 20.17 I ascend unto my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God Gal. 4.5 That we might receive the Adoption of Sons And by vertue of this Union we partake of the inheritance of Sons Joynt-Heirs with Christ Gal. 4.7 of the Spirit of Sons Gal. 4.6 And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts c. And by vertue of this Filiation we have the Priviledges of Sons Access with boldness unto the Father Ephes 2.19 Care and tenderness of our Father over us Matth. 6.32 For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things Audience from him John 16.26 At that day ye shall ask in my Name c. For the Father himself loveth you Now this Appellation and Relation of a Father in the first Entrance into Prayers carries up our hearts unto these Considerations 1. That we should by all means labour to be in this relation to God viz. that he should be our Father for why do we call him so unless he be so to us and that we should not be contented barely with the Relation unto him as we are Men for so were even the Athenians who inscribed their Altar To the Unknown God His Off-spring Acts 17.28 nor with the Relation arising out of an external Profession and Covenant but with that nearest Relation of Paternity arising by our Union with Christ 2. And consequently that all our Applications to God in Prayer must be in and through Christ for through him is this Relation wrought and it is a Relation of Nearness and Union which is the greatest Nearness Ephes 2.13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were a far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ and 19. of the House-hold of God our Union unto God growes by our Union to Christ who is one with the Father John 17.23 I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and this is the meaning of asking in his Name John 16.26 through him we have an access to the Father Ephes 2.18 3. We learn with what Affections we should come to him in our Prayers And these arise either from the consideration of our duty as Children or from the consideration of that which we
did lead him And all these and a world of the like Expressions in the Book of God to unvail the love of God to his Creatures and thereby to draw out an aweful love to him and an humble boldness to make an approach unto him Heb. 4.16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace and to bless our Redeemer who by the price of his Blood hath purchased this free liberty of access unto God as our Father Ephes 3.12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence Who as he hath purchased access for us so when notwithstanding that we are fearful and backward and ashamed to come is pleased in the virtue of his own Mediation to stand between the Glory and Brightness of the Father and us poor Creatures and to shew us more of his Goodness and Mercy than of his Glory and to receive our desires and to bring both them and us into the presence of his Father and our Father 2. As this Expression leads us unto God and gives us access so it gives us assurance of success in our Petitions This Prayer as is said is a comprehensive Prayer we thereby in an Abridgement ask whatsoever is necessary for this life or that to come but the Name of a Father is a comprehensive Name the Petitions that thou art asking are large Petitions and the Promise is yet more large John 16.23 Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you Matth. 7.7 Ask and it shall be given you But here is the Foundation thy application is to thy Father Matth. 7.11 If ye being evil know how to give good things to your Children how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask him Whatsoever thou canst find or expect from thy Natural Father so much and much more may'st thou expect from thy Heavenly Father Patience to bear with thy infirmities and failings Psalm 78.18 Compassion to pity thy suffering Psal 103.13 Goodness to supply thy wants Justice to avenge thy injuries Psal 105.14 Protection to defend thee from dangers Vigilancy and care to support thee against Temptations Mercy to pardon thy back-slidings Jer. 3.14 Skill to interpret and Tenderness to accept thy weak and stammering Petitions Providence and Bounty abundantly to reward all thy sincere performances Luk. 12.32 Fear not little flock it is my Fathers good will to give you a Kingdome And this Consideration of God as our Father when we come before him in Prayer as it teacheth us our duty so it doth most naturally teach us the three first Petitions to desire the Glory of his Name the Increase of the manifestation of his Kingdom and Power the full submission unto and desire of the fulfilling of his Will And as that relation looks downward upon us so it concludes the three last Petitions From whom shouldest thou desire or expect Mercy to forgive thee Conveniencies to supply thee Care and Protection to preserve and deliver thee from Evil if not from a Father and as from this appellation of a Father we gather Confidence in his love so in the next qualification or description of this Father we gather Confidence in his Power Which art in Heaven or Heavenly Father Matt. 6.26 To denote 1. The eminence of his Glory and Power The Heavens are the most Eminent and Glorious Creatures that our Eyes behold and speak much of the Glory and Majesty of God Psal 19.1 and in this adjunct of Heavenly we give him the acknowledgement and attribution of the Greatness of his Power and Glory Psal 1.5 For our God is in the Heavens and he hath done whatsoever he pleaseth 2. Heaven the Throne of his Majesty Psal 11.4 Isa 66.1 The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Foot-stool Psal 68.4 Extol him that rideth upon the Heavens Deut. 33.26 who rideth upon the Heavens for thy help and in his excellency upon the sky 1 Kings 8.49 Heaven thy dwelling place Which though it be the Seat of his glory yet it is not the circumscription of his Presence 1 Kings 8.27 The Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee Psal 113.4 his Glory is above the Heavens Isa 57.15 The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity an incomprehensible infinitude Psal 139.8 If I ascend into Heaven thou art there and if I make my bed in Hell thou art there Isa 40.22 It is he that sitteth on the Circle of the Earth So that his Presence is in all places and though in respect of his Creatures the greatest manifestation of his Presence is above the Heaven yet his Infinite and Essential Glory is equally in all places Now from this attribution we learn 1. Our Duty in Prayer As a Christian should always have his Conversation in Heaven from whenee he expects his Saviour Phil. 3.20 so in a special manner when he comes to God in Prayer Hence Prayer is called a drawing near to God Heb. 10.22 lifting up the Heart unto God Know therefore thou do'st or at least shouldest in Prayer bring thy Heart up into Heaven before the Throne of the Infinite Majesty which imports or inforceth these Consequents 1. Let thy Spirit be mingled with thy Prayers for there is no other way to draw near to God but by bringing thy spirit into his presence He is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit thy Body is here upon the Earth and thy words vanish before they are gone far from thee Thou canst not get before the presence of the Lord of Heaven but with thy Spirit and Soul and unless thy Prayer be the drawing near of thy Spirit to him thy Prayer is a Provocation and not a Service unprofitable and useless for thee and unaccepted and not regarded by God it dyes and is rotten in the Earth and it cannot come up to thy Father which is in Heaven 2. Let thy Spirit be a pure Spirit and thy Prayers be pure Prayers for what hath any thing that is impure to do with Heaven a place of Purity and Holiness None but the pure in spirit can see God Matth. 5.8 and none but pure hands are fit to be lifted up to him 1 Tim. 2.8 Psal 24.4 And that thy Spirit may be pure and fit to come up into this High and Holy Place and to have Communion with the Holy and Glorious God get thy Spirit and Soul and Conscience washed by the Blood of Christ and thy Prayers mingled with the Incense of Christ Rev. 8.3 and labour to get an Inherent Holiness a pure and a sanctified Heart and from that will thy Words and thy Conversation and thy Services and thy Sacrifices all which are but the Emanations and Fruit of thy Heart be Holy and bear some though a weak proportion to that place and to that Person whither thou art sending thy Prayers And more especially and particularly labour to cleanse thy Heart when thou art about to pray because thy Prayers are a drawing near unto God
Goodness and all Perfection unto him than possibly I can discover by any of these Manifestations considering that all his Works put together cannot speak his Fulness If I could see all the Glory of God that all the Works of God in the whole World do bear upon them yet I must needs conclude in reason that they are infinitely short of that Perfection which he hath in him for he must needs have a residue of Power and Wisdom infinitely more than commensurate to all his Works put together but alas I see but a part of his Works and so narrow is my capacity that I find plainly I cannot reach to the bottom of any Work nor search it out nor his Power Wisdom and Glory that lyes in a fly or worm to the uttermost and yet I see so much as doth astonish me and confound me even in the least of all his Workings what measure then must his own Fulness amount unto and this made David and the other Saints of God whose Eyes he had opened even to lose themselves in the Contemplations and Expressions of the Goodness and Greatness of God 5. Areturn of infinite Fear and Reverence Love Dependance Submission and Obedience and of all the choicest and sweetest motions of our Souls to him as the just desert of his Goodness and Truth and the just Tribute due to his Majesty and Glory And this is the Sanctifying of the Lord of Hosts Isa 8.17 And thus he will be sanctified by all them that draw near unto him Levit. 10.3 The Sanctifying of the Lord in the heart 1 Pet. 3.15 4. And as these affections and motions are made in the heart so by all External Expressions of the tongue to evidence that inward conviction and affection of the Soul and as much as in us lyes to propagate and proclaim to all the World the Glory due to God by acknowledging openly his Truth 1 Kings 18.39 When the people saw the miracle of the fire devouring the water they fell on their faces and said The Lord he is God the Lord he is God By ascribing Greatness Deut. 32. Strength Psalm 68.34 Glory Psal 96.8 unto his Name by publishing his Name Deut. 32.3 Singing forth his Honour Psalm 66.2 Exalting his Name Psalm 34.3 causing it to be had in remembrance Psalm 45.27 Magnifying his works Job 36.24 by inviting and exciting all the Creatures in the World according to their uttermost activity to praise his Name Psal 148.5 Out of the abundance of the Heart thus possessed with the sense of the Perfection of God the mouth will speak 5. That from the same Principle in the heart the lives of Men and Angels may bring Glory and Honour to God that is by Conformity of their Natures and lives to the will of God concerning them Other Creatures by a passive Conformity unto the Will of God bring Glory unto him viz. by moving as they are moved by those natural Instincts that are put in them but to Men and Angels God hath given that Honour to have in them an active Principle not only to be conformed but to conform to the Will of God and to bring Glory to his Name and when by our sin and contracted Corruption Mankind hath disabled himself to exercise that power which God once gave him to glorifie his Creator Christ came to restore him again to such a condition that he might actively bring Glory to God by an active Conformity to the Mind and Will of God 2 Cor. 5.15 For this Cause he died that they which live should not live to themselves but unto him that died for them Tit. 2.14 ad idem And this was a principal part of that Reconciliation that he wrought viz. as for the things that were past reconciling God to Man by Forgiveness and Pardon so for the time to come reconciling Man to God by Conformity to Him and his Will Sin made an unlikeness of Man to God and thereby destroyed the Image of God in Man for an Image consists in the likeness of another thing Christ came to restore that Image again Colos 3.10 And that not to rest meerly in the internal Dispositions of the Soul but that as he that hath called us is holy we should be holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.13 Which is impossible to be severed so that the former should be without the Latter for as out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaks so out of the same abundance the hand worketh and the sanctification of the Mind can as ill be contained within the Heart without some Expression in the Life as any other temper or disposition of the Mind can be restrained from discovering it self That Communion that Moses had with God in the Mount imprinted a Glory on his Face and that Image of God the conformity of the Heart unto him will shine through into the Life and that out of a double Principle 1. As a connatural Consequence of the inward disposition 2. Out of the Love and Obedience to God Matth. 5.16 That men may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven So that when I pray that the Name of God may be Sanctified I do desire that God would in Christ re-imprint his Image upon Man that he would renew him in the Spirit of his Mind and restore him to a Conformity unto his Divine Will which is our Sanctification 1 Thes 4.3 And that the outward Conversation of Men may be sutable to this inward Conformity in all Obedience to the good pleasure of God that as they profess his Name so they may appear to be his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Ephes 2.10 And walk worthy of God 1 Thes 2.12 That others beholding their good works may glorifie God 1 Pet. 2.12 Now the Opposites to this Petition is Blasphemy and Cursing the Name of God for to that heighth of vill any the corruption of Nature hath risen That that fearful and terrible Name Psal 99.3 Deut. 28.58 hath not escaped the blasphemous Tongues of Men despising his Majesty Job 21.15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him Exod. 5.2 Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice Taking his Name in vain using of it lightly or irreverently It is a terrible Name and not to be used without summoning up of all the awe and reverence of our hearts or falsly either in solemn oaths swearing falsly by his Name or pretending messages from him that he never sent Jer. 14.14 Prophesying Lyes in his Name whereby a dishonour is brought upon his Truth Pride Arrogancie and Self-admiration these intercept the Glory due unto God and usurp that which is only due unto him and most dear to him Isa 48.11 My Glory will not I give to another Therefore God doth in a special manner hate Pro. 6.17 Pro. 9.13 and resist it and them Jam. 4.6 when Herod intercepted the Glory of the People and entertained it and gave not God the Glory the
Power and All-sufficiency of God and lastly with Recourse to God by Prayer against them for Except the Lord keep the City the Watchmen wake but in vain Psal 127.1 2. The second means is that which our Saviour teacheth us in this Petition Prayer unto God the Father who is faithful and will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able 1 Cor. 10.13 Through our Lord Jesus Christ who hath suffered himself being tempted and therefore is able to succour those that are tempted Heb. 2.18 By the Eternal Spirit who hath promised to guide us into all truth John 16.13 That the Almighty and Eternal God who so far condescends unto us as to offer us his Hand to lead us and his Strength to support us that sees all our wayes and our wandrings and the snares that are spread for our feet would be pleased to guide us by his Hand and by his Eye that we may keep the true and old way and if any snares be laid there for us by the Enemy of our Peace that he would either remove or break the snare or lead us about by them or lift us over them That he would be pleased to cleanse our Hearts from our corruptions the nursery of our Temptations that he would prepare us and instruct and strengthen us by his Mighty Spirit to discern and to oppose and to overcome the deceits and seductions of our own Hearts To conclude therefore this part of this Petition O Lord God Almighty that beholdest all my ways I find that I walk in the midst of Snares and Temptations the great Enemy of my Salvation and his Retinue are continually about me and watch for my halting secretly and undiscoverably soliciting my Soul to sin against thee almost in every occurrence of my life and every motion of my mind and having in any thing prevailed against me either he quiets my Soul in my sin or disorders my Soul for it and by both prevents or diverts me from coming to thee to seek my Pardon as a thing not necessary to be asked or impossible to be gained Again the Men among whom I live scatter their temptations for me by Perswasions to sin by evil Examples by success in sinful practices And if there were no Devil or Man to tempt me yet I find in my self an everlasting seed of Temptations a stock of corruptions that forms all I am and all I have or do even thy very Mercies into Temptations when I consider thy Patience and Goodness to me I am tempted to Presumption to Supineness to an Opinion of my own worth when I consider or find thy Justice I am tempted to Murmuring to despair to think the most Soveraign Lord a hard Master In my Understanding I am tempted to secret Argumentation to Atheism to Infidelity to dispute thy Truth to curiosity to impertinent or forbidden enquiries If I have Learning it makes me Proud apt to despise the purity and simplicity of thy Truth to contend for Mastery not for Truth to use my Wit to reason my self or others into Errors or Sins to spend my time in those discoveries that do not countervail the expence nor are of any value or use to my Soul after death In my Will I find much averseness to what is good a ready motion to every thing that is evil or at least an incertain fluctuation between both In all my Thoughts I find abundance of Vanity when imployed to any thoughts of most concernment to my Soul full of inconsistency unfixt unsetled easily interrupted mingled with gross apprehensions When I look into my Conscience I find her easily bribed and brought over to the wrong party allayed with self-love if not wholly silent unprofitable and dead In my Affections I find continued disorder easily misplaced and more easily over-acted beyond the bounds of Moderation Reason and Wisdom much more of Christianity and thy Fear In my sensual Appetite I find a continual fog and vapour rising from it disordering my Soul in all I am about with unseasonable importunate and foul exhalations that darken and pollute it that divert and disturb it in all that is good that continually solicit it to all sensual Evils unto all immoderation and excess In my Senses I have an Eye full of Wantonness full of Covetousness full of Haughtiness an Ear full of Itching after novelties impertinencies vanities a Palate full of Intemperance studious for curiosities a Hand full of violence when it is in my power a Tongue full of unnecessary vain words apt to slander to whisper full of vain-glory and self-flattery If thou givest me a healthy strong Body I am ready to be proud of it apt to think my self out of the reach of sickness or death It keeps me from thinking of my latter end or providing for it I am ready to use that strength to the service of sin with better advantage more excess and less remorse If thou visitest me with sickness I am surprised with Peevishness Impatience with solicitous care touching my Estate and Posterity and Recovery and my thoughts concerning thee less frequent less profitable than before though my necessity be greater If thou givest me Plenty I am apt to be Proud Insolent Confident in my Wealth reckoning upon it as my Treasure think every thought lost that is not imployed upon it or in order to increase it loth to think of Death or Judgment If thou visitest me with Poverty I am apt to murmur to count the Rich happy to cast off thy service as unprofitable to look upon my everlasting hopes as things at a distance Imaginary Comforts under Real wants If thou givest me Reputation and Esteem in the World I am apt to make use of it to bear me out at a pinch in some unlawful action to use it to mislead others to use any base shift to support it If thou cast me into Reproach and Ignominy my heart is apt to swell against the means to study Revenge and to die with my Reputation though it may causelesly be lost and to have the thoughts and remembrance of it to interfere and grate upon my Soul even in my immediate service to thee any Cross sowers at my blessings and carries my heart so violently into discontent for it may be all single affliction which I deservedly suffer that I forget to be thankful for a multitude of other Mercies which I undeservedly enjoy If I am about a good Duty I find my heart tempted to perform them Carelesly Formally Negligently Hypocritically Vain-gloriously for false or by-Ends and when I have done them my heart is puft up with Pride opinion of Merit looking upon my Maker as my Debtor for the Duty I owe him and yet but slightly and defectively performed to him How then can I expect Power from my self to resist a Temptation without when I find so much treachery within me I therefore beseech thee most Merciful and Powerful Father to send into my heart the Grace and strength of thy blessed
an unsearchable bottomless Fountain of Power as well to pardon as to punish Our Temptations unto sin meet us upon every occasion from without us and from within us and we have no wisdom in our selves to foresee them no strength nor yet any will to oppose them but thou hast infinite Power to foresee to prevent to divert them and to deliver from them The least of Evils armed with the guilt of any one sin will like a weight of Lead press us into an impossibility of recovery from it the enemy of our Souls is conversant within us and about us and ready upon every occasion to seduce us into sin and to torment and disorder us for it and his power and strength and subtilty is beyond our power to resist and indeed he finds us willing captives but as thou hast Authority so thou hast Power to restrain him to discover him to fortifie and strengthen us against him and to deliver us from him And therefore I here lay hold of the strength of Omnipotency to grant these my Petitions but this is not all And the Glory Omnipotency though it be one addition of strength to our Prayers yet it is not enough The Leper in the Gospel said truly to our Saviour If thou wilt thou canst make me clean but yet he doth not conclude Thou canst therefore thou wilt but thy Glory is the great End of all thy Works the End of thy great Work of Creation Prov. 16.4 the End of thy Son 's coming into the World to redeem Mankind Luk. 2.14 the End of thy Eternal Counsel in electing some to Life and leaving others Rom. 9.22 It is the only Tribute that all thy Works can give thee for their Being and Preservation and that which thou accountest most dear and peculiar unto thy self Isa 42.8.48.11 I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory I will not give to another And in all these my requests I have sought nothing but what conduceth to thy Glory In granting what I have here asked the Benefit is ours but the Glory is thine In it Thou hast the Glory of thy Mercy the Glory of thy Power the Glory of thy Bounty and Goodness the Glory of thy Truth and Faithfulness thou hast said of old that thy Glory shall be revealed and that all flesh shall see it Isa 40.5 that they shall sanctifie thy Name Isa 29.23 that thou wilt set up a Kingdom that shall never be destroyed and shall break in pieces and consume other Kingdoms and shall stand for ever Dan. 2.44 Dan. 7.27 That thy counsel shall stand and thou wilt do all thy pleasure Isa 46.10 That thou wilt give us a new heart and a new spirit and wilt cause us to walk in thy Statutes and to keep thy Judgments and do them Ezech. 36.26 27. That verily we shall be fed Psal 37.3 That though the young Lions do lack and suffer hunger yet they that seek thee shall not want any good thing Psal 34.10 That if we return unto thee thou wilt have Mercy and abundantly Pardon Isa 55.7 That thou art a God Pardoning iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.7 That thou wilt not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but wilt with the Temptation make a way to escape 1 Cor. 10.13 That if we call upon thee in the day of trouble thou wilt deliver us and we shall glorifie thee Psal 50.15 And yet though thou the great God of Power and Truth hast spoken all this and wilt do it yet that thou maist have the due acknowledgment of our subjection and dependance upon thee thou wilt be enquired of for this to do it for us Ezek. 36.36 37. And although we are so sinful that we cannot so much as deserve thy pity in our greatest misery yet for thy Name 's sake and for thy Glory's sake hear us Psal 106.8 For thy own sake Isa 48.11 And though all the Praises and Acknowledgments of thy Creatures add nothing to thy Glory for thine is an essential infinite absolute independent Glory yet since thou art pleased to accept of this our poor and our only Tribute and to take it in good part from thy Creature we will thankfully acknowledge thy great condescension to us in accepting of our Prayers and granting our Requests giving us liberty through thy Son to be intercessors for our selves for others nay for thine own Glory and Kingdom and the manifestation of it What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Give me Grace in all my wants and necessities to fly to thee by Prayer and in all my supplies and deliverances to return unto thee with Thanksgiving For Ever Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations Psal 145.13 A Kingdom which shall in time break and subdue all the Kingdoms of this World and the Kingdom of darkness Sin Death and Satan And as is thy Kingdom such is thy Power infinite in extent infinitely more comprehensive than the vastest wants or desires of thy Creatures infinite in duration unexhaustible by all the successions of Time and of Eternity it self And as is thy Kingdom and Power such is thy Glory an Eternal and endless Glory before the birth of Time when nothing had a Being but thy self thou had'st Infinite Self-sufficiency and an incomprehensible fulness of Glory Joh. 17.5 And when thou did'st in time create the World it did not contribute unto thy fulness of Glory but thou did'st communicate and imprint some of thy Glory upon it and all the Glory that thy Creatures bring unto thee is nothing else but the reflection of thine own Glory a recoyl of that Beam that came from thy Sun yet though the Glory of thy Essence cannot receive any increase by this reflection yet thou art pleased everlastingly to perpetuate this thy reflexive Glory by the immortal Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect to whom thou wilt unto all Eternity communicate a fulness of the Vision of thy Self according to the measure of their perfected but finite Natures and from that communication of thy Glory to them they shall everlastingly return Glory to thy Name saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Amen Rev. 5.13 THE Lord's Prayer PARAPHRASED Our Father O Eternal and Glorious Lord God for thou gavest at first Being to the Common Parents of all Mankind Thou art our Father by Nature we owe our own immediate Being more to Thee than we do to our immediate Parents for thou art the Father of our Spirits Thou art our Father by our Preservation we could not support our selves in being one moment of time without the uncessant influence of thy Providence and Goodness Thou art our Father by Adoption receiving us in a more special manner to be thy Children in and through Jesus Christ
Spirit to resist and overcome all my Temptations to cleanse and purge this foul heart of mine of this brood and nest of lusts and corruptions that are within it to strengthen my self against the Temptations of Hell the World and my self to lead me in safe paths to discover and admonish me hourly of all the dangers that are in my way and so by thy mighty and over-ruling Providence to guide me that I may avoid all occasions of falling so to order and over-rule and moderate and temper all the occurrences of my life that they may be suitable to that Grace thou givest me to bear them without offending thee and if thou at any time suffer me to take a fall yet deliver me from Presumptuous sins give me a heart speedily to fly to thee for strength to restore me for mercy to pardon me If thou suffer me to fall into Temptation yet I beseech thee deliver me from the evil But deliver us from Evil. Three Evils are here meant 1. The Evil of Sin We are before taught to pray for pardoning Mercy in the first Petition for preventing Mercy in the former part of this Petition and here we are taught to pray for delivering restoring Mercy When a sin is committed there is not only a guilt contracted which stands in need of Mercy to pardon it but the Soul receives a Wound that weakens it and stands in need of a Divine strength to restore it and without this it would never rise out of that state of Impotency yea of Rebellion into which it is fallen but would multiply sin upon sin to all Eternity As before our conversion unto God we are dead in trespasses and sins and cannot convert our selves so after we are converted any one sin puts us as in our selves and in respect of our own strength into the same state of dead Men in which our conversion at first found us only here is the odds God is pleased to put into us a Seed of Life that shall again quicken us though we fall 1 John 3.9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin that is continue in it for his seed abideth in him 1 John 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate c. That Seed of Life that Advocate of our Peace will cause him to lay hold again upon the Strength and Mercy and Promise of God will carry his Eye to look upon this brazen Serpent will enable him to reapply the Merits and Life of Christ to his Soul and so that wound that was in it self mortal is cured and the Soul inabled to return again to God whom by sin it hath forsaken and yet though the benefit is ours the deliverance is Gods and he will be sought unto as well for strength to recover from the state of sin as for Mercy to recover from the Guilt of Sin after every fall 2. Deliver us from the evil of Punishment or Affliction 1. By giving us Patience to bear it as from the hand of God 2. Wisdom and Understanding to discern and perceive what the end of God is in sending it for the Rod hath his Voice and his Message It may be it is to bring into remembrance some sin past unrepented of which lyes rankling in thy conscience though thou hast forgotten it and so it bids thee look backward It may be it is to prevent thee from some sin which thou art otherwise like to fall into and so bids thee look forward It may be thy Heart begins to settle upon her lees to fix her self upon the World to grow secure and careless to grow proud and wanton and so it bids thee look within thee It may be God is pleased to use this cross to stir thee up to Dependence upon him to seek him by Prayer to discover his Power and Mercy in delivering thee in some eminent way and so it bids thee look above thee Learn therefore the message of the Cross and improve it to that end for which he sent it and by this means thou shalt be delivered from the Evil of the Evil. 3. Deliver us from Evil that is from the very Incumbency of the Evil upon us And this is a thing that wee may lawfully ask so it be with submission to the Will of God who best knows what is fit for us only of this we may be sure that though the thing be not granted yet thy Petition is not lost when Paul besought God thrice against an affliction 2 Cor. 12.9 Though he had not deliverance from it yet he had sufficient Grace given him to bear it when our blessed Lord besought that that Cup might pass from him though he must drink of the Cup yet he was heard in the thing which he feared Heb. 5.7 And thy Prayer for deliverance shall be answered either with a way to escape it or with strength comfortably to bear it 1 Cor. 10.13 3. Deliver us from the Evil that is the Evil one who goeth about as a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour the Prince of Darkness the Prince of this World the Prince of the power of the Air an invisible Prince that could he but get commission from the great Lord of Heaven and Earth would sift us as wheat would shake our Faith and bring us under his own rule a Creature but yet of that Power Wisdom Subtilty and Malice that he would be easily able to seduce or at least to disorder and shatter the strongest Man as once he did Job therefore we have cause to pray that as the Son of God came to destroy the works of Satan to judge this Prince of this World to bruise his Head so he would continually assist us with his Grace to resist him to discover him even when he transforms himself into an Angel of light that if he shall go about to seduce us from the Truth by Signs and Wonders as once he did Pharaoh by Predictions as sometimes he did in the Heathen Oracles by Misapplications even of the very Word of Truth as he indeavoured to do by our Saviour by successes and events of things that we may remember the caution that Moses gave unto the Israelites Deut. 13.3 The Lord your God proveth you whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your Soul that if he go about to seduce us into Sin or denying of the Truth by Proposals and Promises of Honours Preferments temporal Advantages or to affright us from the truth by Menaces Persecutions Disgraces Death yet we may not be allured or affrighted into sin but may keep close to the sure Truth of God revealed in his Word whatever the Event be For thine is the Kingdom Power and Glory In the beginning of this Prayer our Saviour teacheth us to sterngthen our Faith in the Mercy of God by teaching us to call hin Father and in the Power of God by teaching us to call him our Heavenly Father that under both these considerations we may look upon