God for he is the king of glory Yea and he onely is Psal 24. 8. to haue glory for he will not giue his glory to another And for this end are Isai 48. 11. we saued euen to the praise of the glory of his grace wherewith he hath made vs accepted in his beloued son by whom we haue redemption through his Ephes 1. 6. 7. bloud euen the forgiuenes of our sinnes through his rich grace The last reason of the conclusion why we must pray to God For euer and euer THat is thou must not pray so this yeare that for thy Gods name is IEHOVAH that is the eternall and his time cannot be diminished Isai 50. Therefore is he called the auncient of dayes and Dauid saith the heauens wax olde but thou art the same for euer for his power is not diminished nor his hand shortned Therefore continue thy prayers onely to him and rob him not of his glory doe thy duty betimes and God will rewarde thee in his time Eccle. 51. 30. saith the Wiseman for the Lord is neare to all them that call vpon him to all that call vpon him in truth he will fulfill the desires of them that feare him he will heare their cry and Psa 145 18. 19. will saue them Amen OVr Christ is Amen the faithfull and true witnesse who hath The seale of faith commaunded vs to begin and end our prayers in faith And he tolde his Apostles and in them vs that whatsoeuer we aske beleeue we shall receiue it and we shall receiue it Thus Amen is diuersly taken in the scriptures and many profitable significations arise from the roote in the holy Hebrew I will but onely name some of them leauing them to thy consideration and so I commit thee to God First it signifieth trueth secondly faith thirdly stedfastnesse and perseueraunce and surely most profitable lessons may we learne from these First to come before God in truth without any hypocriticall shew for he is the God of truth hath assumed the name of Amen to himselfe Secondly it teacheth vs faith to beleeue God in his promises for all the promises of God in Christ are yea and Amen Thirdly that we must not bee vnconstant in our prayers for then Iam. 1. S. Iames telleth vs that we shall receiue Luk. 18. 4. nothing Fourthly it teacheth vs perseueraunce to continue in prayer Fiftly Amen is truely which is a kind of oath shewing that we must not deliuer vp our prayers coldly but in vehemency of spirit Also Pagnine saith it is Constitutum a matter throughly determined that so our prayers be not a sacrifice of Fooles And lastly in this place it is an earnest wishing that that we haue prayed for may come so to passe so is it vsed at the end of all prayers through the Bible in this sence so be it As Deut. 27. 1. Kin. 1. Nom. 5. Ier. 28. Psal 95. Reuel 1. Here followeth a table shewing the agreement betweene the Lords prayer and the ten commandements of Almighty God The Preface to the Reader NOw I remember the saying of the Greeke Father Theophilact that if the Lawe and the Gospell were compared together there is Christ reuealed in the midst of both And surely at the mouth of two or three witnesses is euery word established Seeing therfore Christ hath taught vs a praier agreeing to the commandements let vs not thinke the sonne of God came to giue liberty to sin but indeed to deliuer vs from sinne yea Zachary saith in Luke though we serue him with Luke 1. out feare yet it is in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Therfore said a godly father vpon Luk. 9. where it is said that Moses Elias were with Christ when he praied in the Mount this sheweth saith he that he was no aduersary nor contrary either to the lawe or Prophets And that this may more plainly appeare behold the table I haue here set down for thy further instruction chiefly for their instruction who talke so much of Christian libertie that their life is nothing but licencialitie Now followeth the Table Psalme 119. verse 130. The entrance into thy words sheweth light and giueth vnderstanding to the simple The Preface of the Lawe I Am IEHOVAH thy God which brought thee out of the land of Aegipt and out of the house of bondage com 1 Thou shalt haue none other Gods before my face com 2 Thou shalt make thee no grauen image neither any similitude of things that are in heauen aboue neither that are in the earth beneath nor that are in the waters vnder the earth Thou shalt not howe to them neither serue them for I am Iehouah thy God a iealous God visiting the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children vpon the third generation and vpon the fourth of them that hate me and shewing mercy vnto thousands to thē that loue me keepe my commandements The Preface of the Lordes prayer Our Father which art in heauen THis preface of the Lords prayer very aptlye agreeth with these two first commandements For it teacheth vs that our Father is Iehouah Elohim the blessed Trinitie as that reuerend Father Bishop Babington hath well obserued on this place The word Father teacheth vs that we are sonnes of God that is by grace and adoption in Christ and telleth our conscience that he hath deliuered vs from Egipt that is from the power of Satan and from the cursed Pope And therefore the godly in the Reuelation are bid to come out of Egipt of bondmen he hath made vs free and therefore him we ought to serue and none else yea alone to pray to him to honor obay and serue him and feruently to loue him as a childe doth his father Neither ought we to pray to saint or picture of any but to him that is almightie The worde Heauen sheweth he onely ought to be feared and that he alone is holy to whome belongeth all holy worship neither must any be worshiped but he least the all seeing God looke downe from heauen and punish vs. Thou shalt not take the name of Iehouah com 3 thy God in vaine for Iehouah will not holde him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine com 4 Remember the Sabboth day to keepe it holy Six dayes shalt thou labour and do all thy worke but the seauenth day is the Sabboth of Iehouah thy God in it thou shalt not doe any worke thou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter thy man seruant nor thy maide nor thy beast nor thy stranger that is within thy gates for in six dayes Iehouah made the heauens and the earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seauenth day Therefore Iehouah blessed the Sabboth day halowed it Halowed be thy name answereth petitiō 1 fitly to the third commandement Thy kingdome come petitiō 2 Thy will be done as in heauen petitiō 3 so also in the earth agreeth with
the fourth commandement This kingdome is in righteousnesse and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost The onely meanes to attaine this is by beleeuing in Christ and seeing faith is by hearing the worde preached therefore hath God ordained one day of seauen for that purpose For surely he that keepeth not the Sabboth day which was ordained to meditate on Gods workes and to heare Gods worde preached can neither be skilfull rightly to know the vse of creatiō and redemption and if he be ignorant in this neither is God his King nor he anye way fit to doe Gods will for that is farre more hard to attaine to then but barelie to know it surely if any should aske me the cause of so much losenesse in our conuersation and so great blindnesse in this glorious time of the Gospel I should say it was the neglect of the Saboth day Therfore I would desire all Christians to remember when God bids vs remember and especiallie the Magistrate in his place that where no conscience of this dutye is there may be correction duly administred For the neglect of this commandement is the cause of breaking all the rest and it is the very gate either to knowledge or an entrance for all the workes of darkenes Consider Christian reader if the Lordes day were kept of euery one and spent in reading hearing Gods word preached what delight knowledge would it bring thee to in a very short space Therefore saith God remember to do my will not thine owne Neither can we pray thy kingdome come and let vs do thy will when in deed Gods will is we should spend the day in hearing reading and meditating of his meruelous workes both of creation and redemption Thus we see the three petitions Sab. Mun. on the 5. of Mat. answer to the foure first cōmandements both liuely shewing our duty to God for frō the first table I vnderstand the whole worship of God namely faith in God feare of God confidence loue of God euen as it is said thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy hart with all thy soule and in thy whole endeuour for loue trust faith and feare are in the hart and in them consisteth the true worship of God The second table of the law com 5 Honor thy father and thy mother that thy daies may be prolonged vpō the land which Iehouah thy God giueth thee This saith Paule was the first commandement with promise Thou shalt not kill com 6 Christ expoundeth this in Mat. 5. The second part of the Lords praier Giue vs this day our daily bread petitiō 4 This sheweth that we may lawfully pray for earthly things that are necessary but God euer maketh the disobediēt to parents to want or at leastwise curseth the labour of their hands for the lord hath said cursed is he that curseth father or mother Therefore Salomon saith his light shal be put out in obscure darkenes This was the first commandement with the promise of Canaan annexed to it which was the land that had aboundance of earthly riches and was a figure of heauen Forgiue vs our debtes as wee forgiue our debtors which teacheth petitiō 5 vs that we must not onely do no murther but euē shew no crabbed looke nor to vse a churlish word nor conceiue a hatefull ire against our brother So far should we be from making him our prey as euer we should remēber him to God in our prayers this our sauiour taught expounding this commandement in the fift of Mathew Thou shalt not commit adultery com 7 Thou shalt not steale com 8 Thou shalt not beare false witnesse com 9 againe thy neighbour Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours com 10 house neither shalt thou couet thy neighbours wife nor his man seruant nor his maid nor his oxe nor his asse neither any thing that is thy neighbours Leade vs not into temptation petiti ∣ on 6 but deliuer vs from euill This answereth to the foure last commandements for man is most subiect to be ouercome by these workes of the flesh which are adultery theft lying and couetousnes And so the sum of the second table is to loue our neighbour as our selues But deliuer vs from euill sheweth we are to desire that God would grant vs his assistance to walke in obedience to his holy commādements and this ought euer to be the desire of all Christians in their prayers to God as is shewed before Thus beloued brethren we see that the law is holy and good also that Christ came not to destroy the law or to giue men liberty to sin but to establish the same and to fulfill the same which none but he could doe therefore in a worde know the vse and end of the law The vse is that we should striue towardes perfection and bring Vse forth fruite as beseemeth trees of Gods planting The end is that End our own infertility barennesse should make vs confesse the equity of the law the iniquity of our selues and the euerlasting mercy of God for wheras by the law we are vnder the curse because it concludeth all vnder sinne By the Gospell we are made happy through faith in the sonne of God for that which the law could not doe Christ did for he turned the water into wine saith Theophilact and that that was not able to norish vs he hath made good to vs and profitable for vs. And whereas before we were bond men vnder the law that is the curse we are now made free men by him which became a curse for vs yea he hath made vs a chosen generation a royall priesthood Titus 2. 14. a holy nation a pecultar people let vs not now therfore sinne that grace 1. Pet. 2. 9. may abound God forbid that wee should do so for if we be his chosen we haue crucified the flesh with Paule we must be crucified to the world and the world to vs so we may be the more able to resist sathan when he shall tempt vs in our praiers or otherwise let vs that professe Christ walke as Christ hath walked and aboue all things let vs not faint in our praiers for if we be faithful God is louing merciful and he wil giue whatsoeur we haue neede of for as the Psalmist saith there is no good thing that he withholdeth from them that feare him Now the God of peace that brought againe from the dead the Lord Iesus Heb. 13 20. the great shepheard of the sheepe through the bloud of the euerlasting couenant make vs perfit in all good workes to do his will working in vs that which is pleasant in his sight through Iesus Christ to whome be praise for euer and euer Amen FINIS
on the crosse Thus by these examples we see that confession of sinnes must go before remissioÌ„ If thy sinne be priuate then confession to God may be priuat but if it be publique then must there bee publique confession that the Church may take notice of thy true contrition Thirdly it teacheth vs the great Doct. 3 patience of God in not confounding of vs when we haue first sinned but suffering vs so long and giuing vs space to repent This patience of God saith Saint Peter should leade vs to repentance and not to say with the foole tush God seeth it not The Prophet Dauid saith the Lord is full of mercy and of great goodnes but he also saith if a man will not turne he will bend his bow and whet his sworde And the longer hee deferreth his punishment the higher he heaueth his hand the greater will the blow bee Therefore though God haue but a leaden heele yet hath he Psal 2. an Iron scepter Thus much of the first word forgiue Vs or to vs. BY this word vs we are taught to pray for the saluation of our brethren yea of all if it were Gods will by the example of Saint Paule who could haue wished to haue beene seperate from God for his countrie mens sake the Iewes But few go so farre with Paule for if they wish their friendes any thing it is rather worldly wealth honor and dignity then the forgiuenesse of sinnes and increase of spirituall graces forgetting Christ his wordes what will it profit a man to winne the whole world and to lose his owne soule but this is the frailenes of our flesh and sinnefull nature to be more prone to earthly profiâ—s then feruently to desire heauenly blessinges Our debts Breach of the lawe is debt which is our sins INdeede sinnes are rightly our debtes Which make vs indebted vnto God by transgression of his diuine law Alas goodnesse was once ours but we in our first parents lost the very will of dooing well how much more the power to do well So that God now saith Gen. 6. the thoughts of mans heart are altogether euill Therfore sinnes are rightly ours now indeed The blessed Apostle Saint Iames sheweth this where he prooued that God tempteth none to doe euill but all such temptations are of our selues and Rom. 8. he saith further whence are wars sedition and enuyings are they not euen of your selues yea the Apostle Paule The confession of Paule differeth from the pretended Catholique that chosen vessell could say I know in me that is in my selfe dwelleth no good thing and howsoeuer to will is present with me yet I finde by the law of God that I do that which I should not doe Debts Well may our sinnes the breach of the law be called Debts telling vs of our neglect of duty and of our playing the bankrupts with the graces of the good spirit of God as also to bind vs to the iudgement seat of God laying before vs the haynousnesse of our sinnes and the ritch mercy of God in Christ who when we had nothing to pay forgaue vs all The second part of the fift Petition As we forgiue our debters This forgiuenesse of our brethren it is a sure testimony that God in the first place hath forgiuen vs and so saith Saint Iohn by this we know we are translated from death to life because we loue the brethren and Christ his commandement is be yee mercifull as your heauenly father is mercifull O how can they looke for mercy which continue in malice for Christ hath said it therefore it is true With what measure you meate to others it shall be measured to you againe Therefore let not the sunne go downe on thy wrath for what knowest thou ô man whether thou shalt liue till to morrow and if thou shouldst dye in malice thou dyest not in God for God is loue In the feare of God consider this and first be reconciled vnto thy brother and then come and offer thy gift for if saith the Wiseman one pray and another curse which will God heare Nay such as bee full of cruelty and reuengement what in this Petition do they pray for but this that Gods curse and vengeance might light on them therefore whosoeuer thou art that cariest malicious minde to thy brother thou art altogether vnfit to say this prayer or any holy prayer Yea and God will not heare thee when thou callest vnto him when thou stretchest forth thy hands he will hide his eyes And though Isai 1. 15. thou make many prayers yet will he not heare thee because thy Mic. 3. 1 hands are full of bloud Therefore take the aduise of Christ First be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift But here may arise a doubte whether that God will heare me or no seeing I confesse my selfe to be a sinner 1. Pet. 4. 17. and Salomon saith God heareth not sinners How therefore will He is a sinner that beleeues not the gospel this stand with this petition very well for by sinners in that place is meant such as be not incorporate into Christ and such as delight and continue in their sinne 1. Ioh. 2 and such men indeede God will Rom. 4. 25. not heare But they that haue put on the righteousnesse of Christ by Heb. 9. 26. a true and a liuely faith them will God heare and for their sinnes was Christ the reconciliatioÌ„ Therfore Iere. 50. 20. with Ieremie let vs say and beleeue That Gods mercie maketh sinners pure for God imputeth not sinne to his faithfull children Psalm 32. 2. Obiection Yea but how saith S. Iohn that they which are borne of God sinne not and That hee that committeth sinne is of the deuill but euery man sinneth and euery one committeth sinne Answere That is true But if you well obserue the words before and consider the drift of S. Iohn you shall plainely see that he meaneth such as are of the deuil as perseuer with willingnesse in sinne euen such as in whom sinne raignes in their mortall bodyes But vnder that power of sinning cannot the children of God be because the spirit of God checketh and correcteth their euill and corrupt affections For this victory ouer sinne and death hath Christ giuen vs that beleeue Giuing vs both a will and a feruent 1. Cor. 15. 57. desire to doe his commaundements And this is his commandement that we beleeue in Iesus Christ and loue one another for he tbat keepeth this commandement 1. Ioh. 3 23. 24. dwelleth in him and he in him and hereby know we that he abidetb in vs euen by the spirit which he hath giuen vs. The 6. petition And leade vs not into temptation but The word Temptation is of a verbe that signifieth to lift vp shewing that God somtimes prooues â—is childreÌ„ further higher by degrees as he did Abraham Gen. 〈…〉 also Heb. 11. For first he tempted but