Matthew 6 commentary

Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty is not the less necessary and excellent for being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men. When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and no more, but as a Father who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.

It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. “Verily they have their reward;” if in so great a matter as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can look to so poor a thing as the praise of men, it is just that it should be all our reward. Yet there is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? If he does not give his people what they ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good. So far is God from being wrought upon by the length or words of our prayers, that the most powerful intercessions are those which are made with groanings that cannot be uttered. Let us well study what is shown of the frame of mind in which our prayers should be offered, and learn daily from Christ how to pray.

Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; the first three relate more expressly to God and his honour, the last three to our own concerns, both temporal and spiritual. This prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and that all other things shall be added. After the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the needful supports and comforts of this present life. Every word here has a lesson in it. We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance: and we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread of others, nor the bread of deceit, Pr 20:17; nor the bread of idleness, Pr 31:27, but the bread honestly gotten. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread. We pray, Give it to us. This teaches us a compassion for the poor. Also that we ought to pray with our families. We pray that God would give it us this day; which teaches us to renew the desires of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed. As the day comes we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without food, as without prayer. We are taught to hate and dread sin while we hope for mercy, to distrust ourselves, to rely on the providence and grace of God to keep us from it, to be prepared to resist the tempter, and not to become tempters of others. Here is a promise, If you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ came into the world as the great Peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.

Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Ps 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.

Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our happiness in them. There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it. It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible. The worldly man is wrong in his first principle; therefore all his reasonings and actions therefrom must be wrong. It is equally to be applied to false religion; that which is deemed light is thick darkness. This is an awful, but a common case; we should therefore carefully examine our leading principles by the word of God, with earnest prayer for the teaching of his Spirit. A man may do some service to two masters, but he can devote himself to the service of no more than one. God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world. When two masters oppose each other, no man can serve both. He who holds to the world and loves it, must despise God; he who loves God, must give up the friendship of the world.

There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your life. Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as he pleases. Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them. Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not anxious for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it. God has given us life, and has given us the body. And what can he not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. Improve this as an encouragement to trust in God. We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them. Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. Seek first the kingdom of God, and make religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. Happy are those who take the Lord for their God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.

1. Beware In this passage, Christ exhorts his people to devote themselves sincerely to good works; that is, to endeavor, with simplicity, to do what is right before God, and not to make a parade before men. “Sans chercher la louange des hommes;” —”without seeking the praise of men?” A very necessary admonition; for in all virtues the entrance of ambition is to be dreaded, and there is no work so laudable, as not to be in many instances corrupted and polluted by it. Under one class he lays down, by a synecdoche, a general doctrine: for he speaks of alms only, as he speaks shortly afterwards about prayers: though some copies, instead of ἐλεημοσύνην, alms, read δικαιοσύνην, righteousness, which is also the rendering of the old translator. But the difference is of little moment: for in either way there is no room to doubt, that the design is, to correct the disease of ambition, when, in doing what is right, we seek glory from men.

2. When thou doest alms He expressly reproves a long established custom, in which the desire of fame might not only be perceived by the eye, but felt by the hands. In places where streets or roads met, and in public situations, where large assemblies were wont to be held, they distributed alms to the poor. There was evident ostentation in that practice: for they sought crowded places, that they might be seen by multitudes, and, not satisfied with this, added even the sound of trumpets. There is no necessity for giving a literal acceptation to the sounding of trumpets, particularly as no trace of such a practice, so far as we are aware, is to be found in history. Similar phrases are used, in many languages, to denote, that ostentation has been carried far beyond the bounds of ordinary propriety. — Ed. They pretended, no doubt, that it was to call the poor, as apologies are never wanting: but it was perfectly obvious, that they were hunting for applause and commendation. Now, when our service is rendered to the eyes of men, we do not submit our life to the judgment and approbation of God. Justly, therefore, does Christ say, that those persons, who exhibit themselves in this manner, have their reward: for they whose eyes are held by such vanity cannot look upon God.

For the same reason, all who are desirous of vain-glory are called hypocrites. Profane authors gave the name of ὑποκριταὶ, hypocrites, to those who personated assumed characters in plays and on the stage; and Scripture has applied this term to men who are double in heart and insincere. This is the true etymology of the word, and rests, not on conjecture, but on historical facts. ̔Ψποκρίνεσθαι was used in the same sense as the more modern term ἀποκρίνεσθαι,, to reply. An actor was called ὁ ὑποκρινόμενος τῶ χορῶ, one who replies to the chorus, alluding to the form of the ancient dramas. The circuitous phrase was altered to ̔Ψποκριτὴς, which was, for some time, used occasionally in a good sense, to denote “one who assumed, for a temporary purpose, a character different from his own;” but came afterwards to be uniformly used in a bad sense, as denoting “one who assumed a character which did not belong to him.” It is a curious instance of the facility with which a word passes, by a few changes, into a meaning altogether different from what it originally bore; and may serve to show, how rashly some philologists have maintained, that in all the successive meanings of a word the generic idea may be traced. The second will resemble the first, and the third either the first or the second, and every new meaning will have an analogy to a former one, from which it has been derived: but it may happen that, ere long, all traces of the original meaning have disappeared. To reply and to be insincere are ideas which have no resemblance. — Ed. There are various kinds of hypocrites. Some, though conscious of being very wicked, impudently give themselves out for good men before the world, and endeavor to conceal their vices, of which they have an inward conviction. Others allow themselves to proceed to such a pitch of audacity, that they venture to claim even perfect righteousness before God. Others do good, not from a desire to do what is right, nor on account of the glory of God, but only to obtain for themselves fame and a reputation for holiness. This last mentioned class Christ now describes, and he properly calls them hypocrites: for, having no proper object in view in the performance of good works, they assume a different character, that they may appear to be holy and sincere worshippers of God.

3. Let not thy left hand know By this expression he means, that we ought to be satisfied with having God for our only witness, and to be so earnestly desirous to obey him, that we shall not be carried away by any vanity. It frequently happens, that men sacrifice to themselves rather than to God. Christ therefore wishes, that we should not be distracted by indirect thoughts, but go straight to this object, that we may serve God with a pure conscience.

4. That thy alms may be in secret This statement appears to be opposed to many passages of Scripture, in which we are commanded to edify the brethren by good examples. But if we attend to the design of Christ, we must not give a more extensive meaning to the words. “Verba longius trahere non oportet.” In some of the best Latin editions we find, “verba longius trahere nos oportet,” which entirely alters the meaning. But the discrepancy of the reading is set aside by the French version: “il ne faut point estendre les paroles plus avant;” — “we must not extend the words farther.” — Ed. He commands his disciples to devote themselves to good works purely, and without any ambition. In order to do this, he bids them turn away their eyes from the sight of men, and to reckon it enough that their duties are approved by God alone. Such simplicity of views does not at all interfere with anxiety and zeal to promote edification: and, indeed, a little before, he did not expressly forbid them to do good before men, but condemned ostentation.

Thy Father, who seeth in secret He silently glances at a kind of folly, which prevails everywhere among men, that they think they have lost their pains, if there have not been many spectators of their virtues. He tells them, that God does not need a strong light to perceive good actions: for those things, which appear to be buried in darkness, are open to his view. We have no reason, therefore, to suppose that what escapes the notice, and receives not the testimony of men, is lost: for “the Lord dwells in the thick darkness,” (2 Chronicles 6:1.) A most appropriate remedy is thus applied for curing the disease of ambition, when he reminds us to fix our eye on God: for this banishes from our minds, and will utterly destroy, all vain-glory. — In the second clause, which immediately follows, Christ reminds us that, in looking for the reward of good works, we must wait patiently till the last day, the day of resurrection. Thy Father, says he, shall reward thee openly But when? It will be, when the dawn of the last day shall arise, by which all that is now hidden in darkness shall be revealed.

MATTHEW 6:5-8

Matthew 6:5-8

5. And when thou shalt pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites: for they are wont to pray standing in the synagogues, and in corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say to you, that they have their reward. 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret: and thyFather, who seeth secret, shall reward thee openly. 7. But praying, use not vain repetitions, as the Heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard on account of their speaking much. 8. Be not you, therefore, like them: for your Father knoweth what things ye need, before ye ask him.

5. When thou shalt pray He now gives the same instruction as to prayer, which he had formerly given as to alms. It is a gross and shameful profanation of the name of God, when hypocritcs, in order to obtain glory from men, pray in public, or at least make a pretense of praying. But, as hypocrisy is always ambitious, we need not wonder that it is also blind. Christ, therefore, commands his disciples, if they wish to pray in a right manner, to enter into their closet Some expositors, thinking that this has the appearance of absurdity, give it an allegorical turn, as referring to the inward recesses of the heart: but there is no necessity for such trifling. We are commanded, in many passages, to pray to God or to praise him, in the public assembly, amidst a crowd of men, and before all the people: and that for the purpose, not only of testifying our faith or gratitude, but also of exciting others, by our example, to do the like. Christ does not withdraw us from such an exercise, but only admonishes us to have God always before our eyes when we engage in prayer.

We must not literally interpret the words, enter into thy closet: as if he ordered us to avoid the presence of men, or declared that we do not pray aright, except when there are no witnesses. He speaks comparatively, and means, that we ought rather to seek retirement than desire a crowd of men to see us praying. “Il parle ici par une forme de comparaison des deux extremitez opposites, signifiant que plustost il faut chercher d'estre seuls, que de desirer grande compagnie qui nous voye prier.” — “He speaks here by way of comparison of the two opposite extremes, meaning that we must rather seek to be alone, than desire a large company to see us pray,” It is advantageous, indeed, to believers, and contributes to their pouring out, with greater freedom, their prayers and groans before God, to withdraw from the gaze of men. Retirement is also useful for another reason, that our minds may be more free and disengaged from all distracting thoughts: and accordingly Christ himself frequently chose the concealment of some retired spot for the sake of prayer. But this is not the present subject, which is only to correct the desire of vain-glory. To express it in a few words, whether a man prays alone, or in the presence of others, he ought to have the same feelings, as if he were shut up in his closet, and had no other witness but God. When Christ says, thy Father shall reward thee, he declares plainly that all the reward, which is promised to us in any part of Scripture, is not paid as a debt, but is a free gift.

7. Use not vain repetitions He reproves another fault in prayer, a multiplicity of words. There are two words used, but in the same sense: for βαττολογία is “a superfluous and affected repetition,” and πολυλογία is “unmeaning talk.” Christ reproves the folly of those who, with the view of persuading and entreating God, pour out a superfluity of words. This doctrine is not inconsistent with the praises everywhere bestowed in Scripture on earnestness in prayer: for, when prayer is offered with earnest feeling, the tongue does not go before the heart. Besides, the grace of God is not obtained by an unmeaning flow of words; but, on the contrary, a devout heart throws out its affections, like arrows, to pierce heaven. At the same time, this condemns the superstition of those who entertain the belief, that they will secure the favor of God by long murmurings. We find Popery to be so deeply imbued with this error, that it believes the efficacy of prayer to lie chiefly in talkativeness. The greater number of words that a man mutters, the more diligently he is supposed to have prayed. Long and tedious chanting also, as if it were to soothe the ears of God, continually resounds in their cathedrals.

8. For your Father knoweth This single remedy is sufficient for removing and destroying the superstition which is here condemned. For whence comes this folly of thinking that great advantage is gained, when men weary God by a multiplicity of words, but because they imagine that he is like a mortal man, who needs to be informed and solicited? Whoever is convinced, that God not only cares for us, but knows all our wants, and anticipates our wishes and anxieties before we have stated them, will leave out vain repetitions, and will reckon it enough to prolong his prayers, as far as shall be necessary for exercising his faith; but will reckon it absurd and ridiculous to approach God with rhetorical embellishments, in the expectation that he will be moved by an abundance of words.

But if God knows what things we have need of, before we ask him, where lies the advantage of prayer? If he is ready, of his own free will, to assist us, what purpose does it serve to employ our prayers, which interrupt the spontaneous course of his providence? The very design of prayer furnishes an easy answer. Believers do not pray, with the view of informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray, in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into his bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from Him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things. God himself, on the other hand, has purposed freely, and without being asked, to bestow blessings upon us; but he promises that he will grant them to our prayers. We must, therefore, maintain both of these truths, that He freely anticipates our wishes, and yet that we obtain by prayer what we ask. As to the reason why he sometimes delays long to answer us, and sometimes even does not grant our wishes, an opportunity of considering it will afterwards occur.

MATTHEW 6:9-13; LUKE 11:1-4

Matthew 6:9-13

Luke 11:1-4

9. Pray ye therefore thus: Our Father who art in heaven, may thy name be sanctified. 10. May thy kingdom come. May thy will be done, as in heaven, so also in the earth. 11. Give us to-day our daily bread. 12. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.

1. And it happened, while he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2. And he saith to them, When you pray, say, Our Father who art in heaven, may thy name be sanctified. May thy kingdom come. May thy will be done, as in heaven, so also in the earth. 3. Give us to.day our daily bread. 4. And forgive us our sins, as we also forgive every one who owes us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:9 Do ye therefore pray thus Instead of this Luke says, when ye pray, say: though Christ does not enjoin his people to pray in a prepared form of words, “Combien Christ ne commande pas aux siens en priant de s'attacher scrupuleusement a certains mots;” — “though Christ does not command his people to adhere scrupulously to certain words. but only points out what ought to be the object of all our wishes and prayers. He embraces, therefore, in six petitions what we are at liberty to ask from God. Nothing is more advantageous to us than such instruction. Though this is the most important exercise of piety, yet in forming our prayers, and regulating our wishes, all our senses fail us. No man will pray aright, unless his lips and heart shall be directed by the Heavenly Master. For that purpose he has laid down this rule, by which we must frame our prayers, if we desire to have them accounted lawful and approved by God. It was not the intention of the Son of God, (as we have already said), to prescribe the words which we must use, so as not to leave us at liberty to depart from the form which he has dictated. His intention rather was, to guide and restrain our wishes, that they might not go beyond those limits and hence we infer, that the rule which he has given us for praying aright relates not to the words, but to the things themselves.

This form of prayer consists, as I have said, of six petitions. The first three, it ought to be known, relate to the glory of God, without any regard to ourselves; and the remaining three relate to those things which are necessary for our salvation. As the law of God is divided into two tables, of which the former contains the duties of piety, and the latter the duties of charity, “Comme la Loy de Dieu est divisee en deux Tables, desquelles la premiere contient les choses dont nous sommes redevables a Dieu pour honorer sa majeste: la seconde ce que nous devons a nostre prochain selon charite.” — “As the Law of God is divided into two Tables, of which the first contains the things which we owe to God to honor his majesty: the second, what we owe to our neighbor according to charity.” so in prayer Christ enjoins us to consider and seek the glory of God, and, at the same time, permits us to consult our own interests. Let us therefore know, that we shall be in a state of mind for praying in a right manner, if we not only are in earnest about ourselves and our own advantage, but assign the first place to the glory of God: for it would be altogether preposterous to mind only what belongs to ourselves, and to disregard the kingdom of God, which is of far greater importance.

Our Father who art in heaven Whenever we engage in prayer, there are two things to be considered, both that we may have access to God, and that we may rely on Him with full and unshaken confidence: his fatherly love toward us, and his boundless power. Let us therefore entertain no doubt, that God is willing to receive us graciously, that he is ready to listen to our prayers, — in a word, that of Himself he is disposed to aid us. Father is the appellation given to him; and under this title Christ supplies us with sufficiently copious materials for confidence. But as it is only the half of our reliance that is founded on the goodness of God, in the next clause, who art in heaven, he gives us a lofty idea of the power of God. When the Scripture says, that God is in heaven, the meaning is, that all things are subject to his dominions, — that the world, and everything in it, is held by his hand, — that his power is everywhere diffused, — that all things are arranged by his providence. David says, “He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh at them,” (Psalm 2:4); and again, “Our God is in heaven: he hath done whatever he hath pleased,” (Psalm 115:3).

When God is said to be in heaven, we must not suppose that he dwells only there; but, on the contrary, must hold what is said in another passage, that “the heavens of heavens do not contain him,” (2 Chronicles 2:6). This mode of expression separates him from the rank of creatures, and reminds us that, when we think of him, we ought not to form any low or earthly conceptions: for he is higher than the whole world. We have now ascertained the design of Christ. In the commencement of the prayer, he desired his own people to rest their confidence on the goodness and power of God; because, unless our prayers are founded on faith, they will be of no advantage. Now, as it would be the folly and madness of presumption, to call God our Father, except on the ground that, through our union to the body of Christ, we are acknowledged as his children, we conclude, that there is no other way of praying aright, but by approaching God with reliance on the Mediator.

May thy name be sanctified This makes still more manifest what I have said, that in the first three petitions we ought to lose sight of ourselves, and seek the glory of God: not that it is separated from our salvation, but that the majesty of God ought to be greatly preferred by us to every other object of solicitude. It is of unspeakable advantage to us that God reigns, and that he receives the honor which is due to him: but no man has a sufficiently earnest desire to promote the glory of God, unless (so to speak) he forgets himself, and raises his mind to seek God’s exalted greatness. There is a close connection and resemblance between those three petitions. The sanctification of the name of God is always connected with his kingdom; and the most important part of his kingdom lies in his will being done. Whoever considers how cold and negligent we are in desiring the greatest of those blessings for which we are here commanded to pray, will acknowledge that nothing here is superfluous, but that it is proper that the three petitions should be thus distinguished.

To sanctify the name of God means nothing else, than to give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, so that men may never think or speak of him but with the deepest veneration. The opposite of this is the profanation of the name of God, which takes place, when men either speak disrespectfully of the divine majesty, or at least without that reverence which they ought to feel. Now, the glory, by which it is sanctified, flows and results from the acknowledgments made by men as to the wisdom, goodness, righteousness, power, and all the other attributes of God. For holiness always dwells, and permanently remains, in God: but men obscure it by their malice and depravity, or dishonor and pollute it by sacrilegious contempt. The substance of this petition is, that the glory of God may shine in the world, and may be duly acknowledged by men. But religion is in its highest purity and rigour, when men believe, that whatever proceeds from God is right and proper, full of righteousness and wisdom: for the consequence is, that they embrace his word with the obedience of faith, and approve of all his ordinances and works. That faith which we yield to the word of God is, so to speak, our subscription, “Comme si nous signions de nostre propre main, declarans que Dieu est veritable;” — “as if we signed with our own hand, declaring that God is true.” by which we “set to our seal that God is faithful,” (John 3:33;) as the highest dishonor that can be done to him is unbelief and contempt of his word.

We now see, what wickedness is displayed by most men in judging of the works of God, and how freely they allow themselves to indulge in censure. If any of us are chastised, they grumble, and murmur, and complain, and some break out into open blasphemies: if he does not grant our wishes, we think that he is not sufficiently kind to us. “Il nous semble qu'il nous fait tort;” — “we think that he wrongs us.” Many turn into matter of idle talk and jesting his incomprehensible providence and secret judgments. Even his holy and sacred name is often treated with the grossest mockery. In short, a part of the world profane his holiness to the utmost of their power. We need not then wonder, if we are commanded to ask, in the first place, that the reverence which is due to it may be given by the world. Besides, this is no small honor done to us, when God recommends to us the advancement of his glory.

10. May thy kingdom come Though the Greek verb (ἐλθέτω) is simple, yet if, instead of May thy kingdom come, we read, as it was rendered in the old translation, May thy kingdom arrive, “Adveniat regnum tuum;” the only difference being, that the compound verb adveniat, may arrive, has been exchanged for the simple verb veniat, may come, a change which has been adopted, so far as I have observed, in the modern European versions. — Ed. the meaning will remain unchanged. We must first attend to the definition of the kingdom of God. He is said to reign among men, when they voluntarily devote and submit themselves to be governed by him, placing their flesh under the yoke, and renouncing their desires. Such is the corruption of the nature, that all our affections are so many soldiers of Satan, who oppose the justice of God, and consequently obstruct or disturb his reign. By this prayer we ask, that he may remove all hindrances, and may bring all men under his dominion, and may lead them to meditate on the heavenly life.

This is done partly by the preaching of the word, and partly by the secret power of the Spirit. It is his will to govern men by his word: but as the bare voice, if the inward power of the Spirit be not added, does not pierce the hearts of men, both must be joined together, in order that the kingdom of God may be established. We therefore pray that God would exert his power, both by the Word and by the Spirit, that the whole world may willingly submit to him. The kingdom of God is opposed to all disorder (ἀταξία) and confusion for good order is nowhere found in the world, except when he regulates by his hand the schemes and dispositions of men. Hence we conclude, that the commencement of the reign of God in us is the destruction of the old man, and the denial of ourselves, that we may be renewed to another life.

There is still another way in which God reigns; and that is, when he overthrows his enemies, and compels them, with Satan their head, to yield a reluctant subjection to his authority, “till they all be made his footstools” (Hebrews 10:13.) The substance of this prayer is, that God would enlighten the world by the light of his Word, — would form the hearts of men, by the influences of his Spirit, to obey his justice, and would restore to order, by the gracious exercise of his power, all the disorder that exists in the world. Now, he commences his reign by subduing the desires of our flesh. Again, as the kingdom of God is continually growing and advancing to the end of the world, we must pray every day that it may come: for to whatever extent iniquity abounds in the world, to such an extent the kingdom of God, which brings along with it perfect righteousness, is not yet come.

May thy will be done Although the will of God, viewed in itself, is one and simple, it is presented to us in Scripture under a twofold aspect. “Elle nous est proposee en deux sortes es Escritures.” — “It is presented to us in two ways in the Scriptures.” It is said, that the will of God is done, when he executes the secret counsels of his providence, however obstinately men may strive to oppose him. But here we are commanded to pray that, in another sense, his will may be done, — that all creatures may obey him, without opposition, and without reluctance. This appears more clearly from the comparison, as in heaven For, as He has the angels constantly ready to execute his commands, (and hence they are said to do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word, Psalm 103:20,) so we desire that all men may have their will formed to such harmony with the righteousness of God, that they may freely bend in whatever direction he shall appoint. It is, no doubt, a holy desire, when we bow to the will of God, and acquiesce in his appointments. But this prayer implies something more. It is a prayer, that God may remove all the obstinacy of men, which rises in unceasing rebellion against him, and may render them gentle and submissive, that they may not wish or desire any thing but what pleases him, and meets his approbation.

But it may be objected: Ought we to ask from God what, he declares, will never exist to the end of the world? I reply: When we pray that the earth may become obedient to the will of God, it is not necessary that we should look particularly at every individual. It is enough for us to declare, by such a prayer as this, that we hate and regret whatever we perceive to be contrary to the will of God, and long for its utter destruction, not only that it may be the rule of all our affections, but that we may yield ourselves without reserve, and with all cheerfulness, to its fulfillment.

11. Give us today our daily bread Of the form of prayer which Christ has prescribed to us this may be called, as I have said, the Second Table. I have adopted this mode of dividing it for the sake of instruction. “Je l’ay ainsi divisee par ci devant pour enseigner plus familierement.” The precepts which relate to the proper manner of worshipping God are contained in the First Table of the law, and those which relate to the duties of charity in the Second. Again, in this prayer, — “I have formerly divided it thus, in order to instruct more familiarly.” our Lord first instructs us to seek the glory of God, and then points out, in the second part, what we ought to ask for ourselves. But it must be observed, that the prayers which we offer for our salvation, or for our own advantage, ought to have this for their ultimate object: for we must not be so exclusively occupied with what is advantageous to ourselves, as to omit, in any instance, to give the first place to the glory of God. When we pray, therefore, we must never turn away our eyes from that object.

There is this difference, however, between the two kinds of petitions which we have mentioned. When we pray for the kingdom of God and the sanctification of his name, our eyes ought to be directed upwards, so as to lose sight of ourselves, and to be fixed on God alone. We then come down to ourselves, and connect with those former petitions, which look to God alone, solicitude about our own salvation. Though the forgiveness of sins is to be preferred to food, “Combien que la remission des pechez est bien a preferer a la nourriteurde cette vie.” — “though the forgiveness of sins is greatly to be preferred to the nourishment of this life.” as far as the soul is more valuable than the body, yet our Lord commenced with bread and the supports of an earthly life, that from such a beginning he might carry us higher. We do not ask that our daily bread may be given to us before we ask that we may be reconciled to God, as if the perishing food of the belly were to be considered more valuable than the eternal salvation of the soul: but we do so that we may ascend, as it were by steps, from earth to heaven. Since God condescends to nourish our bodies, there can be no doubt whatever, that he is far more careful of our spiritual life. This kind and gentle manner of treating us raises our confidence higher.

Some are of opinion, that τὸν ἄζτον ἡμῶν ἐπιούσιον means our supersubstantial bread This is exceedingly absurd. The reason assigned by Erasmus is not only frivolous, but inconsistent with piety. He reckons it improbable that, when we come into the presence of God, Christ should enjoin us to make mention of food. As if this manner of instruction were not to be found in every part of Scripture, to lead us to the expectation of heavenly blessings, by giving us a taste of temporal blessings. It is indeed the true proof of our faith, when we ask nothing but from God, and not only acknowledge him to be the only fountain of all blessings, but feel that his fatherly kindness extends to the smallest matters, so that he does not disdain to take care even of our flesh.

That Christ speaks here of bodily food may easily be inferred: first, because otherwise the prayer would be defective and incomplete. We are enjoined, in many passages, to throw all our cares into the bosom of God, and he graciously promises, that “he will withhold from us no good thing,” (Psalm 84:11.) In a perfect rule of prayer, therefore, some direction must be laid down as to the innumerable wants of the present life. Besides, the word σήμερον, today, means that we are to ask from God no more than is necessary for the day: “Sinon au pris que le jour vient l’un apres l’autre;” — “only as far as one day comes after another.” for there is no doubt, that he intended to restrain and guide our desire of earthly food, to which we are all immoderately addicted. Again, a very frequent Synecdoche occurs in the word bread, under which the Hebrews include every description of food. But here it has a still more extensive meaning: for we ask not only that the hand of God may supply us with food, but that we may receive all that is necessary for the present life.

The meaning is now obvious. We are first commanded to pray, that God would protect and cherish the life which he has given to us in the world, and, as we need many supports, that he would supply us with every thing that he knows to be needful. Now, as the kindness of God flows in uninterrupted succession to feed us, the bread which he bestows is called ἐπιούσιος, that is, continual: “Superveniens;” — “survenant, ou venant par chacun jour;”— “succeeding, or coming by each day.” We subjoin an extract from the Dissertations of Witsius on the Lord‘s Prayer. After mentioning several views of Commentators on this petition, he says: This great variety of expositions has been principally occasioned by the Greek word ἐπιούσιος. That word occurs nowhere else in Scripture, and the most learned men have been unable to discover it in any profane writings. As it is not known to what Hebrew word employed by our Lord it corresponds, it is not surprising that different persons should have assigned to it different acceptations. — I shall not now enter into a critical examination of the very numerous expositions of that word which have been given by learned men. An exposition more copious and learned than any that had previously appeared, has been given by a very celebrated and learned man, JOHN MARCK, formerly my much esteemed colleague in the University of Friesland. It forms a part of his Juvenile Dissertations, as he is pleased to style them, but which contain much profound wisdom. The simplest and most probable of the various etymologies, I have always thought, is that which supposes ἐπιόσιος to be compounded of ἐπὶ and οὐσία, as περιούσιος is compounded of περὶ and οὐσία The analogy of composition of such words presents no difficulty: for it does not require that the ι in the word ἐπὶ shall be dropped before a vowel. This is proved by the words ἐπιεικὴς, ἐπιόγδοος, ἐπιόρκος, ἐπιόπτομαι, ἐπιοῦρος, and many of the same form. This derivation being granted, which has nothing unusual or anomalous, considerable progress has been made in the investigation of the subject. For as τὸ περιούσιον signifies what is more than enough, and beyond what the preservation of existence requires, so τὸ ἐπιούσιον signifies what is enough. Such is the meaning assigned to it by the ancient Greek writers, who were deeply skilled in their own language. “ ́̓Αρτου ἐπιούσιον, (says Chrysostom, Hom. 30, Ton. 5.) τουτέστιν ἐπὶ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ σώματος διαζαίνοντα, καὶ συγκρατὢσαι ταύτην δυνάμενον, — “that is, what passes to the substance of the body, and is able to support it.” Ζητεῖν προσετάχθημεν , (says Gregory Nyssen,) τὸ πρὸν τὴν συντήρησιν ἐξαρκοῦν τὢν σωματικὢν οὐσίαν “We have been commanded to seek what is sufficient for the support of the bodily existence.” Basil explains it to be τὸν πρὸς τὴν ἐφήμερον ζωὴν τὢ οὐσία ἡμῶν χρησιμεύοντα, “what is useful to our existence for daily life.” (After referring to Suiceri Thesaurus, and quoting from Cyril of Alexandria and from Theodoret, he concludes ἄρτον ἐπιούσιον to be equivalent to the phrase used by the Apostle James, (2: 15,) τὴν ἐφήμερον τροφὴν, (daily food )—Biblica1 Cabinet, vol. 24, pp. 266, 272-274. — Ed. for so it may be rendered. This word suggests to us such a petition as the following: “O Lord, since our life needs every day new supplies, may it please thee to grant them to us without interruption.” The adverb today, as I said a little ago, is added to restrain our excessive desire, and to teach us, that we depend every moment on the kindness of God, and ought to be content with that portion which he gives us, to use a common expression, “from day to day.”

But here an objection may be urged. It is certain, that Christ has given a rule for prayer, which belongs equally to all the godly. Now, some of their number are rich men, who have their yearly produce laid up in store. Why does he command them to ask what they have at home, and to ask every day those things of which they have an abundant supply for a year? The reply is easy. These words remind us that, unless God feed us daily, the largest accumulation of the necessaries of life will be of no avail. Though we may have abundance of corn, and wine, and every thing else, unless they are watered by the secret blessing of God, they will suddenly vanish, or we will be deprived of the use of them, or they will lose their natural power to support us, so that we shall famish in the midst of plenty. There is therefore no reason to wonder, if Christ invites the rich and poor indiscriminately to apply to their Heavenly Father for the supply of their wants. No man will sincerely offer such a prayer as this, unless he has learned, by the example of the Apostle Paul, “to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need,” (Philippians 4:12,) to endure patiently his poverty or his humble condition, and not to be intoxicated by a false confidence in his abundance.

Does any one inquire, why we ask that bread to be given to us, which we call OUR bread? I answer: It is so called, not because it belongs to us by right, but because the fatherly kindness of God has set it apart for our use. It becomes ours, because our Heavenly Father freely bestows it on us for the supply of our necessities. The fields must, no doubt, be cultivated, labor must be bestowed on gathering the fruits of the earth, and every man must submit to the toil of his calling, in order to procure food. But all this does not hinder us from being fed by the undeserved kindness of God, without which men might waste their strength to no purpose. We are thus taught, that what we seem to have acquired by our own industry is his gift. We may likewise infer from this word, that, if we wish God to feed us, we must not take what belongs to others: for all who have been taught of God, (John 6:45,) whenever they employ this form of prayer, make a declaration that they desire nothing but what is their own.

12. And forgive us our debts Here it may be proper that we should be reminded of what I said a little before, that Christ, in arranging the prayers of his people, did not consider which was first or second in order. It is written, that our prayers are as it were a wall which hinders our approach to God, (Isaiah 59:2,) or a cloud which prevents him from beholding us, (Isaiah 44:22,) and that

“he hath covered himself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through,” (Lamentations 3:44.)

We ought always, therefore, to begin with the forgiveness of sins: for the first hope of being heard by God beams upon us, when we obtain his favor; and there is no way in which he is “pacified toward us,” (Ezekiel 16:63,) but by freely pardoning our sins. Christ has included in two petitions all that related to the eternal salvation of the soul, and to the spiritual life: for these are the two leading points of the divine covenant, in which all our salvation consists. He offers to us a free reconciliation by “not imputing our sins,” (2 Corinthians 5:19,) and promises the Spirit, to engrave the righteousness of the law on our hearts. We are commanded to ask both, and the prayer for obtaining the forgiveness of sins is placed first.

In Matthew, sins are called debts, because they expose us to condemnation at the tribunal of God, and make us debtors; nay more, they alienate us entirely from God, so that there is no hope of obtaining peace and favor except by pardon. And so is fulfilled what Paul tells us, that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23,)

“that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God,” (Romans 3:19.)

For, though the righteousness of God shines, to some extent, in the saints, yet, so long as they are surrounded by the flesh, they lie under the burden of sins. None will be found so pure as not to need the mercy of God, and if we wish to partake of it, we must feel our wretchedness. Those who dream of attaining such perfection in this world, as to be free from every spot and blemish, not only renounce their sins, but renounce Christ himself, from whose Church they banish themselves. For, when he commands all his disciples to betake themselves to him daily for the forgiveness of sins, every one, who thinks that he has no need of such a remedy, is struck out of the number of the disciples.

Now, the forgiveness, which we here ask to be bestowed on us, is inconsistent with satisfaction, by which the world endeavors to purchase its own deliverance. For that creditor is not said to forgive, who has received payment and asks nothing more,—but he who willingly and generously departs from his just claim, and frees the debtor The ordinary distinction between crime and punishment has no place here: for debts unquestionably mean liability to punishment. If they are freely forgiven us, all compensations must disappear. And there is no other meaning than this in the passage of Luke, though he calls them sins: for in no other way does God grant the pardon of them, than by removing the condemnation which they deserve.

As we forgive our debtors This condition is added, that no one may presume to approach God and ask forgiveness, who is not pure and free from all resentment. And yet the forgiveness, which we ask that God would give us, does not depend on the forgiveness which we grant to others: but the design of Christ was, to exhort us, in this manner, to forgive the offenses which have been committed against us, and at the same time, to give, as it were, the impression of his seal, to ratify the confidence in our own forgiveness. Nor is any thing inconsistent with this in the phrase used by Luke, καὶ γὰρ, for we also Christ did not intend to point out the cause, but only to remind us of the feelings which we ought to cherish towards brethren, when we desire to be reconciled to God. And certainly, if the Spirit of God reigns in our hearts, every description of ill-will and revenge ought to be banished. The Spirit is the witness of our adoption, (Romans 8:16,) and therefore this is put down simply as a mark, to distinguish the children of God from strangers. The name debtors is here given, not to those who owe us money, or any other service, but to those who are indebted to us on account of offenses which they have committed.

13. And lead us not into temptation Some people have split this petition into two. This is wrong: for the nature of the subject makes it manifest, that it is one and the same petition. The connection of the words also shows it: for the word but, which is placed between, connects the two clauses together, as Augustine judiciously explains. The sentence ought to be resolved thus, That we may not be led into temptation, deliver us from evil The meaning is: “We are conscious Of our own weakness, and desire to enjoy the protection of God, that we may remain impregnable against all the assaults of Satan.” We showed from the former petition, that no man can be reckoned a Christian, who does not acknowledge himself to be a sinner; and in the same manner, we conclude from this petition, that we have no strength for living a holy life, except so far as we obtain it from God. Whoever implores the assistance of God to overcome temptations, acknowledges that, unless God deliver him, he will be constantly falling. “Afin qu'i! ne trebusche pas a chacun coup;” — “that he may not reel at every blow.”

The word temptation is often used generally for any kind of trial. In this sense God is said to have tempted Abraham, (Genesis 22:1,) when he tried his faith. We are tempted both by adversity and by prosperity: because each of them is an occasion of bringing to light feelings which were formerly concealed. But here it denotes inward temptation, which may be fitly called the scourge of the devil, for exciting our lust. It would be foolish to ask, that God would keep us free from every thing which makes trial of our faith. All wicked emotions, which excite us to sin, are included under the name of temptation Though it is not impossible that we may feel such pricks in our minds, (for, during the whole course of our life, we have a constant warfare with the flesh,) yet we ask that the Lord would not cause us to be thrown down, or suffer us to be overwhelmed, by temptations

In order to express this truth more clearly, that we are liable to constant stumbling and ruinous falls, if God does not uphold us with his hand, Christ used this form of expression, (μὴ εἰσενέγκὟς,) Lead us not into temptation: or, as some render it, Bring us not into temptation It is certainly true, that “every man is tempted,” as the Apostle James says, (1:14) “by his own lust:” yet, as God not only gives us up to the will of Satan, to kindle the flame of lust, but employs him as the agent of his wrath, when he chooses to drive men headlong to destruction, he may be also said, in a way peculiar to himself, to lead them into temptation In the same sense, “an evil spirit from the Lord” is said to have “seized or troubled Saul,” (1 Samuel 16:14:) and there are many passages of Scripture to the same purpose. And yet we will not therefore say, that God is the author of evil: because, by giving men over to a reprobate mind,” (Romans 1:28,) he does not exercise a confused tyranny, but executes his just, though secret “Combien que la raison nous en soit incognue;” — “though the reason of them may be unknown to us.” judgments.

Deliver us from evil The word evil (πονηροῦ) may either be taken in the neuter gender, as signifying the evil thing, or in the masculine gender, as signifying the evil one Chrysostom refers it to the Devil, who is the contriver of every thing evil, and, as the deadly enemy of our salvation, is continually fighting against us. Chrysostom's words are: — Πονηρὸν ἐνταῦθα τὸν διάζολον καλεῖ Κατ ᾿ ἐξοχὴν δὲ οἱτος ἐκεῖνος καλεῖται διὰ τὴν ὑπερζολὴν τὢς κακίας, καὶ ἐπειδὰν μηδὲν παρ ᾿ ἡμῶν ἀδικηθεὶς ἄσπονδον πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔχει τὸυ πόλεμον. “He calls the Devil, in this place, THE EVIL ONE. He is, by way of eminence, so called, on account of his superlative wickedness, and because, though he has received no injury from us, he carries on against us an implacable war.” — Ed. But it may, with equal propriety, be explained as referring to sin There is no necessity for raising a debate on this point: for the meaning remains nearly the same, that we are in danger from the devil and from sin, if the Lord does not protect and deliver us.

For thine is the kingdom It is surprising that this clause, which agrees so well with the rest of the prayer, has been left out by the Latins: That part of the Lord's Prayer, which we commonly call the conclusion, is not found in the Gospel by Luke, and its genuineness has been questioned. None of the Latin copies (as Calvin mentions) have it: but even those who have most zealously maintained that it is spurious, admit that it exists in the greater number of the Greek manuscripts. Erasmus, Grotius, Witsius, Griesbach, Matthaei, and Scholz, may be consulted by those who wish to examine the question for themselves, and to hear all that has been said on both sides. Any thing like the summing up of the argument here would exceed the limits of a note. — Ed. for it was not added merely for the purpose of kindling our hearts to seek the glory of God, and of reminding us what ought to be the object of our prayers; but likewise to teach us, that our prayers, which are here dictated to us, are founded on God alone, that we may not rely on our own merits.

MATTHEW 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26

Matthew 6:14-15

Mark 11:25-26

14. For if you shall forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you shall not forgive men their trespasses, neither will you Father forgive your trespasses.

25. And when ye shall stand praying, forgive, if you have any thing against any one, that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. 26. But if you shall not forgive, neither will your Father, who is in heaven, forgive you your trespasses.

Here Christ only explains the reason why that condition was added, Forgive us, as we forgive The reason is, that God will not be ready to hear us, unless we also show ourselves ready to grant forgiveness to those who have offended us. If we are not harder than iron, this exhortation ought to soften us, and render us disposed to forgive offenses. “Pour nous rendre faciles a oublier les injures qu'on nous a faites.” — “To make us ready to forget the injuries which have been done to us.” Unless God pardon us every day many sins, we know that we are ruined in innumerable ways: and on no other condition does he admit us to pardon, but that we pardon our brethren whatever offenses they have committed against us. Those who refuse to forget the injuries which have been done to them, devote themselves willingly and deliberately to destruction, and knowingly prevent God from forgiving them. “Et de propos delibere veulent que Dieu procede contre eux en toute rigueur;” — “and deliberately resolve that God may proceed against them to the utmost rigor.”

MATTHEW 6:16-19

Matthew 6:16-18

16. Moreover, when you shall fast, be not, like the hypocrites, dejected: “D'un regard triste, ou, visage chagrin;” — “of a sad look, or, distressed countenance ” for they disfigure their faces, that it may be evident to men that they fast. Verily I say to you, they have their reward. 17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, 18. That it may not appear to men that thou fastest, but to thy Father, who is in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in secret, will reward thee openly.

He again returns to the former doctrine: for, having begun to rebuke vain ostentation in alms and prayer, he laid down, before proceeding farther, the rule for praying in a right manner. The same injunction is now given to his disciples about fasting, which he had formerly given about prayers and alms, not to be too solicitous to obtain the applause of spectators, but to have God as the witness of their actions. When he bids them anoint their head, and wash their face, his language is hyperbolical: “C'est une facon de parler hyperbolique, c'est a dire, excessive.” — “It is a hyperbolical, that is, an exaggerated way of speaking.” for Christ does not withdraw us from one kind of hypocrisy, to lead us into another. “Pour nous faire retomber en 1’autre;” — “to make us fall into the other.” He does not enjoin us to counterfeit splendor, or exhort us to temperance in food in such a manner, as to encourage the luxuries of ointments and of dress: but merely exhorts us to preserve moderation, without any thing new or affected;—in short, that the fastings, in which we engage, should make no change in our accustomed way of living.

Thy Father will reward thee When he promises a reward from God to fastings, this mode of expression, as we said a little before with respect to prayer, is not strictly accurate. There is a wide difference, indeed, between prayer and fastings Prayer holds the first rank among the antics of piety: but fasting is a doubtful operation, and does not, like alms, belong to the class of those actions which God requires and approves. It is pleasing to God, only so far as it is directed to another object: and that is, to train us to abstinence, to subdue the lust of the flesh, to excite us to earnestness in prayer, and to testify our repentance, when we are affected by the view of the tribunal of God. The meaning of Christ’s words is: “God will one day show that he was pleased with those good works, which appeared to be lost, because they were concealed from the eyes of men.”

MATTHEW 6:19-21; LUKE 12:33-34

Matthew 6:19-21

Luke 12:33-34

19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where rust and the moth consume, where theives break through and steal. 20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 21. For where your treasure shall be, there will also your heart be.

33. Sell what ye possess, and give alms. Prepare for yourselves bags, which do not grow old, a treasure in heaven which does not fail, where the theif approaches not, nor moth corrupteth. 34. For where your treasure shall be, there will also your heart be.

Matthew 6:19. Lay not up. This deadly plague reigns everywhere throughout the world. Men are grown mad with an insatiable desire of gain. Christ charges them with folly, in collecting wealth with great care, and then giving up their happiness to moths and to rust, or exposing it as a prey to thieves. What is more unreasonable than to place their property, where it may perish of itself, or be carried off by men? “Ou bien perir d'eux-mesmes, encores que personne n'y touche;” — “or even perish of themselves, though nobody touch them.” Covetous men, indeed, take no thought of this. They lock up their riches in well-secured chests, but cannot prevent them from being exposed to thieves or to moths They are blind and destitute of sound judgment, who give themselves so much toil and uneasiness in amassing wealth, which is liable to putrefaction, or robbery, or a thousand other accidents: particularly, when God allows us a place in heaven for laying up a treasure, and kindly invites us to enjoy riches which never perish.

20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven They are said to do so, who, instead of entangling themselves in the snares of this world, make it their care and their business to meditate on the heavenly life. In Luke’s narrative, no mention is made of the contrast between laying up treasures on the earth and laying up treasures in heaven; and he refers to a different occasion for the command of Christ to prepare bags, which do not grow old: for he had previously said, Sell what you possess, and give alms It is a harsh and unpleasant thing for men to strip themselves of their own wealth; and with the view of alleviating their uneasiness, he holds out a large and magnificent hope of remuneration. Those who assist their poor brethren on the earth lay up for themselves treasures in heaven, according to the saying of Solomon,

“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again,” (Proverbs 19:17.)

The command to sell possessions must not be literally interpreted, as if a Christian were not at liberty to retain any thing for himself. He only intended to show, that we must not be satisfied with bestowing on the poor what we can easily spare, but that we must not refuse to part with our estates, if their revenue does not supply the wants of the poor. His meaning is, “Let your liberality go so far as to lessen your patrimony, and dispose of your lands.”

21. Where your treasure shall be By this statement Christ proves that they are unhappy men who have their treasures laid up on the earth: because their happiness is uncertain and of short duration. Covetous men cannot be prevented from breathing in their hearts a wish for heaven: but Christ lays down an opposite principle, that, wherever men imagine the greatest happiness to be, there they are surrounded and confined. Hence it follows, that they who desire to be happy in the world “Ceux qui demandent d'estre riches et a leur aise en ce monde;”— those who are eager to be rich and at their ease in this world.” renounce heaven. We know how carefully the philosophers conducted their inquiries respecting the supreme good. “Nous savons comment les Philosophes se sont amusez a traiter subtilemerit du souverain bien des hommes.” — “We know to what trouble the Philosophers submitted in ingenious discussions about the supreme good of men.” — “The allusion is chiefly to the Greeks: for the philosophy of the Romans was at second hand, though nothing can be more ingenious or beautiful than the reasonings of Cicero in his Dissertations “De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum.” He inquires into the τέλος, or end, of good and evil actions. In examining the principles of Epicurus, he professes to feel very much at ease, but approaches the Stoics with greater respect, and acknowledges the ability with which they had conducted their argument. The perusal of the whole treatise will gratify a reader prepared to accompany powerful minds in their most intricate researches, or to hail abstruse disquisition clothed in the choicest language by one who, as Robert Hall said of Pascal, “can invest the severest logic with the charms of the most beautiful composition, and render the most profound argumentation as entertaining as a romance.” But those studies have a far higher value. When we see the greatest minds tasked to their utmost strength, and yet utterly failing to discover, by unassisted reason, the path which leads to happiness, we appreciate more highly Leland's argument “On the advantage and necessity of Divine Revelation,” and bless the name of the Great Prophet, who hath brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel, (2 Timothy 1:10.) — Ed. It was the chief point on which they bestowed their labor, and justly: for it is the principle on which the regulation of our life entirely depends, and the object to which all our senses are directed. If honor is reckoned the supreme good, the minds of men must be wholly occupied with ambition: if money, covetousness will immediately predominate: if pleasure, it will be impossible to prevent men from sinking into brutal indulgence. We have all a natural desire to pursue happiness; “Car naturellement nous tendons tous a desirer ce qui nous semble estre le souverain bien.” — “For we have all a natural tendency to desire what appears to us to be the supreme good.” and the consequence is, that false imaginations carry us away in every direction. But if we were honestly and firmly convinced that our happiness is in heaven, it would be easy for us to trample upon the world, to despise earthly blessings, (by the deceitful attractions of which the greater part of men are fascinated,) and to rise towards heaven. For this reason Paul, with the view of exciting believers to look upwards, and of exhorting them to meditate on the heavenly life, (Colossians 3:1,) presents to them Christ, in whom alone they ought to seek perfect happiness; thus declaring, that to allow their souls to grovel on the earth would be inconsistent and unworthy of those whose treasure is in heaven

MATTHEW 6:22-24; LUKE 11:34-36; 16:13

Matthew 6:22-24

Luke 11:34-36

22. The light “La lumiere, ou, lanterne;” — “the light, or, lantern ” of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye shall be simple, thy whole body shall be luminous. 23. But if thine eye shall be evil, thy whole body shall be dark. Therefore, if the light which is in thee is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or he will hold to one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

34. The light “La chandelle;” — “the candle.” of the body is the eye: if thine eye therefore shall be simple, thy whole body shall be luminous: but if it shall be evil, thy whole body also shall be dark. 36. If therefore thy whole body shall be luminous, not having any part dark, the whole shall be luminous, as when a candle enlightens thee by its brightness.

Luke 14:13

13. No servant can serve two master: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 6:22. The light of the body is the eye We must bear in mind, as I have already hinted, that what we find here are detached sentences, and not a continued discourse. The substance of the present statement is, that men go wrong through carelessness, because they do not keep their eye fixed, as they ought to do, on the proper object. For whence comes it, that they so shamefully wander, or dash themselves, or stumble, but because, having corrupted their judgment by choosing rather to follow their own lusts than the righteousness of God, they not only extinguish the light of reason, which ought to have regulated their life, but change it altogether into darkness.

When Christ calls the eye the light of the body, “Appelant l'ceil le flambeau ou la lampe de tout le corps;” — “calling the eye the torch or the lamp of the whole body.” he employs a comparison which means, that neither the hands, nor the feet, nor the belly, serves to direct men in walking, but that the eye alone is a sufficient guide to the rest of the members. If the hands and feet are foolishly and improperly directed, the blame of the mistake ought to be charged on the eyes, which do not perform their duty. We must now apply this comparison to the mind. The affections may be regarded individually as its members: but as they are blind in themselves, they need direction. Now, God has given reason to guide them, and to act the part of a lantern in showing them the way. But what is the usual result? All the soundness of judgment which had been given to men is corrupted and perverted by themselves, so that not even one spark of light continues to dwell in them.

A simple eye means an eye that has no speck, or diseased humor, or any other defect. An evil eye (πονηρὸν) This Greek word has two meanings, which depend on accentuation. The proparoxytone πονηρὸς means laborious, troublesome: but the oxytone πονηρὸς means wicked Here, when applied to the eye, it cannot denote moral blame, but easily takes the transferred sense of faulty, defective. — Ed means a diseased eye. A luminous body means one that is enlightened, so as to have all its actions properly regulated. A dark body is one which is led into numerous mistakes by a confused movement. We see, then, as I have already said, that these words reprove the indolence of men, who neglect to open their eyes for the guidance of their affections.

The inference which the Papists draw from this passage, that men possess as much reason and wisdom, as to be free to choose either good or evil, is mere trifling. For Christ does not here inform us what ability we possess, but how we ought to walk, by having our eye fixed on a certain object; and at the same time shows, that the whole course of human life is dark, because no man proposes for himself a proper object, but all permit themselves to pursue eagerly what is evil. I confess, indeed, that men naturally possess reason, to distinguish between vices and virtues; but I say that it is so corrupted by sin, that it fails at every step. Meanwhile, it does not follow, that men do not voluntarily bring darkness on themselves, as if they shut their eyes to avoid the light which was offered to them, because they are knowingly and willingly carried after their own lusts.

23. If the light which is in thee be darkness Light signifies that small portion of reason, which continues to exist in men since the fall of Adam: and darkness signifies gross and brutal affections. The meaning is, we ought not to wonder, if men wallow so disgracefully, like beasts, in the filth of vices, for they have no reason which might restrain the blind and dark lusts of the flesh. The light is said to be turned into darkness, not only when men permit the wicked lusts of the flesh to overwhelm the judgment of their reason, but also when they give up their minds to wicked thoughts, and thus degenerate into beasts. For we see how wickedly men change into craft any measure of wisdom which had been given them, how they “dig deep (as the prophet says) to hide their counsel from the Lords” (Isaiah 29:15,) how they trust to their own resources, and openly dishonor God; in a word, how desirous they are to show their ingenuity, in innumerable ways, for their own destruction. Christ has good grounds for declaring, that thick and appalling darkness must of necessity reign in the life of men, when they choose to be blind.

This is also the meaning of the words which are found in the Gospel of Luke, with this difference, that Christ there connects the present statement with one which was formerly explained, that men do not light a candle, and put it under a bushel, (Matthew 5:15) and again, instead of this clause, if the light which is in thee be darkness, gives the exhortation, see that the light which is in thee be not darkness The meaning is, “See that thy mind, which ought to have shone, like a candle, to guide all thy actions, do not darken and mislead thy whole life.” He afterwards adds, that, when the body is enlightened by the eye, the greatest regularity is found in all its members, as the light of a candle spreads and penetrates into every part of the room.

24. No man can serve two masters Christ returns to the former doctrine, the object of which was to withdraw his disciples from covetousness. He had formerly said, that the heart of man is bound and fixed upon its treasure; and he now gives warning, that the hearts of those who are devoted to riches are alienated from the Lord. For the greater part of men are wont to flatter themselves with a deceitful pretense, when they imagine, that it is possible for them to be divided between God and their own lusts. Christ affirms that it is impossible for any man to obey God, and, at the same time, to obey his own flesh. This was, no doubt, a proverb in common use: No man can serve two masters He takes for granted a truth which had been universally admitted, and applies it to his present subject: where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost his authority. True, it is not impossible that those who are rich shall serve God; but whoever gives himself up as a slave to riches must abandon the service of God: for covetousness makes us the slaves of the devil.

I have inserted here what is related on a different occasion by Luke: for, as the Evangelists frequently introduce, as opportunity offers, passages of our Lord’s discourses out of their proper order, we ought to entertain no scruple as to the arrangement of them. What is here said with a special reference to riches, may be properly extended to every other description of vice. As God pronounces everywhere such commendations of sincerity, and hates a double heart, (1 Chronicles 12:33; Psalm 12:2,) all are deceived, who imagine that he will be satisfied with the half of their heart. All, indeed, confess in words, that, where the affection is not entire, there is no true worship of God: but they deny it in fact, when they attempt to reconcile contradictions. “I shall not cease,” says an ambitious man, “to serve God, though I devote a great part of my mind to hunting after honors.” The covetous, the voluptuaries, the gluttons, the unchaste, the cruel, all in their turn offer the same apology for themselves: as if it were possible for those to be partly employed in serving God, who are openly carrying on war against him. It is, no doubt, true, that believers themselves are never so perfectly devoted to obedience to God, as not to be withdrawn from it by the sinful desires of the flesh. But as they groan under this wretched bondage, and are dissatisfied with themselves, and give nothing more than an unwilling and reluctant service to the flesh, they are not said to serve two masters: for their desires and exertions are approved by the Lord, as if they rendered to him a perfect obedience. But this passage reproves the hypocrisy of those who flatter themselves in their vices, as if they could reconcile light and darkness.

MATTHEW 6:25-30; LUKE 12:22-28

Matthew 6:25-30

Luke 12:22-28

25. Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat and drink, or for you body, what clothes you shall wear: is not the life of more value than food, and the body of more value than clothing? 26. Look at the fowls of heaven, for they neither sow nor reap, nor collect into granaries, and your heavenly Father feedeth them: are you not more excellent than they are? 27. And which of you, by anxious care, can add to his stature one cubit? 28. And why are you anxious about clothing? Con sider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin. 29. But I say to you, That even Solomon in all hs glory “En toute sa gloire, ou, avec toute sa gloire;” — “in all his glory, or, with all his glory ” was not clothed like one of these. 30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

22. And he said to his disciples, Therefore I say to you, be not anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor for the body, with what you shall be clothed. 23. The life is of more value than food, and the body is of more value than clothing. 24. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have granary nor barn, and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25. And which of you, by anxious care, can add to your stature on cubit? 26. If therefore you cannot do even that which is least, why are ye anxious about the rest? 27. Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil or spin. And I say to you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28. And if God thus clothes the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more shall he clothe you, O you of little faith?

Throughout the whole of this discourse, Christ reproves that excessive anxiety, with which men torment themselves, about food and clothing, and, at the same time, applies a remedy for curing this disease. When he forbids them to be anxious, this is not to be taken literally, as if he intended to take away from his people all care. We know that men are born on the condition of having some care; and, indeed, this is not the least portion of the miseries, which the Lord has laid upon us as a punishment, in order to humble us. But immoderate care is condemned for two reasons: either because in so doing men tease and vex themselves to no purpose, by carrying their anxiety farther than is proper or than their calling demands; or because they claim more for themselves than they have a right to do, and place such a reliance on their own industry, that they neglect to call upon God. We ought to remember this promise: though unbelievers shall “rise up early, and sit up late, and eat the bread of sorrows,” yet believers will obtain, through the kindness of God, rest and sleep, (Psalm 127:2.) Though the children of God are not free from toil and anxiety, yet, properly speaking, we do not say that they are anxious about life: because, through their reliance on the providence of God, they enjoy calm repose.

Hence it is easy to learn, how far we ought to be anxious about food Each of us ought to labor, as far as his calling requires and the Lord commands; and each of us ought to be led by his own wants to call upon God. Such anxiety holds an intermediate place between indolent carelessness and the unnecessary torments by which unbelievers kill themselves. But if we give proper attention to the words of Christ, we shall find, that he does not forbid every kind of care, but only what arises from distrust. Be not anxious, says he, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink That belongs to those who tremble for fear of poverty or hunger, as if they were to be in want of food every moment.

Matthew 6:25. Is not the life of more value than food? He argues from the greater to the less. He had forbidden them to be excessively anxious about the way in which life might be supported; and he now assigns the reason. The Lord, who has given life itself, will not suffer us to want what is necessary for its support. And certainly we do no small dishonor to God, when we fail to trust that he will give us necessary food or clothing; as if he had thrown us on the earth at random. He who is fully convinced, that the Author of our life has an intimate knowledge of our condition, will entertain no doubt that he will make abundant provision for our wants. Whenever we are seized by any fear or anxiety about food, let us remember, that God will take care of the life which he gave us.

26. Look at the fowls of the air This is the remedy I spoke of, for teaching us to rely on the providence of God: for of all cares, which go beyond bounds, unbelief is the mother. The only cure for covetousness is to embrace the promises of God, by which he assures us that he will take care of us. In the same manner, the Apostle, wishing to withdraw believers from covetousness, confirms that doctrine: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, (Hebrews 13:5.) The substance of the exhortation is, that we ought to trust in God, by whom none of his own people, however mean their condition may be, are disregarded.

Your heavenly Father feedeth them This deserves careful attention: for, though we are unable to explain the manner in which their life is supported, which of us is in the habit of considering that their life depends on the providence of God, which he is pleased to extend even to them? But if it is thoroughly fixed in our minds, that the fowls are supplied with food by the hand of God, there will be no difficulty in expecting it for ourselves, who are formed after his image, and reckoned among his children. They neither sow nor reap By these words it is far from being our Lord’s intention to encourage us to indolence and sluggishness. All that he means is, that, though other means fail, the providence of God is alone sufficient for us, for it supplies the animals abundantly with every thing that they need.

Instead of fowls, (τὰ πετεινὰ,) Luke uses the word ravens, (τοὺς κόρακας,) alluding perhaps to that passage in the Psalms, who giveth food to the young ravens that call upon him, (Psalm 67: 9.) Some think that David expressly mentioned the ravens, because they are immediately deserted by their parents, “Pource que le pere et 1a mere les abandonnent incontinent qu'ils sont nais;” — “because their parents forsake them as soon as they are born.” and therefore must have their food brought to them by God. Hence it is evident, that Christ intended nothing more than to teach his people to throw all their cares on God.

27. Which of you by anxious care, etc ? Here our Lord condemns another fault, which is almost always connected with immoderate anxiety about food: and that is, when a mortal man, claiming more than he has a right to do, does not hesitate, in sacrilegious hardihood, to go beyond his limits.

“O Lord, I know (says Jeremiah) that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,” (Jeremiah 10:23.)

You scarcely meet with one person in a hundred, who does not venture to make any promises that he thinks fit on his own industry and power. The consequence is, that those who take credit to themselves for their prosperity, do not hesitate to lose sight of God, when they enter into any undertaking. To restrain this mad rashness, Christ tells us, that whatever contributes to the support of our life depends wholly on the blessing of God. The meaning is: “It is foolish in men to weary themselves, because all our labors are unnecessary and fruitless, and all our anxieties are to no purpose, unless so far as God blesses them.” This is more clearly expressed by Luke, If you cannot do even that which is least, why are you anxious about the rest? These words show plainly, that Christ reproves not only distrust, but pride, because men ascribe much more than they ought to their own skill.

29. Not even Solomon in all his glory This means, that the kindness of God, which is gloriously displayed in herbs and flowers, exceeds all that men can accomplish by their wealth or power, or in any other way. Believers ought to be convinced that, though all means fail, they will want nothing that is necessary for their full satisfaction, provided they continue to enjoy the blessing of God alone. O you of little faith In this respect Christ justly accuses us of deficiency or weakness of faith: for the more powerfully we are affected, according to our own grovelling views, by anxiety about the present life, the more do we show our unbelief, if every thing does not happen to our wish. Many persons, accordingly, who in great prosperity appear to possess faith or at least to have a tolerable share of it, tremble when any danger of poverty presents itself.

MATTHEW 6:31-34; LUKE 12:29-32

Matthew 6:31-34

Luke 12:29-32

31. Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or with what shall we be clothed? 32. For all those things the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things. 33. But rather seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34. Be not therefore anxious about tomorrow: for tomorrow will take care of itself. Its own affliction is sufficient for the day.

29. And seek not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, and be not lifted on high. 30. For all these things the nations of the world seek: and your Father knoweth that you have need of these things. 31. But rather seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32. Fear not, little flock: for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

This has the same object with the former doctrine. Believers ought to rely on God’s fatherly care, to expect that he will bestow upon them whatever they feel to be necessary, and not to torment themselves by unnecessary anxiety.

He forbids them to be anxious, or, as Luke has it, to seek, that is, to seek in the manner of those who look around them in every direction, without looking at God, on whom alone their eye ought to be fixed; who are never at ease, but when they have before their eyes an abundance of provisions; and who, not admitting that the protection of the world belongs to God, fret and tease themselves with perpetual uneasiness.

Matthew 6:32. For all those things the Gentiles seek This is a reproof of the gross ignorance, in which all such anxieties originate. For how comes it, that unbelievers never remain in a state of tranquillity, but because they imagine that God is unemployed, or asleep, in heaven, or, at least, that he does not take charge of the affairs of men, or feed, as members of his family, those whom he has admitted to his friendship. By this comparison he intimates, that they have made little proficiency, and have not yet learned the first lessons of godliness, who do not behold, with the eyes of faith, the hand of God filled with a hidden abundance of all good things, so as to expect their food with quietness and composure. Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of those things: that is, “All those persons who are so anxious about food, give no more honor, than unbelievers do, to the fatherly goodness and secret providence of God.”

Matthew 6:33. But rather seek first the kingdom of God This is another argument for restraining excessive anxiety about food. It argues a gross and indolent neglect of the soul, and of the heavenly life. Christ reminds us that there is the greatest inconsistency in men, who are born to a better life, being wholly employed about earthly objects. He who assigns the first rank to the kingdom of God, will not carry beyond moderation his anxiety about food. Nothing is better adapted to restrain the wantonness of the flesh from breaking out in the course of the present life, than meditation on the life of the heavens. The word righteousness may be either understood as applying to God, or to the kingdom: On the latter supposition, we would naturally have expected that, instead of τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, we would have had τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτὢς, when αὐτὢς would have stood for τὢς βασιλείας. — Ed. for we know that the kingdom of God consists in righteousness, (Romans 14:17,) that is, in the newness of spiritual life. All other things shall be added This means, that those things which relate to the present life are but favorable appendages, and ought to be reckoned greatly inferior to the kingdom of God

CHAPTER 6

Sermon on the Mount--continued.

Mt 6:1-18. Further Illustration of the Righteousness of the Kingdom--Its Unostentatiousness.

General Caution against Ostentation in Religious Duties (Mt 6:1).

1. Take heed that ye do not your alms--But the true reading seems clearly to be "your righteousness." The external authority for both readings is pretty nearly equal; but internal evidence is decidedly in favor of "righteousness." The subject of the second verse being "almsgiving" that word--so like the other in Greek--might easily be substituted for it by the copyist: whereas the opposite would not be so likely. But it is still more in favor of "righteousness," that if we so read the first verse, it then becomes a general heading for this whole section of the discourse, inculcating unostentatiousness in all deeds of righteousness--Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting being, in that case, but selected examples of this righteousness; whereas, if we read, "Do not your alms," &c., this first verse will have no reference but to that one point. By "righteousness," in this case, we are to understand that same righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, whose leading features--in opposition to traditional perversions of it--it is the great object of this discourse to open up: that righteousness of which the Lord says, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:20). To "do" this righteousness, was an old and well-understood expression. Thus, "Blessed is he that doeth righteousness at all times" (Psa 106:3). It refers to the actings of righteousness in the life--the outgoings of the gracious nature--of which our Lord afterwards said to His disciples, "Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples" (Joh 15:8).

before men, to be seen of them--with the view or intention of being beheld of them. See the same expression in Mt 5:28. True, He had required them to let their light so shine before men that they might see their good works, and glorify their Father which is in heaven (Mt 5:16). But this is quite consistent with not making a display of our righteousness for self-glorification. In fact, the doing of the former necessarily implies our not doing the latter.

otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven--When all duty is done to God--as primarily enjoining and finally judging of it--He will take care that it be duly recognized; but when done purely for ostentation, God cannot own it, nor is His judgment of it even thought of--God accepts only what is done to Himself. So much for the general principle. Now follow three illustrations of it.

Almsgiving (Mt 6:2-4).

2. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee--The expression is to be taken figuratively for blazoning it. Hence our expression to "trumpet."

as the hypocrites do--This word--of such frequent occurrence in Scripture, signifying primarily "one who acts a part"--denotes one who either pretends to be what he is not (as here), or dissembles what he really is (as in Lu 12:1, 2).

in the synagogues and in the streets--the places of religious and secular resort.

that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you--In such august expressions, it is the Lawgiver and Judge Himself that we hear speaking to us.

They have their reward--All they wanted was human applause, and they have it--and with it, all they will ever get.

3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth--So far from making a display of it, dwell not on it even in thine own thoughts, lest it minister to spiritual pride.

4. That thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly--The word "Himself" appears to be an unauthorized addition to the text, which the sense no doubt suggested. (See 1Ti 5:25; Ro 2:16; 1Co 4:5).

Prayer (Mt 6:5, 6).

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt--or, preferably, "when ye pray ye shall."

not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets--(See on Mt 6:2).

that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have, &c.--The standing posture in prayer was the ancient practice, alike in the Jewish and in the early Christian Church. But of course this conspicuous posture opened the way for the ostentatious.

6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet--a place of retirement.

and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly--Of course, it is not the simple publicity of prayer which is here condemned. It may be offered in any circumstances, however open, if not prompted by the spirit of ostentation, but dictated by the great ends of prayer itself. It is the retiring character of true prayer which is here taught.

Supplementary Directions and Model Prayer (Mt 6:7-15).

7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions--"Babble not" would be a better rendering, both for the form of the word--which in both languages is intended to imitate the sound--and for the sense, which expresses not so much the repetition of the same words as a senseless multiplication of them; as appears from what follows.

as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking--This method of heathen devotion is still observed by Hindu and Mohammedan devotees. With the Jews, says Lightfoot, it was a maxim, that "Every one who multiplies prayer is heard." In the Church of Rome, not only is it carried to a shameless extent, but, as Tholuck justly observes, the very prayer which our Lord gave as an antidote to vain repetitions is the most abused to this superstitious end; the number of times it is repeated counting for so much more merit. Is not this just that characteristic feature of heathen devotion which our Lord here condemns? But praying much, and using at times the same words, is not here condemned, and has the example of our Lord Himself in its favor.

8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him--and so needs not to be informed of our wants, any more than to be roused to attend to them by our incessant speaking. What a view of God is here given, in sharp contrast with the gods of the heathen! But let it be carefully noted that it is not as the general Father of mankind that our Lord says, "Your Father" knoweth what ye need before ye ask it; for it is not men, as such, that He is addressing in this discourse, but His own disciples--the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, hungry and thirsty souls, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, who allow themselves to have all manner of evil said against them for the Son of man's sake--in short, the new-born children of God, who, making their Father's interests their own, are here assured that their Father, in return, makes their interests His, and needs neither to be told nor to be reminded of their wants. Yet He will have His children pray to Him, and links all His promised supplies to their petitions for them; thus encouraging us to draw near and keep near to Him, to talk and walk with Him, to open our every case to Him, and assure ourselves that thus asking we shall receive--thus seeking we shall find--thus knocking it shall be opened to us.

9. After this manner--more simply "Thus."

therefore pray ye--The "ye" is emphatic here, in contrast with the heathen prayers. That this matchless prayer was given not only as a model, but as a form, might be concluded from its very nature. Did it consist only of hints or directions for prayer, it could only be used as a directory; but seeing it is an actual prayer--designed, indeed, to show how much real prayer could be compressed into the fewest words, but still, as a prayer, only the more incomparable for that--it is strange that there should be a doubt whether we ought to pray that very prayer. Surely the words with which it is introduced, in the second utterance and varied form of it which we have in Lu 11:2, ought to set this at rest: "When ye pray, say, Our Father." Nevertheless, since the second form of it varies considerably from the first, and since no example of its actual use, or express quotation of its phraseology, occurs in the sequel of the New Testament, we are to guard against a superstitious use of it. How early this began to appear in the church services, and to what extent it was afterwards carried, is known to every one versed in Church History. Nor has the spirit which bred this abuse quite departed from some branches of the Protestant Church, though the opposite and equally condemnable extreme is to be found in other branches of it.

Model Prayer (Mt 6:9-13). According to the Latin fathers and the Lutheran Church, the petitions of the Lord's Prayer are seven in number; according to the Greek fathers, the Reformed Church and the Westminster divines, they are only six; the two last being regarded--we think, less correctly--as one. The first three petitions have to do exclusively with God: "Thy name be hallowed"--"Thy kingdom come"--"Thy will be done." And they occur in a descending scale--from Himself down to the manifestation of Himself in His kingdom; and from His kingdom to the entire subjection of its subjects, or the complete doing of His will. The remaining four petitions have to do with OURSELVES: "Give us our daily bread"--"Forgive us our debts"--"Lead us not into temptation"--"Deliver us from evil." But these latter petitions occur in an ascending scale--from the bodily wants of every day up to our final deliverance from all evil.

Invocation:

Our Father which art in heaven--In the former clause we express His nearness to us; in the latter, His distance from us. (See Ec 5:2; Is 66:1). Holy, loving familiarity suggests the one; awful reverence the other. In calling Him "Father" we express a relationship we have all known and felt surrounding us even from our infancy; but in calling Him our Father "who art in heaven," we contrast Him with the fathers we all have here below, and so raise our souls to that "heaven" where He dwells, and that Majesty and Glory which are there as in their proper home. These first words of the Lord's Prayer--this invocation with which it opens--what a brightness and warmth does it throw over the whole prayer, and into what a serene region does it introduce the praying believer, the child of God, as he thus approaches Him! It is true that the paternal relationship of God to His people is by no means strange to the Old Testament. (See De 32:6; Psa 103:13; Is 63:16; Jr 3:4, 19; Mal 1:6; 2:10). But these are only glimpses--the "back parts" (Ex 33:23), if we may so say, in comparison with the "open face" of our Father revealed in Jesus. (See on 2Co 3:18). Nor is it too much to say, that the view which our Lord gives, throughout this His very first lengthened discourse, of "our Father in heaven," beggars all that was ever taught, even in God's own Word, or conceived before by His saints, on this subject.

First Petition:

Hallowed be--that is, "Be held in reverence"; regarded and treated as holy.

thy name--God's name means "Himself as revealed and manifested." Everywhere in Scripture God defines and marks off the faith and love and reverence and obedience He will have from men by the disclosures which He makes to them of what He is; both to shut out false conceptions of Him, and to make all their devotion take the shape and hue of His own teaching. Too much attention cannot be paid to this.

Second Petition:

10. Thy kingdom come--The kingdom of God is that moral and spiritual kingdom which the God of grace is setting up in this fallen world, whose subjects consist of as many as have been brought into hearty subjection to His gracious scepter, and of which His Son Jesus is the glorious Head. In the inward reality of it, this kingdom existed ever since there were men who "walked with God" (Ge 5:24), and "waited for His salvation" (Ge 49:18); who were "continually with Him, holden by His right hand" (Psa 73:23), and who, even in the valley of the shadow of death, feared no evil when He was with them (Psa 23:4). When Messiah Himself appeared, it was, as a visible kingdom, "at hand." His death laid the deep foundations of it. His ascension on high, "leading captivity captive and receiving gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them," and the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit, by which those gifts for men descended upon the rebellious, and the Lord God was beheld, in the persons of thousands upon thousands, "dwelling" among men--was a glorious "coming" of this kingdom. But it is still to come, and this petition, "Thy kingdom come," must not cease to ascend so long as one subject of it remains to be brought in. But does not this prayer stretch further forward--to "the glory to be revealed," or that stage of the kingdom called "the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2Pe 1:11)? Not directly, perhaps, since the petition that follows this--"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven"--would then bring us back to this present state of imperfection. Still, the mind refuses to be so bounded by stages and degrees, and in the act of praying, "Thy kingdom come," it irresistibly stretches the wings of its faith, and longing, and joyous expectation out to the final and glorious consummation of the kingdom of God.

Third Petition:

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven--or, as the same words are rendered in Luke, "as in heaven, so upon earth" (Lu 11:2)--as cheerfully, as constantly, as perfectly. But some will ask, Will this ever be? We answer, If the "new heavens and new earth" are to be just our present material system purified by fire and transfigured, of course it will. But we incline to think that the aspiration which we are taught in this beautiful petition to breathe forth has no direct reference to any such organic fulfilment, and is only the spontaneous and resistless longing of the renewed soul--put into words--to see the whole inhabited earth in entire conformity to the will of God. It asks not if ever it shall be--or if ever it can be--in order to pray this prayer. It must have its holy yearnings breathed forth, and this is just the bold yet simple expression of them. Nor is the Old Testament without prayers which come very near to this (Psa 7:9; 67:1-7; 72:19, &c.).

Fourth Petition:

11. Give us this day our daily bread--The compound word here rendered "daily" occurs nowhere else, either in classical or sacred Greek, and so must be interpreted by the analogy of its component parts. But on this critics are divided. To those who would understand it to mean, "Give us this day the bread of to-morrow"--as if the sense thus slid into that of Luke "Give us day by day" (Lu 11:2, (as Bengel, Meyer, &c.) it may be answered that the sense thus brought out is scarcely intelligible, if not something less; that the expression "bread of to-morrow" is not at all the same as bread "from day to day," and that, so understood, it would seem to contradict Mt 6:34. The great majority of the best critics (taking the word to be compounded of ousia, "substance," or "being") understand by it the "staff of life," the bread of subsistence, and so the sense will be, "Give us this day the bread which this day's necessities require." In this case, the rendering of our authorized version (after the Vulgate, Luther and some of the best modern critics)--"our daily bread"--is, in sense, accurate enough. (See Pr 30:8). Among commentators, there was early shown an inclination to understand this as a prayer for the heavenly bread, or spiritual nourishment; and in this they have been followed by many superior expositors, even down to our own times. But as this is quite unnatural, so it deprives the Christian of one of the sweetest of his privileges--to cast his bodily wants in this short prayer, by one simple petition, upon his heavenly Father. No doubt the spiritual mind will, from "the meat that perisheth," naturally rise in thought to "that meat which endureth to everlasting life." But let it be enough that the petition about bodily wants irresistibly suggests a higher petition; and let us not rob ourselves--out of a morbid spirituality--of our one petition in this prayer for that bodily provision which the immediate sequel of this discourse shows that our heavenly Father has so much at heart. In limiting our petitions, however, to provision for the day, what a spirit of childlike dependence does the Lord both demand and beget!

Fifth Petition:

12. And forgive us our debts--A vitally important view of sin, this--as an offense against God demanding reparation to His dishonored claims upon our absolute subjection. As the debtor in the creditor's hand, so is the sinner in the hands of God. This idea of sin had indeed come up before in this discourse--in the warning to agree with our adversary quickly, in case of sentence being passed upon us, adjudging us to payment of the last farthing, and to imprisonment till then (Mt 5:25, 26). And it comes up once and again in our Lord's subsequent teaching--as in the parable of the creditor and his two debtors (Lu 7:41, 42, &c.), and in the parable of the unmerciful debtor (Mt 18:23, &c.). But by embodying it in this brief model of acceptable prayer, and as the first of three petitions more or less bearing upon sin, our Lord teaches us, in the most emphatic manner conceivable, to regard this view of sin as the primary and fundamental one. Answering to this is the "forgiveness" which it directs us to seek--not the removal from our own hearts of the stain of sin, nor yet the removal of our just dread of God's anger, or of unworthy suspicions of His love, which is all that some tell us we have to care about--but the removal from God's own mind of His displeasure against us on account of sin, or, to retain the figure, the wiping or crossing out from His "book of remembrance" of all entries against us on this account.

as we forgive our debtors--the same view of sin as before; only now transferred to the region of offenses given and received between man and man. After what has been said on Mt 5:7, it will not be thought that our Lord here teaches that our exercise of forgiveness towards our offending fellow men absolutely precedes and is the proper ground of God's forgiveness of us. His whole teaching, indeed--as of all Scripture--is the reverse of this. But as no one can reasonably imagine himself to be the object of divine forgiveness who is deliberately and habitually unforgiving towards his fellow men, so it is a beautiful provision to make our right to ask and expect daily forgiveness of our daily shortcomings and our final absolution and acquittal at the great day of admission into the kingdom, dependent upon our consciousness of a forgiving disposition towards our fellows, and our preparedness to protest before the Searcher of hearts that we do actually forgive them. (See Mr 11:25, 26). God sees His own image reflected in His forgiving children; but to ask God for what we ourselves refuse to men, is to insult Him. So much stress does our Lord put upon this, that immediately after the close of this prayer, it is the one point in it which He comes back upon (Mt 6:14, 15), for the purpose of solemnly assuring us that the divine procedure in this matter of forgiveness will be exactly what our own is.

Sixth Petition:

13. And lead us not into temptation--He who honestly seeks and has the assurance of, forgiveness for past sin, will strive to avoid committing it for the future. But conscious that "when we would do good evil is present with us," we are taught to offer this sixth petition, which comes naturally close upon the preceding, and flows, indeed, instinctively from it in the hearts of all earnest Christians. There is some difficulty in the form of the petition, as it is certain that God does bring His people--as He did Abraham, and Christ Himself--into circumstances both fitted and designed to try them, or test the strength of their faith. Some meet this by regarding the petition as simply an humble expression of self-distrust and instinctive shrinking from danger; but this seems too weak. Others take it as a prayer against yielding to temptation, and so equivalent to a prayer for support and deliverance when we are tempted; but this seems to go beyond the precise thing intended. We incline to take it as a prayer against being drawn or sucked, of our own will, into temptation, to which the word here used seems to lend some countenance--"Introduce us not." This view, while it does not put into our mouths a prayer against being tempted--which is more than the divine procedure would seem to warrant--does not, on the other hand, change the sense of the petition into one for support under temptation, which the words will hardly bear; but it gives us a subject for prayer, in regard to temptation, most definite, and of all others most needful. It was precisely this which Peter needed to ask, but did not ask, when--of his own accord, and in spite of difficulties--he pressed for entrance into the palace hall of the high priest, and where, once sucked into the scene and atmosphere of temptation, he fell so foully. And if so, does it not seem pretty clear that this was exactly what our Lord meant His disciples to pray against when He said in the garden--"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation"? (Mt 26:41).

Seventh Petition:

But deliver us from evil--We can see no good reason for regarding this as but the second half of the sixth petition. With far better ground might the second and third petitions be regarded as one. The "but" connecting the two petitions is an insufficient reason for regarding them as one, though enough to show that the one thought naturally follows close upon the other. As the expression "from evil" may be equally well rendered "from the evil one," a number or superior critics think the devil is intended, especially from its following close upon the subject of "temptation." But the comprehensive character of these brief petitions, and the place which this one occupies, as that on which all our desires die away, seems to us against so contracted a view of it. Nor can there be a reasonable doubt that the apostle, in some of the last sentences which he penned before he was brought forth to suffer for his Lord, alludes to this very petition in the language of calm assurance--"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work (compare the Greek of the two passages), and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom" (2Ti 4:18). The final petition, then, is only rightly grasped when regarded as a prayer for deliverance from all evil of whatever kind--not only from sin, but from all its consequences--fully and finally. Fitly, then, are our prayers ended with this. For what can we desire which this does not carry with it?

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen--If any reliance is to be placed on external evidence, this doxology, we think, can hardly be considered part of the original text. It is wanting in all the most ancient manuscripts; it is wanting in the Old Latin version and in the Vulgate: the former mounting up to about the middle of the second century, and the latter being a revision of it in the fourth century by Jerome, a most reverential and conservative as well as able and impartial critic. As might be expected from this, it is passed by in silence by the earliest Latin fathers; but even the Greek commentators, when expounding this prayer, pass by the doxology. On the other hand, it is found in a majority of manuscripts, though not the oldest; it is found in all the Syriac versions, even the Peschito--dating probably as early as the second century--although this version lacks the "Amen," which the doxology, if genuine, could hardly have wanted; it is found in the Sahidic or Thebaic version made for the Christians of Upper Egypt, possibly as early as the Old Latin; and it is found in perhaps most of the later versions. On a review of the evidence, the strong probability, we think, is that it was no part of the original text.

14. For if ye forgive men, &c.--See on Mt 6:12.

15. But if ye forgive not, &c.--See on Mt 6:12.

Fasting (Mt 6:16-18). Having concluded His supplementary directions on the subject of prayer with this Divine Pattern, our Lord now returns to the subject of Unostentatiousness in our deeds of righteousness, in order to give one more illustration of it, in the matter of fasting.

16. Moreover, when ye fast--referring, probably, to private and voluntary fasting, which was to be regulated by each individual for himself; though in spirit it would apply to any fast.

be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces--literally, "make unseen"; very well rendered "disfigure." They went about with a slovenly appearance, and ashes sprinkled on their head.

that they may appear unto men to fast--It was not the deed, but reputation for the deed which they sought; and with this view those hypocrites multiplied their fasts. And are the exhausting fasts of the Church of Rome, and of Romanizing Protestants, free from this taint?

Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face--as the Jews did, except when mourning (Da 10:3); so that the meaning is, "Appear as usual"--appear so as to attract no notice.

18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly--The "openly" seems evidently a later addition to the text of this verse from Mt 6:4, 7, though of course the idea is implied.

Mt 6:19-34. Concluding Illustrations of the Righteousness of the Kingdom--Heavenly-Mindedness and Filial Confidence.

19. Lay not up for ourselves treasures upon earth--hoard not.

where moth--a "clothes-moth." Eastern treasures, consisting partly in costly dresses stored up (Job 27:16), were liable to be consumed by moths (Job 13:28; Is 50:9; 51:8). In Jas 5:2 there is an evident reference to our Lord's words here.

and rust--any "eating into" or "consuming"; here, probably, "wear and tear."

doth corrupt--cause to disappear. By this reference to moth and rust our Lord would teach how perishable are such earthly treasures.

and where thieves break through and steal--Treasures these, how precarious!

20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven--The language in Luke (Lu 12:33) is very bold--"Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not," &c.

where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal--Treasures these, imperishable and unassailable! (Compare Col 3:2).

21. For where your treasure is--that which ye value most.

there will your heart be also--"Thy treasure--thy heart" is probably the true reading here: "your," in Lu 12:34, from which it seems to have come in here. Obvious though this maxim be, by what multitudes who profess to bow to the teaching of Christ is it practically disregarded! "What a man loves," says Luther, quoted by Tholuck, "that is his God. For he carries it in his heart, he goes about with it night and day, he sleeps and wakes with it; be it what it may--wealth or pelf, pleasure or renown." But because "laying up" is not in itself sinful, nay, in some cases enjoined (2Co 12:14), and honest industry and sagacious enterprise are usually rewarded with prosperity, many flatter themselves that all is right between them and God, while their closest attention, anxiety, zeal, and time are exhausted upon these earthly pursuits. To put this right, our Lord adds what follows, in which there is profound practical wisdom.

22. The light--rather, "the lamp."

of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single--simple, clear. As applied to the outward eye, this means general soundness; particularly, not looking two ways. Here, as also in classical Greek, it is used figuratively to denote the simplicity of the mind's eye, singleness of purpose, looking right at its object, as opposed to having two ends in view. (See Pr 4:25-27).

thy whole body shall be full of light--illuminated. As with the bodily vision, the man who looks with a good, sound eye, walks in light, seeing every object clear; so a simple and persistent purpose to serve and please God in everything will make the whole character consistent and bright.

23. But if thine eye be evil--distempered, or, as we should say, If we have got a bad eye.

thy whole body shall be full of darkness--darkened. As a vitiated eye, or an eye that looks not straight and full at its object, sees nothing as it is, so a mind and heart divided between heaven and earth is all dark.

If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!--As the conscience is the regulative faculty, and a man's inward purpose, scope, aim in life, determines his character--if these be not simple and heavenward, but distorted and double, what must all the other faculties and principles of our nature be which take their direction and character from these, and what must the whole man and the whole life be but a mass of darkness? In Luke (Lu 11:36) the converse of this statement very strikingly expresses what pure, beautiful, broad perceptions the clarity of the inward eye imparts: "If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." But now for the application of this.

24. No man can serve--The word means to "belong wholly and be entirely under command to."

two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other--Even if the two masters be of one character and have but one object, the servant must take law from one or the other: though he may do what is agreeable to both, he cannot, in the nature of the thing, be servant to more than one. Much less if, as in the present case, their interests are quite different, and even conflicting. In this case, if our affections be in the service of the one--if we "love the one"--we must of necessity "hate the other"; if we determine resolutely to "hold to the one," we must at the same time disregard, and (if he insist on his claims upon us) even "despise the other."

Ye cannot serve God and mammon--The word "mamon"--better written with one m--is a foreign one, whose precise derivation cannot certainly be determined, though the most probable one gives it the sense of "what one trusts in." Here, there can be no doubt it is used for riches, considered as an idol master, or god of the heart. The service of this god and the true God together is here, with a kind of indignant curtness, pronounced impossible. But since the teaching of the preceding verses might seem to endanger our falling short of what is requisite for the present life, and so being left destitute, our Lord now comes to speak to that point.

25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought--"Be not solicitous." The English word "thought," when our version was made, expressed this idea of "solicitude," "anxious concern"--as may be seen in any old English classic; and in the same sense it is used in 1Sa 9:5, &c. But this sense of the word has now nearly gone out, and so the mere English reader is apt to be perplexed. Thought or forethought, for temporal things--in the sense of reflection, consideration--is required alike by Scripture and common sense. It is that anxious solicitude, that oppressive care, which springs from unbelieving doubts and misgivings, which alone is here condemned. (See Php 4:6).

for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on--In Luke (Lu 12:29) our Lord adds, "neither be ye unsettled"--not "of doubtful mind," as in our version. When "careful (or 'full of care') about nothing," but committing all in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving unto God, the apostle assures us that "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Php 4:6, 7); that is, shall guard both our feelings and our thoughts from undue agitation, and keep them in a holy calm. But when we commit our whole temporal condition to the wit of our own minds, we get into that "unsettled" state against which our Lord exhorts His disciples.

Is not the life more than meat--food.

and the body than raiment?--If God, then, gives and keeps up the greater--the life, the body--will He withhold the less, food to sustain life and raiment to clothe the body?

26. Behold the fowls of the air--in Mt 6:28, "observe well," and in Lu 12:24, "consider"--so as to learn wisdom from them.

for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?--nobler in yourselves and dearer to God. The argument here is from the greater to the less; but how rich in detail! The brute creation--void of reason--are incapable of sowing, reaping, and storing: yet your heavenly Father suffers them not helplessly to perish, but sustains them without any of those processes. Will He see, then, His own children using all the means which reason dictates for procuring the things needful for the body--looking up to Himself at every step--and yet leave them to starve?

27. Which of you, by taking thought--anxious solicitude.

can add one cubit unto his stature?--"Stature" can hardly be the thing intended here: first, because the subject is the prolongation of life, by the supply of its necessaries of food and clothing: and next, because no one would dream of adding a cubit--or a foot and a half--to his stature, while in the corresponding passage in Luke (Lu 12:25, 26) the thing intended is represented as "that thing which is least." But if we take the word in its primary sense of "age" (for "stature" is but a secondary sense) the idea will be this, "Which of you, however anxiously you vex yourselves about it, can add so much as a step to the length of your life's journey?" To compare the length of life to measures of this nature is not foreign to the language of Scripture (compare Psa 39:5; 2Ti 4:7, &c.). So understood, the meaning is clear and the connection natural. In this the best critics now agree.

28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider--observe well.

the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not--as men, planting and preparing the flax.

neither do they spin--as women.

29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these--What incomparable teaching!--best left in its own transparent clearness and rich simplicity.

30. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass--the "herbage."

of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven--wild flowers cut with the grass, withering by the heat, and used for fuel. (See Jas 1:11).

shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?--The argument here is something fresh. Gorgeous as is the array of the flowers that deck the fields, surpassing all artificial human grandeur, it is for but a brief moment; you are ravished with it to-day, and to-morrow it is gone; your own hands have seized and cast it into the oven: Shall, then, God's children, so dear to Him, and instinct with a life that cannot die, be left naked? He does not say, Shall they not be more beauteously arrayed? but, Shall He not much more clothe them? that being all He will have them regard as secured to them (compare He 13:5). The expression, "Little-faithed ones," which our Lord applies once and again to His disciples (Mt 8:26; 14:31; 16:8), can hardly be regarded as rebuking any actual manifestations of unbelief at that early period, and before such an audience. It is His way of gently chiding the spirit of unbelief, so natural even to the best, who are surrounded by a world of sense, and of kindling a generous desire to shake it off.

31. Therefore take no thought--solicitude.

saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32. (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek)--rather, "pursue." Knowing nothing definitely beyond the present life to kindle their aspirations and engage their supreme attention, the heathen naturally pursue present objects as their chief, their only good. To what an elevation above these does Jesus here lift His disciples!

for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things--How precious this word! Food and raiment are pronounced needful to God's children; and He who could say, "No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (Mt 11:27), says with an authority which none but Himself could claim, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Will not that suffice you, O ye needy ones of the household of faith?

33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you--This is the great summing up. Strictly speaking, it has to do only with the subject of the present section--the right state of the heart with reference to heavenly and earthly things; but being couched in the form of a brief general directory, it is so comprehensive in its grasp as to embrace the whole subject of this discourse. And, as if to make this the more evident, the two keynotes of this great sermon seem purposely struck in it--"the KINGDOM" and "the RIGHTEOUSNESS" of the kingdom--as the grand objects, in the supreme pursuit of which all things needful for the present life will be added to us. The precise sense of every word in this golden verse should be carefully weighed. "The kingdom of God" is the primary subject of the Sermon on the Mount--that kingdom which the God of heaven is erecting in this fallen world, within which are all the spiritually recovered and inwardly subject portion of the family of Adam, under Messiah as its Divine Head and King. "The righteousness thereof" is the character of all such, so amply described and variously illustrated in the foregoing portions of this discourse. The "seeking" of these is the making them the object of supreme choice and pursuit; and the seeking of them "first" is the seeking of them before and above all else. The "all these things" which shall in that case be added to us are just the "all these things" which the last words of Mt 6:32 assured us "our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of"; that is, all we require for the present life. And when our Lord says they shall be "added," it is implied, as a matter of course, that the seekers of the kingdom and its righteousness shall have these as their proper and primary portion: the rest being their gracious reward for not seeking them. (See an illustration of the principle of this in 2Ch 1:11, 12). What follows is but a reduction of this great general direction into a practical and ready form for daily use.

34. Take therefore no thought--anxious care.

for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself--(or, according to other authorities, "for itself")--shall have its own causes of anxiety.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof--An admirable practical maxim, and better rendered in our version than in almost any other, not excepting the preceding English ones. Every day brings its own cares; and to anticipate is only to double them.

That ye do not your alms - Δικαιοσυνην υμων μη ποιειν, perform not your acts of righteousness - such as alms-giving, fasting, and prayer, mentioned immediately after. Instead of δικαιοσυνην, righteousness, or acts of righteousness, the reading in the text, that which has been commonly received is ελεημοσυνην, alms. But the first reading has been inserted in several editions, and is supported by the Codd. Vatican and Bezae, some others, and several versions, all the Itala except one, and the Vulgate. The Latin fathers have justitiam, a word of the same meaning. Mr. Gregory has amply proved, צדקה tsidekeh, righteousness, was a common word for alms among the Jews. Works, 4th. p. 58, 1671. R. D. Kimchi says that צדקה tsidekeh, Isa 59:14, means alms-giving; and the phrase נתן צדקה natan tsidekah, is used by the Jews to signify the giving of alms. The following passages from Dr. Lightfoot show that it was thus commonly used among the Jewish writers: - "It is questioned," says he, "whether Matthew wrote Ελεημοσυνην, alms, or Δικαιοσυνην, righteousness. I answer: - "I. That, our Savior certainly said צדקה tsidekah, righteousness, (or, in Syriac זדקתא zidkatha), I make no doubt at all; but, that that word could not be otherwise understood by the common people than of alms, there is as little doubt to be made. For although the word צדקה tsidekah, according to the idiom of the Old Testament, signifies nothing else than righteousness; yet now, when our Savior spoke these words, it signified nothing so much as alms. "II. Christ used also the same word זדקתא zidkatha, righteousness, in time three verses next following, and Matthew used the word ελεημοσυνην, alms; but by what right, I beseech you, should he call it δικαιοσυνην, righteousness, in the first verse, and ελεημοσυνην, alms, in the following; when Christ every where used one and the same word? Matthew might not change in Greek, where our Savior had not changed in Syriac: therefore we must say that the Lord Jesus used the word צדקה tsidekeh or זדקתא zidkatha, in these four first verses; but that, speaking in the dialect of common people, he was understood by the common people to speak of alms. Now they called alms by the name of righteousness, for the fathers of the traditions taught, and the common people believed, that alms contributed very much to justification. Hear the Jewish chair in this matter -

For one farthing given to a poor man in alms, a man is made partaker of the beatific vision: where it renders these words, Psa 17:15, I shall behold thy face in righteousness, after this manner, I shall behold thy face, Because Of Alms. Bava. Bathra. "This money goeth for alms, that my sons may live, and that I may obtain the world to come. Bab. Rosh. Hashshanah. "A man's table now expiates by alms, as heretofore the altar did by sacrifice. Beracoth. "If you afford alms out of your purse, God will keep you from all damage and harm. Hieros. Peah. "Monobazes the king bestowed his goods liberally upon the poor, and had these words spoken to him by his kinsmen and friends - 'Your ancestors increased both their own riches, and those that were left them by their fathers; but you waste both your own and those of your ancestors.'

To whom he answered - 'My fathers laid up their wealth on earth: I lay up mine in heaven. As it is written, Truth shall flourish out of the earth, but Righteousness shall look down from heaven. My fathers laid up treasures that bear no fruit; but I lay up such as bear fruit. As it is said, It shall be well with the just, for they shall eat the fruit of their own works. My fathers treasured up, when power was in their hands; but I where it is not.

As it is said, Justice and judgment is the habitation of his throne. My fathers heaped up for others; I for myself. As it is said, And this shall be to thee for righteousness. They scraped together for this world. I for the world to come. As it is said, Righteousness shall deliver from death.' Ibid.

These things are also recited in the Babylonian Talmud. "You see plainly in what sense he understands righteousness, namely, in the sense of alms: and that sense not so much framed in his own imagination, as in that of the whole nation, and which the royal catachumen had imbibed from the Pharisees his teachers. "Behold the justifying and saving virtue of alms, from the very work done according to the doctrine of the Pharisaical chair! And hence, the opinion of this efficacy of alms so far prevailed with the deceived people, that they pointed out alms by no other name (confined within one single word) than צדקה tsidekah, righteousness. Perhaps those words of our Savior are spoken in derision of this doctrine. Yea, give those things which ye have in alms, and behold all things shall be clean to you, Luk 11:41. With good reason indeed exhorting them to give alms; but yet withal striking at the covetousness of the Pharisees, and confuting their vain opinion of being clean by the washing of their hands, from their own opinion of the efficacy of alms. As if he had said, "Ye assert that alms justifies and saves, and therefore ye call it by the name of righteousness; why therefore do ye affect cleanliness by the washing of hands; and not rather by the performance of charity?" Lightfoot's Works, vol. ii. p. 153.

Before men - Our Lord does not forbid public alms-giving, fasting, and prayer, but simply censures those vain and hypocritical persons who do these things publicly that they may be seen of men, and receive from them the reputation of saints, etc.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms - In the first verse the exhortation is general: Take Ye heed. In this verse the address is pointed - and Thou - man - woman - who readest - hearest.

Do not sound a trumpet - It is very likely that this was literally practised among the Pharisees, who seemed to live on the public esteem, and were excessively self-righteous and vain. Having something to distribute by way of alms, it is very probable they caused this to be published by blowing a trumpet or horn, under pretense of collecting the poor; though with no other design than to gratify their own ambition. There is a custom in the east not much unlike this. "The derveeshes carry horns with them, which they frequently blow, when any thing is given to them, in honor of the donor. It is not impossible that some of the poor Jews who begged alms might be furnished like the Persian derveeshes, who are a sort of religious beggars, and that these hypocrites might be disposed to confine their alms-giving to those that they knew would pay them this honor." Harmer's Observat. vol. i. p. 474.

It must be granted, that in the Jewish writings there is no such practice referred to as that which I have supposed above, viz. blowing a trumpet to gather the poor, or the poor blowing a horn when relieved. Hence some learned men have thought that the word שופר shopher, a trumpet, refers to the hole in the public alms chest, into which the money was dropped which was allotted for the service of the poor. Such holes, because they were wide at one end and grew gradually narrow towards the other, were actually termed שופרות shopheroth, trumpets, by the rabbins; of this Schoettgen furnishes several examples. An ostentatious man, who wished to attract the notice of those around him, would throw in his money with some force into these trumpet-resembling holes, and thus he might be said שופר σαλπιζειν, to sound the trumpet. The Jerusalem Gemara, tract Shekalim, describes these שופרות shopheroth thus - These trumpet holes were crooked, narrow above and wide below, in order to prevent fraud. As our Lord only uses the words, μη σαλπισης, it may be tantamount to our term jingle. Do not make a public ostentatious jingle of that money which you give to public charities. Pride and hypocrisy are the things here reprehended. The Pharisees, no doubt, felt the weight of the reproof. Still the words may be taken in their literal meaning, as we know that the Moslimans, who nearly resemble the ancient Pharisees in the ostentation, bigotry, and cruelty of their character, are accustomed, in their festival of Muhurram, to erect stages in the public streets, and, by the sound of a trumpet, call the poor together to receive alms of rice, and other kinds of food. See Ward.

Works of charity and mercy should be done as much in private as is consistent with the advancement of the glory of God, and the effectual relief of the poor.

In the synagogues and in the streets - That such chests or boxes, for receiving the alms of well-disposed people, were placed in the synagogues, we may readily believe; but what were the streets? Schoettgen supposes that courts or avenues in the temple and in the synagogues may be intended - places where the people were accustomed to walk, for air, amusement, etc., for it is not to be supposed that such chests were fixed in the public streets.

They have their reward - That is, the honor and esteem of men which they sought. God is under no obligation to them - they did nothing with an eye to his glory, and from Him they can expect no recompense. They had their recompense in this life; and could expect none in the world to come.

Let not thy left hand know - In many cases, works of charity must be hidden from even our nearest relatives, who, if they knew, would hinder us from doing what God has given us power and inclination to perform. We must go even farther; and conceal them as far as is possible from ourselves, by not thinking of them, or eyeing them with complacency. They are given to God, and should be hidden in Him.

Which seeth in secret - We should ever remember that the eye of the Lord is upon us, and that he sees not only the act, but also every motive that led to it.

Shall reward thee openly - Will give thee the fullest proofs of his acceptance of thy work of faith, and labor of love, by increasing that substance which, for his sake, thou sharest with the poor; and will manifest his approbation in thy own heart, by the witness of his Spirit.

And when thou prayest - Οταν προσευχη. Προσευχη, prayer, is compounded of προς with, and ευχη a vow, because to pray right, a man binds himself to God, as by a vow, to live to his glory, if he will grant him his grace, etc. Ευχομαι signifies to pour out prayers or vows, from ευ well, and χεω, I pour out; probably alluding to the offerings or libations which were poured out before, or on the altar. A proper idea of prayer is, a pouring out of the soul unto God, as a free-will offering, solemnly and eternally dedicated to him, accompanied with the most earnest desire that it may know, love, and serve him alone. He that comes thus to God will ever be heard and blessed. Prayer is the language of dependence; he who prays not, is endeavoring to live independently of God: this was the first curse, and continues to be the great curse of mankind. In the beginning, Satan said, Eat this fruit; ye shall then be as God; i.e. ye shall be independent: the man hearkened to his voice, sin entered into the world, and notwithstanding the full manifestation of the deception, the ruinous system is still pursued; man will, if possible, live independently of God; hence he either prays not at all, or uses the language without the spirit of prayer. The following verses contain so fine a view, and so just a definition, of prayer, that I think the pious reader will be glad to find them here.

What is Prayer?

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,

Unuttered or expressed,

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast:

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,

The falling of a tear,

The upward gleaming of an eye,

When none but God is near

Prayer is the simplest form of speech

That infant lips can try;

Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach

The Majesty on high:

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,

The Christian's native air,

His watch-word at the gates of death,

He enters heaven by prayer

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,

Returning from his ways,

While angels in their songs rejoice,

And say, Behold he prays!

The saints in prayer appear as one,

In word, in deed, in mind,

When with the Father and the Son

Their fellowship they find

Nor prayer is made on earth alone:

The Holy Spirit pleads;

And Jesus, on th' eternal throne,

For sinners intercedes "O Thou, by whom we come to God!

The Life, the Truth, the Way,

The path of prayer thyself hast trod,

Lord, teach us how to pray!"

Montgomery

Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites - Υποκριται. From υπο under, and κρινομαι to be judged, thought: properly a stage-player, who acts under a mask, personating a character different from his own; a counterfeit, a dissembler; one who would be thought to be different from what he really is. A person who wishes to be taken for a follower of God, but who has nothing of religion except the outside.

Love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets - The Jewish phylacterical prayers were long, and the canonical hours obliged them to repeat these prayers wherever they happened to be; and the Pharisees, who were full of vain glory, contrived to be overtaken in the streets by the canonical hour, that they might be seen by the people, and applauded for their great and conscientious piety. See Lightfoot. As they had no piety but that which was outward, they endeavored to let it fully appear, that they might make the most of it among the people. It would not have answered their end to kneel before God, for then they might have been unnoticed by men; and consequently have lost that reward which they had in view: viz. the esteem and applause of the multitude. This hypocritical pretension to devotion is common among the Asiatics. Both Hindoos and Mohammedans love to pray in the most public places, at the landing places of rivers, in the public streets, on the roofs of the covered boats, without the least endeavor to conceal their outside devotion, that they may be seen of men.

But thou, when thou prayest - This is a very impressive and emphatic address. But Thou! whosoever thou art, Jew, Pharisee, Christian - enter into thy closet. Prayer is the most secret intercourse of the soul with God, and as it were the conversation of one heart with another. The world is too profane and treacherous to be of the secret. We must shut the door against it: endeavor to forget it, with all the affairs which busy and amuse it. Prayer requires retirement, at least of the heart; for this may be fitly termed the closet in the house of God, which house the body of every real Christian is, 1Cor 3:16. To this closet we ought to retire even in public prayer, and in the midst of company.

Reward thee openly - What goodness is there equal to this of God to give, not only what we ask, and more than we ask, but to reward even prayer itself! How great advantage is it to serve a prince who places prayers in the number of services, and reckons to his subjects' account, even their trust and confidence in begging all things of him!

Use not vain repetitions - Μη βαττολογησητε, Suidas explains this word well: "πολυλογια, much speaking, from one Battus, who made very prolix hymns, in which the same idea frequently recurred." "A frequent repetition of awful and striking words may often be the result of earnestness and fervor. See Daniel 9:3-20; but great length of prayer, which will of course involve much sameness and idle repetition, naturally creates fatigue and carelessness in the worshipper, and seems to suppose ignorance or inattention in the Deity; a fault against which our Lord more particularly wishes to secure them." See Mat 6:8. This judicious note is from the late Mr. Gilbert Wakefield, who illustrates it with the following quotation from the Heautontimorumenos of Terence:

Ohe! jam decine Deos, uxor, gratulando Obtundere,

Tuam esse inventam gnatam: nisi illos ex Tuo Ingenio judicas,

Ut nil credas Intelligere, nisi idem Dictum Sit Centies "Pray thee, wife, cease from Stunning the gods with thanksgivings, because thy child is in safety; unless thou judgest of them from thyself, that they cannot Understand a thing, unless they are told of it a Hundred Times." Heaut. ver. 880.

Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. The eloquence of prayer consists in the fervency of desire, and the simplicity of faith. The abundance of fine thoughts, studied and vehement motions, and the order and politeness of the expressions, are things which compose a mere human harangue, not an humble and Christian prayer. Our trust and confidence ought to proceed from that which God is able to do in us, and not from that which we can say to him. It is abominable, says the Hedayah, that a person offering up prayers to God, should say, "I beseech thee, by the glory of thy heavens!" or, "by the splendor of thy throne!" for a style of this nature would lead to suspect that the Almighty derived glory from the heavens; whereas the heavens are created, but God with all his attributes is eternal and inimitable. Hedayah, vol. iv. p. 121.

This is the sentiment of a Mohammedan; and yet for this vain repetition the Mohammedans are peculiarly remarkable; they often use such words as the following: -

O God, O God, O God, O God! -

O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, O Lord! -

O living, O immortal, O living, O immortal,

O living, O immortal, O living, O immortal! -

O Creator of the heavens and the earth! -

O thou who art endowed with majesty and authority!

O wonderful, etc.

I have extracted the above from a form of prayer used by Tippo Sahib, which I met with in a book of devotion in which there were several prayers written with his own hand, and signed with his own name.

Of this vain repetition in civil matters, among the Jews, many instances might be given, and not a few examples might be found among Christians. The heathens abounded with them: see several quoted by Lightfoot. -

Let the parricide be dragged!

We beseech thee, Augustus, let the parricide be dragged!

This is the thing we ask, let the parricide be dragged!

Hear us, Caesar; let the false accusers be cast to the lion!

Hear us, Caesar, let the false accusers be condemned to the lion!

Hear us, Caesar, etc.

It was a maxim among the Jews, that "he who multiplies prayer, must be heard."

This is correct, if it only imply perseverance in supplication; but if it be used to signify the multiplying of words, or even forms of prayer, it will necessarily produce the evil which our Lord reprehends: Be not as the heathen - use not vain repetition, etc. Even the Christian Churches in India have copied this vain repetition work; and in it the Roman Catholic, the Armenian, and the Greek Churches strive to excel.

As the heathen - The Vatican MS. reads υποκριται, like the hypocrites. Unmeaning words, useless repetitions, and complimentary phrases in prayer, are in general the result of heathenism, hypocrisy, or ignorance.

Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of - Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven, and to put him in mind that There is his Father, his country, and inheritance.

In the preceding verses we may see three faults, which our Lord commands us to avoid in prayer: - 1st. Hypocrisy. Be not as the hypocrites. Mat 6:5. 2ndly. Dissipation. Enter into thy closet. Mat 6:6. 3rdly. Much Speaking, or Unmeaning Repetition, Be not like the heathens. Mat 6:7.

After this manner therefore pray ye - Forms of prayer were frequent among the Jews; and every public teacher gave one to his disciples. Some forms were drawn out to a considerable length, and from these abridgments were made: to the latter sort the following prayer properly belongs, and consequently, besides its own very important use, it is a plan for a more extended devotion. What satisfaction must it be to learn from God himself, with what words, and in what manner, he would have us pray to him, so as not to pray in vain! A king, who draws up the petition which he allows to be presented to himself, has doubtless the fullest determination to grant the request. We do not sufficiently consider the value of this prayer; the respect and attention which it requires; the preference to be given to it; its fullness and perfection: the frequent use we should make of it; and the spirit which we should bring with it. "Lord, teach us how to pray!" is a prayer necessary to prayer; for unless we are divinely instructed in the manner, and influenced by the spirit of true devotion, even the prayer taught us by Jesus Christ may be repeated without profit to our souls.

Our Father - It was a maxim of the Jews, that a man should not pray alone, but join with the Church; by which they particularly meant that he should, whether alone or with the synagogue, use the plural number as comprehending all the followers of God. Hence, they say, Let none pray the short prayer, i.e. as the gloss expounds it, the prayer in the singular, but in the plural number. See Lightfoot on this place.

This prayer was evidently made in a peculiar manner for the children of God. And hence we are taught to say, not My Father, but Our Father.

The heart, says one, of a child of God, is a brotherly heart, in respect of all other Christians: it asks nothing but in the spirit of unity, fellowship, and Christian charity; desiring that for its brethren which it desires for itself.

The word Father, placed here at the beginning of this prayer, includes two grand ideas, which should serve as a foundation to all our petitions: 1st. That tender and respectful love which we should feel for God, such as that which children feel for their fathers. 2dly. That strong confidence in God's love to us, such as fathers have for their children.

Thus all the petitions in this prayer stand in strictest reference to the word Father; the first three referring to the love we have for God; and the three last, to that confidence which we have in the love he bears to us.

The relation we stand in to this first and best of beings dictates to us reverence for his person, zeal for his honor, obedience to his will, submission to his dispensations and chastisements, and resemblance to his nature.

Which art in heaven - The phrase אבינו שבשמים, abinu sheboshemayim, our Father who art in heaven, was very common among the ancient Jews; and was used by them precisely in the same sense as it is used here by our Lord.

This phrase in the Scriptures seems used to express: 1st. His Omnipresence. The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. 1Kgs 8:27 : that is, Thou fillest immensity. 2dly. His Majesty and Dominion over his creatures. Art thou not God in heaven, and rulest thou not over all the kingdoms of the heathen? 2Chr 20:6. 3dly. His Power and Might. Art thou not God in heaven, and in thy hand is there not power and might, so that no creature is able to withstand thee! 2Chr 20:6. Our God is in heaven, and hath done whatsoever he pleased. Psa 115:3. 4thly. His Omniscience. The Lord's throne is in heaven, his eyes behold, his eye-lids try the children of men. Psa 11:4. The Lord looketh down from heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men. Psa 33:13-15. 5thly. His infinite Purity and Holiness. Look down from thy holy habitation, etc. Deu 26:15. Thou art the high and lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. Isa 57:15.

Hallowed - Αγιασθητω. Αγιαζω· from α negative, and γη, the earth, a thing separated from the earth, or from earthly purposes and employments. As the word sanctified, or hallowed, in Scripture, is frequently used for the consecration of a thing or person to a holy use or office, as the Levites, first-born, tabernacle, temple, and their utensils, which were all set apart from every earthly, common, or profane use, and employed wholly in the service of God, so the Divine Majesty may be said to be sanctified by us, in analogy to those things, viz. when, we separate him from, and in our conceptions and desires exalt him above, earth and all things.

Thy name - That is, God himself, with all the attributes of his Divine nature - his power, wisdom, justice, mercy, etc.

We hallow God's name, 1st. With our lips, when all our conversation is holy, and we speak of those things which are meet to minister grace to the hearers. 2dly. In our thoughts, when we suppress every rising evil, and have our tempers regulated by his grace and Spirit. 3dly. In our lives, when we begin, continue, and end our works to his glory. If we have an eye to God in all we perform, then every act of our common employment will be an act of religious worship. 4thly. In our families, when we endeavor to bring up our children in the discipline and admonition or the Lord; instructing also our servants in the way of righteousness. 5thly. In a particular calling or business, when we separate the falsity, deception, and lying, commonly practised, from it; buying and selling as in the sight of the holy and just God.

Thy kingdom come - The ancient Jews scrupled not to say: He prays not at all, in whose prayers there is no mention of the kingdom of God. Hence, they were accustomed to say, "Let him cause his kingdom to reign, and his redemption to flourish: and let the Messiah speedily come and deliver his people."

The universal sway of the scepter of Christ: - God has promised that the kingdom of Christ shall be exalted above all kingdoms. Dan 7:14-27. That it shall overcome all others, and be at last the universal empire. Isa 9:7. Connect this with the explanation given of this phrase, Mat 3:2.

Thy will be done - This petition is properly added to the preceding; for when the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit, is established in the heart, there is then an ample provision made for the fulfillment of the Divine will.

The will of God is infinitely good, wise, and holy; to have it fulfilled in and among men, is to have infinite goodness, wisdom, and holiness diffused throughout the universe; and earth made the counterpart of heaven.

As it is in heaven - The Jews maintained, that they were the angels of God upon earth, as these pure spirits were angels of God in heaven; hence they said, "As the angels sanctify the Divine name in heaven, so the Israelites sanctify the Divine name, upon earth." See Schoettgen.

Observe, 1st. The salvation of the soul is the result of two wills conjoined: the will of God, and the will of man. If God will not the salvation of man, he cannot be saved: If, man will not the salvation God has prepared for him, he cannot be delivered from his sins. 2dly. This petition certainly points out a deliverance from all sin; for nothing that is unholy can consist with the Divine will, and if this be fulfilled in man, surely sin shall be banished from his soul. 3dly. This is farther evident from these words, as it is in heaven; i.e. as the angels do it: viz. with all zeal, diligence, love, delight, and perseverance. 4thly. Does not the petition plainly imply, we may live without sinning against God? Surely the holy angels never mingle iniquity with their loving obedience; and as our Lord teaches us to pray, that we do his will here as they do it in heaven, can it be thought he would put a petition in our mouths, the fulfillment of which was impossible? 5thly. This certainly destroys the assertion: "There is no such state of purification, to be attained here, in which it may be said, the soul is redeemed from sinful passions and desires;" for it is on Earth that we are commanded to pray that this will, which is our sanctification, may be done. 6thly. Our souls can never be truly happy, till our Wills be entirely subjected to, and become one with, the will of God. 7thly. How can any person offer this petition to his Maker, who thinks of nothing less than the performance of the will of God, and of nothing more than doing his own?

Some see the mystery of the Trinity in the three preceding petitions. The first being, addressed to the Father, as the source of all holiness. The second, to the Son, who establishes the kingdom of God upon earth. The third, to the Holy Spirit, who by his energy works in men to will and to perform.

To offer these three petitions with success at the throne of God, three graces, essential to our salvation, must be brought into exercise; and, indeed, the petitions themselves necessarily suppose them.

Faith, Our Father - for he that cometh to God, must believe that he is.

Hope, Thy kingdom come - For this grace has for its object good things to come.

Love, Thy will be done - For love is the incentive to and principle of all obedience to God, and beneficence to man.

Give us this day our daily bread - The word επιουσιαν has greatly perplexed critics and commentators. I find upwards of thirty different explanations of it. It is found in no Greek writer before the evangelists, and Origen says expressly, that it was formed by them, αλλ' εοικε πεπλασθαι υπο των ευαγγελιστων. The interpretation of Theophylact, one of the best of the Greek fathers, has ever appeared to me to be the most correct, Αρτος επι τη ουσιᾳ και συστασει ημων αυταρκης, Bread, sufficient for our substance and support, i.e. That quantity of food which is necessary to support our health and strength, by being changed into the substance of our bodies. Its composition is of επι and ουσια, proper or sufficient for support. Mr. Wakefield thinks it probable, that the word was originally written επι ουσιαν, which coalesced by degrees, till they became the επιουσιον of the MSS. There is probably an allusion here to the custom of travelers in the east, who were wont to reserve a part of the food given them the preceding evening to serve for their breakfast or dinner the next day. But as this was not sufficient for the whole day, they were therefore obliged to depend on the providence of God for the additional supply. In Luk 15:12, Luk 15:13, ουσια signifies, what a person has to live on; and nothing can be more natural than to understand the compound επιουσιος, of that additional supply which the traveler needs, to complete the provision necessary for a day's eating, over and above what he had then in his possession. See Harmer.

The word is so very peculiar and expressive, and seems to have been made on purpose by the evangelists, that more than mere bodily nourishment seems to be intended by it. Indeed, many of the primitive fathers understood it as comprehending that daily supply of grace which the soul requires to keep it in health and vigor: He who uses the petition would do well to keep both in view. Observe

1. God is the author and dispenser of all temporal as well as spiritual good.

2. We have merited no kind of good from his hand, and therefore must receive it as a free gift: Give us, etc.

3. We must depend on him daily for support; we are not permitted to ask any thing for to-morrow: give us to-day.

4. That petition of the ancient Jews is excellent: "Lord, the necessities of thy people Israel are many, and their knowledge small, so that they know not how to disclose their necessities: Let it be thy good pleasure to give to every man, what sufficeth for food!" Thus they expressed their dependence, and left it to God to determine what was best and most suitable.

We must ask only that which is essential to our support, God having promised neither luxuries nor superfluities.

And forgive us our debts - Sin is represented here under the notion of a debt, and as our sins are many, they are called here debts. God made man that he might live to his glory, and gave him a law to walk by; and if, when he does any thing that tends not to glorify God, he contracts a debt with Divine Justice, how much more is he debtor when he breaks the law by actual transgression! It has been justly observed, "All the attributes of God are reasons of obedience to man; those attributes are infinite; every sin is an act of ingratitude or rebellion against all these attributes; therefore sin is infinitely sinful."

Forgive us - Man has nothing to pay: if his debts are not forgiven, they must stand charged against him for ever, as he is absolutely insolvent. Forgiveness, therefore, must come from the free mercy of God in Christ: and how strange is it we cannot have the old debt canceled, without (by that very means) contracting a new one, as great as the old! but the credit is transferred from Justice to Mercy. While sinners we are in debt to infinite Justice; when pardoned, in debt to endless Mercy: and as a continuance in a state of grace necessarily implies a continual communication of mercy, so the debt goes on increasing ad infinitum. Strange economy in the Divine procedure, which by rendering a man an infinite debtor, keeps him eternally dependent on his Creator! How good is God! And what does this state of dependence imply? A union with, and participation of, the fountain of eternal goodness and felicity!

As we forgive our debtors - It was a maxim among the ancient Jews, that no man should lie down in his bed, without forgiving those who had offended him. That man condemns himself to suffer eternal punishment, who makes use of this prayer with revenge and hatred in his heart. He who will not attend to a condition so advantageous to himself (remitting a hundred pence to his debtor, that his own creditor may remit him 10,000 talents) is a madman, who, to oblige his neighbor to suffer an hour, is himself determined to suffer everlastingly! This condition of forgiving our neighbor, though it cannot possibly merit any thing, yet it is that condition without which God will pardon no man. See Mat 6:14, Mat 6:15.

And lead us not into temptation - That is, bring us not in to sore trial. Πειρασμον, which may be here rendered sore trial, comes from πειρω, to pierce through, as with a spear, or spit, used so by some of the best Greek writers. Several of the primitive fathers understood it something in this way; and have therefore added quam ferre non possimus, "which we cannot bear." The word not only implies violent assaults from Satan, but also sorely afflictive circumstances, none of which we have, as yet, grace or fortitude sufficient to bear. Bring us not in, or lead us not in. This is a mere Hebraism: God is said to do a thing which he only permits or suffers to be done.

The process of temptation is often as follows: 1st. A simple evil thought. 2ndly. A strong imagination, or impression made on the imagination, by the thing to which we are tempted. 3dly. Delight in viewing it. 4thly. Consent of the will to perform it. Thus lust is conceived, sin is finished, and death brought forth. Jam 1:15.

See also on Mat 4:1 (note). A man may be tempted without entering into the temptation: entering into it implies giving way, closing in with, and embracing it.

But deliver us from evil - Απο του πονηρου, from the wicked one. Satan is expressly called ο πονηρος, the wicked one. Mat 13:19, Mat 13:38, compare with Mar 4:15; Luk 8:12. This epithet of Satan comes from πονος, labor, sorrow, misery, because of the drudgery which is found in the way of sin, the sorrow that accompanies the commission of it, and the misery which is entailed upon it, and in which it ends.

It is said in the Mishna, Titus. Beracoth, that Rabbi Judah was wont to pray thus: "Let it be thy good pleasure to deliver us from impudent men, and from impudence: from an evil man and an evil chance; from an evil affection, an evil companion, and an evil neighbor: from Satan the destroyer, from a hard judgment, and a hard adversary." See Lightfoot.

Deliver us - Ρυσαι ημας - a very expressive word - break our chains, and loose our bands - snatch, pluck us from the evil, and its calamitous issue.

For thine is the kingdom, etc. - The whole of this doxology is rejected by Wetstein, Griesbach, and the most eminent critics. The authorities on which it is rejected may be seen in Griesbach and, Wetstein, particularly in the second edition of Griesbach's Testament, who is fully of opinion that it never made a part of the sacred text. It is variously written in several MSS., and omitted by most of the fathers, both Greek and Latin. As the doxology is at least very ancient, and was in use among the Jews, as well as all the other petitions of this excellent prayer, it should not, in my opinion, be left out of the text, merely because some MSS. have omitted it, and it has been variously written in others. See various forms of this doxology, taken from the ancient Jewish writers, in Lightfoot and Schoettgen.

By the kingdom, we may understand that mentioned Mat 6:10, and explained Mat 3:2.

By power, that energy by which the kingdom is governed and maintained.

By glory, the honor that shall redound to God in consequence of the maintenance of the kingdom of grace, in the salvation of men.

For ever and ever - Εις τους αιωνας, to the for evers. Well expressed by our common translation - ever in our ancient use of the word taking in the whole duration of time; the second ever, the whole of eternity. May thy name have the glory both in this world, and in that which is to come! The original word αιων comes from αει always, and ων being, or existence. This is Aristotle's definition of it. See the note on Gen 21:33. There is no word in any language which more forcibly points out the grand characteristic of eternity - that which always exists. It is often used to signify a limited time, the end of which is not known; but this use of it is only an accommodated one; and it is the grammatical and proper sense of it which must be resorted to in any controversy concerning the word. We sometimes use the phrase for evermore: i.e. for ever and more, which signifies the whole of time, and the more or interminable duration beyond it. See on Mat 25:46 (note).

Amen - This word is Hebrew, אמן, and signifies faithful or true. Some suppose the word is formed from the initial letters of אדוני מלך נאם adoni melech neetnan, My Lord, the faithful King. The word itself implies a confident resting of the soul in God, with the fullest assurance that all these petitions shall be fulfilled to every one who prays according to the directions given before by our blessed Lord.

The very learned Mr. Gregory has shown that our Lord collected this prayer out of the Jewish Euchologies, and gives us the whole form as follows: - "Our Father who art in heaven, be gracious unto us! O Lord our God, hallowed be thy name, and let the remembrance of Thee be glorified in heaven above, and in the earth here below! Let thy kingdom reign over us now, and for ever! The holy men of old said, remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done against me! And lead us not into the hands of temptation, but deliver us from the evil thing! For thine is the kingdom, and thou shalt reign in glory for ever and for evermore." Gregory's Works, 4th. 1671, p. 162.

See this proved at large in the collections of Lightfoot and Schoettgenius.

If ye forgive men - He who shows mercy to men receives mercy from God. For a king to forgive his subjects a hundred millions of treasons against his person and authority, on this one condition, that they wilt henceforth live peaceably with him and with each other, is what we shall never see; and yet this is but the shadow of that which Christ promises on his Father's part to all true penitents. A man can have little regard for his salvation, who refuses to have it on such advantageous terms. See Quesnel.

But if ye forgive not - He who does not awake at the sound of so loud a voice, is not asleep but dead. A vindictive man excludes himself from all hope of eternal life, and himself seals his own damnation.

Trespasses - Παραπτωματα, from παρα and πιπτω, to fall off. What a remarkable difference there is between this word and οφειληματα, debts, in Mat 6:12! Men's sins against us are only their stumblings, or fallings off from the duties they owe us; but our's are debts to God's justice, which we can never discharge. It can be no great difficulty to forgive those, especially when we consider that in many respects we have failed as much, in certain duties which we owed to others, as they have done in those which they owed us. "But I have given him no provocation." Perhaps thou art angry, and art not a proper judge in the matter; but, however it may be, it is thy interest to forgive, if thou expectest forgiveness from God. On this important subject I will subjoin an extract from Mason's Self-knowledge, page 248, 1755. "Athenodorus, the philosopher by reason of his old age, begged leave to retire from the court of Augustus, which the emperor granted. In his compliments of leave, he said, 'Remember, Caesar, whenever thou art angry, that thou say or do nothing before thou hast distinctly repeated to thyself the twenty-four letters of the alphabet.' On which Caesar caught him by the hand, and said, 'I have need of thy presence still:' and kept him a year longer. This was excellent advice from a heathen; but a Christian may prescribe to himself a wiser rule. When thou art angry, answer not till thou hast repeated the fifth petition of our Lord's prayer - Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors: and our Lord's comment upon it - For if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses."

Prayer to God is considered among the Mohammedans in a very important point of view. It is declared by the Mosliman doctors to be the corner stone of Religion, and the pillar of Faith. It is not, say they, a thing of mere form, but requires that the heart and understanding should accompany it, without which they pronounce it to be of no avail. They direct prayer to be performed five times in the twenty-four hours.

1. Between day-break and sun-rise;

2. Immediately after noon;

3. Immediately before sun-set;

4. In the evening before dark; and

5. Before the first watch of the night.

They hold the following points to be essentially requisite to the efficacy of prayer: -

1. That the person be free from every species of defilement.

2. That all sumptuous and gaudy apparel be laid aside.

3. That the attention accompany the act, and be not suffered to wander to any other object.

4. That the prayer be performed with the face toward the temple of Mecca. Hedayah. Prel. Dis. pp. 53, 54.

There are few points here but the follower of Christ may seriously consider and profitably practice.

When ye fast - A fast is termed by the Greeks νηϚις, from νη not, and εσθειν to eat; hence fast means, a total abstinence from food for a certain time. Abstaining from flesh, and living on fish, vegetables, etc., is no fast, or may be rather considered a burlesque on fasting. Many pretend to take the true definition of a fast from Isa 58:3, and say that it means a fast from sin. This is a mistake; there is no such term in the Bible as fasting from sin; the very idea is ridiculous and absurd, as if sin were a part of our daily food. In the fast mentioned by the prophet, the people were to divide their bread with the hungry, Isa 58:7; but could they eat their bread, and give it too? No man should save by a fast: he should give all the food he might have eaten to the poor. He who saves a day's expense by a fast, commits an abomination before the Lord. See more on Mat 9:15 (note).

As the hypocrites - of a sad countenance - Σκυθρωποι, either from σκυθρος sour, crabbed, and ωψ the countenance; or from Σκυθης a Scythian, a morose, gloomy, austere phiz, like that of a Scythian or Tartar. A hypocrite has always a difficult part to act: when he wishes to appear as a penitent, not having any godly sorrow at heart, he is obliged to counterfeit it the best way he can, by a gloomy and austere look.

Anoint thine head and wash thy face - These were forbidden in the Jewish canon on days of fasting and humiliation; and hypocrites availed themselves of this ordinance, that they might appear to fast. Our Lord, therefore, cautions us against this: as if he had said, Affect nothing - dress in thy ordinary manner, and let the whole of thy deportment prove that thou desirest to recommend my soul to God, and not thy face to men. That factitious mourning, which consists in putting on black clothes, crapes, etc., is utterly inconsistent with the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ; and if practised in reference to spiritual matters, is certainly forbidden here: but sin is so common, and so boldly persisted in, that not even a crape is put on, as an evidence of deploring its influence, or of sorrow for having committed it.

Thy father which seeth in secret - Let us not be afraid that our hearts can be concealed from God; but let us fear lest he perceive them to be more desirous of the praise of men than they are of that glory which comes from Him.

Openly - Εν τω φανερω. These words are omitted by nine MSS. in uncial letters; and by more than one hundred others, by most of the versions, and by several of the primitive fathers. As it is supported by no adequate authority, Bengel, Wetstein, Griesbach, and others, have left it out of the text.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth - What blindness is it for a man to lay up that as a treasure which must necessarily perish! A heart designed for God and eternity is terribly degraded by being fixed on those things which are subject to corruption. "But may we not lay up treasure innocently?" Yes. 1st. If you can do it without setting your heart on it, which is almost impossible: and 2dly. If there be neither widows nor orphans, destitute nor distressed persons in the place where you live. "But there is a portion which belongs to my children; shall I distribute that among the poor?" If it belongs to your children, it is not yours, and therefore you have no right to dispose of it. "But I have a certain sum in stock, etc.; shall I take that and divide it among the poor?" By no means; for, by doing so, you would put it out of your power to do good after the present division: keep your principal, and devote, if you possibly can spare it, the product to the poor; and thus you shall have the continual ability to do good. In the mean time take care not to shut up your bowels of compassion against a brother in distress; if you do, the love of God cannot dwell in you.

Rust - Or canker, βρωσις, from βρωσκω, I eat, consume. This word cannot be properly applied to rust, but to any thing that consumes or cankers clothes or metals. There is a saying exactly similar to this in the Institutes of Menu: speaking of the presents made to Brahmins, he says, "It is a gem which neither thieves nor foes take away, and which never perishes." Chapter of Government, Institute 83.

Where thieves do not break through - Διορυσσουσι, literally dig through, i.e. the wall, in order to get into the house. This was not a difficult matter, as the house was generally made of mud and straw, kneaded together like the cobb houses in Cornwall, and other places. See Clarke on Mat 7:27 (note).

Lay up - treasures in heaven - "The only way to render perishing goods eternal, to secure stately furniture from moths, and the richest metals from canker, and precious stones from thieves, is to transmit them to heaven by acts of charity. This is a kind of bill of exchange which cannot fail of acceptance, but through our own fault." Quesnel.

It is certain we have not the smallest portion of temporal good, but what we have received from the unmerited bounty of God: and if we give back to him all we have received, yet still there is no merit that can fairly attach to the act, as the goods were the Lord's; for I am not to suppose that I can purchase any thing from a man by his own property. On this ground the doctrine of human merit is one of the most absurd that ever was published among men, or credited by sinners. Yet he who supposes he can purchase heaven by giving that meat which was left at his own table, and that of his servants; or by giving a garment which he could no longer in decency wear, must have a base ignorant soul, and a very mean opinion of the heaven he hopes for. But shall not such works as these be rewarded? Yes, yes, God will take care to give you all that your refuse victuals and old clothes are worth. Yet he, who through love to God and man, divides his bread with the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment, shall not lose his reward; a reward which the mercy of God appoints, but to which, in strict justice, he can lay no claim.

Where your treasure is - If God be the treasure of our souls, our hearts, i.e. our affections and desires will be placed on things above. An earthly minded man proves that his treasure is below; a heavenly minded man shows that his treasure is above.

The light of the body is the eye - That is, the eye is to the body what the sun is to the universe in the day time, or a lamp or candle to a house at night.

If - thine eye be single - Απλους, simple, uncompounded; i.e. so perfect in its structure as to see objects distinctly and clearly, and not confusedly, or in different places to what they are, as is often the case in certain disorders of the eye; one object appearing two or more - or else in a different situation, and of a different color to what it really is. This state of the eye is termed, Mat 6:23, πονηρος evil, i.e. diseased or defective. An evil eye was a phrase in use, among the ancient Jews, to denote an envious, covetous man or disposition; a man who repined at his neighbor's prosperity, loved his own money, and would do nothing in the way of charity for God's sake. Our blessed Lord, however, extends and sublimes this meaning, and uses the sound eye as a metaphor to point out that simplicity of intention, and purity of affection with which men should pursue the supreme good. We cannot draw more than one straight line between two indivisible points. We aim at happiness: it is found only in one thing, the indivisible and eternal God. It the line of simple intention be drawn straight to him, and the soul walk by it, with purity of affection, the whole man shall be light in the Lord; the rays of that excellent glory shall irradiate the mind, and through the whole spirit shall the Divine nature be transfused. But if a person who enjoyed this heavenly treasure permit his simplicity of intention to deviate from heavenly to earthly good; and his purity of affection to be contaminated by worldly ambition, secular profits, and animal gratifications; then, the light which was in him becomes darkness, i.e. his spiritual discernment departs, and his union with God is destroyed: all is only a palpable obscure; and, like a man who has totally lost his sight, he walks without direction, certainty, or comfort. This state is most forcibly intimated in our Lord's exclamation, How great a darkness! Who can adequately describe the misery and wretchedness of that soul which has lost its union with the fountain of all good, and, in losing this, has lost the possibility of happiness till the simple eye be once more given, and the straight line once more drawn.

No man can serve two masters - The master of our heart may be fitly termed the love that reigns in it. We serve that only which we love supremely. A man cannot be in perfect indifference betwixt two objects which are incompatible: he is inclined to despise and hate whatever he does not love supremely, when the necessity of a choice presents itself.

He will hate the one and love the other - The word hate has the same sense here as it has in many places of Scripture; it merely signifies to love less - so Jacob loved Rachel, but hated Leah; i.e. he loved Leah much less than he loved Rachel. God himself uses it precisely in the same sense: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated; i.e. I have loved the posterity of Esau less than I have loved the posterity of Jacob: which means no more than that God, in the course of his providence, gave to the Jews greater earthly privileges than he gave to the Edomites, and chose to make them the progenitors of the Messiah, though they ultimately, through their own obstinacy, derived no more benefit from this privilege than the Edomites did. How strange is it, that with such evidence before their eyes, men will apply this loving and hating to degrees of inclusion and exclusion, in which neither the justice nor mercy of God are honored!

Ye cannot serve God and mammon - ממון mamon is used for money in the Targum of Onkelos, Exo 18:21; and in that of Jonathan, Jdg 5:19; 1Sam 8:3. The Syriac word ממונא mamona is used in the same sense, Exo 21:30. Dr. Castel deduces these words from the Hebrew אמן aman, to trust, confide; because men are apt to trust in riches. Mammon may therefore be considered any thing a man confides in. Augustine observes, "that mammon, in the Punic or Carthaginian language, signified gain." Lucrum Punic mammon dicitur. The word plainly denotes riches, Luk 16:9, Luk 16:11, in which latter verse mention is made not only of the deceitful mammon, (τω αδικω), but also of the true (το αληθινον). St. Luke's phrase, μαμωνα αδικιας, very exactly answers to the Chaldee ממון דשקר mamon dishekar, which is often used in the Targums. See more in Wetstein and Parkhurst.

Some suppose there was an idol of this name, and Kircher mentions such a one in his Oedip. Egyptiacus. See Castel.

Our blessed Lord shows here the utter impossibility of loving the world and loving God at the same time; or, in other words, that a man of the world cannot be a truly religious character. He who gives his heart to the world robs God of it, and, in snatching at the shadow of earthly good, loses substantial and eternal blessedness. How dangerous is it to set our hearts upon riches, seeing it is so easy to make them our God!

Therefore - Δια τουτο, on this account; viz., that ye may not serve mammon, but have unshaken confidence in God, I say unto you, -

Take no thought - Be not anxiously careful, μη μεριμνατε; this is the proper meaning of the word. μεριμνα anxious solicitude, from μεριζειν τον νουν dividing or distracting the mind. My old MS. Bible renders it, be not bysy to your liif. Prudent care is never forbidden by our Lord, but only that anxious distracting solicitude, which, by dividing the mind, and drawing it different ways, renders it utterly incapable of attending to any solemn or important concern. To be anxiously careful concerning the means of subsistence is to lose all satisfaction and comfort in the things which God gives, and to act as a mere infidel. On the other hand, to rely so much upon providence as not to use the very powers and faculties with which the Divine Being has endowed us, is to tempt God. If we labor without placing our confidence in our labor, but expect all from the blessing of God, we obey his will, co-operate with his providence, set the springs of it a-going on our behalf, and thus imitate Christ and his followers by a sedate care and an industrious confidence.

In this and the following verses, our Lord lays down several reasons why men should not disquiet themselves about the wants of life, or concerning the future.

The first is, the experience of greater benefits already received. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Can he who gave us our body, and breathed into it the breath of life, before we could ask them from him, refuse us that which is necessary to preserve both, and when we ask it in humble confidence?

The clause what ye must eat, is omitted by two MSS., most of the ancient versions, and by many of the primitive fathers. Griesbach has left it in the text with a note of doubtfulness. It occurs again in Mat 6:31, and there is no variation in any of the MSS. in that place. Instead of, Is not the life more than, etc., we should read, Of more value; so the word πλειον is used in Num 22:15, and by the best Greek writers; and in the same sense it is used in Mat 21:37. See the note there.

Behold the fowls of the air - The second reason why we should not be anxiously concerned about the future, is the example of the smaller animals, which the providence of God feeds without their own labor; though he be not their father. We never knew an earthly father take care of his fowls, and neglect his children; and shall we fear this from our heavenly Father? God forbid! That man is utterly unworthy to have God for his father, who depends less upon his goodness, wisdom, and power, than upon a crop of corn, which may be spoiled either in the field or in the barn. If our great Creator have made us capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying himself eternally, what may we not expect from him, after so great a gift?

They sow not, neither do they reap - There is a saying among the rabbins almost similar to this - "Hast thou ever seen a beast or a fowl that had a workshop? yet they are fed without labor and without anxiety. They were created for the service of man, and man was created that he might serve his Creator. Man also would have been supported without labor and anxiety, had he not corrupted his ways. Hast thou ever seen a lion carrying burthens, a stag gathering summer fruits, a fox selling merchandise, or a wolf selling oil, that they might thus gain their support? And yet they are fed without care or labor. Arguing therefore from the less to the greater, if they which were created that they might serve me, are nourished without labor and anxiety, how much more I, who have been created that I might serve my Maker! What therefore is the cause, why I should be obliged to labor in order to get my daily bread? Answer, Sin." This is a curious and important extract, and is highly worthy of the reader's attention. See Schoettgen.

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? - The third reason against these carking cares is the unprofitableness of human solicitude, unless God vouchsafe to bless it. What can our uneasiness do but render us still more unworthy of the Divine care? The passage from distrust to apostasy is very short and easy; and a man is not far from murmuring against Providence, who is dissatisfied with its conduct. We should depend as fully upon God for the preservation of his gifts as for the gifts themselves.

Cubit unto his stature? - I think ηλικιαν should be rendered age here, and so our translators have rendered the word in Joh 9:21, αυτος ηλικιαν εχει he is of age. A very learned writer observes, that no difficulty can arise from applying πηχυν a cubit, a measure of extension, to time, and the age of man: as place and time are both quantities, and capable of increase and diminution, and, as no fixed material standard can be employed in the mensuration of the fleeting particles of time, it was natural and necessary, in the construction of language, to apply parallel terms to the discrimination of time and place. Accordingly, we find the same words indifferently used to denote time and place in every known tongue. Lord, let me know the Measure of my days! Thou hast made my days Hand-Breadths, Psa 39:5. Many examples might be adduced from the Greek and Roman writers. Besides, it is evident that the phrase of adding one cubit is proverbial, denoting something minute; and is therefore applicable to the smallest possible portion of time; but, in a literal acceptation, the addition of a cubit to the stature, would be a great and extraordinary accession of height. See Wakefield.

And why take ye thought for raiment? - Or, why are ye anxiously careful about raiment? The fourth reason against such inquietudes is the example of inanimate creatures: The herbs and flowers of the field have their being, nourishment, exquisite flavors, and beautiful hues from God himself. They are not only without anxious care, but also without care or thought of every kind. Your being, its excellence and usefulness, do not depend on your anxious concern: they spring as truly from the beneficence and continual superintendence of God, as the flowers of the field do; and were you brought into such a situation, as to be as utterly incapable of contributing to your own preservation and support as the lilies of the field are to theirs, your heavenly Father could augment your substance, and preserve your being, when for his glory and your own advantage.

Consider - Diligently consider this, καταμαθετε, lay it earnestly to heart, and let your confidence be unshaken in the God of infinite bounty and love.

Solomon in all his glory - Some suppose that as the robes of state worn by the eastern kings were usually white, as were those of the nobles among the Jews, that therefore the lily was chosen for the comparison.

If God so clothe the grass of the field - Christ confounds both the luxury of the rich in their superfluities, and the distrust of the poor as to the necessaries of life. Let man, who is made for God and eternity, learn from a flower of the field how low the care of Providence stoops. All our inquietudes and distrusts proceed from lack of faith: that supplies all wants. The poor are not really such, but because they are destitute of faith.

To-morrow is cast into the oven - The inhabitants of the east, to this day, make use of dry straw, withered herbs, and stubble, to heat their ovens. Some have translated the original word κλιβανον, a still, and intimate that our Lord alludes to the distillation of herbs for medicinal purposes; but this is certainly contrary to the scope of our Lord's argument, which runs thus: If God covers with so much glory things of no farther value than to serve the meanest uses, will he not take care of his servants, who are so precious in his sight, and designed for such important services in the world? See Harmer's Observations.

What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? etc. - These three inquiries engross the whole attention of those who are living without God in the world. The belly and back of a worldling are his compound god; and these he worships in the lust of the flesh, in the lust of the eye, and in the pride of life.

For after all these things do the Gentiles seek - The fifth reason against solicitude about the future is - that to concern ourselves about these wants with anxiety, as if there was no such thing as a providence in the world; with great affection towards earthly enjoyments, as if we expected no other; and without praying to God or consulting his will, as if we could do any thing without him: this is to imitate the worst kind of heathens, who live without hope, and without God in the world.

Seek - Επιζητει from επι, intensive, and ζητεω, I seek, to seek intensely, earnestly, again and again: the true characteristic of the worldly man; his soul is never satisfied - give! give! is the ceaseless language of his earth-born heart.

Your heavenly Father knoweth, etc. - The sixth reason against this anxiety about the future is - because God, our heavenly Father, is infinite in wisdom, and knows all our wants. It is the property of a wise and tender father to provide necessaries, and not superfluities, for his children. Not to expect the former is an offense to his goodness; to expect the latter is injurious to his wisdom.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God - See on Mat 3:7 (note).

His righteousness - That holiness of heart and purity of life which God requires of those who profess to be subjects of that spiritual kingdom mentioned above. See on Mat 5:20 (note).

The seventh reason against these worldly cares and fears is - because the business of our salvation ought to engross us entirely: hither all our desires, cares, and inquiries ought to tend. Grace is the way to glory - holiness the way to happiness. If men be not righteous, there is no heaven to be had: if they be, they shall have heaven and earth too; for godliness has the promise of both lives. 1Tim 6:3.

All these things shall be added unto you - The very blunt note of old Mr. Trapp, on this passage, is worthy of serious attention. All things shall be added. "They shall be cast in as an overplus, or as small advantages to the main bargain; as paper and pack-thread are given where we buy spice and fruit, or an inch of measure to an ell of cloth." This was a very common saying among the Jews: "Seek that, to which other things are necessarily connected." "A king said to his particular friend, 'Ask what thou wilt, and I will give it unto thee.' He thought within himself, 'If I ask to be made a general I shall readily obtain it. I will ask something to which all these things shall be added:' he therefore said, 'Give me thy daughter to wife.' This he did knowing that all the dignities of the kingdom should be added unto this gift." See in Schoettgen.

To this verse, probably, belong the following words, quoted often by Clement, Origen, and Eusebius, as the words of Christ: αιτειτε τα μεγαλα, και τα μικρα υμιν προστεθησεται· και αιτειτε τα επουρανια, και τα επιγεια προστεθησεται υμιν. "Ask great things, and little things shall be added unto you; ask heavenly things, and earthly things shall be added unto you."

Take therefore no thought - That is, Be not therefore anxiously careful.

The eighth and last reason, against this preposterous conduct, is - that carking care is not only useless in itself, but renders us miserable beforehand. The future falls under the cognizance of God alone: we encroach, therefore, upon his rights, when we would fain foresee all that may happen to us, and secure ourselves from it by our cares. How much good is omitted, how many evils caused, how many duties neglected, how many innocent persons deserted, how many good works destroyed, how many truths suppressed, and how many acts of injustice authorized by those timorous forecasts of what may happen; and those faithless apprehensions concerning the future! Let us do now what God requires of us, and trust the consequences to him. The future time which God would have us foresee and provide for is that of judgment and eternity: and it is about this alone that we are careless!

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof - Αρκετον τη ἡμερα ἡ κακια αυτης, Sufficient for each day is its own calamity. Each day has its peculiar trials: we should meet them with confidence in God. As we should live but a day at a time, so we should take care to suffer no more evils in one day than are necessarily attached to it. He who neglects the present for the future is acting opposite to the order of God, his own interest, and to every dictate of sound wisdom. Let us live for eternity, and we shall secure all that is valuable in time.

There are many valuable reflections in the Abbe Quesnel's work, on this chapter; and from it several of the preceding have been derived.

In the foregoing chapter our Lord particularly described the nature of inward holiness. In this he describes that purity of intention without which none of our outward actions are holy. This chapter contains four parts, The right intention and manner of giving alms, ver.1 - 4. The right intention, manner, form, and prerequisites of prayer, ver.5 - 15. The right intention, and manner of fasting, ver.16 - 18. The necessity of a pure intention in all things, unmixed either with the desire of riches, or worldly care, and fear of want, ver.19 - 34. This verse is a general caution against vain glory, in any of our good works: All these are here summed up together, in the comprehensive word righteousness. This general caution our Lord applies in the sequel to the three principal branches of it, relating to our neighbour, ver.2 - 4: to God, ver.5, 6: and to ourselves, ver.16 - 18. To be seen - Barely the being seen, while we are doing any of these things, is a circumstance purely indifferent. But the doing them with this view, to be seen and admired, this is what our Lord condemns.

As the hypocrites do - Many of the scribes and Pharisees did this, under a pretence of calling the poor together. They have their reward - All they will have; for they shall have none from God.

Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth - A proverbial expression for doing a thing secretly. Do it as secretly as is consistent, With the doing it at all. With the doing it in the most effectual manner.

The synagogues - These were properly the places where the people assembled for public prayer, and hearing the Scriptures read and expounded. They were in every city from the time of the Babylonish captivity, and had service in them thrice a day on three days in the week. In every synagogue was a council of grave and wise persons, over whom was a president, called the ruler of the synagogue. But the word here, as well as in many other texts, signifies any place of public concourse.

Enter into thy closet - That is, do it with as much secrecy as thou canst.

Use not vain repetitions - To repeat any words without meaning them, is certainly a vain repetition. Therefore we should be extremely careful in all our prayers to mean what we say; and to say only what we mean from the bottom of our hearts. The vain and heathenish repetitions which we are here warned against, are most dangerous, and yet very common; which is a principal cause why so many, who still profess religion, are a disgrace to it. Indeed all the words in the world are not equivalent to one holy desire. And the very best prayers are but vain repetitions, if they are not the language of the heart.

Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of - We do not pray to inform God of our wants. Omniscient as he is, he cannot be informed of any thing which he knew not before: and he is always willing to relieve them. The chief thing wanting is, a fit disposition on our part to receive his grace and blessing. Consequently, one great office of prayer is, to produce such a disposition in us: to exercise our dependence on God; to increase our desire of the things we ask for; to us so sensible of our wants, that we may never cease wrestling till we have prevailed for the blessing.

Thus therefore pray ye - He who best knew what we ought to pray for, and how we ought to pray, what matter of desire, what manner of address would most please himself, would best become us, has here dictated to us a most perfect and universal form of prayer, comprehending all our real wants, expressing all our lawful desires; a complete directory and full exercise of all our devotions. Thus - For these things; sometimes in these words, at least in this manner, short, close, full. This prayer consists of three parts, the preface, the petitions, and the conclusion. The preface, Our Father, who art in heaven, lays a general foundation for prayer, comprising what we must first know of God, before we can pray in confidence of being heard. It likewise points out to us our that faith, humility, love, of God and man, with which we are to approach God in prayer. Our Father - Who art good and gracious to all, our Creator, our Preserver; the Father of our Lord, and of us in him, thy children by adoption and grace: not my Father only, who now cry unto thee, but the Father of the universe, of angels and men: who art in heaven - Beholding all things, both in heaven and earth; knowing every creature, and all the works of every creature, and every possible event from everlasting to everlasting: the almighty Lord and Ruler of all, superintending and disposing all things; in heaven - Eminently there, but not there alone, seeing thou fillest heaven and earth. Hallowed be thy name - Mayest thou, O Father, he truly known by all intelligent beings, and with affections suitable to that knowledge: mayest thou be duly honoured, loved, feared, by all in heaven and in earth, by all angels and all men.

Thy kingdom come - May thy kingdom of grace come quickly, and swallow up all the kingdoms of the earth: may all mankind, receiving thee, O Christ, for their king, truly believing in thy name, be filled with righteousness, and peace, and joy; with holiness and happiness, till they are removed hence into thy kingdom of glory, to reign with thee for ever and ever. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven - May all the inhabitants of the earth do thy will as willingly as the holy angels: may these do it continually even as they, without any interruption of their willing service; yea, and perfectly as they: mayest thou, O Spirit of grace, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make them perfect in every good work to do thy will, and work in them all that is well pleasing in thy sight.

Give us - O Father (for we claim nothing of right, but only of thy free mercy) this day - (for we take no thought for the morrow) our daily bread - All things needful for our souls and bodies: not only the meat that perisheth, but the sacramental bread, and thy grace, the food which endureth to everlasting life.

And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors - Give us, O Lord, redemption in thy blood, even the forgiveness of sins: as thou enablest us freely and fully to forgive every man, so do thou forgive all our trespasses.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - Whenever we are tempted, O thou that helpest our infirmities, suffer us not to enter into temptation; to be overcome or suffer loss thereby; but make a way for us to escape, so that we may be more than conquerors, through thy love, over sin and all the consequences of it. Now the principal desire of a Christian's heart being the glory of God, (ver. 9, 10,) Mt 6:9,10 and all he wants for himself or his brethren being the daily bread of soul and body, (or the support of life, animal and spiritual,) pardon of sin, and deliverance from the power of it and of the devil, (ver. 11, 12, 13,) Mt 6:11,12,13 there is nothing beside that a Christian can wish for; therefore this prayer comprehends all his desires. Eternal life is the certain consequence, or rather completion of holiness. For thine is the kingdom - The sovereign right of all things that are or ever were created: The power - the executive power, whereby thou governest all things in thy everlasting kingdom: And the glory - The praise due from every creature, for thy power, and all thy wondrous works, and the mightiness of thy kingdom, which endureth through all ages, even for ever and ever. It is observable, that though the doxology, as well as the petitions of this prayer, is threefold, and is directed to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost distinctly, yet is the whole fully applicable both to every person, and to the ever - blessed and undivided trinity. Luke 11:2.

Mark 11:25.

When ye fast? - Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting, alms - deeds, or prayer: all these being duties which were before fully established in the Church of God. Disfigure - By the dust and ashes which they put upon their heads, as was usual at the times of solemn humiliation.

Anoint thy head - So the Jews frequently did. Dress thyself as usual.

Lay not up for yourselves - Our Lord here makes a transition from religious to common actions, and warns us of another snare, the love of money, as inconsistent with purity of intention as the love of praise. Where rust and moth consume - Where all things are perishable and transient. He may likewise have a farther view in these words, even to guard us against making any thing on earth our treasure. For then a thing properly becomes our treasure, when we set our affections upon it. Luke 12:33.

Luke 11:34.

The eye is the lamp of the body - And what the eye is to the body, the intention is to the soul. We may observe with what exact propriety our Lord places purity of intention between worldly desires and worldly cares, either of which directly tend to destroy. If thine eye be single - Singly fixed on God and heaven, thy whole soul will be full of holiness and happiness. If thine eye be evil - Not single, aiming at any thing else.

Mammon - Riches, money; any thing loved or sought, without reference to God. Luke 16:13.

And if you serve God, you need be careful for nothing. Therefore take not thought - That is, be not anxiously careful. Beware of worldly cares; for these are as inconsistent with the true service of God as worldly desires. Is not the life more than meat? - And if God give the greater gift, will he deny the smaller? Luke 12:22.

And which of you - If you are ever so careful, can even add a moment to your own life thereby? This seems to be far the most easy and natural sense of the words.

Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these - Not in garments of so pure a white. The eastern monarchs were often clothed in white robes.

The grass of the field - is a general expression, including both herbs and flowers. Into the still - This is the natural sense of the passage. For it can hardly be supposed that grass or flowers should be thrown into the oven the day after they were cut down. Neither is it the custom in the hottest countries, where they dry fastest, to heat ovens with them. If God so clothe - The word properly implies, the putting on a complete dress, that surrounds the body on all sides; and beautifully expresses that external membrane, which (like the skin in a human body) at once adorns the tender fabric of the vegetable, and guards it from the injuries of the weather. Every microscope in which a flower is viewed gives a lively comment on this text.

Therefore take not thought - How kind are these precepts! The substance of which is only this, Do thyself no harm! Let us not be so ungrateful to him, nor so injurious to ourselves, as to harass and oppress our minds with that burden of anxiety, which he has so graciously taken off. Every verse speaks at once to the understanding, and to the heart. We will not therefore indulge these unnecessary, these useless, these mischievous cares. We will not borrow the anxieties and distresses of the morrow, to aggravate those of the present day. Rather we will cheerfully repose ourselves on that heavenly Father, who knows we have need of these things; who has given us the life, which is more than meat, and the body, which is more than raiment. And thus instructed in the philosophy of our heavenly Master, we will learn a lesson of faith and cheer. fulness from every bird of the air, and every flower of the field.

Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness - Singly aim at this, that God, reigning in your heart, may fill it with the righteousness above described. And indeed whosoever seeks this first, will soon come to seek this only.

The morrow shall take thought for itself - That is, he careful for the morrow when it comes. The evil thereof - Speaking after the manner of men. But all trouble is, upon the whole, a real good. It is good physic which God dispenses daily to his children, according to the need and the strength of each.

1. TAke heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Alms are any Acts of kindness freely done by us, for the relief of any that are in Destress and Misery, which when they are done, from a Principle of love to God, his Precepts, commanding them Obedience in Faith to his Promises made to the giving of them, and that he may be Glorified, are truly good Works, Acts of Religion, and Acceptable to God, tho Meritorious of nothing from him. Acts 10.31. otherwise they are meerly Acts of Humanity and Morality to the reward of which God is by no promise Obliged. Therefore Christs Disciples are Obliged, to take heed that in the doing of their Alms, tho they may do them before Men, that God may be Glorifyed, Phil. 2.15. 1 Pet. 2.12. yet they do them not before Men, on purpose that they should take notice of them, and Applaud them for them, for God rewardeth no Action, of which he is not the End.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 letter]ith.

4 That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.

There are some who think that our Saviour here reflects upon some Practice of the Pharisees then in use, for Ostentation, who under a pretence of a mean to call People together, caused a Trumpet to be sounded, when they distributed their Alms, but those learned in their Writings assure us, they could never find in them any Foundation for such an Opinion. The Speech is rather Metaphorical, Prohibiting all Ostentation in Acts of Charity, and inviting other to take notice of them, as Iehu invited Ionadab to come and see his Zeal, 2 Kings 10, 16. As the 3d. v. is but a Proverbial Expression expounded v. 4. That thy Alms may be in Secret. Not that it is not lawful to give a poor Body Money, or Bread, &c. in the sight of others: but only to do it for that End, that we might be seen of others, the thing forbidden under the Metaphorical Expression is Ostentation, and seeking our own Honour, and applause. The thing commanded is Sincerity with Respect to our End. The Apos[illegible: 1 letter]le calls it a giving with Simplicity, singly aiming at the Glorifying of God, by an Obedient performance of our Duty: He tells us those who give their Alms to be honoured of Men, have their reward, that is, all which they are like to have, Men applaud and cry them up, there's their reward: Others shall have their reward from God, who seeth in secret, and so needeth not such a Publication of our good Deeds, and he will reward them openly before Men, and Angels at the last day, Chap▪ 25.34, 36, 37. and ordinarily in this Life, & 113.9, 10. Psal. 37.25. Psal. 41.1.

Marginal references: Lu. 14.1[illegible: 1 letter] 14.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men, Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Our Saviour here cautioneth them against the same thing in Prayer, as he had done before in giving Alms, viz. Hypocrisie and Ostentation, doing this Duty upon that Design meerly to be taken notice of, and applauded by Men, it was Lawful to pray standing in the Synagogues, but not to do it meerly to be taken notice of by Men, for devout Persons, nor yet to confine themselves to praying in the Synagogues, if they chose to pray standing, that they might be more Conspicuous, and in the Synagogues; because those places were more Holy (as they might Dream) Or, which seems rather to be here meant, because there most People would see them, for which purpose only, they chose Corners of Streets, as was the old Popish Custom, upon which Account they set up Crosses, at three way Leets, &c. these things were sinful, but to pray standing was usual, Mar. 11.25. and to pray in the Synagogues, and in the Temple standing as usual, Luk. 18.13. But those who do it meerly for Vain-Glory, have their reward, and must expect none from God.

6 But thou, when thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut to thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

By this, Publick Prayer is not Condemned, but secret Prayer is Established, and made every Christians Duty, and Christians are warned not to think that their Duty of Prayer is discharged by their going to places of Publick Worship and Praying there, but that which our Saviour here cautioneth us against, is Ostentation, by which Men may as much offend in their Closets as elsewhere, wherever we pray, we must take heed that our Ends be right, that the Glory of God be our Principal end, and yielding Obedience to his Command, and there is no better means in Order to this, than the right setting of God before our Eyes, as he that seeth in secret, and knoweth the most secret Designs, Scopes, and Intentions of our Hearts, and who if we thus perform our Duty, will reward us of his Free Grace and Mercy; not as Persons, who by our Prayers have merited any thing at his hand (for what Merit can there be in our Prayers, but as having shewed our Obedience to his Will, and in the fulfilling of those many Promises which he hath made to those that seek his Face, for the hearing of their Prayers.

Marginal references: 2 Kin. 4.33.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knows what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

It appeareth from hence, and from what followeth also, that the Praying here spoken of, is Vocal Prayer, not the meer Homage which the Heart payeth to God, by a Recognition of him as the Fountain of all Good, and our secret Desires that God would supply our Wants, but the Expression of those Desires by the words of our Mouths, which is that Duty which the Scripture generally calleth Prayer, and is most certainly a Duty incumbent on every Person. Nor are Repetitions of the same Requests in Prayer, or much speaking (that is Praying to some length of time) here absolutly forbidden: Our Saviour before his Passion prayed thrice, for the same thing within a short Compass of time (tho he did not use the same words) and Luk. 6.12. he continued all Night in Prayer to God. But that which is here forbidden, is an Opinion of being heard, for over long Prayers, and using Vain Repetitions as the Priests of Baal, continued from Morning to Night crying, O Baal hear us! O Baal hear us, (as if their God had been asleep, or gone a Journey, as the Prophet mocketh them, 1 Kin. 18.27, 28) Repetitions are then Vain, when they are affected and flow from some irreverent Thoughts we have of God: Not when they are as it were forced from the Heat and Intension of our Affections. The like is to be said of much speaking in Prayer. Long Prayers are not to be Condemned, but the Affectation of them is, and Long Prayers upon Pretences, and Designs are: But when the mind is attent, and the Affections servent, length of Prayer is no Fault, especially upon solemn Occasions, when we come not to ask a particular Mercy at the hand of God, nor for a particular Person, or Family. But Repetitions after the manner of Heathens, are Condemned as proceeding from irreverent Thoughts of God, as if he did not know what things we have need of, or were like a Man to be prevail'd upon by a multitude of Words.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Not always in these words, but always to this Sense, and in this manner. None ever thought Christians obliged to use no other words than these in Prayer, tho none must deny the Lawfulness of using those words which Christ hath sanctified After this manner: First seeking the Kingdom of God, and begging those things which more immediately concern God's Glory, and then those things which more immediately concern your selves. Or, After this manner, praying only in particular for such things, as are more generally couched in the following Petitions. Our Father which art in Heaven: A Compellation speaking our Faith, both in the Power, and in the Goodness of God, our eying him as in Heaven, speaketh his Power, Psal. 115.3. our considering him as our Father, speaks our Faith in his Goodness, Mat. 7.11. Hallowed be thy Name. Gods Name is whatsoever he hath made himself known by, let the Lord be Glorified in every thing, whereby he hath made himself known.

Marginal references: Luk. 11.2.

10 Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven▪

Let the Lord rule over all the Nations of the Earth, and let them be freely subject to his Laws, and to his Son Jesus Christ, let the Gospel of the Kingdom be published, and prosper by bringing all Thoughts into a Captivity to it▪ And let the Kingdom of God come more within the Hearts of all Men, and hasten the Revelations of the Kingdom of Glory. Let the Will of the Lord be every where done, and that on Earth, with as much Freedom, and Cheerfulness, and with as little Reluctancy as it is done by the Angels and Saints in Heaven. These three first Petitions are of great Cognation one to another, God is then Glorified when his Kingdom is advanced, and his Kingdom is then promoved, when there is most free and cheerful Obedience yielded to his Will, the sum is: Let God be Glorified.

11 Give us this day, our daily bread.

And for as much as in thee, we live, and move, and have our Life, so the means for the upholding, and the preserving of our Lives, and the Blessing upon them must be from thee, we beseech thee to give us Food convenient for us, that which thou hast ordained for our Nourishment and Preservation, and that thou would'st preserve it to us, that we may have it from day to day, whilst we live in the World with thy Blessing upon it, that we may not be tempted to take Bread which is not Our's, nor be over solicitous, and careful for to morrow, but by daily Prayer, may obtain daily supplies from thee, so far as shall be necessary or convenient for us.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debters.

Our Saviour here doth not teach us the Order, in which we should pray for good things for our selves, only in three Petitions comprehendeth whatsoever we should ask of God. For doubtless, we are obliged acccording to Mat. 6.32. first to seek the Kingdom of God, and the Righteousness thereof: That by our Debts are here meant our Sins, is plain from Luk. 11.4. as also from v. 14. of this Chapter, where they are called Trespasses The Sense is then, discharge us from that Obligat[illegible: 1 letter]on to De[illegible: 1 letter]th, which our Sins have laid us under: Give us a Pardon for our sins pa[illegible: 1 letter]t, and present (for who liveth, and sinneth not again[illegible: 1 letter]t thee?) as we forgive our Debters, not as Perfectly, but in like manner, as we according to the imperfect State of our Natures, forgive those who have done us injury, not seeking any Revenge upon them, nor bearing them any Malice, so as indeed those who retaining their Malice in their Hearts▪ put up this Prayer unto God, do in Effect pray down Divine Vengeance upon their Souls; well therefore doth the Apostle command 1 Tim. 2.8. that we should lift up pure Hands unto God without Wrath, or doubting. So that not only Faith, but Charity also is necessary to our praying acceptably.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The term Temptation in the General signifieth a Tryal, and is sometimes used to express Go[illegible: 1 letter]s Tryals of his Peoples Faith and Obedience, but most or[illegible: 1 letter]inarily to express Satans Tryals of us, by Motions to sin, which may be from our own Lusts, Isa. 1. Or, from the Devil, who is therefore called the Tempter, or from the World. These are the Temptations which we are Commanded to pray against, not that God leads any Persons into such Temptations, unless by the Permission of his Providence. But deliver us from Evil, from the Evil one, as some read it, because of the Article prefixed, but others think it not Material whether we under[illegible: 1 letter]tand the Devil, who is the Evil one, or the Evil of Temptations which harm us not, if we be not overcome by them. For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, for ever Amen. These words are omitted by Luke, ch. 11.4. but many think, that Luke speaks of another time, when he Dictated this Prayer: The words both shew us, that the Honour and Glory of God ought to be the End, and Scope of all our Prayers, and that we can expect no Audience, but upon the Account of Gods Grace and Mercy, and they likewise confirm our Faith, that God is able to grant, what we ask of him Amen: This in the cloze of a Sentence is a Particle of Wishing, and signif[illegible: 1 letter]eth our Desire to be heard; and as it is a term that signifies Truth and Certainty, it likewise signifieth our Faith in God that we shall be heard.

Marginal references: 1 Chro. 29.11.

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.

Not that our meer forgiving our Brethren the Injuries done unto us, is all that God requireth of us in Order to the Forgiveness we expect from him, the contrary is plain from several other Texts, Io. 3.18.36. Acts 2.38. & 16.31. &c. but that without this Forgiveness of our Brethren, God will not forgive us, Mat. 18.35. It is one piece of that Obedience which we owe to God, and also of our Gratitude without the performance of which it is vain for us to hope for forgiveness from God.

Marginal references: Chap. 18.35. Jam. 2.13.

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Our Saviour in these words returns to his former Work, to caution his Disciples against Hypocrisie, Vain Glory, and Ostentation in their Religious Duties, the doing them to be seen of Men, what he before said, as to giving Alms, and Prayer he here again applyeth, as to Private fasting, which is by this Discourse of our Saviour confirmed, tho not as a stated, yet as an occasioned Duty of Christians, in Order to▪ and as an Indication of their humbling of their Souls for their sins, or under the mighty hand of God, but he requireth that it should be in Sincerity, not in Hypocrisie, for the Glory of God, not for Ostentation and appearance unto Men: Our Saviour probably in this Discourse hath a respect to some Hypocritical usages of the Pharisees, using to Dis-figure their Countenances, and look demurely, or sowrly upon their Fasting days, not that he prohibiteth here Habits, or Gestures suted to the Duty, himself sometimes Commanded the Iews to put off their Ornaments, nor was any thing more ordinary for good Men then to cover themselves with Sackcloth, and put Ashes on their Heads. All that our Lord prohibiteth is the Affecting of these things, to cover the Hypocrisie of their Hearts. Nor must we think, that it is the Will of God, that we on such Days, should indeed anoint our Heads, and Wash our Faces: Or (which is the same thing with us) Adorn, Paint, or Perfume our selves, or use any Habits, or Gestures unsutable to Mourning, and not Indicative o[illegible: 1 letter] afflicted Souls, but that we should rather do this, than the other, viz. put on a Mask and Vizard of sorrow for sin, when indeed we had no Sense of it, for still we must appea[illegible: 1 letter] to our Heavenly Father to fast, which we cannot very well do, if our outward Habit and Demeanour, be not something proportioned to the inward Sorrow, and affliction of our Souls, for the putting on of fine Dresses and Ornaments, mu[illegible: 2 letters] be an imperate Act of the Soul; and not like to be Commanded by a Soul in affliction, it being natural to such a Soul to neglect the Culture of the Body, being wholly swallowed up with bitter Thoughts, relating to its own spiritual and eternal State. Our Saviour addeth the same Argument to press sincere Fasting, which he had before used concerning the Duty of giving Alms and secret Prayer, where I have before spoken to those Words.

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

A Treasure (according to the Notation of the Word) signifieth something laid up for to morrow, for future time, more largely it signifieth any Riches, or what we judge a valuable Portion, make not the things of the Earth, your Riches, or Portion, with reference to future time; for all the Riches of the Earth are perishing Contemptible things, Silver and Gold is what R[illegible: 1 letter]st will corrupt, Clot[illegible: 1 letter]es, are what Moths will spoil, any other things are sub[illegible: 1 letter]ect to Casualties; and amongst others, to the violence of unreasonable Men, who tho they have no right to them, will ordinarily take them from you. But let your Riches, your Treasure be that which is Heavenly, those Habits of Grace, which will bring you to Heaven, the things which accompany Salvation, Heb. 6.9. which make you meet to be partakers of the Saints in Light, Col. 1.12. be Rich in good Works, 1 Tim. 6.18. laying up in store for your selves, a good Foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on Eternal Life, v. 19. Chap. 19.21. & 25.34. Luk. 18.22. Those Treasures will not be liable to such Accidents as all Earthly Treasures are: Wherever you fix your Treasure, your Heart will be there also, thinking upon it, delighting in it, &c.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness; how great is that darkness?

You had need look to your Hearts, your Vnderstanding, Iudgment and Affections, for look what Proportion there is betwixt your Bodi[illegible: 1 letter]y Eye, and the rest of the Bodily Members, with regard to their Guidance, and Conduct: The same Proportion there is betwixt your Heart, and whole Conversation, with reference to the Guidance of it, with relation to God: The Eye is the Window by which the Soul looks out to guide the Body, if that be not impaired by the defluction of Humours, &c. but be single, it directs all the Motions of the Body right; but if that be Defective, or any way impaired, the whole Body is at a loss how to move safely, and with Advantage to it. So if your Hearts be set right, if you have a right and sound Judgment, a true and sanctified Affection, they will influence, and guide all your Actions, your whole Conversation will be regular and Holy: But if that inward Eye be Evil, through Covetousness, too much adherence to the Earth, or through Envy (both which are called Evil Eyes in Scripture) or through the Prevalence of any other Lusts or Passions, your Darkness will be exceeding great: You will not be able to set one step right, for out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh, and according to the Dictates and Affections of the Heart, the Hand, and the whole Man acteth.

24 No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other, you cannot serve God and mammon.

No man can serve two Masters, that is two Masters that Command contrary things each to other, for that is the pre [illegible: 1 letter]ent Case of God, and Mammon. Or, No man with the [illegible: 1 letter]ike Diligence, and Alacrity, and Faithfulness can serve two Masters. It is a proverbial Speech, and in reason to be understood of contrary Masters, he will either hate the one, or the first, and love the second, or else he will cleave to the first, and contemn the other, that is, so in his Actions behave himself, that he will appear a true Servant but to one of them, and despise, or [illegible: 2 letters]ight the other; You cannot serve God and Mammon. It is not improbable, that some of the Ancients have thought that amongst some of the Heathen, they had an Idol called Mammon, which they made the God of Money, thence Mammon by a Figure signifieth Riches, as Luk. 16.9. So as it is of an Equivalent Sense to, no Man can serve God and Bacchus, or God and Venus: That is, none can be a Drunkard, or an unclean Person, and a true Servant of God. So no Man can serve God, and yet make the getting of Riches right or wrong, his Study, hence the Apostle calls Covetousness, Idolatry, Col. 3.5. So that by serving here must be understood a giving up of our selves chiefly, or wholly to the Service of God, and to the business of getting the World: Or, serving the latter, in what it Tempteth or Commandeth us to, contrary to the Will of God.

Marginal references: Luk▪ [illegible: 1 span]

25 Therefore I say, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor for your body, what ye shall put on: Is not the life more than meat, or the body than rayment.

The Text must not be interpreted in a Sense Contradictory to those many other Texts, which forbid an idle Life, and Command us, in the sweat of our Face to eat our Bread, or to Provide for our Families, 2 Thess. 3.20.11. 1 Tim. 5.8. nor did Christ himself live such a Life, he went about doing good, finishing the Work which his Father had given him to do, it must be therefore understood, 1. Of no such thoughts as are inconsistent with the Service of God, mentioned in the last Words. 2. Of no Anxious and Distracting thoughts. 3. Of no such thoughts as should shew any distrust, and diffidence in Gods providing for us. God hath given us our Lives and our Bodies, without our care for the Existence of them. Why should we in a lawful, and moderate use of means, distrust God for a Subsistence for them, he hath given us the greater, will he not (think you) give us the less?

Marginal references: Psal. 55▪ Luk. 12.[illegible: 2 letters] ▪ Phil. 4.6 1 Tim. 6 [illegible: 2 letters] 1. Pet. 5.7.

26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better then they?

God takes a care of all his Creatures. For Example, consider the Fowls, and those not the Tame Fowls about your Houses, but the Fowls of the Air, for whom the House-wifes Hand doth not provide, neither hath God sitted them for any Labour, by which they can procure their Lively-hood, nor doth he require any such thing of them, nor do they labour, yet their Creator (who is your Heavenly Father) feedeth them. You have much more reason to trust in God, if you could not Labour, being hindred by his Providence, for you are more excellent beings then sensible Creatures, and you have a further Relation to God, then that of Creatures to the Creator, for God is your Heavenly Father, you are in the order of Nature, and especially considering that God is your Father much better than they.

Marginal references: Job 38.41. [illegible: 1 letter]sal. 147.9. [illegible: 1 letter]uke 12.24.

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?

How Vain a thing is it to distract your selves with Anxious thoughts, about your Body, and your Life? all your thinking will not add a Cubit to your Stature; as your Being, and Existence deriveth from God, so the increase of your Stature dependeth upon him; likewise he maketh the Child to grow to the just Proportion which he hath intended him, and beyond that he cannot pass. If Gods Blessing be necessary to this, and so necessary that no thoughts, no means, will add any thing without the Divine Blessing, what reason have you to take any such thoughts, as you cannot expect he should bless to their desired Effect and Issue?

30 Wherefore if God so cloth the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more cloth you, O ye of little faith?

From Sensitive Creatures, our Lord proceedeth to▪ Vegetables, an order of Creatures which have more then meer being, they have also Life, tho no Sense, but yet 2 Degrees beneath Man, wanting not only Reason but Sense. He shews us from an instance in these, that we have no more reason to be troubled and anxious about Clothing, then about Meat, or Drink. Clothing is of no other use, then for Warmth or Ornament, for such Clothing as will serve us for Warmth, a little care will serve the Turn, Sudamus ad Supervacanea, our Sweating thoughts are mostly for Superfluities in Clothing, if God see them fit for us, he will also give us them, without so many thoughts about them. Look upon the Lilies (whether he means what we call Tulips, or other Flowers called Lilies, which probably those Countries had in greater Variety and Beauty, is not worth the arguing) God designing to glorify himself in those Creatures, tho of meanest orders, hath given them a greater Beauty, then Solomon had in all his rich Array. To let us know that Art must not contend with Nature, and that Beauty and Glory in Apparel is no more then is to be found in Creatures much inferiour to our order, which made Solon (tho an Heathen) prefer the sight of a Peacock, to that of Croesus; and therefore this is a thing not worthy of any Anxious thoughts, for if God seeth such things good for us, he that so Clotheth the Grass of the Field, which is but of a few days Continuance, will much more Cloth us, and if we distrust him for such Provision, we shew our selves Persons of little Faith.

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Our Lord repeateth the Precept before given v. 25. wherein he forbids not all Moderate, and Provident thoughts for things necessary, but only such thoughts as shall argue our d strust in God, or perplex and distract our Minds or be inconsistent with our Duty, and imployment of our thoughts about higher, and b[illegible: 1 letter]tter things This he here pre[illegible: 1 letter]et[illegible: 1 letter] by 2 Arguments. 1. Because these are the things which People spend all their thoughts upon, who are not aware that they have Souls to take care for, or do notunderstand the Providence of God, or have no such Relation to God, as Christians have who call God Father. 2. You have (saith he) an heaven[illegible: 1 letter]y Father, who being the God of Heaven knoweth what you need, and being your Father will supply also your needs.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

The Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness in this Verse are Terms Comprehensive of whatsoever appertaineth to the Honour and Glory of God, either as Means, or as the End, Let your Principal Care, and Study be, how to get to Heaven, and how to promove the Kingdom of God in the World, to bring your Hearts in Subjection to the Will of God, that the Kingdom of God may be within you, and how to bring others to the Obedience of Faith, and of the Will of God. And for the things of this Life, it shall fare with you as it did with Solomon, 1 Kings 3.12, who asked not Riches and Honour, but had them. You shall have for your necessities, Psal. 37.4, Mar. 10, 30. 1 Tim. 4.8.

Marginal references: Luke 12.31. See 1 Ki. 3.13. Psa. 37.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things o[illegible: 1 letter] it sel[illegible: 1 letter]. Sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof.

No such thoughts as before-mentioned, for God will provide for you to Morrow, when to Morrow cometh. Besides, every new Day will bring forth some new Cares, you know not what to morrow will bring forth; nor what to Morrow you will have need of, and if you did, why should you torment your selves before the time? it will be time enough when you feel the Evils of a succeeding time, you need not Torment your selves with Prophecying against your selves, what it may be shall never be, or if it be, you had not need Weaken your selves for the encountring such Evils, by a Previous Disturbance of your thoughts about them.

The Sermon on the Mount.

1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

As we must do better than the scribes and Pharisees in avoiding heart-sins, heart-adultery, and heart-murder, so likewise in maintaining and keeping up heart-religion, doing what we do from an inward, vital principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be applauded of men; that is, we must watch against hypocrisy, which was the leaven of the Pharisees, as well as against their doctrine, Luke xii. 1. Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, are three great Christian duties—the three foundations of the law, say the Arabians: by them we do homage and service to God with our three principal interests; by prayer with our souls, by fasting with our bodies, by alms-giving with our estates. Thus we must not only depart from evil, but do good, and do it well, and so dwell for evermore.

Now in these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. Our being bid to take heed of it intimates that it is sin. 1. We are in great danger of; it is a subtle sin; vain-glory insinuates itself into what we do ere we are aware. The disciples would be tempted to it by the power they had to do many wondrous works, and their living with some that admired them and others that despised them, both which are temptations to covet to make a fair show in the flesh. 2. It is a sin we are in great danger by. Take heed of hypocrisy, for if it reign in you, it will ruin you. It is the dead fly that spoils the whole box of precious ointment.

Two things are here supposed,

I. The giving of alms is a great duty, and a duty which all the disciples of Christ, according to their ability, must abound in. It is prescribed by the law of nature and of Moses, and great stress is laid upon it by the prophets. Divers ancient copies here for ten eleemosynen—your alms, read ten dikaiosynen—your righteousness, for alms are righteousness, Ps. cxii. 9; Prov. x. 2. The Jews called the poor's box the box of righteousness. That which is given to the poor is said to be their due, Prov. iii. 27. The duty is not the less necessary and excellent for its being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. If superstitious papists have placed a merit in works of charity, that will not be an excuse for covetous protestants that are barren in such good works. It is true, our alms-deeds do not deserve heaven; but it is as true that we cannot go to heaven without them. It is pure religion (Jam. i. 27), and will be the test at the great day; Christ here takes it for granted that his disciples give alms, nor will he own those that do not.

II. That it is such a duty as has a great reward attending it, which is lost if it be done in hypocrisy. It is sometimes rewarded in temporal things with plenty (Prov. xi. 24, 25; xix. 17); security from want (Prov. xxviii. 27; Ps. xxxvii. 21, 25); succour in distress (Ps. xli. 1, 2); honour and a good name, which follow those most that least covet them, Ps. cxii. 9. However, it shall be recompensed in the resurrection of the just (Luke xiv. 14), in eternal riches. Quas dederis, solas semper habebis, opes. The riches you impart form the only wealth you will always retain. Martial. This being supposed, observe now,

1. What was the practice of the hypocrites about this duty. They did it indeed, but not from any principle of obedience to God, or love to man, but in pride and vain-glory; not in compassion to the poor, but purely for ostentation, that they might be extolled as good men, and so might gain an interest in the esteem of the people, with which they knew how to serve their own turn, and to get a great deal more than they gave. Pursuant to this intention, they chose to give their alms in the synagogues, and in the streets, where there was the greatest concourse of people to observe them, who applauded their liberality because they shared in it, but were so ignorant as not to discern their abominable pride. Probably they had collections for the poor in the synagogues, and the common beggars haunted the streets and highways, and upon these public occasions they chose to give their alms. Not that it is unlawful to give alms when men see us; we may do it; but not that men may see us; we should rather choose those objects of charity that are less observed. The hypocrites, if they gave alms to their own houses, sounded a trumpet, under pretence of calling the poor together to be served, but really to proclaim their charity, and to have that taken notice of and made the subject of discourse.

Now the doom that Christ passes upon this is very observable; Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. At first view this seems a promise—If they have their reward they have enough, but two words in it make it a threatening.

(1.) It is a reward, but it is their reward; not the reward which God promises to them that do good, but the reward which they promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men; they chose their own delusions with which they cheated themselves, and they shall have what they chose. Carnal professors stipulate with God for preferment, honour, wealth, and they shall have their bellies filled with those things (Ps. xvii. 14); but let them expect no more; these are their consolation (Luke vi. 24), their good things (Luke xvi. 25), and they shall be put off with these. "Didst thou not agree with me for a penny? It is the bargain that thou art likely to abide by."

(2.) It is a reward, but it is a present reward, they have it; and there is none reserved for them in the future state. They now have all that they are likely to have from God; they have their reward here, and have none to hope for hereafter. Apechousi ton misthon. It signifies a receipt in full. What rewards the godly have in this life are but in part of payment; there is more behind, much more; but hypocrites have their all in this world, so shall their doom be; themselves have decided it. The world is but for provision to the saints, it is their spending-money; but it is pay to hypocrites, it is their portion.

2. What is the precept of our Lord Jesus about it, v. 3, 4. He that was himself such an example of humility, pressed it upon his disciples, as absolutely necessary to the acceptance of their performances. "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth when thou givest alms." Perhaps this alludes to the placing of the Corban, the poor man's box, or the chest into which they cast their free-will offerings, on the right hand of the passage into the temple; so that they put their gifts into it with the right-hand. Or the giving of alms with the right hand, intimates readiness to it and resolution in it; do it dexterously, not awkwardly nor with a sinister intention. The right hand may be used in helping the poor, lifting them up, writing for them, dressing their sores, and other ways besides giving to them; but, "whatever kindness thy right hand doeth to the poor, let not thy left hand know it: conceal it as much as possible; industriously keep it private. Do it because it is a good work, not because it will give thee a good name." In omnibus factis, re, non teste, moveamur—In all our actions, we should be influenced by a regard to the object, not to the observer. Cic. de Fin. It is intimated, (1.) That we must not let others know what we do; no, not those that stand at our left hand, that are very near us. Instead of acquainting them with it, keep it from them if possible; however, appear so desirous to keep it from them, as that in civility they may seem not to take notice of it, and keep it to themselves, and let it go no further. (2.) That we must not observe it too much ourselves: the left hand is a part of ourselves; we must not within ourselves take notice too much of the good we do, must not applaud and admire ourselves. Self-conceit and self-complacency, and an adoring of our own shadow, are branches of pride, as dangerous as vain-glory and ostentation before men. We find those had their good works remembered to their honour, who had themselves forgotten them: When saw we thee an hungered, or athirst?

3. What is the promise to those who are thus sincere and humble in their alms-giving. Let thine alms be in secret, and then thy Father who seeth in secret will observe them. Note, When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. As God hears the wrongs done to us when we do not hear them (Ps. xxxviii. 14, 15), so he sees the good done by us, when we do not see it. As it is a terror to hypocrites, so it is a comfort to sincere Christians, that God sees in secret. But this is not all; not only the observation and praise, but the recompence is of God, himself shall reward thee openly. Note, They who in their alms-giving study to approve themselves to God, only turn themselves over to him as their Paymaster. The hypocrite catches at the shadow, but the upright man makes sure of the substance. Observe how emphatically it is expressed; himself shall reward, he will himself be the Rewarder, Heb. xi. 6. Let him alone to make it up in kind or kindness; nay, he will himself be the Reward (Gen. xv. 1), thine exceeding great reward. He will reward thee as thy Father, not as a master who gives his servant just what he earns and no more, but as a father who gives abundantly more, and without stint, to his son that serves him. Nay, he shall reward thee openly, if not in the present day, yet in the great day; then shall every man have praise of God, open praise, thou shall be confessed before men. If the work be not open, the reward shall, and that is better.

The Sermon on the Mount.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

In prayer we have more immediately to do with God than in giving alms, and therefore are yet more concerned to be sincere, which is what we are here directed to. When thou prayest (v. 5). It is taken for granted that all the disciples of Christ pray. As soon as ever Paul was converted, behold he prayeth. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. For this shall every one that is godly pray. If prayerless, then graceless. "Now, when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, nor do as they do," v. 2. Note, Those who would not do as the hypocrites do in their ways and actions must not be as the hypocrites are in their frame and temper. He names nobody, but it appears by ch. xxiii. 13, that by the hypocrites here he means especially the scribes and Pharisees.

Now there were two great faults they were guilty of in prayer, against each of which we are here cautioned—vain-glory (v. 5, 6); and vain repetitions, v. 7, 8.

I. We must not be proud and vain-glorious in prayer, nor aim at the praise of men. And here observe,

1. What was the way and practice of the hypocrites. In all their exercises of devotion, it was plain, the chief thing they aimed at was to be commended by their neighbours, and thereby to make an interest for themselves. When they seemed to soar upwards in prayer (and if it be right, it is the soul's ascent toward God), yet even then their eye was downwards upon this as their prey. Observe,

(1.) What the places were which they chose for their devotions; they prayed in the synagogues, which were indeed proper places for public prayer, but not for personal. They pretended hereby to do honour to the place of their assemblies, but intended to do honour to themselves. They prayed in the corners of the streets, the broad streets (so the word signifies), which were most frequented. They withdrew thither, as if they were under a pious impulse which would not admit delay, but really it was to cause themselves to be taken notice of. There, where two streets met, they were not only within view of both, but every passenger turning close upon them would observe them, and hear what they said.

(2.) The posture they used in prayer; they prayed standing; this is a lawful and proper posture for prayer (Mark xi. 25, When ye stand praying), but kneeling being the more humble and reverent gesture, Luke xxii. 41; Acts vii. 60; Eph. iii. 14, their standing seemed to savour of pride and confidence in themselves (Luke xviii. 11), The Pharisee stood and prayed.

(3.) Their pride in choosing these public places, which is expressed in two things: [1.] They love to pray there. They did not love prayer for its own sake, but they loved it when it gave them an opportunity of making themselves noticed. Circumstances may be such, that our good deeds must needs be done openly, so as to fall under the observation of others, and be commended by them; but the sin and danger is when we love it, and are pleased with it, because it feeds the proud humour. [2.] It is that they may be seen of men; not that God might accept them, but that men might admire and applaud them; and that they might easily get the estates of widows and orphans into their hands (who would not trust such devout, praying men?) and that, when they had them, they might devour them without being suspected (ch. xxiii. 14); and effectually carry on their public designs to enslave the people.

(4.) The product of all this, they have their reward; they have all the recompence they must ever expect from God for their service, and a poor recompence it is. What will it avail us to have the good word of our fellow-servants, if our Master do not say, Well done? But if in so great a transaction as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can take in so poor a consideration as the praise of men is, it is just that that should be all our reward. They did it to be seen of men, and they are so; and much good may it do them. Note, Those that would approve themselves to God by their integrity in their religion, must have no regard to the praise of men; it is not to men that we pray, nor from them that we expect an answer; they are not to be our judges, they are dust and ashes like ourselves, and therefore we must not have our eye to them: what passes between God and our own souls must be out of sight. In our synagogue-worship, we must avoid every thing that tends to make our personal devotion remarkable, as they that caused their voice to be heard on high, Isa. lviii. 4. Public places are not proper for private solemn prayer.

2. What is the will of Jesus Christ in opposition to this. Humility and sincerity are the two great lessons that Christ teaches us; Thou, when thou prayest, do so and so (v. 6); thou in particular by thyself, and for thyself. Personal prayer is here supposed to be the duty and practice of all Christ's disciples.

Observe, (1.) The directions here given about it.

[1.] Instead of praying in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, enter into thy closet, into some place of privacy and retirement. Isaac went into the field (Gen. xxiv. 63), Christ to a mountain, Peter to a housetop. No place amiss in point of ceremony, if it do but answer the end. Note, Secret prayer is to be performed in retirement, that we may be unobserved, and so may avoid ostentation; undisturbed, and so may avoid distraction; unheard, and so may use greater freedom; yet if the circumstances be such that we cannot possibly avoid being taken notice of, we must not therefore neglect the duty, lest the omission be a greater scandal than the observation of it.

[2.] Instead of doing it to be seen of men, pray to thy Father who is in secret; to me, even to me, Zech. vii. 5, 6. The Pharisees prayed rather to men than to God; whatever was the form of their prayer, the scope of it was to beg the applause of men, and court their favours. "Well, do thou pray to God, and let that be enough for thee. Pray to him as a Father, as thy Father, ready to hear and answer, graciously inclined to pity, help, and succour thee. Pray to thy Father who is in secret." Note, In secret prayer we must have an eye to God, as present in all places; he is there in thy closet when no one else is there; there especially nigh to thee in what thou callest upon him for. By secret prayer we give God the glory of his universal presence (Acts xvii. 24), and may take to ourselves the comfort of it.

(2.) The encouragements here given us to it.

[1.] Thy Father seeth in secret; his eye is upon thee to accept thee, when the eye of no man is upon thee to applaud thee; under the fig-tree, I saw thee, said Christ to Nathaniel, John i. 48. He saw Paul at prayer in such a street, at such a house, Acts ix. 11. There is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it.

[2.] He will reward thee openly; they have their reward that do it openly, and thou shalt not lose thine for thy doing it in secret. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? The reward will be open; they shall not only have it, but have it honourably: the open reward is that which hypocrites are fond of, but they have not patience to stay for it; it is that which the sincere are dead to, and they shall have it over and above. Sometimes secret prayers are rewarded openly in this world by signal answers to them, which manifests God's praying people in the consciences of their adversaries; however, at the great day there will be an open reward, when all praying people shall appear in glory with the great Intercessor. The Pharisees ha their reward before all the town, and it was a mere flash and shadow; true Christians shall have theirs before all the world, angels and men, and it shall be a weight of glory.

II. We must not use vain repetitions in prayer, v. 7, 8. Though the life of prayer lies in lifting up the soul and pouring out the heart, yet there is some interest which words have in prayer, especially in joint prayer; for in that, words are necessary, and it should seem that our Saviour speaks here especially of that; for before he said, when thou prayest, he here, when ye pray; and the Lord's prayer which follows is a joint prayer, and in that, he that is the mouth of others is most tempted to an ostentation of language and expression, against which we are here warned; use not vain repetitions, either alone or with others: the Pharisees affected this, they made long prayers (ch. xxiii. 14), all their care was to make them long. Now observe,

1. What the fault is that is here reproved and condemned; it is making a mere lip-labour of the duty of prayer, the service of the tongue, when it is not the service of the soul. This is expressed here by two words, Battologia, Polylogia. (1.) Vain repetitions—tautology, battology, idle babbling over the same words again and again to no purpose, like Battus, Sub illis montibus erant, erant sub montibus illis; like that imitation of the wordiness of a fool, Eccl. x. 14, A man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him who can tell? which is indecent and nauseous in any discourse, much more in speaking to God. It is not all repetition in prayer that is here condemned, but vain repetitions. Christ himself prayed, saying the same words (ch. xxvi. 44), out of more than ordinary fervour and zeal, Luke xxii. 44. So Daniel, ch. ix. 18, 19. And there is a very elegant repetition of the same words, Ps. cxxxvi.. It may be of use both to express our own affections, and to excite the affections of others. But the superstitious rehearsing of a tale of words, without regard to the sense of them, as the papists saying by their beads so many Ave-Marys and Paternosters; or the barren and dry going over of the same things again and again, merely to drill out the prayer to such a length, and to make a show of affection when really there is none; these are the vain repetitions here condemned. When we would fain say much, but cannot say much to the purpose; this is displeasing to God and all wise men. (2.) Much speaking, an affectation of prolixity in prayer, either out of pride or superstition, or an opinion that God needs either to be informed or argued with by us, or out of mere folly and impertinence, because men love to hear themselves talk. Not that all long prayers are forbidden; Christ prayed all night, Luke vi. 12. Solomon's was a long prayer. There is sometimes need of long prayers when our errands and our affections are extraordinary; but merely to prolong the prayer, as if it would make it more pleasing or more prevailing with God, is that which is here condemned; it is not much praying that is condemned; no, we are bid to pray always, but much speaking; the danger of this error is when we only say our prayers, and not when we pray them. This caution is explained by that of Solomon (Eccl. v. 2), Let thy words be few, considerate and well weighed; take with you words (Hos. xiv. 2), choose out words (Job ix. 14), and do not say every thing that comes uppermost.

2. What reasons are given against this.

(1.) This is the way of the heathen, as the heathen do; and it ill becomes Christians to worship their God as the Gentiles worship theirs. The heathen were taught by the light of nature to worship God; but becoming vain in their imaginations concerning the object of their worship, no wonder they became so concerning the manner of it, and particularly in this instance; thinking God altogether such a one as themselves, they thought he needed many words to make him understand what was said to him, or to bring him to comply with their requests; as if he were weak and ignorant, and hard to be entreated. Thus Baal's priests were hard at it from morning till almost night with their vain repetitions; O Baal, hear us; O Baal, hear us; and vain petitions they were; but Elijah, in a grave, composed frame, with a very concise prayer, prevailed for fire from heaven first, and then water, 1 Kings xviii. 26, 36. Lip-labour in prayer, though ever so well laboured, if that be all, is but lost labour.

(2.) "It need not be your way, for your Father in heaven knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him, and therefore there is no occasion for such abundance of words. It does not follow that therefore ye need not pray; for God requires you by prayer to own your need of him and dependence on him, and to please his promises; but therefore you are to open your case, and pour out your hearts before him, and then leave it with him." Consider, [1.] The God we pray to is our Father by creation, by covenant; and therefore our addresses to him should be easy, natural, and unaffected; children do not use to make long speeches to their parents when they want any thing; it is enough to say, my head, my head. Let us come to him with the disposition of children, with love, reverence, and dependence; and then they need not say many words, that are taught by the Spirit of adoption to say that one aright, Abba, Father. [2.] He is a Father that knows our case and knows our wants better than we do ourselves. He knows what things we have need of; his eyes run to and fro through the earth, to observe the necessities of his people (2 Chron. xvi. 9), and he often gives before we call (Isa. lxv. 24), and more than we ask for (Eph. iii. 20), and if he do not give his people what they ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good; and of that he is fitter to judge for us than we for ourselves. We need not be long, nor use many words in representing our case; God knows it better than we can tell him, only he will know it from us (what will ye that I should do unto you?); and when we have told him what it is, we must refer ourselves to him, Lord, all my desire is before thee, Ps. xxxviii. 9. So far is God from being wrought upon by the length or language of our prayers, that the most powerful intercessions are those which are made with groanings that cannot be uttered, Rom. viii. 26. We are not to prescribe, but subscribe to God.

The Sermon on the Mount.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

When Christ had condemned what was amiss, he directs to do better; for his are reproofs of instruction. Because we know not what to pray for as we ought, he here helps our infirmities, by putting words into our mouths; after this manner therefore pray ye, v. 9. So many were the corruptions that had crept into this duty of prayer among the Jews, that Christ saw it needful to give a new directory for prayer, to show his disciples what must ordinarily be the matter and method of their prayer, which he gives in words that may very well be used as a form; as the summary or contents of the several particulars of our prayers. Not that we are tied up to the use of this form only, or of this always, as if this were necessary to the consecrating of our other prayers; we are here bid to pray after this manner, with these words, or to this effect. That in Luke differs from this; we do not find it used by the apostles; we are not here taught to pray in the name of Christ, as we are afterward; we are here taught to pray that the kingdom might come which did come when the Spirit was poured out: yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it as a form, and it is a pledge of the communion of saints, it having been used by the church in all ages, at least (says Dr. Whitby) from the third century. It is our Lord's prayer, it is of his composing, of his appointing; it is very compendious, yet very comprehensive, in compassion to our infirmities in praying. The matter is choice and necessary, the method instructive, and the expression very concise. It has much in a little, and it is requisite that we acquaint ourselves with the sense and meaning of it, for it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding and without vain repetition.

The Lord's prayer (as indeed every prayer) is a letter sent from earth to heaven. Here is the inscription of the letter, the person to whom it is directed, our Father; the where, in heaven; the contents of it in several errands of request; the close, for thine is the kingdom; the seal, Amen; and if you will, the date too, this day.

Plainly thus: there are three parts of the prayer.

I. The preface, Our Father who art in heaven. Before we come to our business, there must be a solemn address to him with whom our business lies; Our Father. Intimating, that we must pray, not only alone and for ourselves, but with and for others; for we are members one of another, and are called into fellowship with each other. We are here taught to whom to pray, to God only, and not to saints and angels, for they are ignorant of us, are not to have the high honours we give in prayer, nor can give favours we expect. We are taught how to address ourselves to God, and what title to give him, that which speaks him rather beneficent than magnificent, for we are to come boldly to the throne of grace.

1. We must address ourselves to him as our Father, and must call him so. He is a common Father to all mankind by creation, Mal. ii. 10; Acts xvii. 28. He is in a special manner a Father to the saints, by adoption and regeneration (Eph. i. 5; Gal. iv. 6); and an unspeakable privilege it is. Thus we must eye him in prayer, keep up good thoughts of him, such as are encouraging and not affrighting; nothing more pleasing to God, nor pleasant to ourselves, than to call God Father. Christ in prayer mostly called God Father. If he be our Father, he will pity us under our weaknesses and infirmities (Ps. ciii. 13), will spare us (Mal. iii. 17), will make the best of our performances, though very defective, will deny us nothing that is good for us, Luke xi. 11-13. We have access with boldness to him, as to a father, and have an advocate with the Father, and the Spirit of adoption. When we come repenting of our sins, we must eye God as a Father, as the prodigal did (Luke xv. 18; Jer. iii. 19); when we come begging for grace, and peace, and the inheritance and blessing of sons, it is an encouragement that we come to God, not as an unreconciled, avenging Judge, but as a loving, gracious, reconciled Father in Christ, Jer. iii. 4.

2. As our Father in heaven: so in heaven as to be every where else, for the heaven cannot contain him; yet so in heaven as there to manifest his glory, for it is his throne (Ps. ciii. 19), and it is to believers a throne of grace: thitherward we must direct our prayers, for Christ the Mediator is now in heaven, Heb. viii. 1. Heaven is out of sight, and a world of spirits, therefore our converse with God in prayer must be spiritual; it is on high, therefore in prayer we must be raised above the world, and lift up our hearts, Ps. v. 1. Heaven is a place of perfect purity, and we must therefore lift up pure hands, must study to sanctify his name, who is the Holy One, and dwells in that holy place, Lev. x. 3. From heaven God beholds the children of men, Ps. xxxiii. 13, 14. And we must in prayer see his eye upon us: thence he has a full and clear view of all our wants and burdens and desires, and all our infirmities. It is the firmament of his power likewise, as well as of his prospect, Ps. cl. 1. He is not only, as a Father, able to help us, able to do great things for us, more than we can ask or think; he has wherewith to supply our needs, for every good gift is from above. He is a Father, and therefore we may come to him with boldness, but a Father in heaven, and therefore we must come with reverence, Eccl. v. 2. Thus all our prayers should correspond with that which is our great aim as Christians, and that is, to be with God in heaven. God and heaven, the end of our whole conversation, must be particularly eyed in every prayer; there is the centre to which we are all tending. By prayer, we send before us thither, where we profess to be going.

II. The petitions, and those are six; the three first relating more immediately to God and his honour, the three last to our own concerns, both temporal and spiritual; as in the ten commandments, the four first teach us our duty toward God, and the last six our duty toward our neighbour. The method of this prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then to hope that other things shall be added.

1. Hallowed be thy name. It is the same word that in other places is translated sanctified. But here the old word hallowed is retained, only because people were used to it in the Lord's prayer. In these words, (1.) We give glory to God; it may be taken not as a petition, but as an adoration; as that, the Lord be magnified, or glorified, for God's holiness is the greatness and glory of all his perfections. We must begin our prayers with praising God, and it is very fit he should be first served, and that we should give glory to God, before we expect to receive mercy and grace from him. Let him have praise of his perfections, and then let us have the benefit of them. (2.) We fix our end, and it is the right end to be aimed at, and ought to be our chief and ultimate end in all our petitions, that God may be glorified; all our other requests must be in subordination to this, and in pursuance of it. "Father, glorify thyself in giving me my daily bread and pardoning my sins," &c. Since all is of him and through him, all must be to him and for him. In prayer our thoughts and affections should be carried out most to the glory of God. The Pharisees made their own name the chief end of their prayers (v. 5, to be seen of men), in opposition to which we are directed to make the name of God our chief end; let all our petitions centre in this and be regulated by it. "Do so and so for me, for the glory of thy name, and as far as is for the glory of it." (3.) We desire and pray that the name of God, that is, God himself, in all that whereby he has made himself known, may be sanctified and glorified both by us and others, and especially by himself. "Father, let thy name be glorified as a Father, and a Father in heaven; glorify thy goodness and thy highness, thy majesty and mercy. Let thy name be sanctified, for it is a holy name; no matter what becomes of our polluted names, but, Lord, what wilt thou do to thy great name?" When we pray that God's name may be glorified, [1.] We make a virtue of necessity; for God will sanctify his own name, whether we desire it or not; I will be exalted among the heathen, Ps. lxvi. 10. [2.] We ask for that which we are sure shall be granted; for when our Saviour prayed, Father glorify thy name, it was immediately answered, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.

2. Thy kingdom come. This petition has plainly a reference to the doctrine which Christ preached at this time, which John Baptist had preached before, and which he afterwards sent his apostles out to preach—the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of your Father who is in heaven, the kingdom of the Messiah, this is at hand, pray that it may come. Note, We should turn the word we hear into prayer, our hearts should echo to it; does Christ promise, surely I come quickly? our hearts should answer, Even so, come. Ministers should pray over the word: when they preach, the kingdom of God is at hand, they should pray, Father, thy kingdom come. What God has promised we must pray for; for promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer; and when the accomplishment of a promise is near and at the door, when the kingdom of heaven is at hand, we should then pray for it the more earnestly; thy kingdom come; as Daniel set his face to pray for the deliverance of Israel, when he understood that the time of it was at hand, Dan. ix. 2. See Luke xix. 11. It was the Jews' daily prayer to God, Let him make his kingdom reign, let his redemption flourish, and let his Messiah come and deliver his people. Dr. Whitby, ex Vitringa. "Let thy kingdom come, let the gospel be preached to all and embraced by all; let all be brought to subscribe to the record God has given in his word concerning his Son, and to embrace him as their Saviour and Sovereign. Let the bounds of the gospel-church be enlarged, the kingdom of the world be made Christ's kingdom, and all men become subjects to it, and live as becomes their character."

3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. We pray that God's kingdom being come, we and others may be brought into obedience to all the laws and ordinances of it. By this let it appear that Christ's kingdom is come, let God's will be done; and by this let is appear that it is come as a kingdom of heaven, let it introduce a heaven upon earth. We make Christ but a titular Prince, if we call him King, and do not do his will: having prayed that he may rule us, we pray that we may in every thing be ruled by him. Observe, (1.) The thing prayed for, thy will be done; "Lord, do what thou pleasest with me and mine; 1 Sam. iii. 18. I refer myself to thee, and am well satisfied that all thy counsel concerning me should be performed." In this sense Christ prayed, not my will, but thine be done. "Enable me to do what is pleasing to thee; give me that grace that is necessary to the right knowledge of thy will, and an acceptable obedience to it. Let thy will be done conscientiously by me and others, not our own will, the will of the flesh, or the mind, not the will of men (1 Pet. iv. 2), much less Satan's will (John viii. 44), that we may neither displease God in any thing we do (ut nihil nostrum displiceat Deo), nor be displeased at any thing God does" (ut nihil Dei displiceat nobis). (2.) The pattern of it, that it might be done on earth, in this place of our trial and probation (where our work must be done, or it never will be done), as it is done in heaven, that place of rest and joy. We pray that earth may be made more like heaven by the observance of God's will (this earth, which, through the prevalency of Satan's will, has become so near akin to hell), and that saints may be made more like the holy angels in their devotion and obedience. We are on earth, blessed be God, not yet under the earth; we pray for the living only, not for the dead that have gone down into silence.

4. Give us this day our daily bread. Because our natural being is necessary to our spiritual well-being in this world, therefore, after the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the necessary supports and comforts of this present life, which are the gifts of God, and must be asked of him, Ton arton epiousion—Bread for the day approaching, for all the remainder of our lives. Bread for the time to come, or bread for our being and subsistence, that which is agreeable to our condition in the world (Prov. xxx. 8), food convenient for us and our families, according to our rank and station.

Every word here has a lesson in it: (1.) We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance; we ask for bread, not dainties, not superfluities; that which is wholesome, though it be not nice. (2.) We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread out of other people's mouths, not the bread of deceit (Prov. xx. 17), not the bread of idleness (Prov. xxxi. 27), but the bread honestly gotten. (3.) We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us not to take thought for the morrow (v. 34), but constantly to depend upon divine Providence, as those that live from hand to mouth. (4.) We beg of God to give it us, not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread, (5.) We pray, "Give it to us; not to me only, but to others in common with me." This teaches us charity, and a compassionate concern for the poor and needy. It intimates also, that we ought to pray with our families; we and our households eat together, and therefore ought to pray together. (6.) We pray that God would give us this day; which teaches us to renew the desire of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed; as duly as the day comes, we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without meat, as without prayer.

5. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, This is connected with the former; and forgive, intimating, that unless our sins be pardoned, we can have no comfort in life, or the supports of it. Our daily bread does but feed us as lambs for the slaughter, if our sins be not pardoned. It intimates, likewise, that we must pray for daily pardon, as duly as we pray for daily bread. He that is washed, needeth to wash his feet. Here we have,

(1.) A petition; Father in heaven forgive us our debts, our debts to thee. Note, [1.] Our sins are our debts; there is a debt of duty, which, as creatures, we owe to our Creator; we do not pray to be discharged from that, but upon the non-payment of that there arises a debt of punishment; in default of obedience to the will of God, we become obnoxious to the wrath of God; and for not observing the precept of the law, we stand obliged to the penalty. A debtor is liable to process, so are we; a malefactor is a debtor to the law, so are we. [2.] Our hearts' desire and prayer to our heavenly Father every day should be, that he would forgive us our debts; that the obligation to punishment may be cancelled and vacated, that we may not come into condemnation; that we may be discharged, and have the comfort of it. In suing out the pardon of our sins, the great plea we have to rely upon is the satisfaction that was made to the justice of God for the sin of man, by the dying of the Lord Jesus our Surety, or rather Bail to the action, that undertook our discharge.

(2.) An argument to enforce this petition; as we forgive our debtors. This is not a plea of merit, but a plea of grace. Note, Those that come to God for the forgiveness of their sins against him, must make conscience of forgiving those who have offended them, else they curse themselves when they say the Lord's prayer. Our duty is to forgive our debtors; as to debts of money, we must not be rigorous and severe in exacting them from those that cannot pay them without ruining themselves and their families; but this means debt of injury; our debtors are those that trespass against us, that smite us (ch. v. 39, 40), and in strictness of law, might be prosecuted for it; we must forbear, and forgive, and forget the affronts put upon us, and the wrongs done us; and this is a moral qualification for pardon and peace; it encourages to hope, that God will forgive us; for if there be in us this gracious disposition, it is wrought of God, and therefore is a perfection eminently and transcendently in himself; it will be an evidence to us that he has forgiven us, having wrought in us the condition of forgiveness.

6. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This petition is expressed,

(1.) Negatively: Lead us not into temptation. Having prayed that the guilt of sin may be removed, we pray, as it is fit, that we may never return again to folly, that we may not be tempted to it. It is not as if God tempted any to sin; but, "Lord, do not let Satan loose upon us; chain up that roaring lion, for he is subtle and spiteful; Lord, do not leave us to ourselves (Ps. xix. 13), for we are very weak; Lord, do not lay stumbling-blocks and snares before us, nor put us into circumstances that may be an occasion of falling." Temptations are to be prayed against, both because of the discomfort and trouble of them, and because of the danger we are in of being overcome by them, and the guilt and grief that then follow.

(2.) Positively: But deliver us from evil; apo tou ponerou—from the evil one, the devil, the tempter; "keep us, that either we may not be assaulted by him, or we may not be overcome by those assaults:" Or from the evil thing, sin, the worst of evils; an evil, an only evil; that evil thing which God hates, and which Satan tempts men to and destroys them by. "Lord, deliver us from the evil of the world, the corruption that is in the world through lust; from the evil of every condition in the world; from the evil of death; from the sting of death, which is sin: deliver us from ourselves, from our own evil hearts: deliver us from evil men, that they may not be a snare to us, nor we a prey to them."

III. The conclusion: For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen. Some refer this to David's doxology, 1 Chron. xxix. 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness. It is,

1. A form of plea to enforce the foregoing petitions. It is our duty to plead with God in prayer, to fill our mouth with arguments (Job xxiii. 4) not to move God, but to affect ourselves; to encourage the faith, to excite our fervency, and to evidence both. Now the best pleas in prayer are those that are taken from God himself, and from that which he has made known of himself. We must wrestle with God in his own strength, both as to the nature of our pleas and the urging of them. The plea here has special reference to the first three petitions; "Father in heaven, thy kingdom come, for thine is the kingdom; thy will be done, for thine is the power; hallowed be thy name, for thine is the glory." And as to our own particular errands, these are encouraging: "Thine is the kingdom; thou hast the government of the world, and the protection of the saints, thy willing subjects in it;" God gives and saves like a king. "Thine is the power, to maintain and support that kingdom, and to make good all thine engagements to thy people." Thine is the glory, as the end of all that which is given to, and done for, the saints, in answer to their prayers; for their praise waiteth for him. This is matter of comfort and holy confidence in prayer.

2. It is a form of praise and thanksgiving. The best pleading with God is praising of him; it is the way to obtain further mercy, as it qualifies us to receive it. In all our addresses to God, it is fit that praise should have a considerable share, for praise becometh the saints; they are to be our God for a name and for a praise. It is just and equal; we praise God, and give him glory, not because he needs it—he is praised by a world of angels, but because he deserves it; and it is our duty to give him glory, in compliance with his design in revealing himself to us. Praise is the work and happiness of heaven; and all that would go to heaven hereafter, must begin their heaven now. Observe, how full this doxology is, The kingdom, and the power, and the glory, it is all thine. Note, It becomes us to be copious in praising God. A true saint never thinks he can speak honourably enough of God: here there should be a gracious fluency, and this for ever. Ascribing glory to God for ever, intimates an acknowledgement, that it is eternally due, and an earnest desire to be eternally doing it, with angels and saints above, Ps. lxxi. 14.

Lastly, To all this we are taught to affix our Amen, so be it. God's Amen is a grant; his fiat is, it shall be so; our Amen is only a summary desire; our fiat is, let it be so: it is in the token of our desire and assurance to be heard, that we say Amen. Amen refers to every petition going before, and thus, in compassion to our infirmities, we are taught to knit up the whole in one word, and so to gather up, in the general, what we have lost and let slip in the particulars. It is good to conclude religious duties with some warmth and vigour, that we may go from them with a sweet savour upon our spirits. It was of old the practice of good people to say, Amen, audibly at the end of every prayer, and it is a commendable practice, provided it be done with understanding, as the apostle directs (1 Cor. xiv. 16), and uprightly, with life and liveliness, and inward expressions, answerable to that outward expression of desire and confidence.

Most of the petitions in the Lord's prayer had been commonly used by the Jews in their devotions, or words to the same effect: but that clause in the fifth petition, As we forgive our debtors, was perfectly new, and therefore our Saviour here shows for what reason he added it, not with any personal reflection upon the peevishness, litigiousness, and ill nature of the men of that generation, though there was cause enough for it, but only from the necessity and importance of the thing itself. God, in forgiving us, has a peculiar respect to our forgiving those that have injured us; and therefore, when we pray for pardon, we must mention our making conscience of that duty, not only to remind ourselves of it, but to bind ourselves to it. See that parable, ch. xviii. 23-35. Selfish nature is loth to comply with this, and therefore it is here inculcated, v. 14, 15.

1. In a promise. If ye forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. Not as if this were the only condition required; there must be repentance and faith, and new obedience; but as where other graces are in truth, there will be this, so this will be a good evidence of the sincerity of our other graces. He that relents toward his brother, thereby shows that he repents toward his God. Those which in the prayer are called debts, are here called trespasses, debts of injury, wrongs done to us in our bodies, goods, or reputation: trespasses is an extenuating term for offences, paraptomata—stumbles, slips, falls. Note, It is a good evidence, and a good help of our forgiving others, to call the injuries done us by a mollifying, excusing name. Call them not treasons, but trespasses; not wilful injuries, but casual inadvertencies; peradventure it was an oversight (Gen. xliii. 12), therefore make the best of it. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven; and therefore must not only bear no malice, nor mediate revenge, but must not upbraid our brother with the injuries he has done us, nor rejoice in any hurt that befals him, but must be ready to help him and do him good, and if he repent and desire to be friends again, we must be free and familiar with him, as before.

2. In a threatening. "But if you forgive not those that have injured you, that is a bad sign you have not the other requisite conditions, but are altogether unqualified for pardon: and therefore your Father, whom you call Father, and who, as a father, offers you his grace upon reasonable terms, will nevertheless not forgive you. And if other grace be sincere, and yet you be defective greatly in forgiving, you cannot expect the comfort of your pardon, but to have your spirit brought down by some affliction or other to comply with this duty." Note, Those who would have found mercy with God must show mercy to their brethren; no can we expect that he should stretch out the hands of his favour to us, unless we lift up to him pure hands, without wrath, 1 Tim. ii. 8. If we pray in anger, we have reason to fear God will answer in anger. It has been said, Prayers made in wrath are written in gall. What reason is it that God should forgive us the talents we are indebted to him, if we forgive not our brethren the pence they are indebted to us? Christ came into the world as the great Peace-Maker, and not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another, and in this we must comply with him. It is great presumption and of dangerous consequence, for any to make a light matter of that which Christ here lays such a stress upon. Men's passions shall not frustrate God's word.

The Sermon on the Mount.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

We are here cautioned against hypocrisy in fasting, as before in almsgiving, and in prayer.

I. It is here supposed that religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, when God, in his providence, calls to it, and when the case of their own souls upon any account requires it; when the bridegroom is taken away, then shall they fast, ch. ix. 15. Fasting is here put last, because it is not so much a duty for its own sake, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Prayer comes in between almsgiving and fasting, as being the life and soul of both. Christ here speaks especially of private fasts, such as particular persons prescribe to themselves, as free-will offerings, commonly used among the pious Jews; some fasted one day, some two, every week; others seldomer, as they saw cause. On those days they did not eat till sun-set, and then very sparingly. It was not the Pharisee's fasting twice in the week, but his boasting of it, that Christ condemned, Luke xviii. 12. It is a laudable practice, and we have reason to lament it, that is so generally neglected among Christians. Anna was much in fasting, Luke ii. 37. Cornelius fasted and prayed, Acts x. 30. The primitive Christians were much in it, see Acts xiii. 3; xiv. 23. Private fasting is supposed, 1 Cor. vii. 5. It is an act of self-denial, and mortification of the flesh, a holy revenge upon ourselves, and humiliation under the hand of God. The most grown Christians must hereby own, they are so far from having any thing to be proud of, that they are unworthy of their daily bread. It is a means to curb the flesh and the desires of it, and to make us more lively in religious exercises, as fulness of bread is apt to make us drowsy. Paul was in fastings often, and so he kept under this body, and brought it into subjection.

II. We are cautioned not to do this as the hypocrites did it, lest we lose the reward of it; and the more difficulty attends the duty, the greater loss it is to lose the reward of it.

Now, 1. The hypocrites pretended fasting, when there was nothing of that contrition or humiliation of soul in them, which is the life and soul of the duty. Theirs were mock-fasts, the show and shadow without the substance; they took on them to be more humbled than really they were, and so endeavored to put a cheat upon God, than which they could not put a greater affront upon him. The fast that God has chosen, is a day to afflict the soul, not to hang down the head like a bulrush, nor for a man to spread sackcloth and ashes under him; we are quite mistaken if we call this a fast, Isa. lviii. 5. Bodily exercise, if that be all, profits little, since that is not fasting to God, even to him.

2. They proclaimed their fasting, and managed it so that all who saw them might take notice that it was a fasting-day with them. Even on these days they appeared in the streets, whereas they should have been in their closets; and the affected a downcast look, a melancholy countenance, a slow and solemn pace; and perfectly disfigured themselves, that men might see how often they fasted, and might extol them as devout, mortified men. Note, It is sad that men, who have, in some measure, mastered their pleasure, which is sensual wickedness, should be ruined by their pride, which is spiritual wickedness, and no less dangerous. Here also they have their reward, that praise and applause of men which they court and covet so much; they have it, and it is their all.

III. We are directed how to manage a private fast; we must keep it in private, v. 17, 18. He does not tell us how often we must fast; circumstances vary, and wisdom is profitable therein to direct; the Spirit in the word has left that to the Spirit in the heart; but take this for a rule, whenever you undertake this duty, study therein to approve yourselves to God, and not to recommend yourselves to the good opinion of men; humility must evermore attend upon our humiliation. Christ does not direct to abate any thing of the reality of the fast; he does not say,"take a little meat, or a little drink, or a little cordial;" no, "let the body suffer, but lay aside the show and appearance of it; appear with thy ordinary countenance, guise, and dress; and while thou deniest thyself thy bodily refreshments, do it so as that it may not be taken notice of, no, not by those that are nearest to thee; look pleasant, anoint thine head and wash thy face, as thou dost on ordinary days, on purpose to conceal thy devotion; and thou shalt be no loser in the praise of it at last; for though it be not of men, it shall be of God." Fasting is the humbling of the soul (Ps. xxxv. 13), that is the inside of the duty; let that therefore be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. If we be sincere in our solemn fasts, and humble, and trust God's omniscience for our witness, and his goodness for our reward, we shall find, both that he did see in secret, and will reward openly. Religious fasts, if rightly kept, will shortly be recompensed with an everlasting feast. Our acceptance with God in our private fasts should make us dead, both to the applause of men (we must not do the duty in hopes of this), and to the censures of men too (we must not decline the duty for fear of them). David's fasting was turned to his reproach, Ps. lxix. 10; and yet, v. 13, As for me, let them say what they will of me, my prayer is unto thee in an acceptable time.

The Sermon on the Mount.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Worldly-mindedness is as common and as fatal a symptom of hypocrisy as any other, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a visible and passable profession of religion, than by this; and therefore Christ, having warned us against coveting the praise of men, proceeds next to warn us against coveting the wealth of the world; in this also we must take heed, lest we be as the hypocrites are, and do as they do: the fundamental error that they are guilty of is, that they choose the world for their reward; we must therefore take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness, in the choice we make of our treasure, our end, and our masters.

I. In choosing the treasure we lay up. Something or other every man has which he makes his treasure, his portion, which his heart is upon, to which he carries all he can get, and which he depends upon for futurity. It is that good, that chief good, which Solomon speaks of with such an emphasis, Eccl. ii. 3. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing, which it has a complacency and confidence in above other things. Now Christ designs not to deprive us of our treasure, but to direct us in the choice of it; and here we have,

1. A good caution against making the things that are seen, that are temporal, our best things, and placing our happiness in them. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. Christ's disciples had left all to follow him, let them still keep in the same good mind. A treasure is an abundance of something that is in itself, at least in our opinion, precious and valuable, and likely to stand us in stead hereafter. Now we must not lay up our treasures on earth, that is, (1.) We must not count these things the best things, nor the most valuable in themselves, nor the most serviceable to us: we must not call them glory, as Laban's sons did, but see and own that they have no glory in comparison with the glory that excelleth. (2.) We must not covet an abundance of these things, nor be still grasping at more and more of them, and adding to them, as men do to that which is their treasure, as never knowing when we have enough. (3.) We must not confide in them for futurity, to be our security and supply in time to come; we must not say to the gold, Thou art my hope. (4.) We must not content ourselves with them, as all we need or desire: we must be content with a little for our passage, but not with all for our portion. These things must not be made our consolation (Luke vi. 24), our good things, Luke xvi. 25. Let us consider we are laying up, not for our posterity in this world, but for ourselves in the other world. We are put to our choice, and made in a manner our own carvers; that is ours which we lay up for ourselves. It concerns thee to choose wisely, for thou art choosing for thyself, and shalt have as thou choosest. If we know and consider ourselves what we are, what we are made for, how large our capacities are, and how long our continuance, and that our souls are ourselves, we shall see it is foolish thing to lay up our treasures on earth.

2. Here is a good reason given why we should not look upon any thing on earth as our treasure, because it is liable to loss and decay: (1.) From corruption within. That which is treasure upon earth moth and rust do corrupt. If the treasure be laid up in fine clothes, the moth frets them, and they are gone and spoiled insensibly, when we thought them most securely laid up. If it be in corn or other eatables, as his was who had his barns full (Luke xii. 16, 17), rust (so we read it) corrupts that: Brosis—eating, eating by men, for as goods are increased they are increased that eat them (Eccl. v. 11); eating by mice or other vermin; manna itself bred worms; or it grows mouldy and musty, is struck, or smutted, or blasted; fruits soon rot. Or, if we understand it of silver and gold, they tarnish and canker; they grow less with using, and grow worse with keeping (Jam. v. 2, 3); the rust and the moth breed in the metal itself and in the garment itself. Note, Worldly riches have in themselves a principal of corruption and decay; they wither of themselves, and make themselves wings. (2.) From violence without. Thieves break through and steal. Every hand of violence will be aiming at the house where treasure is laid up; nor can any thing be laid up so safe, but we may be spoiled of it. Numquam ego fortunæ credidi, etiam si videretur pacem agere; omnia illa quæ in me indulgentissime conferebat, pecuniam, honores, gloriam, eo loco posui, unde posset ea, since metu meo, repetere—I never reposed confidence in fortune, even if she seemed propitious: whatever were the favours which her bounty bestowed, whether wealth, honours, or glory, I so disposed of them, that it was in her power to recall them without occasioning me any alarm. Seneca. Consol. ad Helv. It is folly to make that our treasure which we may so easily be robbed of.

3. Good counsel, to make the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen that are eternal, our best things, and to place our happiness in them. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Note, (1.) There are treasures in heaven, as sure as there are on this earth; and those in heaven are the only true treasures, the riches and glories and pleasures that are at God's right hand, which those that are sanctified truly arrive at, when they come to be sanctified perfectly. (2.) It is our wisdom to lay up our treasure in those treasures; to give all diligence to make sure our title to eternal life through Jesus Christ, and to depend upon that as our happiness, and look upon all things here below with a holy contempt, as not worthy to be compared with it. We must firmly believe there is such a happiness, and resolve to be content with that, and to be content with nothing short of it. If we thus make those treasures ours, they are laid up, and we may trust God to keep them safe for us; thither let us then refer all our designs, and extend all our desires; thither let us send before our best efforts and best affections. Let us not burthen ourselves with the cash of this world, which will but load and defile us, and be liable to sink us, but lay up in store good securities. The promises are bills of exchange, by which all true believers return their treasure to heaven, payable in the future state: and thus we make that sure that will be made sure. (3.) It is a great encouragement to us to lay up our treasure in heaven, that there it is safe; it will not decay of itself, no moth nor rust will corrupt it; nor can we be by force or fraud deprived of it; thieves do not break through and steal. It is a happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible.

4. A good reason why we should thus choose, and an evidence that we have done so (v. 21), Where your treasure is, on earth or in heaven, there will you heart be. We are therefore concerned to be right and wise in the choice of our treasure, because the temper of our minds, and consequently the tenor of our lives, will be accordingly either carnal or spiritual, earthly or heavenly. The heart follows the treasure, as the needle follows the loadstone, or the sunflower the sun. Where the treasure is there the value and esteem are, there the love and affection are (Col. iii. 2), that way the desires and pursuits go, thitherward the aims and intents are levelled, and all is done with that in view. Where the treasure is, there our cares and fears are, lest we come short of it; about that we are most solicitous; there our hope and trust are (Prov. xviii. 10, 11); there our joys and delights will be (Ps. cxix. 111); and there our thoughts will be, there the inward thought will be, the first thought, the free thought, the fixed thought, the frequent, the familiar thought. The heart is God's due (Prov. xxiii. 26), and that he may have it, our treasure must be laid up with him, and then our souls will be lifted up to him.

This direction about laying up our treasure, may very fitly be applied to the foregoing caution, of not doing what we do in religion to be seen of men. Our treasure is our alms, prayers, and fastings, and the reward of them; if we have done these only to gain the applause of men, we have laid up this treasure on earth, have lodged it in the hands of men, and must never expect to hear any further of it. Now it is folly to do this, for the praise of men we covet so much is liable to corruption: it will soon be rusted, and moth-eaten, and tarnished; a little folly, like a dead fly, will spoil it all, Eccl. x. 1. Slander and calumny are thieves that break through and steal it away, and so we lose all the treasure of our performances; we have run in vain, and laboured in vain, because we misplaced our intentions in doing of them. Hypocritical services lay up nothing in heaven (Isa. lviii. 3); the gain of them is gone, when the soul is called for, Job xxvii. 8. But if we have prayed and fasted and given alms in truth and uprightness, with an eye to God and to his acceptance, and have approved ourselves to him therein, we have laid up that treasure in heaven; a book of remembrance is written there (Mal. iii. 16), and being there recorded, they shall be there rewarded, and we shall meet them again with comfort on the other side death and the grave. Hypocrites are written in the earth (Jer. xvii. 13), but God's faithful ones have their names written in heaven, Luke x. 20. Acceptance with God is treasure in heaven, which can neither be corrupted nor stolen. His well done shall stand for ever; and if we have thus laid up our treasure with him, with him our hearts will be; and where can they be better?

II. We must take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness in choosing the end we look at. Our concern as to this is represented by two sorts of eyes which men have, a single eye and an evil eye, v. 22, 23. The expressions here are somewhat dark because concise; we shall therefore take them in some variety of interpretation. The light of the body is the eye, that is plain; the eye is discovering and directing; the light of the world would avail us little without this light of the body; it is the light of the eye that rejoiceth the heart (Prov. xv. 30), but what is that which is here compared to the eye in the body.

1. The eye, that is, the heart (so some) if that be single—haplous—free and bountiful (so the word is frequently rendered, as Rom. xii. 8; 2 Cor. viii. 2, ix. 11, 13; Jam. i. 5, and we read of a bountiful eye, Prov. xxii. 9). If the heart be liberally affected and stand inclined to goodness and charity, it will direct the man to Christian actions, the whole conversation will be full of light, full of evidences and instances of true Christianity, that pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father (Jam. i. 27), full of light, of good works, which are our light shining before men; but if the heart be evil, covetous, and hard, and envious, griping and grudging (such a temper of mind is often expressed by an evil eye, ch. xx. 15; Mark vii. 22; Prov. xxiii. 6, 7), the body will be full of darkness, the whole conversation will be heathenish and unchristian. The instruments of the churl are and always will be evil, but the liberal deviseth liberal things, Isa. xxxii. 5-8. If the light that is in us, those affections which should guide us to that which is good, be darkness, if these be corrupt and worldly, if there be not so much as good nature in a man, not so much as a kind disposition, how great is the corruption of a man, and the darkness in which he sits! This sense seems to agree with the context; we must lay up treasure in heaven by liberality in giving alms, and that not grudgingly but with cheerfulness, Luke xii. 33; 2 Cor. ix. 7. But these words in the parallel place do not come in upon any such occasion, Luke xi. 34, and therefore the coherence here does not determine that to be the sense of them.

2. The eye, that is, the understanding (so some); the practical judgment, the conscience, which is to the other faculties of the soul, as the eye is to the body, to guide and direct their motions; now if this eye be single, if it make a true and right judgment, and discern things that differ, especially in the great concern of laying up the treasure so as to choose aright in that, it will rightly guide the affections and actions, which will all be full of the light of grace and comfort; but if this be evil and corrupt, and instead of leading the inferior powers, is led, and bribed, and biassed by them, if this be erroneous and misinformed, the heart and life must needs be full of darkness, and the whole conversation corrupt. They that will not understand, are said to walk on in darkness, Ps. lxxxii. 5. It is sad when the spirit of a man, that should be the candle of the Lord, is an ignis fatuus: when the leaders of the people, the leaders of the faculties, cause them to err, for then they that are led of them are destroyed, Isa. ix. 16. An error in the practical judgment is fatal, it is that which calls evil good and good evil (Isa. v. 20); therefore it concerns us to understand things aright, to get our eyes anointed with eye-salve.

3. The eye, that is, the aims and intentions; by the eye we set our end before us, the mark we shoot at, the place we go to, we keep that in view, and direct our motion accordingly; in every thing we do in religion; there is something or other that we have in our eye; now if our eye be single, if we aim honestly, fix right ends, and move rightly towards them, if we aim purely and only at the glory of God, seek his honor and favour, and direct all entirely to him, then the eye is single; Paul's was so when he said, To me to live is Christ; and if we be right here, the whole body will be full of light, all the actions will be regular and gracious, pleasing to God and comfortable to ourselves; but if this eye be evil, if, instead of aiming only at the glory of God, and our acceptance with him, we look aside at the applause of men, and while we profess to honour God, contrive to honour ourselves, and seek our own things under colour of seeking the things of Christ, this spoils all, the whole conversation will be perverse and unsteady, and the foundations being thus out of course, there can be nothing but confusion and every evil work in the superstructure. Draw the lines from the circumference to any other point but the centre, and they will cross. If the light that is in thee be not only dim, but darkness itself, it is a fundamental error, and destructive to all that follows. The end specifies the action. It is of the last importance in religion, that we be right in our aims, and make eternal things, not temporal, our scope, 2 Cor. iv. 18. The hypocrite is like the waterman, that looks one way and rows another; the true Christian like the traveller, that has his journey's end in his eye. The hypocrite soars like the kite, with his eye upon the prey below, which he is ready to come down to when he has a fair opportunity; the true Christian soars like the lark, higher and higher, forgetting the things that are beneath.

III. We must take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness in choosing the master we serve, v. 24. No man can serve two masters. Serving two masters is contrary to the single eye; for the eye will be to the master's hand, Ps. cxxiii. 1, 2. Our Lord Jesus here exposes the cheat which those put upon their own souls, who think to divide between God and the world, to have a treasure on earth, and a treasure in heaven too, to please God and please men too. Why not? says the hypocrite; it is good to have two strings to one's bow. They hope to make their religion serve their secular interest, and so turn to account both ways. The pretending mother was for dividing the child; the Samaritans will compound between God and idols. No, says Christ, this will not do; it is but a supposition that gain is godliness, 1 Tim. vi. 5. Here is,

1. A general maxim laid down; it is likely it was a proverb among the Jews, No man can serve two masters, much less two gods; for their commands will some time or other cross or contradict one another, and their occasions interfere. While two masters go together, a servant may follow them both; but when they part, you will see to which he belongs; he cannot love, and observe, and cleave to both as he should. If to the one, not to the other; either this or that must be comparatively hated and despised. This truth is plain enough in common cases.

2. The application of it to the business in hand. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is a Syriac word, that signifies gain; so that whatever in this world is, or is accounted by us to be, gain (Phil. iii. 7), is mammon. Whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is mammon. To some their belly is their mammon, and they serve that (Phil. iii. 19); to others their ease, their sleep, their sports and pastimes, are their mammon (Prov. vi. 9); to others worldly riches (James iv. 13); to others honours and preferments; the praise and applause of men was the Pharisees' mammon; in a word, self, the unity in which the world's trinity centres, sensual, secular self, is the mammon which cannot be served in conjunction with God; for if it be served, it is in competition with him and in contradiction to him. He does not say, We must not or we should not, but we cannot serve God and Mammon; we cannot love both (1 John ii. 15; Jam. iv. 4); or hold to both, or hold by both in observance, obedience, attendance, trust, and dependence, for they are contrary the one to the other. God says, "My son, give me thy heart." Mammon says, "No, give it me." God says, "Be content with such things as ye have." Mammon says, "Grasp at all that ever thou canst. Rem, rem, quocunque modo rem—Money, money; by fair means or by foul, money." God says, "Defraud not, never lie, be honest and just in all thy dealings." Mammon says "Cheat thine own Father, if thou canst gain by it." God says, "Be charitable." Mammon says, "Hold thy own: this giving undoes us all." God says, "Be careful for nothing." Mammon says, "Be careful for every thing." God says, "Keep holy thy sabbath-day." Mammon says, "Make use of that day as well as any other for the world." Thus inconsistent are the commands of God and Mammon, so that we cannot serve both. Let us not then halt between God and Baal, but choose ye this day whom ye will serve, and abide by our choice.

The Sermon on the Mount.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly warns his disciples, or against which he arms them with more variety of arguments, than the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life, which are a bad sign that both the treasure and the heart are on the earth; and therefore he thus largely insists upon it. Here is,

I. The prohibition laid down. It is the counsel and command of the Lord Jesus, that we take no thought about the things of this world; I say unto you. He says it as our Lawgiver, and the Sovereign of our hearts; he says it as our Comforter, and the Helper of our joy. What is it that he says? It is this, and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear it. Take no thought for your life, nor yet for your body (v. 25). Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? (v. 31) and again (v. 34), Take no thought, me merimnate—Be not in care. As against hypocrisy, so against worldly cares, the caution is thrice repeated, and yet no vain repetition: precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, to the same purport, and all little enough; it is a sin which doth so easily beset us. It intimates how pleasing it is to Christ, and of how much concern it is to ourselves, that we should live without carefulness. It is the repeated command of the Lord Jesus to his disciples, that they should not divide and pull in pieces their own minds with care about the world. There is a thought concerning the things of this life, which is not only lawful, but duty, such as is commended in the virtuous woman. See Prov. xxvii. 23. The word is used concerning Paul's care of the churches, and Timothy's care for the state of souls, 2 Cor. xi. 28; Phil. ii. 20.

But the thought here forbidden is, 1. A disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries the mind hither and thither, and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God, and is a damp upon our hope in him; which breaks the sleep, and hinders our enjoyment of ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given us. 2. A distrustful, unbelieving thought. God has promised to provide for those that are his all things needful for life as well as godliness, the life that now is, food and a covering: not dainties, but necessaries. He never said, "They shall be feasted," but, "Verily, they shall be fed." Now an inordinate care for time to come, and fear of wanting those supplies, spring from a disbelief of these promises, and of the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence; and that is the evil of it. As to present sustenance, we may and must use lawful means to get it, else we tempt God; we must be diligent in our callings, and prudent in proportioning our expenses to what we have, and we must pray for daily bread; and if all other means fail, we may and must ask relief of those that are able to give it. He was none of the best of men that said, To beg I am ashamed (Luke xvi. 3); as he was, who (v. 21) desired to be fed with the crumbs; but for the future, we must cast our care upon God, and take no thought, because it looks like a jealousy of God, who knows how to give what we want when we know not now to get it. Let our souls dwell at ease in him! This gracious carelessness is the same with that sleep which God gives to his beloved, in opposition to the worldling's toil, Ps. cxxvii. 2. Observe the cautions here,

(1.) Take no thought for your life. Life is our greatest concern for this world; All that a man has will he give for his life; yet take no thought about it. [1.] Not about the continuance of it; refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; my times are in thy hand, and they are in a good hand. [2.] Not about the comforts of this life; refer it to God to embitter or sweeten it as he pleases. We must not be solicitous, no not about the necessary support of this life, food and raiment; these God has promised, and therefore we may more confidently expect; say not, What shall we eat? It is the language of one at a loss, and almost despairing; whereas, though many good people have the prospect of little, yet there are few but have present support.

(2.) Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not solicitous for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of to-morrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it.

II. The reasons and arguments to enforce this prohibition. One would think the command of Christ was enough to restrain us from this foolish sin of disquieting, distrustful care, independently of the comfort of our own souls, which is so nearly concerned; but to show how much the heart of Christ is upon it, and what pleasures he takes in those that hope in his mercy, the command is backed with the most powerful arguments. If reason may but rule us, surely we shall ease ourselves of these thorns. To free us from anxious thoughts, and to expel them, Christ here suggests to us comforting thoughts, that we may be filled with them. It will be worth while to take pains with our own hearts, to argue them out of their disquieting cares, and to make ourselves ashamed of them. They may be weakened by right reason, but it is by an active faith only that they can be overcome. Consider then,

1. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? v. 25. Yes, no doubt it is; so he says who had reason to understand the true value of present things, for he made them, he supports them, and supports us by them; and the thing speaks for itself. Note, (1.) Our life is a greater blessing than our livelihood. It is true, life cannot subsist without a livelihood; but the meat and raiment which are here represented as inferior to the life and body are such as are for ornament and delight; for about such as are for ornament ad delight; for about such we are apt to be solicitous. Meat and raiment are in order to life, and the end is more noble and excellent than the means. The daintiest food and finest raiment are from the earth, but life from the breath of God. Life is the light of men; meat is but the oil that feeds that light: so that the difference between rich and poor is very inconsiderable, since, in the greatest things, they stand on the same level, and differ only in the less. (2.) This is an encouragement to us to trust God for food and raiment, and so to ease ourselves of all perplexing cares about them. God has given us life, and given us the body; it was an act of power, it was an act of favour, it was done without our care: what cannot he do for us, who did that?—what will he not? If we take care about our souls and eternity, which are more than the body, and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. God has maintained our lives hitherto; if sometimes with pulse and water, that has answered the end; he has protected us and kept us alive. He that guards us against the evils we are exposed to, will supply us with the good things we are in need of. If he had been pleased to kill us, to starve us, he would not so often have given his angels a charge concerning us to keep us.

2. Behold the fowls of the air, and consider the lilies of the field. Here is an argument taken from God's common providence toward the inferior creatures, and their dependence, according to their capacities, upon that providence. A fine pass fallen man has come to, that he must be sent to school to the fowls of the air, and that they must teach him! Job xii. 7, 8.

(1.) Look upon the fowls, and learn to trust God for food (v. 26), and disquiet not yourselves with thoughts what you shall eat.

[1.] Observe the providence of God concerning them. Look upon them, and receive instruction. There are various sorts of fowls; they are numerous, some of them ravenous, but they are all fed, and fed with food convenient for them; it is rare that any of them perish for want of food, even in winter, and there goes no little to feed them all the year round. The fowls, as they are least serviceable to man, so they are least within his care; men often feed upon them, but seldom feed them; yet they are fed, we know not how, and some of them fed best in the hardest weather; and it is your heavenly Father that feeds them; he knows all the wild fowls of the mountains, better than you know the tame ones at your own barn-door, Ps. l. 11. Not a sparrow lights to the ground, to pick up a grain of corn, but by the providence of God, which extends itself to the meanest creatures. But that which is especially observed here is, that they are fed without any care or project of their own; they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. The ant indeed does, and the bee, and they are set before us as examples of prudence and industry; but the fowls of the air do not; they make no provision for the future themselves, and yet every day, as duly as the day comes, provision is made for them, and their eyes wait on God, that great and good Housekeeper, who provides food for all flesh.

[2.] Improve this for your encouragement to trust in God. Are ye not much better than they? Yes, certainly you are. Note, The heirs of heaven are much better than the fowls of heaven; nobler and more excellent beings, and, by faith, they soar higher; they are of a better nature and nurture, wiser than the fowls of heaven (Job xxxv. 11): though the children of this world, that know not the judgment of the Lord, are not so wise as the stork, and the crane, and the swallow (Jer. viii. 7), you are dearer to God, and nearer, though they fly in the open firmament of heaven. He is their Master and Lord, their Owner and Master; but besides all this, he is your Father, and in his account ye are of more value than many sparrows; you are his children, his first-born; now he that feeds his birds surely will not starve his babes. They trust your Father's providence, and will not you trust it? In dependence upon that, they are careless for the morrow; and being so, they live the merriest lives of all creatures; they sing among the branches (Ps. civ. 12), and, to the best of their power, they praise their Creator. If we were, by faith, as unconcerned about the morrow as they are, we should sing as cheerfully as they do; for it is worldly care that mars our mirth and damps our joy, and silences our praise, as much as any thing.

(2.) Look upon the lilies, and learn to trust God for raiment. That is another part of our care, what we shall put on; for decency, to cover us; for defence, to keep us warm; yea, and, with many, for dignity and ornament, to make them look great and fine; and so much concerned are they for gaiety and variety in their clothing, that this care returns almost as often as that for their daily bread. Now to ease us of this care, let us consider the lilies of the field; not only look upon them (every eyes does that with pleasure), but consider them. Note, There is a great deal of good to be learned from what we see every day, if we would but consider it, Prov. vi. 6; xxiv. 32.

[1.] Consider how frail the lilies are; they are the grass of the field. Lilies, though distinguished by their colours, are still but grass. Thus all flesh is grass: though some in the endowments of body and mind are as lilies, much admired, still they are grass; the grass of the field in nature and constitution; they stand upon the same level with others. Man's days, at best, are as grass, as the flower of the grass 1 Pet. i. 24. This grass to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; in a little while the place that knows us will know us no more. The grave is the oven into which we shall be cast, and in which we shall be consumed as grass in the fire, Ps. xlix. 14. This intimates a reason why we should not take thought for the morrow, what we shall put on, because perhaps, by to-morrow, we may have occasion for our grave-clothes.

[2.] Consider how free from care the lilies are: they toil not as men do, to earn clothing; as servants, to earn their liveries; neither do they spin, as women do, to make clothing. It does not follow that we must therefore neglect, or do carelessly, the proper business of this life; it is the praise of the virtuous woman, that she lays her hand to the spindle, makes fine linen and sells it, Prov. xxxi. 19, 24. Idleness tempts God, instead of trusting him; but he that provides for inferior creatures, without their labour, will much more provide for us, by blessing our labour, which he has made our duty. And if we should, through sickness, be unable to toil and spin, God can furnish us with what is necessary for us.

[3.] Consider how fair, how fine the lilies are; how they grow; what they grow from. The root of the lily or tulip, as other bulbous roots, is, in winter, lost and buried under ground, yet, when spring returns, it appears, and starts up in a little time; hence it is promised to God's Israel, that they should grow as the lily, Hos. xiv. 5. Consider what they grow to. Out of that obscurity in a few weeks they come to be so very gay, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. The array of Solomon was very splendid and magnificent: he that had the peculiar treasure of kings and provinces, and studiously affected pomp and gallantry, doubtless had the richest clothing, and the best made up, that could be got; especially when he appeared in his glory on high days. And yet, let him dress himself as fine as he could, he comes far short of the beauty of the lilies, and a bed of tulips outshines him. Let us, therefore, be ambitious of the wisdom of Solomon, in which he was outdone by none (wisdom to do our duty in our places), rather than the glory of Solomon, in which he was outdone by the lilies. Knowledge and grace are the perfection of man, not beauty, much less fine clothes. Now God is here said thus to clothe the grass of the field. Note, All the excellences of the creature flow from God, the Fountain and spring of them. It was he that gave the horse his strength, and the lily its beauty; every creature is in itself, as well as to us, what he makes it to be.

[4.] Consider how instructive all this is to us, v. 30.

First, As to fine clothing, this teaches us not to care for it at all, not to covet it, nor to be proud of it, not to make the putting on of apparel our adorning, for after all our care in this the lilies will far outdo us; we cannot dress so fine as they do, why then should we attempt to vie with them? Their adorning will soon perish, and so will ours; they fade—are to-day, and to-morrow are cast, as other rubbish, into the oven; and the clothes we are proud of are wearing out, the gloss is soon gone, the color fades, the shape goes out of fashion, or in awhile the garment itself is worn out; such is man in all his pomp (Isa. xl. 6, 7), especially rich men (Jam. i. 10); they fade away in their ways.

Secondly, As to necessary clothing; this teaches us to cast the care of it upon God—Jehovah-jireh; trust him that clothes the lilies, to provide for you what you shall put on. If he give such fine clothes to the grass, much more will he give fitting clothes to his own children; clothes that shall be warm upon them, not only when he quieteth the earth with the south wind, but when he disquiets it with the north wind, Job xxxvii. 17. He shall much more clothe you: for you are nobler creatures, of a more excellent being; if so he clothe the short-lived grass, much more will he clothe you that are made for immortality. Even the children of Nineveh are preferred before the gourd (Jonah iv. 10, 11), much more the sons of Zion, that are in covenant with God. Observe the title he gives them (v. 30), O ye of little faith. This may be taken, 1. As an encouragement to truth faith, though it be but weak; it entitles us to the divine care, and a promise of suitable supply. Great faith shall be commended, and shall procure great things, but little faith shall not be rejected, even that shall procure food and raiment. Sound believers shall be provided for, though they be not strong believers. The babes in the family are fed and clothed, as well as those that are grown up, and with a special care and tenderness; say not, I am but a child, but a dry tree (Isa. lvi. 3, 5), for though poor and needy yet the Lord thinketh on thee. Or, 2. It is rather a rebuke to weak faith, though it be true, ch. xiv. 31. It intimates what is at the bottom of all our inordinate care and thoughtfulness; it is owing to the weakness of our faith, and the remains of unbelief in us. If we had but more faith, we should have less care.

3. Which of you, the wisest, the strongest of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature? (v. 27) to his age, so some; but the measure of a cubit denotes it to be meant of the stature, and the age at longest is but a span, Ps. xxxix. 5. Let us consider, (1.) We did not arrive at the stature we are of by our own care and thought, but by the providence of God. An infant of a span long has grown up to be a man of six feet, and how was one cubit after another added to his stature? not by his own forecast or contrivance; he grew he knew not how, by the power and goodness of God. Now he that made our bodies, and made them of such size, surely will take care to provide for them. Note, God is to be acknowledged in the increase of our bodily strength and stature, and to be trusted for all needful supplies, because he has made it to appear, that he is mindful for the body. The growing age is the thoughtless, careless age, yet we grow; and shall not he who reared us to this, provide for us now we are reared? (2.) We cannot alter the stature we are of, if we would: what a foolish and ridiculous thing would it be for a man of low stature to perplex himself, to break his sleep, and beat his brains, about it, and to be continually taking thought how he might be a cubit higher; when, after all, he knows he cannot effect it, and therefore he had better be content and take it as it is! We are not all of a size, yet the difference in stature between one and another is not material, nor of any great account; a little man is ready to wish he were as tall as such a one, but he knows it is to no purpose, and therefore does as well as he can with it. Now as we do in reference to our bodily stature, so we should do in reference to our worldly estate. [1.] We should not covet an abundance of the wealth of this world, any more than we would covet the addition of a cubit to one's stature, which is a great deal in a man's height; it is enough to grow by inches; such an addition would but make one unwieldy, and a burden to one's self. [2.] We must reconcile ourselves to our state, as we do to our stature; we must set the conveniences against the inconveniences, and so make a virtue of necessity: what cannot be remedied must be made the best of. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, and therefore must acquiesce in them, accommodate ourselves to them, and relieve ourselves, as well as we can, against inconveniences, as Zaccheus against the inconvenience of his stature, by climbing into the tree.

4. After all these things do the Gentiles seek, v. 32. Thoughtfulness about the world is a heathenish sin, and unbecoming Christians. The Gentiles seek these things, because they know not better things; they are eager for this world, because they are strangers to a better; they seek these things with care and anxiety, because they are without God in the world, and understand not his providence. They fear and worship their idols, but know not how to trust them for deliverance and supply, and, therefore, are themselves full of care; but it is a shame for Christians, who build upon nobler principles, and profess a religion which teaches them not only that there is a Providence, but that there are promises made to the good of the life that now is, which teaches them a confidence in God and a contempt of the world, and gives such reasons for both; it is a shame for them to walk as Gentiles walk, and to fill their heads and hearts with these things.

5. Your heavenly Father knows ye have need of all these things; these necessary things, food and raiment; he knows our wants better than we do ourselves; though he be in heaven, and his children on earth, he observes what the least and poorest of them has occasion for (Rev. ii. 9), I know thy poverty. You think, if such a good friend did not but know your wants and straits, you would soon have relief: your God knows them; and he is your Father that loves you and pities you, and is ready to help you; your heavenly Father, who has wherewithal to supply all your needs: away, therefore, with all disquieting thoughts and cares; go to thy Father; tell him, he knows that thou has need of such and such things; he asks you, Children, have you any meat? John xxi. 5. Tell him whether you have or have not. Though he knows our wants, he will know them from us; and when we have opened them to him, let us cheerfully refer ourselves to his wisdom, power, and goodness, for our supply. Therefore, we should ease ourselves of the burthen of care, by casting it upon God, because it is he that careth for us (1 Pet. v. 7), and what needs all this ado? If he care, why should be care?

6. Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. v. 33. Here is a double argument against the sin of thoughtfulness; take no thought for your life, the life of the body; for, (1.) You have greater and better things to take thought about, the life of your soul, your eternal happiness; that is the one thing needful (Luke x. 42), about which you should employ your thoughts, and which is commonly neglected in those hearts wherein worldly cares have the ascendant. If we were but more careful to please God, and to work out our own salvation, we should be less solicitous to please ourselves, and work out an estate in the world. Thoughtfulness for our souls in the most effectual cure of thoughtfulness for the world. (2.) You have a surer and easier, a safer and more compendious way to obtain the necessaries of this life, than by carking, and caring, and fretting about them; and that is, by seeking first the kingdom of God, and making religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve, no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. Observe here,

[1.] The great duty required: it is the sum and substance of our whole duty: "Seek first the kingdom of God, mind religion as your great and principle concern." Our duty is to seek; to desire, pursue, and aim at these things; it is a word that has in it much of the constitution of the new covenant in favour of us; though we have not attained, but in many things fail and come short, sincere seeking (a careful concern and an earnest endeavor) is accepted. Now observe, First, The object of this seeking; The kingdom of God, and his righteousness; we must mind heaven as our end, and holiness as our way. "Seek the comforts of the kingdom of grace and glory as your felicity. Aim at the kingdom of heaven; press towards it; give diligence to make it sure; resolve not to take up short of it; seek for this glory, honour, and immortality; prefer heaven and heavenly blessings far before earth and earthly delights." We make nothing of our religion, if we do not make heaven of it. And with the happiness of this kingdom, seek the righteousness of it; God's righteousness, the righteousness which he requires to be wrought in us, and wrought by us, such as exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees; we must follow peace and holiness, Heb. xii. 14. Secondly, The order of it. Seek first the kingdom of God. Let your care for your souls and another world take the place of all other cares: and let all the concerns of this life be made subordinate to those of the life to come: we must seek the things of Christ more than our own things; and if every they come in competition, we must remember to which we are to give the preference. "Seek these things first; first in thy days: let the morning of thy youth be dedicated to God. Wisdom must be sought early; it is good beginning betimes to be religious. Seek the first every day; let waking thoughts be of God." Let this be our principle, to do that first which is most needful, and let him that is the First, have the first.

[2.] The gracious promise annexed; all these things, the necessary supports of life, shall be added unto you; shall be given over and above; so it is in the margin. You shall have what you seek, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, for never any sought in vain, that sought in earnest; and besides that, you shall have food and raiment, by way of overplus; as he that buys goods has paper and packthread given him in the bargain. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is, 1 Tim. iv. 8. Solomon asked wisdom, and had that and other things added to him, 2 Chron. i. 11, 12. O what a blessed change would it make in our hearts and lives, did we but firmly believe this truth, that the best way to be comfortably provided for in this world, is to be most intent upon another world! We then begin at the right end of our work, when we begin with God. If we give diligence to make sure to ourselves the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, as to all the things of this life, Jehovah-jireh—the Lord will provide as much of them as he sees good for us, and more we would not wish for. Have we trusted in him for the portion of our inheritance at our end, and shall we not trust him for the portion of our cup, in the way to it? God's Israel were not only brought to Canaan at last, but had their charges borne through the wilderness. O that we were more thoughtful about the things that are not seen, that are eternal, and then the less thoughtful we should be, and the less thoughtful we should need to be, about the things that are seen, that are temporal! Also regard not your stuff, Gen. xlv. 20, 23.

7. The morrow shall take thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, v. 34. We must not perplex ourselves inordinately about future events, because every day brings along with it its own burthen of cares and grievances, as, if we look about us, and suffer not our fears to betray the succours which grace and reason offer, it brings along with it its own strength and supply too. So that we are here told,

(1.) That thoughtfulness for the morrow is needless; Let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. If wants and troubles be renewed with the day, there are aids and provisions renewed likewise; compassions, that are new every morning, Lam. iii. 22, 23. The saints have a Friend that is their arm every morning, and gives out fresh supplies daily (Isa. xxxiii. 2), according as the business of every day requires (Ezra iii. 4), and so he keeps his people in constant dependence upon him. Let us refer it therefore to the morrow's strength, to do the morrow's work, and bear the morrow's burthen. To-morrow, and the things of it, will be provided for without us; why need we anxiously care for that which is so wisely cared for already? This does not forbid a prudent foresight, and preparation accordingly, but a perplexing solicitude, and a prepossession of difficulties and calamities, which may perhaps never come, or if they do, may be easily borne, and the evil of them guarded against. The meaning is, let us mind present duty, and then leave events to God; do the work of the day in its day, and then let to-morrow bring its work along with it.

(2.) That thoughtfulness for the morrow is one of those foolish and hurtful lusts, which those that will be rich fall into, and one of the many sorrows, wherewith they pierce themselves through. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. This present day has trouble enough attending it, we need not accumulate burthens by anticipating our trouble, nor borrow perplexities from to-morrow's evils to add to those of this day. It is uncertain what to-morrow's evils may be, but whatever they be, it is time enough to take thought about them when they come. What a folly it is to take that trouble upon ourselves this day by care and fear, which belongs to another day, and will be never the lighter when it comes? Let us not pull that upon ourselves all together at once, which Providence has wisely ordered to be borne by parcels. The conclusion of this whole matter then is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that his disciples should not be their own tormentors, nor make their passage through this world more dark and unpleasant, by their apprehension of troubles, than God has made it by the troubles themselves. By our daily prayers we may procure strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us.

CHAP. VI.

Verse 1. Take heed that ye doe not your almes] YOur justice, saith the Syriack. For first, We doe the poor but right when we releeve them; for they have an interest in our goods, by vertue of the communion of Saints: whereupon [illegible: 1 word], Withhold not, saith he, good from the owners thereof: i. e. thy poor brethren. [illegible: 1 word], the great Authour and owner of all, hath [illegible: 1 word] Prov. 3. 27. A leo [illegible: 1 word] agimus, [illegible: 1 word]: [illegible: 2 words], alier um. [illegible: 1 word]. the rich (as his stewards, as his Almoners) with the wealth of this world. He hath entrusted them, I say, not lent it them, (to speak properly, for that which is lent, is our own at least for a time) but put it into their hands only, for this end, that their abundance may be a supply for others wants, 2 Cor. 8 9. that their full cups may over-flow into others lesser [illegible: 1 word], &c. which if it be not done, they can bring in no good bills of account. It is [illegible: 1 word] Rapina est [illegible: 1 word] non [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. justice then that we doe the poor, and it is rapine or robbery (saith S. Chrysostom) not to relieve them. Secondly, Almes is called Justice, to teach, that almes should be given of things well gotten. In the reign of K. Henry 8. there was one accused (but very unjustly)Act. and [illegible: 1 word] fol. 765. of heresie, for [illegible: 1 word] that [illegible: 1 word] should not be given untill it did sweat in a mans hand. The Jews called their Almes-box, Kupha [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. shel [illegible: 1 word], the chest of Justice: and upon it they wrote this abbreviate [non-Latin text not transcribed] A gift in secret [illegible: 1 word] wrath. Selymus the [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 14. great Turk, as he lay languishing, (his incurable disease still increasing,) leaning his [illegible: 1 word] in the lap of Pyrrhus the [illegible: 1 word] whom of all others he most loved, I see, said he, O Pyrrhus, I must shortly [illegible: 1 word] without remedy. Whereupon the great [illegible: 1 word], took occasion to discourse with him of many matters; and amongst [illegible: 1 word], that [illegible: 1 word] would [illegible: 2 words] to give order for the well-bestowing of the great [illegible: 1 word], taken from the Persian Merchants in divers places of his Empire; perswading him to bestow the same upon some notable Hospitall for relief of the poor. To whom Selymus replied; [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 2 words]. Wouldst thou, Pyrrhus, that I should bestow other mens goods, wrongfully taken from them, upon works of charity and devotion, for mine own vain-glory and praise? Assuredly I will never doe it. Nay rather see they be again restored to the right owners; which was forthwith done accordingly; to the great shame of many Christians, who minding nothing lesse then restitution, but making, ex [illegible: 1 word] locaustum, doe out of a world of evil-gotten goods, cull out some [illegible: 1 word] fragments, to build some poor hospitals, or mend some blinde way: A slender [illegible: 1 word] of their hot charity. Before men to be seen of them.] As those are, that act their part on a stage, and would please the spectatours, that they may be applauded: He that giveth, [illegible: 1 word] S. Paul, Let him doe it with [illegible: 1 word], Rom. 12. 8. with ingenuity, accounting it enough that he hath God the witnesse of his heart: Not but that men may see our good works, and their praise be sought, modo tibi non quaeras, sed Christo (saithAretius. one) so that you seek not your selves therein, but set up Christ, Let your end be, that the light may be seen, not your selves seen, Matth. 5. 16. A fool hath no delight in understanding (saith Solomon) Tantùm ut [illegible: 2 words] captet. Mercer. but that his heart may discover it self, i. e. that he may have the credit of it. But he takes a wrong course. For honour (as Duntaxat ad [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. in [illegible: 1 word]. a shadow) followeth them that seek it not: as the Hittites told Abraham, he was a Prince of God amongst them; when himself had said a little before, I am a stranger and a [illegible: 1 word] with [illegible: 2 words] sua [illegible: 1 word] inscripsit, non hist orias: Et hoc ipso laudem veram meruit, quod salsam contempsit. Lipfius. you &c. Gen 23. 4, 5. Otherwise ye have no reward of your father, &c.] Ye take up your wages all afore-hand. Fruit by the way-side seldome resteth [illegible: 1 word] it be ripe. The cackling hen loseth her eggs, so doth the vainglorious hypocrite his reward.

Verse 2. Therefore when thou doest thine [illegible: 1 word] ] Unlesse thou set light by thy reward, as Esau did by his birth-right: unlesse thou holdest [illegible: 1 word] hardly worth having, and art of that carnallCard. Burbon. Cardinals minde, who preferred his part in Paris, before his part in Paradise. Doe not sound a trumpet before thee] As the Pharisees did, under a shew of assembling the poor to take doal, but indeed to [illegible: 2 words] continent, minùs [illegible: 1 word]. Sen. notifie [illegible: 1 word] liberality. If they had been truly liberall, they had made no [illegible: 1 word] of it: Those vessels yeeld most sound, that have least liquor. As the [illegible: 1 word] doe] From whom as the Saints differ in [illegible: 1 word], so [illegible: 1 word] should in practice: We should have nothing [illegible: 1 word] with them, no more then a chaste matron desires to have with a [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word]. 27. The spouse desireth to know where Christ feedeth, that she may [illegible: 2 words] to him: for why should I [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 2 words], as one that turneth aside (or, that is covered and veiled, which was the habit of harlots, Gen. 38. 15, 15?) why should I be reputed a light houswife, whilest I turn aside by the flocks of thy [illegible: 1 word]? she would shun, and be shie of all appearance of dishonesty; so should we of hypocrisie. Those Christians of Corinth, are much condemned by the Apostle, that carried themselves so carnally, that a man could hardly discern them from other men. That they [illegible: 1 word] have glory of men] As Iehu, Come, see what a [illegible: 1 word] I have for the Lord of hosts. Is thine heart upright as [illegible: 1 word]?Hos [illegible: 3 words], qui omnia ostentant & [illegible: 1 word]. &c. A gracious heart is not a blab of his tongue, but rests and [illegible: 2 words] in the conscience of a secret goodnes. Not [illegible: 1 word] the hypocrite, the [illegible: 1 word], the stage-player, for so the word (hypocrite) properly signifieth; such as though little better then rogues, Sic Roscius [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] AEneae [illegible: 1 word] personam, cum [illegible: 1 word] non [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] AEneas. [illegible: 1 word]. yet sometimes represent the persons of Princes, and carry themselves with other faces then their own, that they may have glory of men, that they may get a [illegible: 1 word]. And here with agree all the former expressions; whatsoever these men doe is meerly theatricall ([non-Latin text not transcribed]) hypocriticall, histrionicall. They sound a trumpet, as is usuall on stages: they doe their devoir in the Synagogues, publike assemblies and streets, as stage-players act in open places, and by drums and outcries get as much company together as they can. And as they can act to the life those whom they personate, yea out-strip them in outward actions, so doe hypocrites, the true Christian. Doth the Publican fix his eyes on the ground? those hypocrites in Isaiah will hang down their heads like bullrushes. Doth Timothy weaken his constitution with abstinence? the false Pharisee will not only weaken his constitution, but wither his complexion with fasting. Doth Zacheus give1 Cor. 13 [illegible: 1 word]. half of that he hath to the poor? the pretender to piety and charity will bestow all his goods to feed the poor, and besides give his body to be burned, as Servetus did at Geneva, Anno 1555. And [illegible: 1 line]. all for a name, for a little glory among men, which is but a breath, and yet not able to blow so much as one cold blast upon hypocrites, when they shall be cast into [illegible: 2 words], when God [illegible: 1 word] wash off their varnish [illegible: 1 word] rivers of brimstone. No naturall face hath so clear a [illegible: 1 word] and red, as the painted. No rush is [illegible: 1 word] green and [illegible: 1 word], as the bullrush. He is curious to a miracle [illegible: 4 words]. [illegible: 1 word], 58. 5. that can finde a knot in it: yet within is nothing but a uselesse and spongy pith. Over fair shews are a just argument of unsoundnesse. Verily I say unto you] q. d. You would little thinke it, and themselves will hardly beleeve it: for they are an impudent kinde of people, and will not soon be said. But I assevere and assure you of it, in the word of Amen, the faithfull and true witnes, Rev. 3 14. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 5. all the words of whose mouth are in righteousnesse, there is nothing [illegible: 4 words], [illegible: 3 words]. [illegible: 1 word] in Discor. froward or perverse in them, Prov. 8. 8. that this is the very truth, and time will prove it so. [illegible: 1 word] that have fed on hemlock, are so stupified thereby, that they lye for dead, and feel not till half their hides be hileded off: then they rise, and run away with a [illegible: 1 word] noise. So [illegible: 1 word]. [non-Latin text not transcribed], They [illegible: 1 word] it as their full pay: whence [non-Latin text not transcribed] an [illegible: 1 word]. They have their reward] Paid them down upon the nail in ready money, and have given their acquittance. They take up all their wages afore the years-end, they receive it now, and leave none till hereafter. Its all they are ever like to have, and let them make them merry with it. Egregiam verò laudem, & spolia ampla refertis. [illegible: 1 word] 6. [illegible: 1 word]. A poor reward, God wot; but 'tis that they would have.Virgil. 'Tis their own reward, not Gods, saith S. Hierom. As Judas went [illegible: 2 words], non [illegible: 1 word], Hier. to his own place, a place of his own providing; so these have their own reward; much good may it doe them: Here they have theirAct. 1. 25. consolation with Dives: Let them look for no further reward in the day of refreshing: if they do, they are like to be disappointed, [illegible: 1 word] the Judge. To themselves they bore fruit, Hos. 10. 1. and shall therefore be turned off as empty vines, ib. when the faithfull Spouse that laies up her fruit for Christ, Cant. 7. ult. shall hear,Hos. 14 8. Thou art like a green firre-tree, from me is thy fruit found. And albeit in her works of charity in [illegible: 1 word], and without hope of reward from men, he may seem to cast her bread upon the waters, [illegible: 1 word] 11. 1. down the river (as we say) or on the sea to feed fishes; yet after many daies he shall be sure to finde it. That labour of love cannot be lost that we resolve to cast away (as the world accounts it) upon Christ.

Verse 3. But thou, when thou dost thine alms.] The godly [illegible: 4 words] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. Christian must walk in a divers way to a world of wicked people, as Noah did, really reproving their darknesse by his [illegible: 1 word], their pride by his [illegible: 1 word], their vain-glory by his [illegible: 1 word], their ostentation by his [illegible: 1 word] devotion: not only (planet-like) keeping a constant counter motion to the corrupt manners of the most, but also shining forth fair with a singularity of heavenly light, spirituall goodnesse, and Gods sincerer [illegible: 1 word], in the [illegible: 1 word] mid night of [illegible: 1 word] impiety. Let not thy left-hand know, &c.] A proverbiall speech, q. d. [illegible: 1 word] thy self as much as may be, cast away the vain affectation of humane [illegible: 1 word]. Let not thy left-hand (if it had so much skill) understand what thou givest, and to whom, how much, how oft, at what time, &c. God sets down every circumstance in his book [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 18. of remembrance; as our Saviour (that true Arch-deacon, as well1 [illegible: 1 word]. 5. 4. as Arch-shepherd) sate and viewed the estate, minde and gift of [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] 41. every one that cast money into the treasury: and as he took [illegible: 1 word] observation of those that came to hear him, how farre they had come, how long they had been there, how little opportunity they had of providing for themselves, and how soon they mightMat 15. 32. faint, if sent away empty, &c. In pugillaribus suis omnia notat. Revel. 2. I know thy work, and thy [illegible: 1 word], saith Christ to that Church, so to us; I know thine alms and thy privacy. Many give much, and are little noted or noticed. It matters not, saith our Saviour, [illegible: 2 words] captabat [illegible: 1 word], & [illegible: 3 words] AEgyptū, [illegible: 2 words]. though thy left-hand should not know what thy right-hand doth: there's no losse in that. Some talents are best improved by being laid up. A treasure that is hid is safer from theeves. Steal we therefore benefits upon men, as Joseph did the money into the sacks. And as he made a gain of the [illegible: 1 word], and bought AEgypt: so [illegible: 7 words] [non-Latin text not transcribed]. may we of the poor we relieve, and buy heaven, Luke 46. 9. Rom. 2. 10.

Verse 4. Thy father that seeth in secret.] And best accepteth of secret service, Cant. 2. 14. O thou that art in the clefts of the [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 7 words], [illegible: 2 words] qu [illegible: 1 word], [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Bez. rocks, let me see thy face, let me hear thy voice, &c. He is all [illegible: 1 word], he searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins, those most abstruse and remotest parts of the body, seats of lust: And as he is himself a Spirit; so he loveth to be served like himself, in Spirit and in truth. He sets his eyes upon such (as the word here signifieth) he looketh wishtly, fixedly, steddily; he seeth thorow and thorow our secret services, not to finde faults in them (for so he may soon do not a few, but those he winks at, where the heart is upright) but to reward them, as a liberall pay-master, rich to all that [illegible: 1 word] upon him, or do him any other businesse. Who is there even [illegible: 1 word] you, that shuts the door for nought? that kindleth fire upon mine altar [illegible: 1 word] nought? Mal. 1. 10. that gives a cup of cold water, and hath not his reward? David would not serve God on free cost; but was he not paid for his pains, and had his cost in again, with [illegible: 1 word], ere the Sunne went down? Let him but resolve to [illegible: 1 word] his sins, and God (or ere he can do it) forgiveth him the [illegible: 1 word]. 32. 5. iniquity of his sinne, that in it, that did most gall and grieve him. [illegible: 1 word] him but purpose to build God a house, God promiseth thereupon (for his good intentions) to build David an house for ever. So little is there lost by any thing that is done or suffered for God. He sends a way his servants (that do his work many times, and the world never the [illegible: 1 word]) as Boaz did Ruth, with their bosome full of blessings; as David did [illegible: 1 word], with a royall [illegible: 1 word]; as Solomon did the Queen of Sheba, with all the desire of her heart; as Caleb did his daughter Achsah, with upper and nether springs; or as once he did Moses from the Mount, with [illegible: 1 word] face shining. He shone bright, but knew not of it, yea he [illegible: 1 word] his glorified face with a vail, and had more glory by his [illegible: 1 word] then by his face. How farre are those spirits from this, which care only to be seen? And sleighting Gods secret approbation, [illegible: 1 word] only to [illegible: 1 word] others eyes with admiration, not caring for unknown riches? Our Saviour (besides the vail of his humanity) saies, See you tell no man. Its enough for him, that he can [illegible: 1 word] to [illegible: 1 word]. 17 4. his father, I have [illegible: 1 word] thee on earth: I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do. His work he accounts [illegible: 1 word] gift; [illegible: 1 word] wages he looks for in another world, vers. 5. He was content his treasures of wisdome should be hid, Colos. 2. 3. And shall we fret our selves, when our pittances of piety and charity are not admired? [illegible: 1 word] it not enough for us that we shall appear with him in glory, and [illegible: 1 word]. 3. 3. then be rewarded openly? Shall reward thee openly.] I, but when? at the resurrection of Non [illegible: 1 word] est [illegible: 3 words] sub [illegible: 3 words] sed [illegible: 2 words] & [illegible: 3 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. the just, Luk. 14. 14. at that great assize and generall Assembly, he will make honourable mention, in the hearing of Angels and men, of all the good deeds of his children: How they have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, &c. that which they had utterly forgotten: not so much as once mentioning their misdoings, Matth. 25. Yea he shall take them to heaven with him, where the poor mens hands have built him a house afore hand, and they shall receive [illegible: 1 word] in caelis [illegible: 1 word] pauperū [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. Jun. him into everlasting habitations. But what shall he do in the me an while? Feed on faith (as some read that text, Psal. 37. 3.) [illegible: 1 word] upon reversions. [illegible: 1 word], but while the grasse grows, the [illegible: 1 word] starves. But so cannot a mercifull man, for he shall have [illegible: 1 word], Matth. 5. 7. Such a mercy as rejoyceth against judgement. Yea, he that can tender mercy to God, may challenge [illegible: 1 word] from God by vertue of his promise, as David doth, Preserve [illegible: 1 word], ô God, for I am mercifull, Psal. 86. 2. [illegible: 1 word] he shall obtain, 1. In his soul, which shall be like a watered garden, fresh and flourishing. For the liberall soul [illegible: 1 word] be made fat (Prov. [illegible: 1 word]. 25.) and he that watereth shall be watered himself. The spirits of wealth distilled in good works comfort the conscience. 2. So they do the bodyProv. 11. 17. Isa. 58. 8, [illegible: 1 word], 10. too, when sick and languishing, Psal. 41. 2, 3. Mercy is the best cordiall, a pillow of repose, a [illegible: 1 word] remedy. For if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, thy health shall spring forth speedily, Isa. 58. 3. For his name, the liberall are renowned in the earth, as Abraham that free-hearted house-keeper, or peny-father; and Obadiah that hid and fed the Prophets by fifty in a cave. Zacheus Act. 9. 39. and Cornelius, Gaius and Onesiphorus, how precious are their [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 4 words]. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. Manus [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word] Christi. names! How sweet their remembrance! Who honours not the memoriall of Mary for her Spikenard, and of Dorcas for her coats and garments? Whereas the vile person shall no more be called liberall (in Christs Kingdom) nor Nabal, Nadib, the churl, bountifull. 4. For his estate: The most gainfull art is [illegible: 1 word]-giving, [illegible: 1 word] pau [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word] colligimus. saith Chrysostome. The poor mans bosom, and the Orphans mouth are the surest chest, saith another. Whatsoever we scatter to the poor, we gather for our selves, saith a third. What we give to the poor, we lend to the Lord, who accounts himself both [illegible: 1 word] and ingaged thereby, Prov. 19. 17. Neither will he fail to blesse the liberall mans stock and store, Deut. 15. 10. so that his righteousnesse, and his riches together, shall endure for ever, Psal. [illegible: 1 word] 2. 3. 5 Lastly, His seed shall be mighty upon earth, vers. 21. The son of such a tenant, that paid his rent duly, shall not be [illegible: 1 word] out of his farm, Psal 37. 26. And that Proverb is proved false by [illegible: 1 line]. common experience, Happy is that sonne whose father goeth to the [illegible: 1 word]: [illegible: 1 word] il-gotten goods usually come to nothing: the third heir seldome enjoyeth them: unlesse it be here and there one, that by repentance breaketh off, and healeth his fathers sinne by mercifulnesse [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 line]. to the poor, that the property may be altered, and so his [illegible: 1 word] lengthned. Oh therefore that rich men would be rich in good [illegible: 1 word], ready to distribute, willing to [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 line]. (which was a peece of praise used to be ascribed to the ancient Kings of AEgypt.) This, this were the way, To lay up for themselves a sure [illegible: 1 word]; yea, to lay fast hold on eternall life; when those that with-hold their very crums, [illegible: 1 word] not obtain a drop with Dives, whom to vex and upbraid, Lazarus was laid in the bosome of [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

Verse 5. And when thou praiest.] A duty of that necessity, that neither the immutability of Gods decree, Dan. 9. 1. nor the [illegible: 1 word] of the promises, [illegible: 1 word] 36 37. [illegible: 1 word] the effectuall [illegible: 1 word] of our Lord Christ (who [illegible: 1 word] his Disciples to pray) [illegible: 1 word] with us, for not doing it. The Jews accounted it an abomination of desolation, when the daily Sacrifice was intermitted and suspended, as under Antiochus. Our Saviour perfumed his whole course, [illegible: 1 word], his crosse with this incense, and thereby purchased [illegible: 2 words] priviledge, paved us this new and living [illegible: 1 word] to the throne of grace, [illegible: 1 word]. 16. 4. a sure and safe way to get mercy, [illegible: 1 word]. 23. The Ark was never separated from the Mercy-seat, to shew that Gods mercy is neer unto such as affect his presence. Some [illegible: 1 word] he hath reserved to this duty, that will not otherwise be yeelded, Psal. [illegible: 1 word]. 23. Ezek. 22. 30. As when he is [illegible: 2 words] to ruinate a people or person, he silenceth [illegible: 2 words], and forbids them to sollicite him any further; as he did Samuel interceding for Saul; and Jeremy for [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 3 words]. Be not as the [illegible: 1 word].] Who pretend to pray much, but indeedRom. 8. [illegible: 1 word]. can do nothing at it, because destitute of the spirit of grace, [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. and of supplication; without whose help we know neither what,Mat. 26. 38. [illegible: 1 word] how to pray: Nay, Peter, James aud John will be sleeping, when they should be praying in the very hour of temptation. There may be good words and wishes found in a worldlings mouth, Who will shew us any good? But none but a David can with faith,Psal 4 6. [illegible: 1 word] and fervency say, Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon me, &c. Balaam may break forth into wishes and woulds, [illegible: 1 word] let me die the death of the righteous, &c. But can he [illegible: 1 word], as David in like case, Psal. 26. 9. Oh take not away my soul [illegible: 2 words] nor my life with bloudy men! An hypocrite mayHos 7 14. tell a [illegible: 2 words] for himself in earthly regards, or howl uponWhen God is [illegible: 2 words] his [illegible: 1 word], he roars, [illegible: 1 word] 27. 9. his [illegible: 1 word] in the [illegible: 1 word] of outward comforts; [illegible: 1 word] in extremity, as a [illegible: 1 word] at the [illegible: 1 word], as a pig under the knife; or importune God [illegible: 1 word] grace, as a bridge to lead him to heaven; not for any beauty he [illegible: 1 word], or [illegible: 1 word] he findes in it. But will he pray alwaies, willJob [illegible: 1 word]. 10. [illegible: 1 word] light [illegible: 1 word] in God? saith Job, [illegible: 1 word]. 27. No surely; he neither doth, [illegible: 1 word] can do it. When God defers to help at a pinch,1 Sam 13. 8, as [illegible: 1 word]; when [illegible: 1 word] and vexations encrease, he frets and meddles non ore with calling upon God, but [illegible: 2 words] him, because he handles him not [illegible: 1 word] his own minde; and be taketh himself to1 Sam. 28. 7. [illegible: 1 word] other course. If God will not come at his call, and be at his2 King. 1. 2. beck, away to the witch of [illegible: 1 word], with Saul; to the god of [illegible: 1 word] si ne queo superos, Acheronta movebo. Ekron, as [illegible: 1 word], to Baalim and Ashteroth, with the revolted [illegible: 1 word]. Wherein he is like to those barbarous Chinois, that [illegible: 1 word] their gods, when they answer them not: or that resoluteAb Ekron, ubi colebatur Beelzehub, [illegible: 1 word] videtur, [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word], that profanely painted God on the one side of his shield, and the devil on the other, with this inscription, Si tu me nolis, [illegible: 1 word]: Or that desperate King of Israel, [illegible: 1 word] (saith he) this evil is from the Lord, and what should I wait for the Lord 2 King. 6 33. any longer? Loe, this is the guise of a godlesse [illegible: 1 word]. Either he calleth not upon God (which is the description David giveth ofPsal. 14. 4. him) but is possest, as it were, with a dumb devil, both in Church and chamber. Or if by reading, or otherwise he have raked together some good petitions, and strive to set some life upon them in the utterance, that he may seem to be well-gifted; yet he doth it not to serve God, but meerly to serve himself upon God, He draweth not nigh with a true heart, Heb. 10. 13. uprightly propounding Gods service in prayer, and not only his own supply and satisfaction. He is not brought into Gods presence with love and desire, as Psal. 40. 8. He labours not with strife of heart to worship him with his faith, trust, hope, humility, self deniall, [illegible: 1 word] well content that Gods will be done however, and [illegible: 1 word] seeking his glory, though [illegible: 1 word] be not profited, acknowledging the Kingdom, power and glory to be his, Matth 6. 13. Lastly, Working not by a right rule, from a right principle, nor for a right end, he cannot undergoe the strife of [illegible: 1 word], as Jacob, who wrestled by might and sleight ([illegible: 1 word] much the Hebrew word importeth) much lesse can he continue long in it, as David, he [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 32. 24, [illegible: 1 word], 20. soon sated, soon tired. If men observe him not, applaud him not, he giveth over that [illegible: 1 word], as tedious and [illegible: 1 word], that [illegible: 2 words] 27. 4. & 119. 81, 82. wherein he findes no more good relish, then in the white of an egge, or a dry chip. And in any extraordinary trouble, instead of calling upon God, [illegible: 1 word] runs from him, Isa. 33. 14 as Saul did, 1 Sam. 28. 7. For they love to pray standing, &c.] Stand they might: [illegible: 1 word] did the Publican. And when ye stand and pray, saith our Saviour,Luk 18. 13. [illegible: 1 word]. 11 25. not [illegible: 1 word] the gesture. It was commonly used among the Jews in the Temple, especially, at the solemn feasts, what time there was such resort of people from all parts, that they could hardly stand one by another. The Primitive Christians also stood praying in their publike Assemblies, betwixt Easter and Whitsontide especially, in token of our Saviours standing up from the dead. Whence came that Proverb amongst them, Were it not for standing [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words] non [illegible: 2 words]. prayer, the world would not stand. Other gestures and postures of the body in praier we read of. David and Eliah sate, and praied.Tertul. Peter and Paul kneeled, and praied. Moses and Aaron fell1 Chron. 19. on their faces, and praied. In secret prayer, there is more liberty1 King. 19. 4. to use that gesture that may most quicken us, and help the duty:Act. 9. 40. Elias put his head between his knees in praier (as one that would [illegible: 1 word]. 4. 13. Numb. 16. [illegible: 1 word]. strain every vein in his heart.) But in publike our behaviour must [illegible: 1 word] 8. 2. be such as may witnesse [illegible: 1 word] communion and desire of mutuall edification:1 Cor 14. 40. there must be a uniformity, no rents or divisions: and speciall care taken, that our inward affection answer our externall devotion: that we stand not in the Synagogues, as these, with desire to be seen of men (as Saul was higher then the rest by head and shoulders) for that is putid hypocrisie, hatefull even amongst Heathens. Tully taxeth Gracchus for this, that he referred all his actions, not to the [illegible: 1 word] of vertue, but to the favour [illegible: 1 word]. quaest. l. 3. of the people, that [illegible: 1 word] might have esteem and applause from them. That they may be seen of men.] This was the winde that [illegible: 2 words] winde-mill a-work, the [illegible: 1 word] that made the clock strike. [illegible: 1 word] nat. [illegible: 1 word]. l. 10. 19 [illegible: 1 word] telleth us, that the nightingale singeth farre longer and [illegible: 1 word], when men be by, then otherwise. If [illegible: 1 word] had not seen C [illegible: 1 word]. l. [illegible: 1 word]. c [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] zeal that Iehu had for the Lord of hosts, he had been nothing [illegible: 1 word] hot, nor (in his own conceit) so happy. But Christian [illegible: 1 word] Sed vox tu [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] nih l. [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word], esse aliquid [illegible: 1 word] cupis, [illegible: 2 words]. teacheth a wise man, not to expose [illegible: 1 word] to the fairest shew, [illegible: 1 word] rather to seek to be good, then seem to be so. Not so, every [illegible: 1 word] and [illegible: 2 words]: these, like Ieroboams wife, never put [illegible: 3 words] but when they are to speak with the Prophets: [illegible: 2 words] so holy, as at Church, and in the presence of those whole [illegible: 1 word] they reverence.

Verse 6. But thou when thou praiest, enter into thy [illegible: 1 word], &c.] Act. 10 9. Act. 10 3. The proper place for secret [illegible: 1 word] (as the family is for private praier, and the Church for publike, Luk. 4. 16.) that being [illegible: 1 word] from company, we may more [illegible: 1 word] descend into our own hearts, and be the freer from ostentation and hypocrisie, and from discursation and wandering of minde (Anima [illegible: 1 word] fit [illegible: 1 word]:) As also for the demonstration of our faith, whereby we believe the omnipresence of God, Who seeth in secret, and [illegible: 1 word] openly. Daniel indeed opened his windows, and prayed [illegible: 1 word]. in Dan. 6. [illegible: 1 word]. in an [illegible: 1 word] room; not to be more secret (as Pintus mistaketh it) but to be more seen: and yet not of vain ostentation, but ofAct. 5. 29. [illegible: 1 word] and constant profession. The King had forbidden it (so Sic [illegible: 1 word] in [illegible: 2 words], [non-Latin text not transcribed]. did Henry the third, King of France, forbid housholders to pray with their families.) Daniel did it notwithstanding, as aforetime. God must be obeyed rather then men, as not Scripture only, but nature teacheth. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed; That had been his custome, and should be. [illegible: 1 word] also at morning, at evening, and at noon called upon God, and had his set times for such devotions. But the devil, as it is probable, 2 Sam. 12. 2. had caused him to come from his trench, and then [illegible: 2 words] wound him. He knows well enough that a Christians strength lies in his praier (as Samsons did in his hair)Ephes. 6. 18. that it buckleth all our spirituall armour close to us, and makes it usefull: that a Christian can never want help, whiles he can pray; as they were wont to say, the Pope can never want money, so long as he can hold a pen in his hand, to command and send for it: That secret prayer is a soul-fatting exercise, as secret meals, we say, feed the body. The old Serpent feels himself charmed and disabled to doe hurt by these kinde of duties. They have poured forth a charm, when thy chastening was upon them, Isa. 26. 16. Yea, he is deeply wounded and driven out of the field, by these Isa. 26. 16. arrows of deliverance, as the King of Syria was, 2 King. 13. 17. which therefore he keeps (what he can) from being multiplied1 [illegible: 1 word] 2. [illegible: 1 word]. [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 3 words]. and enlarged. Fervent praiers are the pillars of smoke, wherein the Church ascendeth to God out of the wildernesse of this world, [illegible: 1 word] Pet 3. 21. [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 1 word]. in [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 2 words] electorum cum Deo [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] Pasor. and by an humble familiarity converseth, yea [illegible: 1 word] with him, as Abraham and Moses did (especially, when Satan, sinne and conscience accuse) and standeth, as it were, upon interrogatories; such as are those, Rom. 8. 33, 34, 35. And when thou hast shut thy door] So to shut out distractions, which yet will grow upon us, doe what we can. For though the spirit is willing to wait upon God, all the while of the duty, yet the flesh is weak. It being but partly mortified, draws away [illegible: 1 word] Rom. 7. 21. thoughts many times; and putteth us to St Pauls complaint, When I would doe good evil is present with me. Satan also will be jogging and interrupting us; and will needs be talking to us when we are most busily speaking to God, as the Pythonisse troubled St Paul, as he went to praier, Act. 16 16. Worldly things likewise are so naturall to us, and so near our senses, heavenly things are so supernall and supernaturall, that we cannot without watching our senses, and travell of soul, stay our spirits long upon them.Fratres [illegible: 3 words] & [illegible: 4 words] uti vo [illegible: 1 word], ne per [illegible: 3 words], & [illegible: 2 words] intentio For help herein: S. Augustine [illegible: 1 word] us, that the ancient Christans of AEgypt were wont to use only short and pithy praiers and ejaculations: such as was that of Elias, when he contended with the Priests of Baal, charging God (in two words) with the care of his [illegible: 1 word], of his truth, and of his glory. Many other helps there are for the curing and casting out (in a comfortable [illegible: 1 word]) these by-thoughts; these birds that would rob Abraham of his sacrifice; these swarms of AEgypt, that our hearts [illegible: 1 word] be as so many Goshens; these creeping things [illegible: 1 word], as David hath it. This among the rest, that our Saviour here presenbeth, to [illegible: 1 word] into a secret place, as Abraham did into his [illegible: 1 word] at Beersheba Gen. 21. 33. planted for the purpose (though that was afterwards abused by the Heathens, and therefore forbidden the Israelites, Deut. 12. 3) [illegible: 1 word] had his Oratory in the fields, where he praied with deep meditation or soliloquie, as the word there signifieth, Rebeceah upon the strugling of the babes, went to enquire of the Lord, Gen. 25. 22. that is, she went to some secret place to pray, and receive some revelation from God, say Calvin, Musculus, Mercer, others. Jacob had visions of God, when he was all alone upon the way: Elias praid under the Juniper, our Saviour in the garden of Gethsemane, Acts 9, [illegible: 1 word]. Act. 10 10. [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 3 words] a [illegible: 2 words], cum Deo colloquitur. [illegible: 1 word]. and many times in the mount: Cornelius in some corner of his house, [illegible: 1 word] on the leades, where also he fell into an extasie or trance, and saw heaven open. His soul was separated (after a sort) from his body for the time, whilest he was talking with God, he was so transported and carried out of himself, ut [illegible: 1 word] esset paenè nescia carnis, as S. Jerome testifieth of certain devout women of his time. For the place we pray in, no matter how mean it be, so it be secret. Where there is a Jeremy, a Daniel, If ye will not hear me [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] me to my prison again among my [illegible: 1 word] and froggs, which will not [illegible: 1 word] me while I talk [illegible: 1 word] my [illegible: 1 word] God. Peter [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word], a dungeon, a Lions den, a whales-belly are goodly oratours. Shut the door to thee, remembring the weaknesse of thy flesh and the malice of the devil, watching how. to distract thee. Covenant with thy senses, and binde them to the good abearance all the while: look God full in the face, as David did, Psal. 57. 7. call in, and concenter thy thoughts, as men doe the Sun-beams into a burning glasse: serve God with thy spirit, as Paul did, Rom. 1. 9. say, All that's within me praise his holy name. Have thy heart at thy right hand, with Solomons wise-man, lay Gods charge upon it to attend upon him: when it roves and wanders, call it in, and Act. and [illegible: 1 word]. fol. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] it; judge and shame thy self for thy distractions, and strive to doe better, so shall they never be imputed unto thee. To bePsal. 13. 2. wholly freed from them, is a priviledge proper to the estate of perfection.Eccles. 7. Some diseases will not be cured near home, but men must repair to the Bath, or City for help. This infirmity is not to be healeo, till we come to heaven. No shutting of the door will doe it, nor any thing else, till the everlasting doors be opened unto us, till weRev. 21. enter in by the gates into the City of the living God. Pray to thy father which is in secret] There are no dumb children in Gods house; the least he hath can aske him blessing. All are not alike gifted, but every godly man prayeth unto thee, saithPsal. 32. 6. David: S. Paul was no sooner coverted, but he was praying presently, Acts 9. 11. The spirit of grace, is a spirit of supplication, and teacheth to cry Abba, father, or Father, Father. And this veryGal. 4. 5. naming of the Name of God in prayer (though it be no more,) so it be done in faith, entitles a man to heaven, 2 Tim. 2. 19. if withall he depart from iniquity: When such as have the gift of Prophecy, and of doing miracles shall miscarry, and be turned off at last day, because workers of iniquity, Matth. 7. And albeit Gods weaker [illegible: 1 page] [illegible: 1 page] children cannot utter their minde unto him in wel couched words, and variety of expressions, yet, [illegible: 1 word] their broken [illegible: 1 word] come from a broken heart, it avails more then affectation of Rhetorike, without affection of prayer. Men are better pleased with the stammering and lisping of their own little ones, then with all the [illegible: 1 word] speech of all the children in the Town besides. Yea, because the soul is sick, the service is twice welcome. As, if a sick childe reach us up a thing, we count it more then to send another of a [illegible: 1 word] errand. I will spare them, saith he, as a man spares his [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 3. 18. sonne that serveth him. The businesse of prayer is more dispatched by sighs then speeches, by desires and groans of the heart, [illegible: 1 word] our father which is in secret, whether we can expresse them [illegible: 1 word] words or no. The Spirit also helpeth our [illegible: 1 word] (he [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. with us, and before us, as the word signifies) and maketh [illegible: 1 word] in us and for us with groans unutterable. And be that [illegible: 2 words] the hearts, knoweth what is the minde of the spirit: As [illegible: 1 word] heareth us without ears, so he understandeth us without our words. If we can but groan out, Ah father, it is an effectuall prayer. The voice is not simply required, Joh. 4. 24. There is great dispute ([illegible: 1 word] D [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word]. one) among the school-men, about the speech of Angels; [illegible: 1 word] this they agree in, that one Angel speaketh thus to another, [illegible: 1 word] any one hath a conceit in his minde of any thing, with a will [illegible: 1 word] another should understand it, and that God should understand [illegible: 1 word] that's enough for the expression of it. So is it with the spirit of man in speaking to God: for the spirit agreeth to the Angels. Yet we must pray for fit words also. Hos. 14. 2. and strive to be [illegible: 1 word] in all utterance, and in all knowledge, 1 Cor. 1. 5. get [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 5 words] habit of heavenly-mindednesse, let the heart meditate a good matter, and then the tongue will be as the pen of a ready writer, Psal. 45. 1. first prepare the heart, and then stretch out the hands, Job 11. 13. The heart should be praying a good while before the [illegible: 1 word]; [illegible: 1 word] before the seven [illegible: 1 word] were sounded at the [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 3 words] [illegible: 2 words] seal, there was halfe an hours silence in heaven. [illegible: 2 words] if there be an honest heart, and a good [illegible: 1 word], an [illegible: 1 word] of prayer usually is in us, though we know it not; as a man may have money about him, and not know so much, till [illegible: 2 words] him willing to search, and glad to finde it: Remember, [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] promise of the Spirits assistance, and Gods acceptance, and know, that as in singing, so in praying, the pleasing melody is in the heart. The voice which is made in the mouth, is nothing so sweet [illegible: 1 word] 16. [illegible: 1 word] that which comes from the depth of the brest. As the deeper or hollower the belly of the lute or violl is, the pleasanter is the sound: the fleeter, the more grating and harsh in our ears. And thy father which seeth in secret] And heareth too: asExod. 14. 15. [illegible: 5 words] corde [illegible: 1 word]. Aug. he did Moses when he cried to God, but said nothing; and [illegible: 1 word], when she moved her lips, but uttered not her self in an audible voice: and Nehemiah, when he lift up his heart to God, as he spake to the King: and as he doth still his praying people. His ears [illegible: 1 word] into their prayers, saith S. Peter, after David: that though [illegible: 1 word] Sam. 1. 13. [illegible: 1 word]. 2. 4. their prayers are so weak, they cannot ascend to him, he will [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words]. 3. 12. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. to them. He hearkned and heard, those good souls in [illegible: 1 word], chap. 3 16. as loth to lose any part of their precious language. Thus the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (when they are praying especially) and his ears are open to their prayers.Psal. 34. 25. He seeth his Church when she is in the clefts of the rocks, [illegible: 1 word]. 2. 14. when she is gotten into a corner and praying, he looks upon her with singular delight, and with speciall intimations of his love (as Ahashuerosh dealt with Esther) and saith unto her, as he, what Esth. 5. 3. [illegible: 1 word] thy petition, and it shall be given thee? And oh that every faithfull soul, whiles it is sitting and feasting with God by secret prayer, and other holy duties, would bethinke it self what speciall boon it hath to beg, what Haman to hang up, what corruption to be subdued, what grace to be encreased, &c. How should they be gratified, and their request granted, even to the whole of Gods kingdom? The truth is, they might have any thing: and that which [illegible: 1 word] said to his Courtiers flatteringly, God performeth to his people really, The King is not he that can doe any thing against [illegible: 1 word]. 38. 5. you. Luther was wont to say, that prayer was after a sort omnipotent: for whatsoever God can doe, that prayer can doe. Of Luther Iste vir [illegible: 3 words]? himself, for his wrestling with God and prevailing (as he wasDe [illegible: 1 word] Iustus [illegible: 1 word]. mighty and happy that way) it was said, That man can have any thing at Gods hands. Isa. [illegible: 2 words]. Will reward you openly] Here in part, hereafter in all perfection. [illegible: 1 word]. 34. 6. He never said to the house of Israel, Seek [illegible: 1 word] me in vain. This poor man (for instance) praid, saith David, pointing to himself, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his distresses. God is known by hearing of prayers, 'tis one of his Titles, Psal. 65, 3. 'tis his praise above all Heathen gods, Isa. 45. 19, 20. By this Manasses knew him to be God, 2 Chron. 33. 15. and all Israel, 1 King. 18. 37, 39. when it came to a matter of competition: Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shal [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] father in my name, he will give it you. If we can finde a praying heart, he will finde a pitying: if we open our mouthes, God will fill them: and he is worthily [illegible: 1 word], that will not make himself happy by asking. Of some Heathen Princes it is said, [illegible: 1 word] they never [illegible: 1 word] away their suitors sad or discontented: this is most true of God; let a man bring right petitions, [illegible: 1 word] clear conscience, faith in the promises, and hope to wait the accomplishment, and [illegible: 1 word] shall not fail of the thing he asketh, or a better: As when God [illegible: 1 word] David the life of the childe, but assured him of his [illegible: 1 word], I shall go to him, &c. So he denied his Mother her particular2. [illegible: 1 word] 12. 23. [illegible: 1 word] for that time: and when his Disciples asked him:Joh. [illegible: 1 word]. curious question, Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom [illegible: 1 word] Acts 1. 7, 8. Israel, &c? That's not for you to know, saith he; but a better thing I can tell: you shall receive power after that the holy [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 4. is come upon you. But many times God is graciously pleased, not only to grant a mans prayer, but also to fullfill his counsell; that is, [illegible: 2 words] à Deo sertas preces quam sine precibus [illegible: 1 word] sum [illegible: 2 words] Rol. [illegible: 1 word]. in Joh. 6. 23. in that very way, and by that very means that his thoughts [illegible: 1 word] on. But say he doe neither of [illegible: 1 word]; yet the very ability to pray [illegible: 1 word] the [illegible: 1 word] Ghost, is a sweet and sure signe of salvation, Rom. 10. 13. And a very grave Divine writeth thus: I cannot but prefer [illegible: 1 word] prayers for some temporall mercy, far before that mercy for which I pray. Yea I had rather God should give me the gift of [illegible: 1 word]. in Luk 6. 12 prayer, then (without that gift) the whole world besides. As [illegible: 2 words] that are ita congregabiles (saith another Divine of good [non-Latin text not transcribed] note,) so very good-fellows, that they cannot spare so much time out of company, as to seek God apart, and to serve him in secret, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. they sufficiently shew themselves thereby, to have little fellowship [illegible: 3 words] or [illegible: 1 word] with God, whom they [illegible: 1 word] seldom come at.

Verse 7. But when ye [illegible: 1 word], use not vain repetitions] Babble [illegible: 1 word]. 10 14. [illegible: 1 word] sub [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 4 words]. not: bubble not, saith the [illegible: 1 word], as water out of a narrow-[illegible: 1 word] vessel. Doe not iterate or inculcate the same things-[illegible: 1 word] & ad nauseam, as Solomons fool, who is full of words (saith he:) and this [illegible: 1 word] of his [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed], in his vain [illegible: 1 word]. A man [illegible: 1 word] not tell what shall be, and what shall be after him [illegible: 3 words]? Such a one also was that Battus (to whom the [illegible: 2 words] hath relation,) an egregious babbler. In common [illegible: 1 word] a signe of [illegible: 1 word], to lay on more words upon a [illegible: 1 word] then [illegible: 2 words]: how much more in prayer? Take we [illegible: 1 word] we [illegible: 1 word] not the sacrifice of fools, God hath no need of [illegible: 1 word], 1 Sam. 21. 15. with Psal. 5. 5. He is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few, Eccles. 5. 2. Prayers move God, not as an Oratour moves his hearers, but as a childe his father, (your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, ver. 8.) Now a childe is not to chat to his father, but to deliver his minde, humbly, earnestly, in few, direct to the point. S. Peter [illegible: 1 word] have men to be sober in prayer, that is, to pray [illegible: 2 words]. 4. 7. with due respect to Gods dreadfull majesty, without trifling or vain babling. He that is [illegible: 1 word] in spirit, prayes much, though he speak little, as the Publican, Luk. 18. and Elias, 1 King. 20. 36. But as a body without a soul, much wood without fire, a bullet in a gun without powder; so are words in prayer without spirit. Now long prayers can hardly maintain their vigour: as in tall bodies, the spirits are diffused. The strongest hand long extended will languish, as Moses hand slacked against Amalec: Its a praise proper [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 12. to God, to have his hand stretcht out still. Our infirmity suffers not any long intention of body or minde. Our devotion will soon lag and hang the wing: others also that join with us, may be tired out, and made to sinne by [illegible: 1 word] and wandrings. In secret indeed, and in extraordinary prayer with solemn fasting; or so, when the heart is extraordinarily enlarged, our prayers may and must be like wise. Solomon prayed long at the dedication of the Temple, so did those godly Levites, Neh. 9. Our Saviour prayed [illegible: 2 words] dies [illegible: 1 word] ut minimum tres horas, [illegible: 2 words] aptissimas, [illegible: 1 word] orationem [illegible: 1 word] Vitus all night sometimes, and rising up a great while before day, he went apart and prayed, Mar. 1. 35. Of Luther it is reported, that he spent constantly three houres a day in prayer, and three of the [illegible: 1 word] houres, and fittest for study. It was the saying of a grave and godly Divine, that he profited in the knowledge of the word, more [illegible: 1 word]. in [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] Melanchthonem. Wilsons Theol. Rules. by prayer in a short space, then by study in a longer. That which our Saviour condemneth, is needlesse and heartlesse repetitions, unnecessary digressions, [illegible: 1 word] prolixities, proceeding not from heat of affection, or strength of desire (for so, the repetition of theDan. 9. 17, 18. Mar. 14. 39. self-same petition, is not only lawfull, but usefull. See Psal. 142. 1. and 130. 6.) but either out of ostentation of devotion, as Pharisees, or opinion of being heard the sooner, as Heathens, when mens words exceed their matter, or both words and matter exceed their attention and affection. See that these be matches, and then pray and spare not. For they thinke they shall be heard for their much speaking] As Orpheus, in his hymnes, and other Pagans: calling, as the Mariners in Jonah, every man upon his God: and, lest they should not [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. hit the right, closing their petitions with that Dij que Deae que omnes. [illegible: 3 words]. lib. 1. And as this was the folly and fault of Pagans, so is it also still of the Papists, whom the holy Ghost calleth Heathens, with whom [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. they [illegible: 1 word], as in many things else, so in their Battologies or [illegible: 5 words]. vain repetitions: which are so grosse, [illegible: 1 word] the devil himself (had he any shame in him.) might well be a shamed of them. In their Jesus-[illegible: 1 word] (as they call it) there are fifteen of these prayers, [illegible: 5 words]. [illegible: 1 word], Iesu, [illegible: 1 word] have mercy on me. Iesu, Iesu, Iesu help me. Iesu, Iesu give me here my purgatory. Every of which petitions are to be ten [illegible: 1 word] times at once said over for a task. So on their [illegible: 5 words]. Church and Colledge-doors, the English fugitives have written in great golden letters, Iesu, Iesu, converte Angliam, [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. These be their weapons, they say, prayers and tears. But the truth [illegible: 5 words]. is, the [illegible: 1 word] (the Popes bloud-hounds) trust more to the [illegible: 1 word], then to their prayers: like vultures, whose nests, as Aristotle saith, cannot be found, yet they will leave all games to follow an Army, because they delight to feed upon carrion. Their faction is a most [illegible: 1 word] sharp sword, whose blade is sheathed, at pleasure, in the bowels of every Common-wealth, but the handle reacheth to Rome and Spain: They strive under pretence of long prayers, and [illegible: 5 words]. [illegible: 1 word] sanctity ([illegible: 1 word] is double iniquity) to subdue all to the Pope, and the Pope to themselves. Satan, they say, sent Luther, and God sent them to withstand him. But that which [illegible: 1 word] said of chariots armed with sithes and hooks, will be every day Lib. 1. cap. [illegible: 1 word]. more and more applied to the Jesuits: at first they were a terrour, afterward a scorn.

Verse 8. Be not ye therefore like unto them] God would not have his Israel conform to the Heathens customs, nor so much as once name their Idols, Exod. 23. 13. Psal. 16. 4. No more should [illegible: 5 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. Christians (as some are of opinion.) That of Cardinall Bembus is somewhat grosse, concerning their St Francis, quòd in [illegible: 1 word] Non [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word] esse [illegible: 2 words]. Deorum ab Ecclesia Romana sit relatus. But this is like the rest: For if we may beleeve Baronius, we may see their lustrall water, and sprinkling of [illegible: 1 word] in Iuvenals sixth Satyre: lights in sepulchres, in Suetonius his Octavius: lampes lighted on Saturday, in [illegible: 1 word] 96. Epistle; distribution of tapers among the Baro. Annal. [illegible: 1 word] 14. people, in Macrob. Saturnals, &c. For your heavenly father knoweth what things ye need &c.] And therefore answereth many times before we aske: as he didIsa. 65. 24. David, Psal. 32. He prevents us with many mercies we never sought him for; that our praises may exceed our prayers. I am found of them that sought me not, saith God: but yet in the same place it is said, I am sought of them that asked not for me. Importing,Isa. 65. 1. that we never seek to him for grace, till effectually called by his grace. Howbeit no sooner is any truly called, but he presently prayeth. Say not then, if God know our needs, what need we open them to him? The truth is, we doe it not to inform himNon sanè ut Deus [illegible: 1 word], sed ut mens nostra [illegible: 1 word]. of that he knows not, or to stir up mercy in him, who is all bowels, and perfectly pitieth us: but 1. Hereby we acknowledge him as a childe doth his father, when he runs to him for food. 2. We run that course of getting good things, that he hath prescribedLuk. 11. 13. us, Jer. 29. 11, 12. Which Moses and Elias knew, andExod. 9. therefore the former turned Gods predictions, the later his promises1 King. 18. into prayers. 3. Hereby we prepare our selves holily to enjoy the things we crave: for prayer both sanctifieth the creature, and encreaseth our love and thankfullnesse, Psal. 116 1. 4. Prayer prepareth us, either to go without that we beg, if God see fit, as David, when he prayed for the childes life, and was fitted thereby to bear the losse of it; or else to part with that we have got by prayer, for the glory of God the giver of it. Those that make their requests known to God with thanksgiving, shall have (at least) the peace of God that passeth all understanding, to guard their [non-Latin text not transcribed]. hearts and mindes in Christ Iesus. They shall have strength inPhil 4 6, 7. their souls, the joy of the Lord shall be their strength, the glory ofPsal 138. 3. Nehe, 8. 10. the Lord shall be their rereward. In their marching in the wildernesse,Isa. 58. 8. at the fourth Alarm, arose the standard of Dan, Asher and Nepthali; these were the rereward of the Lords host; and to these were committed the care of gathering together the lame, feeble and sick, and to look that nothing was left behinde. Unto this the Prophet Isaiah seems (in that text) to allude, and so doth David, Psal. 27. 10. When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will gather me, And this comfortable assurance was the fruit of his prayer.As the just must live by his own faith, so must he get his living by his own prayers. 1 Pet. 3. 7.

Verse 9. After this manner therefore pray ye] Forms of wholesome words are profitable. A set form of prayer is held fittest for the publike; and for such weak Christians as are not yet able to expresse their own desires in their own words. The utterance of wisdom is given to some Christians only, 1 Cor. 12. 8.Your prayers. Hos. 14. 2. yet are all to strive unto it, that the testimony of Christ may be confirmed in them, 1 Cor. 1. 5, 6. God will take that at first, that afterwards will not be accepted. If words be wanting, pray that God, that commands thee to take words and come before him, to vouchsafe thee those words, wherewith thou mayest come beforeProv 18. 23. him. Speak, as the poor man doth, supplications: so did the prodigall: Forecast also (with him) what thou wilt say: Praemeditate of the matter, disposing it in due order (as one would doe that is to speak to a Prince: God is a great King, Mal. 1. 23.) Some thinke we must never pray but upon the sudden, and extraordinary instinct and motion of the spirit. This is a fancy, and those that practise it, cannot but fall into idle repetitions, and be confused; going [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word]. forward and backward, like hounds at a losse (saith a good Divine) and having unadvisedly begun to speak, they know not how wisely to make an end. This to prevent, premeditate and propound to thy self fit heads of prayer: gather catalogues of thy sinnes and duties by the decalogue; observe the daily straits of mortall condition, consider Gods mercies, your own infirmities, troubles from Satan, pressures from the world, crosses on all hands, &c. And as you cannot want matter, so neither words of prayer. The Spirit will assist, and God will accept, if there be but an honest heart and lawfull petitions. And albeit we cannot vary them as some can; our Saviour in his agony, used the self-same words thrice together in prayer; and so may we, when there is the same matter and occasion. He also had a set form of giving thanks at meat; which the two Disciples at Emaus hearing, knew him by it. A form then may be used, we see, when it is gathered out of theLuk. 24. 30, 31. holy Scriptures, and agreeable thereunto. Neither is the spirit limited hereby: for the largenesse of the heart stands not so much in the multitude and variety of expressions, as in the extent of the affection. Besides, if forms were unlawfull, then neither might we sing Psalms, nor join in prayer with others, nor use the forms prescribed by God. Our Father which art in Heaven] Tertullian calls this prayer, [illegible: 4 words], & [illegible: 1 word] doctrinae [illegible: 1 word] a breviary of the Gospel, and compend of saving doctrin: It is framed in form of the decalogue: the three former Petitions respecting God, the three later, our selves and others. Every word therein hath its weight. Our, there's our charity: Father, there's our faith: In heaven, there's our hope. Father is taken sometimes personally, as in that of our Saviour, My father is greater then I; sometimes essentially, for the Whole Deity, so here. Now, that God is in Heaven, is a notion that heathens also have by nature: and do therefore in distresse, lift up eyes and hands thither-ward. And lest man should not look upward, God hath given to his eyes peculiar nerves, to pull them up towards his habitation; that he might direct his prayer unto him, and look up, Psal.Psal 73. 5. 3. that he might feelingly say with David, Whom have I in Ut au [illegible: 4 words] [illegible: 1 word] Adam. [illegible: 1 word] vita. heaven, but thee? Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, ô thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their Masters, &c. Psal 123, 1, 2. It is reported of [illegible: 1 word], that he preached so powerfully, that he seemed to thunder, and prayed so earnestly, that he seemed to carry his hearers with him up into heaven. Hallowed be thy Name.] 1. Honoured be thy Majesty. According to thy Name, O God, so is thy praise, Psal. 48. 10. Now Gods Name is holy and reverend, Psal. 111. 9. Great and terrible, Psal. 99. 3. Wonderfull and worthy, Psal. 8. 1. Jam. 2. 7. High and honourable, Isa. 12. 4. Dreadfull among the Heathen, Mal. 1. 14. and exalted above all praise, [illegible: 1 word]. 9. 5. His glory is, as himself, eternally infinite; and so abideth, not capable of our addition or detraction. The Sun would shine, though all the world were blinde, or did wilfully shut their eyes. Howbeit to try how we prize his glory, and how industrious we will be to promote it, God lets us know that he accounts himself, as it were, to receive a new being by those inward conceptions of his glory, and by those outward honours we do him: when we lift up his Elevavit, evexit, conser, Isa. 5. 26. Name as a Standard, saying, Jehovah Nissi, The Lord is my [illegible: 1 word], Exod. 17. 15. When we bear it up aloft (as the word used in [illegible: 1 word] vex l. lum adgentes. [illegible: 3 words] ita inficit sermentū [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 2 words] quē tant is [illegible: 3 words] tibus, nonut redem, torem expect ant [illegible: 1 word] pecca. to. sed exgentium temporali jugo. D. Prid. Lect. the third Commandment, whereunto this petition answers, signifieth) as servants do their Masters badges upon their shoulders; Being confident (with S. Paul) of this very thing, that in nothing we shall be ashamed (whilest we hallow this holy God, Isa. 5. 16.) bue that with allboldnesse or freedom of speech, as alwaies, so now Christ shall be magnified in our bodies, whether it be by life or by death, Phil. 1. 20.

Verse 10. Thy Kingdom come.] Thy kingdom of power and providence: but especiaily, enlarge thy Kingdom of grace, and hasten thy Kingdom of glory. The Jews pray almost in every praier, Thy Kingdom come, and that Bimheroch, Bejamenu, quickly, even in our daies. But it is for an earthly Kingdom: that which the Apostles also so deeply dreamt of, that our Saviour had very much adoe to dispossesse them. For most absurdly and unseasonably many times, they would ask him foolish questions that way, when he had been discoursing to them of the necessity of his own death, and of their bearing the crosse. [illegible: 1 word], S. John [illegible: 1 word] 9. 34. very wisely interrupts him, one time among the rest, as weary ofvers. 37, 38. such sad matter, and, laying hold on something our Saviour had said by the by, tels him a story of another [illegible: 1 word]. They were besotted with an odde conceit of [illegible: 1 word] and offices to be distributed, here, among them, as once in Davids and Solomons reign. And what shall we think of their opinion, that not content to affirm, that [illegible: 1 word] the fall of Antichrist, the Jews shall have a glorious conversion, and the whole Church such a happy Halcyon, as never before; but also that the Martyrs shall then have their first [illegible: 1 word], and shall raign with Christ a thousand years? [illegible: 1 word] This they [illegible: 1 word] on [illegible: 1 word]. el. [illegible: 1 word] 4. tor holdeth, they shall so raign in heaven. Alstedius not only saith, they shall raign here on earth, but beginneth his millenary about the year of our Lord, 1694. Let our hearts desire and prayer [illegible: 1 word] Rom. 10. 1. God for Israel oe, that they may be saved. Let us also [illegible: 1 word] and pray for such poor souls in Asia and America, as worship the devil: not inwardly only (for so too many do amongst us) but with an outward worship. And this we should the rather do, because Divines think, that when all Israel shall be called, and as it were raised from the dead, Rom. 11. 15, 26. when those two sticks [illegible: 1 word] be joined into one, [illegible: 1 word]. 37. 16. then shall many of those deceived souls, that never yet savingly heard of God, have part and portion in the same resurrection. Thy will be done.] Gods will must be done of thee, ere his kingdom can come to thee. If thou seek his kingdom, seek first his [illegible: 1 word]. 11. 12. righteousnesse, If thou pray, Thy Kingdom come, pray also, Thy Sunt qui [illegible: 1 word] divinae distinctionem in revelatam & arcanam, quasi ipsius [illegible: 3 words] au dent. Sic Siguardin. [illegible: 1 word]. on. Christ. will be done. Pray i, and do it; for other wise, Thou compassest God with lies, as Ephraim did. Now the will of God is two-fold, Secret and Revealed, whatever Siguardus blasphemeth to the contrary. His revealed will again is four-fold, 1. His determining will concerning us, what shall become of us, [illegible: 1 word] 1. 5. 2. His prescribing will, what he requires of us, Ephes. 1. 9. 3. His approving will, by the which he graciously accepts, and [illegible: 1 word] regards those that come to him in faith and [illegible: 1 word], Matth. 18. 14. 4. His disposing will, and this is the will of his providence, Vide Pareum in Jacob. 4. 15. 1 Cor, 1. 1. Rom. 1. 10. Now we should resign our selves over to his determining will, as the highest cause of all things: rest in his approving will, as our chiefest happinesse: obey his prescribing will, as the absolutest and perfectest form of holinesse; and be subject to his disposing will, being patient in all trials and troubles, because he did it, Psal. 39. 9. David hath this commendation, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that he did all the wills of God. And it is reported (saithAct. 13. 22. M. Bradford) that I shall be burned in Smith-field, and that very shortly. Fiat voluntas Domini, Ecce ego, Domine, mitte me. The Act. and Mon. fol 1502. will of the Lord be done, said those good souls in the Acts, when they saw that Paul was peremptory to go up. This third Petition,Act. [illegible: 1 word]. 41. Thy will be done, &c. was [illegible: 2 words] text that ever M. Beza handled, Deficere potius quam [illegible: 1 word] visus est [illegible: 1 word]. Adam. [illegible: 2 words] died; and departed (rather then [illegible: 1 word]) to do Gods will more [illegible: 1 word] in heaven, as he had done to his power on earth. They that [illegible: 1 word] us do, and [illegible: 1 word] the will of God, are his [illegible: 1 word], Isa. 62. 4. And [illegible: 1 word] should be our constant care so to apply our [illegible: 2 words], that God [illegible: 1 word] take pleasure in us, as in men after his own [illegible: 1 word], and say of us, as he did of Cyrus, He is the man of my will, that executeth all my counsel. This is toIsa. 45. 11. set the crown upon Christs head, Cant. 3. 11. Yea, this is to set the crown upon our own heads, 2 Tim. 4 8. 9. In [illegible: 1 word], as it is in heaven.] By those heavenly Courtiers: TheRevel. 4. 8. crowned Saints [illegible: 1 word] no rest (and yet no [illegible: 1 word],) crying, [illegible: 1 word], holy, &c. They [illegible: 1 word] the Lamb wheresoever he goeth, with [illegible: 1 word], Domine? How long, Lord? &c. Revel. 6. 10. Which words also were M. Calvins symbolum, that he [illegible: 1 word] sighed [illegible: 1 word] Adam. in vita Calvin. [illegible: 1 word]. 100. out, in the behalf of the [illegible: 1 word] Churches. As for the glorious Angels, though they excell in strength, yet they doe Gods [illegible: 1 word], Psal. 103. 20. hearkning to the voice of his Word. They rejoyce [illegible: 1 word]. 18. more in their names of [illegible: 1 word], then of honour, and ever stand beforeDan. 9. [illegible: 1 word]. the face of our heavenly father, as waiting a command for our good: and so willing of their way, that Gabriel is said to have come to comfort Daniel with wearinesse of flight. They do the will of God: 1. Chearfully: whence they are said to have wings, six wings [illegible: 1 word], Isa. 6. 2. 2. Humbly: therefore with two they cover their faces. 3. Faithfully without partiality: with two they covered or harnessed their feet. 4. Speedily and [illegible: 1 word]: with two they flee abroad the world upon Gods errand, and for the good of them that shall be saved, Heb. 1. 14. burning, and being all on a light fire, with infinite love to God andAngeli igniti. his Saints, their fellow-servants, Revel. 22. 9. whence they areShindler. called Seraphims or burning-creatures. 5. Constantly: Jacob sawJob 38. 7. them ascending, to contemplate and praise God, and to ministerHeb. 8. 1. unto him, Dan. 7 10. He saw them also [illegible: 1 word] to dispence [illegible: 3 words]. [illegible: 1 word] benefits, and to [illegible: 1 word] his [illegible: 1 word], Revel. 15. 6. This they do. 1. Justly; whence they are said ([illegible: 1 word]) to be clothed in pure white linen. 2. Diligently, and constantly: therefore they have their brests girded. 3. [illegible: 1 word], and with faith in [illegible: 1 word] Gods Commandments: [illegible: 1 word] are [illegible: 1 word] said to have golden girdles; Go ye now, and do [illegible: 1 word]: otherwise ye may be as [illegible: 1 word], for gifts and good parts, and yet have your part with the [illegible: 1 word] and his black Angels.

Verse 11. Give us this day.] We have not a bit of bread of our own earning, but must get our living by begging. Peter himself was to obtain his very bread by humble petition, how much more his salvation? He that shall go to God, as the Predigall did, with, Give me the portion that pertaineth to me, shall receive the [illegible: 1 word] of sinne, which is eternall death. God giveth meat in [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 3 words]. (saith Elihu) That thou givest, they gather, saith David. And [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] 28 Thou givest them their meat in due season. Now what more [illegible: 1 word] then gift? Beggers also pay no debts, but acknowledge their [illegible: 4 words]. insufficiency, and speak supplications in a low language, as broken men: so must we. Oh lie daily begging at the beautifull gate of heaven: look intently upon God, as he did, Act. 3. upon [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Peter and John, expecting to receive something. And, because beggers must be no chusers, ask as our Saviour here directs, 1. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] opponit [illegible: 1 word] libis & [illegible: 1 word], l. 1. [illegible: 1 word]. 10. quality, bread only, not manchet or junkets, but down-right houshold bread (as the word imports) the bread of carefulnesse or sorrows, Psal. 127. 2. which the singing Psalms interpret, [illegible: 1 word] bread. Our Saviour gave thanks for barley-bread: and his Disciples were glad to make a Sabbath-dayes-dinner of a few ears of corn rubbed between their fingers. A very Philosopher could say, He that can feed upon green herbs, need not please [illegible: 2 words] se cum [illegible: 3 words] esse de [illegible: 2 words], si aquam [illegible: 1 word] & [illegible: 1 word]. AEhan. Dionysius, need not flatter any man. And Epicurus himself would not doubt to content himself as well as he that hath most, might he but have a morsel of course meat, and a draught of cold water, The Israelites had soon enough of their quails: they had quails with a vengeance, because Manna would not content them. They died with the meat in their mouthes: and, by a hasty testament, [illegible: 1 word] a new name to the place of their buriall, Kibroth-[illegible: 1 word], the graves of lust: Cibus & potus sunt divitiae Christianorum, [illegible: 1 word]. saith Hierom: Meat and drink are the Christian mans riches. [illegible: 1 word]. Bread and cheese (saith another) with the Gospel is good chear, [illegible: 1 word] is content with a [illegible: 1 word], grace with [illegible: 1 word], saith a third. [illegible: 2 words] me [illegible: 2 words] vel [illegible: 1 word]. ei, [illegible: 1 word]. 30 8. A godly man as he asketh but for bread; so (2) for the quantity, [illegible: 1 word] for daily bread, the bread of the day for the day, enough to [illegible: 1 word] him [illegible: 1 word] with Jacob, [illegible: 1 word] much only as will bear his [illegible: 1 word], till he [illegible: 1 word] again to his fathers house. He passeth thorowI he [illegible: 3 words] [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 3 words] [illegible: 1 word]. the [illegible: 1 word], as Israel thorow the [illegible: 1 word], content with his Omer [illegible: 1 word] the day, with his [illegible: 1 word]-measure, with his fathers [illegible: 1 word]. As he journeyeth to the promised land, he bespeaks the world, as Israel did Edom, thorow whose Countrey they would [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 21. [illegible: 1 word] & [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word], Ale. [illegible: 2 words]: Let me passe thorow thy land. We will not turn [illegible: 2 words] the fields nor vineyards: neither will we drinke of the water of thy Wells: we will goe by the Kings-high way, until we be past thy [illegible: 1 word]. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. And as a traveller when he cometh to his Inne, if he can [illegible: 1 word] ab Ar. [illegible: 1 word] ad facultates [illegible: 1 word] accersitus, [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 1 word], [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 word] ep. get a better room or lodging, he will: as if not, he is content, for he considereth it's but for a night: So the Christian pilgrim. If God [illegible: 1 word] him in a plentifull estate, he gladly makes [illegible: 1 word] of it; [illegible: 1 word] if otherwise he can live with a little: and if his means be not [illegible: 1 word] his minde, he can bring his minde to his means, and live upon [illegible: 1 word]. Give him but [illegible: 1 word], he stands not upon [illegible: 1 word]. Give him but daily bread, that is, bread for necessity, [illegible: 1 word] the Syriack, so much as will hold life and soul together, saith S [illegible: 1 word] Panem [illegible: 1 word]. Syr. Vitae conserva. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. Brentius. Sufficient to uphold and sustain nature, saith Beza (with the Greek Scholiast) that where with our nature and [illegible: 1 word] may be content, and he is [illegible: 1 word] apaid and [illegible: 1 word]: he cries out with Jacob, I have enough; and with David, The lines are fallen unto me in afair place. A little of the [illegible: 3 words] In Annotat. turn to carry him thorow his pilgrimage: in his [illegible: 1 word] house [illegible: 2 words] esse possit [illegible: 1 word] & [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. he knows is bread enough, Luke 16. And on the [illegible: 1 word] of that he goes on as merrily, and feeds as sweetly as [illegible: 1 word] did of his honey-comb, or Hunniades, when he [illegible: 1 word] with his shepherds. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. This day] Or as S. Luke hath it, by the day: for who is [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word]? May not his [illegible: 1 word] this night be taken from him? We [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed], as Diogenes was wont to say of [illegible: 1 word]: and should (as [illegible: 1 word] speaketh of the birds and [illegible: 1 word]) in diem Tur. [illegible: 1 word]: 10. [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 word]; taking no further thought then for the present [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 3 words] 20. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. The Turks never build any thing [illegible: 1 word] for their own private [illegible: 1 word], but contenting themselves with [illegible: 1 word] simple cottages, how mean [illegible: 1 word], commonly say, that they be good enough for the time of their short [illegible: 1 word]. Turk hist. f. 342.

Verse 12. And forgive us our debts, &c.] Loose us (saith [illegible: 2 words]) and let us goe free: for [illegible: 1 word] sinners are in the [non-Latin text not transcribed] bond of [illegible: 1 word], as Simon [illegible: 1 word]; and [illegible: 1 word] is called a [illegible: 1 word], Rom. 3 25. The guilt of [illegible: 1 word] is an [illegible: 1 word], binding [illegible: 1 word] over to [illegible: 2 words]. God hath against us, Matth. 5. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] our hand-writing, which is contrary to us, Coloss. 2. 14. This [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] against himself, Psal. 32. 5. and upon [illegible: 1 word] praier obtained pardon. He only acknowledged the debt, and God [illegible: 1 word] the book. God crossed the black lines of his [illegible: 1 word] with the red lines of his Sonnes bloud. Thou forgavest me (saith David) the iniquity of my sinne; the maliguity of it, the [illegible: 1 word] thing that was in it. For this shall every one that is godly pray [illegible: 1 word] thee, by mine example, and obtain like favour. For our God is [illegible: 1 word] sin-pardoning God, Nehem. 9. 31. none like him, Mica. 7. 18. He forgiveth sinne naturally, Exod. 34. 6. abundantly, Isa, 55. 7, constantly, Joh. 1. 27. He doth take away the sinnes of the world. [illegible: 1 word] a perpetuall act of his, as the Sunne doth shine, as the spring doth runne, Zech. 13. 1. The [illegible: 1 word] is not weary of seeing, nor the ear of [illegible: 1 word]: [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] 8. No more is God of shewing mercy. All sins, yea, and [illegible: 1 word] shall be forgiven to the sons of men, saith our Saviour: [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. as the sea covers not only small sands, but huge rocks. Christ [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] the propitiation or covering for our sins, are they how many, and1 Ioh. [illegible: 1 word]. how great soever, as was sweetly shadowed of old by the [illegible: 1 word] Exod. 25. 17. covering the Law, the mercy-seat covering the Ark, and the [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 word]. Cherubims over them, both covering one another. In allusion [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 32. 1, [illegible: 1 word]. whereunto, Blessed, saith David, is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sinne is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sinne. A metaphor from merchants, who when they will forgive a debt, doe not put it into the reckoning, and so, doe not impute it. Sinne casteth men deep into debt and arrearages with God. It is called a debt of ten thousand talents. [illegible: 1 word]. 18. 24 It casts a man into a [illegible: 1 word] condition, makes himSo Luk 7. 47. hide his face for shame, as Adam, causeth a continuall sound ofLuk. 13 4. fear in his ears: so that he thinks every bush a bailiff, every shrub [illegible: 1 word] sergeant, &c. An evil conscience hunts him, follows him up and down so close, like a bloud-hound, hot-foot, that he sometimes serves himself, as that Jesuite in Lancashire, followed by one that had found his glove, with a desire to restore it to him; but pursued inwardly with a guilty conscience, leaps over a hedge, plunges into a marlepit behinde it unseen and unthought of, wherein Wards Serm. [illegible: 1 word] was [illegible: 1 word]. This and worse is the case of a poor [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word] is caught and [illegible: 1 word] up in prison, laid fast in bonds and [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word]; and what can he give in exchange for his soul? [illegible: 1 word]. 16 [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words] the [illegible: 1 word], nor [illegible: 1 word] off the arrest: [illegible: 1 word] or [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] will serve him with a writ to appear, and [illegible: 1 word] at the great [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] Gods tribunall. [illegible: 1 word] doth [illegible: 1 word] excuse him: for [illegible: 1 word] is [illegible: 1 word], whether a man know of [illegible: 1 word] or not, and will light so much the more heavily, by how much [illegible: 2 words] is done upon him more unexpectedly. Now there [illegible: 1 word] no way in the [illegible: 1 word] of discharging this debt, but by the [illegible: 1 word] of Christ [illegible: 2 words], who hath paid the utmost farthing for [illegible: 1 word] elect. This good Samaritan hath discharged all for us: and [illegible: 1 word] for [illegible: 1 word] sake accounts of our sinnes, as if they had never [illegible: 1 word] committed. He bindes them in a bundle, [illegible: 1 word] them up as [illegible: 1 word], Dan. 9 24. and casteth them behinde him, as old [illegible: 1 word] into the bottom of the sea, and all, because mercy pleaseth [illegible: 1 word], Mica. 7. 19. This he doth at first conversion, when he [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 3. 2. sinner, Rom. 3. And whereas in many things we sinne all, we [illegible: 1 word] a pardon of course for those weaknesses, that are of daily [illegible: 1 word], included in that generall pardon, which we have upon [illegible: 2 words] repentance. Only he looketh we should sue out our [illegible: 1 word], by daily prayer for it. Intreat we God to remit our [illegible: 1 word]; and, sith he must be satisfied, to take it out of his Sonnes [illegible: 2 words], who is become surety for us; and saith unto his Father in [illegible: 1 word], as Paul to Philemon, If this Onesimus of mine hath wronged Philem. 18, 19. [illegible: 1 word], or [illegible: 1 word] thee ought, put that on mine account. As we forgive our debtours.] Not as if God should therefore forgive us, because we forgive others; but this is the argument. We do and can, by Gods grace, forgive them, therefore God can [illegible: 1 word] will much more forgive us; sith all our goodnesse is but a spark [illegible: 1 word] his [illegible: 1 word], a drop of his ocean. No article of our Creed is so [illegible: 2 words] by Satan, as that of the forgivenesse of [illegible: 1 word] by [illegible: 2 words], which is the very soul of a Church, and the life of good soul. All the former Articles of the Creed are perfected in his, and all the following Articles are effects of this. Now one [illegible: 2 words] of [illegible: 1 word] us in the sound [illegible: 1 word] of the pardon of [illegible: 1 word] own debts, [illegible: 1 word], if we can forgive our debtours. He that can put [illegible: 1 word] all purpose of [illegible: 1 word], and freely forgive his brother, may with boldnesse ask and expect forgivenesse at Gods hands. For [illegible: 1 word] rejoyceth against judgement; and our love to others is but aJam. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] of Gods [illegible: 1 word] to us. It is a fruit of [illegible: 1 word] faith, [illegible: 1 word]. 17. 4, 5. It is [illegible: 1 word] a sweet [illegible: 1 word] of our [illegible: 1 word], Col. 3. 12, 13, [illegible: 1 word] an effectuall [illegible: 1 word] of our [illegible: 1 word]. For [illegible: 1 word] our [illegible: 1 word] shall commend the righteousnesse of God, Rom. 3. 5. both in [illegible: 1 word] of his [illegible: 2 words] in pardoning so great sinnes, and our thankfull acknowledging of that grace in walking [illegible: 1 word] of it. Now if any ask, Why the petition for pardon of sin, is set [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. that for daily bread? It is answered, 1. In [illegible: 1 word] four former petitions we pray for good things: In [non-Latin text not transcribed]. the two later we pray against evil. 2. Our Saviour [illegible: 1 word] herein to our infirmity, who [illegible: 1 word] sooner trust God for pardon then provision, for a [illegible: 2 words] a [illegible: 1 word]. 3. That by an argument from the lesse to the greater, we [illegible: 1 word] the more boldly beg spirituals.

Verse 13. And lead us not into temptation.] Here we beg sanctification, as in the former petition, [illegible: 1 word]: and are taught after [illegible: 1 word] of sins, to look for temptations, and to pray [illegible: 1 word] them. Temptations are either of [illegible: 1 word] (and so God tempts men) or of perdition, and so the devil. Both [illegible: 1 word] great temptations began with one strain, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Get thee [illegible: 1 word], Gen. 12. 1. Gen. 22. 2. Here God led Abraham into temptation, but he delivered him from evil: yea, he tempted him and proved him, to doe him good in his later end. His usuall way is, to bring [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 8. to heaven by hell-gates, to draw light cut of darknesse, [illegible: 2 words] of evil: As the skilfull Apothecary maketh of a poisonfull viper, [illegible: 2 words] triacle; as the cunning Artificer with a crooked unsightly tool, frameth a straight and beautifull piece of work: [illegible: 1 word] the AEgyptian birds are said to pick wholsome food out of the Serpents eggs: or as the Athenian Magistrates by giving to [illegible: 1 word] hemlock (a poisonous herb) preserved the Commonwealth. The devil tempts either by way of seducement, [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 15. or grievance, 2 [illegible: 1 word]. 127. In the former he excites our [illegible: 1 word], rubs the fire-brand, and makes it send forth [illegible: 1 word] sparkles, carries us away by some pleasing object, as the fish by the bait. Yet hath he only a perswading sleight, not an enforcing might: our own [illegible: 1 word] carrieth the greatest stroke. In the later (those [illegible: 1 word] of buffeting or grievance, horrid and hideous thoughts of Atheisme, Idolatry, blasphemy, [illegible: 1 word], &c.) himself, for most part, is the sole doer, to trouble us in our Christian course, and make us run heavily toward heaven. The Russians are so malicious one toward another, that you shall have a [illegible: 1 word] hide some of his own goods in his house whom he hateth, [illegible: 1 word] Geog. pag 243. and [illegible: 1 word] accuse him for the stealth of them. Such is the devils dealing oft times with Gods dearest children: He darts into their [illegible: 1 word] his [illegible: 1 word] injections, and then would perswade them, that they are accessary to the act. Here our victory is, not to give place to the devil, but to resist stedfast in the faith. Which that we may, pray we alwaies with all prayer and supplication, Ephes 6. 18. pray as [illegible: 1 word] Saviour did, Father keep them from the evil, or from wickednesse, Joh. 17. 15. Pray as our Saviour bids, Lead us not, &c. that is, either keep us from occasions of sinne, or carry us over them. Either preserve us from [illegible: 1 word] into sinne, or help us to rise out of sinne by [illegible: 1 word]: grant us to be either innocent or penitent. Deliver us from those devoratory evils (as Tertullian calleth them,) such sinnes as might frustrate perseverance, 2 Thes. 3. 3. And from that evil or wicked one, that he touch us not, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 5. 18. that is, [illegible: 2 words] (as [illegible: 1 word] expounds it) with a deadly touch, so as [illegible: 1 word] altar us from our gracious disposition. Howbeit, sin and temptation come both under one name in this [illegible: 1 word], to warn us and teach us, that we can no further shun sinne, then we doe temptation thereunto. For [illegible: 1 word] is the Kingdom] That is, all soveraignty is originally and [illegible: 1 word] invested in thee. Other Kings are but thy servants and [illegible: 1 word], by thee they raign, Prov. 8. 15. and of thee they [illegible: 1 word] their power, Rom. 13. 1. Where then will they appear, that say to the the King Apostata, Job. 34. 18. that send messagesLuk. [illegible: 1 word]. 14. after him, saying, We will not have this man to raign over us: thatExod. 2. 14. bespeak [illegible: 1 word], as that Hebrew did Moses, Who made thee a Prince and a Judge amongst us? should they not rather send a Lamb toIsa. 16. 1. this [illegible: 1 word] of the earth? and bring a present to Fear? should theyPsal. 76. 11. not [illegible: 1 word] to his scepter, and confesse his soveraignty? And the power.] Some have Kingdoms, that yet want power to help their subjects: as that King of Israel that answered her,2 King. 6. 17. that had [illegible: 1 word] her childe, in that sharp famine of Samaria; where an Asses head was worth four pounds: If the Lord doe not help, whence shall I help? But the King of heaven is never at such a Non-plus, He can doe [illegible: 1 word] he will; and he will doe whatsoever is meet to be done, for the good of his servants and suppliants. Peter wanted power to deliver Christ, [illegible: 1 word] wanted [illegible: 2 words]. will, but God wants neither: what a comfort's that? Let us rest [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. on his mighty arm, and cast the labouring Church into his everlasting arms. He is able to doe more then we can ask or think, and will not fail to keep that which we have committed unto him against that [illegible: 1 word], 2 Tim. 1. 14. And the glory] To wit of granting our requests. Praises will follow upon prayers obtained, Psal. 50. 15. what a man winnes by prayer, he will wear with thankfullnesse. Now who so offereth [illegible: 3 words]. [illegible: 1 word], he glorifieth me, saith God: And the Gentiles did not [illegible: 1 word] God, neither were thankefull, Rom. 1. 21, 28. But the 24 Elders ascribe unto him glory and honour. And this is a most powerfull [illegible: 1 word]. 4. [illegible: 1 word]. argument in prayer, as are also the two former. And it pleaseth God well, to hear his children reason it out with him [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 2 words]. 9, 10, 11, 12 as Iacob did, and the woman of Canaan. Because by shewing [illegible: 1 word]. 15. [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. such reasons of their requests, as our Saviour here directs us, they shew proof of their knowledge, faith, confidence, &c. And befides they doe much confirm their own faith, and stir up good affections in prayer. Amen.] This Hebrew word, [illegible: 1 word] remaineth untranslated in [illegible: 5 words]. most languages, is either prefixed or proposed to a sentence, and [illegible: 1 word] it is a note of certain and earnest asseveration; or else it is affixed, and opposed, and so it is a note either of assent or assurance. Of assent; and that either of the understanding to the truth of that that is uttered, as in the end of the Creed and four Gospels; or of the will and affections, for the obtaining of our petitions, 1 Cor. 14. 16. how shall he say Amen at thy giving of thanks? Of assurance next, as in this place, and many others. It is the voice of one that beleeveth and expecteth that he shall have his prayers granted. It is as much as so be [illegible: 1 word], yea, so it shall be.

Verse 14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses] Our Saviour resumeth, and inculcateth the fifth petition with a repetition; because upon charity (which is chiefly seen in giving and forgiving) hangeth, after a sort, the restfull successe of all our [illegible: 1 word], 2 Tim. 2. 8. Malice is a leaven that swels the heart, and [illegible: 1 word] the sacrifice, 1 Cor. 5. 7, 8. Out with it therefore, that we [illegible: 1 word] keep the feast or holy day; that we may (as we ought to doe) [non-Latin text not transcribed] keep a constant jubilee, nexus solvendo, & noxas remittende. [illegible: 2 words] [non-Latin text not transcribed] This, [illegible: 1 word] and bloud will not easily yeeld to. But we are not debters to the flesh, we owe it nothing, but the blew eye that S. Paul gave it. When Peter heard that he might not recompense to any [illegible: 1 word] for evil, but must studiously seek his conversion and salvation. Lord, saith he, how oft shall my brother sinne against me, and I forgive him? till seven times, this he thought a mighty deal; a very high pitch of perfection. Our Saviour tells him, till seventy times seven times, that is, infinitly, and without stint: yet hē alludes to Peters seven, and, as it were, alludes it, and his rashnesse in setting bounds to this duty, and prescribing, how oft, to him that was the wiledom of the Father. This is when my brother returneth, and saith, It repents me: [illegible: 1 word]. But what if he doe not? In forgiving an offendour, say Divines, there are three things.Sol. 1. The letting fall all wrath and desire of revenge. 2. A solemn Dikes Worthy Communicant. p. 3. [illegible: 1 word]. profession of forgivenesse. 3. Reacceptance into former familiarity. The first must be done however. For the second, If he say, I repent; I must say; I remit, Luk. 18. To the third, a man is not bound till satisfaction be given. Your heavenly father will also forgive you.] Yet is not our forgiving men, the cause of his forgiving us, but a necessary antecedent. The cause is only the free mercy of God in Christ. He puts away our iniquities for his own sake, Isa. 43. 25. Neverthelesse, forasmuch as he hath [illegible: 1 word] us this promise here, our forgiving others Annot in Luk. 11. 4. (saith learned Beza) seemeth to have the nature of an intervenient [illegible: 1 word], a cause, sine qua non, of his forgiving us.

Verse 15. But if ye will not, &c.] This is a matter much to be observed, therefore so often inculcated. Iudgement without mercy, Jam. 2. 13. shall be to them that shew no mercy. There's but a hairs bredth betwixt him and hell, that hath not his sins pardoned in heaven. Such is the case of every one that doth not from his heart forgive his offending brother, Mat. 18. 35. or that saith, I will forgive the fault, but not forget the matter, or affect the person. Men must forbear one another, and forgive one another, as Christ forgave them; and that if any man have a quarrel against any, Col. 3. 13. for [non-Latin text not transcribed]. else what thanks is it? The glory of a man is to passe by [illegible: 1 word].Prov. 19. 11. It is more comfortable to love a friend, but more honourable to love an enemy. If thou reserve in thy minde any peece of the wrong, thou provokest and daily prayest God to reserve for thee a peece of his wrath; which burneth as low as the nethermost Deut. 32. [illegible: 1 word]. hell. Neither will it help any, to do as Latimer reporteth of some in his daies, who being not Willing to forgive their enemies, would not say their Pater-noster at all: but insteed thereof, [illegible: 1 word] our Ladies. Psalter in hand; because they were perswaded, that [illegible: 1 word]. Serm by that, they might obtain forgivenesse of their fins of favour, without putting in of so hard a condition as the forgivenes of their enemies into the bargain. Neither will your Father forgive your tresp [illegible: 1 word]] And if [illegible: 1 word] doe not, who can give pardon or peace, saith he in Iob? The Rhemists talke much of one that could remove mountains, God only can remove those mountains of guilt that lye upon the soul. [illegible: 1 word] may forgive the trespasse, God only the transgression. Against [illegible: 1 word], thee only have I sinned, saith David: And, to the Lord [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 51. 4. God belongeth mercies and forgivenesses, saith Daniel. Ministers [illegible: 1 word]. 9. 9. remit [illegible: 1 word] ministerially as Nathan did; God only [illegible: 1 word], and by his own power. If the Son set us free, we are free indeed, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods pardoned ones? It is God that justifieth. Or as S. Austin readeth the words interrogatively, shall God that justifieth? No verily: that were to dot and undoe: he keepeth no back-reckonings. Fear not therefore, though the Devil or his imps, or our own misgiving [illegible: 1 word] condemn us: as the prisoner careth not though tha goaler or his fellow-prisoners condemn him, so long as the Judge acquitteth him.

Verse 16. Moreover, when ye fast.] Fast then they must, [illegible: 1 word] even after the Lords ascension, when Gods grace and Spirit was poured upon them in all abundance, Luk. 5 35. This exercise hath still the warrant and weight of a duty, as well from precepts as examples of both Testaments, And he that blamed the Pharisees [illegible: 1 word] 2. [illegible: 1 word]. here for fasting amisse, will much more blame those that fast not [illegible: 1 word]. 22. 12. [illegible: 1 word] 9. 14, 15. at all, The Israelites (besides other occasionall) had their annuallActs [illegible: 1 word]. 3. fast appointed them by God, Lev. 23. 27. It was called a day [illegible: 2 words] 7 5. of Expiations or Attonements in the plurall; because of their many and sundry sinnes they were then to bewail and get pardon for. God had appointed them sundry sacrifices for severall sinnes: But for [illegible: 1 word] as it might not be safe to confesse some sinnes to the Priest (as those that might bring them, by the Law, in danger of death) of his grace he vouchsafed them this yearly fast, for expiation of their secret sinnes, and making their peace with their Maker, by a generall humiliation. Now, albeit the circumstance of time be abolished, the equity of the duty abideth, and tieth us no [illegible: 1 word] (if not more) then it did the Jews. Heathen [illegible: 1 word] practised it: so did, in their superstitious way, the AEgyptian Priests, the Persian Magi, Indian Wizzards, Priamus in Homer, &c. The Turks at this day have their solemn fasts, (as before the fatall assault of Constantinople) wherein they will not so much as taste a cup of water, or wash their mouthes with water all the day long, before the starres appear in the skie: which maketh their fasts (especially in the summer, when the daies be long and hot,) to be unto them very tedious. In the year of grace 1030. Turk. Hist. fol. [illegible: 1 word], 777. there arose a [illegible: 1 word] of Fasters, that affirmed, that to fast on Saturdaies with bread and water (as they called it) would suffice to Ex illa Syno. dica conclusione, seriâ [illegible: 1 word] jejunare constituerat, secta illa le junantium, originem suam habuisse videatur. Funcc. Chronol. the remission of all sinnes; so that men bound themselves to it by oath. And many French Bishops voted with them: But Gerardus Episcopus Cameracensis withstood and abandoned them. So great ignorance was there, even then, of the merits of Christ among the governours of the Church. The Papists slander us, that we count fasting no duty, but only a morall temperance, a fasting from sinne, a matter of meer policie: And out-brave us, as much as the Pharisees did the Disciples with their often fasting. But, as we cannot but finde fault with their fasts in that; First, They set and appoint certain fasting-daies howsoever, to be observed, upon pain of damnation, be the times clear or cloudy, &c. Secondly, They fast from certain meats only, not all; which is a meer mock-fast, and a doctrine of devils, 1 Tim. 4. 3. Thirdly, They make it a service Cave, ne si [illegible: 1 word] coeperis, te [illegible: 1 word] esse sanctum! [illegible: 6 words], non [illegible: 2 words], &c. [illegible: 1 word], ad [illegible: 1 word]. of God, yet consecrate it to the Saints. Fourthly, They make shamefull sale of it. Fifthly, They ascribe (as those older Hereticks) merit unto it, even to the meer outward abstinence, as these Pharisees did, and those hypocrites in Isaiah, chap. 58. 3. Now as we cannot but condemn their superstition, so neither is our forlorn oscitancy and dullnesse to this duty to be excused. God hath given us, alate especially (many gracious opportunities of publike Humiliations, more, I think, then ever before, since the Reformation: But [illegible: 1 word], how doe many fast, at such times, for fashion, fear of Law, or of meer form; so that they had need to send, as the Prophet speaketh, for mourning women, that by their cunning they may be taught to mourn, Ier. 19. 17? And for private fasting, whether domesticall with a mans family, Zech. 12. 12. 1 Cor. 7. 5. Acts 10. 30. or personall by himself, as here, Matth. 6. 17. We may [illegible: 1 word] to have dealt with it, as the Romanes with the Tarquines: they banished all of that name for Superbus his sake. And as the Nicopolites are said to have hated the braying of an [illegible: 1 word], that, for that cause, they would not endure the sound of [illegible: 2 words]: So many are departed so farre from Popish fasts, [illegible: 2 words] fast not at all; and so open the mouthes of the adversaries. But acquaint thy self with this duty, thou that wouldest be [illegible: 1 word] with God. It is a fore-tast of eternall life, [illegible: 1 word] in holy practises we tast the sweetnesse of that heavenly Manna, this Angels food, those soul-fatting viands, that makes us, for a time, to forbear our appointed food. It is a help to the understanding of heavenly mysteries, as Daniel found it, It fits us for conversion, [illegible: 1 word] 9 [illegible: 1 word]. Ioel 2. 12. and furthers it, Acts 9. 9. Hence it is called a [illegible: 1 word] of Humiliation, or of humbling the soul, Lev. 16. because God usually by that Ordinance gives an humble heart, to the which he hath promised both grace, 1 Pet. 5. 5, and glory, Prov. 15. 33. It [illegible: 1 word] out corruption, and is to the soul as washing to a room, which is more then sweeping; or as scouring to the vessel, which is more then ordinary washing. It subdues rebell-flesh, which with fullnesse1 [illegible: 1 word]. 9. 27. [illegible: 1 word]. 16. of bread will wax wanton, as Sodom, [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 32. 15. It testifies true repentance, by this holy revenge, 2 Cor. 7. 11. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. whiles we thus amerce and punish our selves, by a voluntary forgoing [illegible: 3 words]. of the [illegible: 1 word] and commodities of life, as altogether unworthy, Psal. 35. 13. What shall I say more? Hereby we are daily drawn to more obedience, and love to God, faith in him, and communion with him; a more holy frame of soul, and habit of heavenly-mindednesse: Whence our Saviour, after this direction for fasting, immediatly subjoins that of laying up for our selves, treasure in heaven, ver. 19, 20. And lastly our prayers shall be hereby edged, winged, and made to soar aloft, which before flagged, sainted, and as it were groveled on the ground. Therefore [illegible: 5 words]. our Saviour, here, next after matter of prayer, adds this of fasting, which is a necessary adjunct of prayer (that which is extraordinary especially) as that which very much fits the heart for prayer,Bern. [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 2 words]. 4. and the severe practise of repentance. Hence it is, that else where, these two fasting and prayer go coupled, for most part, as Luk. [illegible: 1 word]. 37. Matth. 17. 21. 1 Cor. 7. 5, &c. A full belly, neither studies, nor prayes willingly. Fasting enflames prayer, and prayer [illegible: 1 word] fasting; especially, when we fast and weep, Joel 2. 13. fast and watch, watch and pray, and take heed to both, Mark. 13. 33. Be not as the hypocrites] For they fast not to God, Zech. 7. 5, 11, 12. but to themselves, they pine the body, but pamper the flesh, Quid [illegible: 2 words] absti. [illegible: 3 words], [illegible: 4 words] super. bia? [illegible: 1 word].they hang down their heads, Isa. 58. 5. but their hearts stand bolt [illegible: 1 word] within them. Their fasting is either superstitious or secure; whiles they rest in the work done, or with opinion of merit; whereas the Kingdom of heaven is not in meat and drink. And whether we eat or eat not, we are neither the more nor the lesse [illegible: 1 word]. 14. 17. accepted of God, They fast for strife and debate, and to make [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. their voices to be heard on high: Whereas secrecy in this duty, is [illegible: 1 word], 58. 4. the [illegible: 1 word] argument of sincerity. They loose not the bands of wickednesse, nor break off their sinnes by repentance: therefore God regards not (which they repine at) but rejects their considence, and answers them according to the idols of their hearts. When they fast, saith he, I will not hear their cry, Jer. 14. 1, 2. they are not [illegible: 1 word] san. [illegible: 1 word] as duplex iniquit as, a button the better for all they can doe. Displeasing service proves a double dishonour; their outsidenesse is an utter abomination: they present the Great King with an empty cask, with a heartlesse sacrifice, with a bare carcasse of Religion, as the Poets feign of [illegible: 1 word]. Of a sad countenance] Make not a sowre face, look not grim [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 1 word] oculis, & subductus supercilijs [illegible: 2 words] Chemnit. [non-Latin text not transcribed], Christus-alladit ad [illegible: 1 word], quibus Mimi velati in [illegible: 1 word] prodibant, ut cum alias essent [illegible: 1 word] sellivè, ridiculi, repraesenta [illegible: 1 word] vultum [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. Chemnit. and gastly, as the word signifieth; so that one would be afraid to look on them, they doe so disfigure their faces, so wanze and wither their countenences, so deform, and (as S. Ierom rendreth it) demolish their naturall complexions; pining themselves, to make their faces pale and meager, that they may be noted and noticed for great fasters. Such a one was that Non-such Ahab, and those [illegible: 1 word] bullrushes, Isa. 58. 5. those hollow hypocrites, Ier. 14. 12. that proud Patriarch of Constantinople, that first affected the stile of Universall Bishop; and is therefore pointed at by Gregory the great, as the forerunner of Antichrist: yet by his frequent fasting, this proud man merited to be sirnamed Iohannes Nestentes, Iohn the Faster. Such pains men will put themselves to for a Name, so far they will trouble themselves to go to hell with credit. The Jesuits had set forth a Psalter, a little afore theArch. Vsher, Gravis. quest. powder plot should have been acted, for the good successe of a wicked counter-Parliament. And to increase the iniquity, with wicked Iezabel, they would colour it with a fast: yea with blasphemous Rabshakeh, they would by their hypocriticall practises, bearSpec. bel sac. the world in hand, that they came not up against us without the Lord. That they may appear unto men to fast.] There is a great deal of seemingnesse, and much counterfeit grace abroad. The sorcerers seemed to doe as much as Moses, the Pharisees to doe more, this way, then the Disciples. But bodily exercise profiteth little. Somewhat it may get at Gods hands, as Ahab, for a temporary repentance, had a temporall deliverance; such is Gods munificence, he is rich in mercy, to all that doe him any duty. But if the leaves of this [illegible: 1 word] be so medicinable, what is the fruit? If the shadow thereof be so [illegible: 1 word], what the substance? If the shell so profitable, [illegible: 5 words]. what the kernell? Oh let us rather seek to be good, then [illegible: 1 word] to be so: lest the Lord say of our outward shews, as Iacob said of Iosephs coat, Gen. 37. 33. the coat is the coat of my sonne, some evil beast hath devoured him. So, the outward form of their fasting, praying, practising, is the form of my sonnes and daughters, but some evil spirit hath devoured them, that use it in hypocrisie. Lest men also say unto such, as John Caepocius did to Pope Innocent the third, preaching peace, and sowing discord; You speak like a God, but doe like a devil. You are fair professours, [illegible: 5 words]. but foul sinners. And when the filthy sinner goes damned to hell, what shall become of the seeming Saint? As the clown said to the Bishop of Cullen praying in the Church like a Bishop, but as he was Duke, going guarded like a tyrant, Whither thinkest thou the [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word]. Bishop shall go, when the Duke shall be damned? They have their reward] All they lookt after, and all they are to look for. The Eagle though she fly high, yet hath an eye to the prey below all the while. So hath the hypocrite to profit, credit, or [illegible: 1 word] other base respects, and let him take it, saith our Saviour. Non equidem invideo, miror magis.— Breath they have for breath; much good doe them with it.

Verse 17. But thou when thou fastest, anoint thine head, &c.] Not but that a man is bound at such a time, to abridge [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 line] comforts and delights of life, whence it is called a day of restraint, Joel 2. 15. and of afflicting the soul. The Ninevites sate in [illegible: 1 word], as unworthy [illegible: 1 word] any covering. Others put ashes on their heads, in token that they deserved to be as far [illegible: 1 word], as now [illegible: 1 word] were above ground. David lay on the [illegible: 1 word], 2 [illegible: 1 word]. 12. 16. Daniel laid aside all delights of sense, as musick, mirth, [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word], &c. Our Saviour fasted to the humbling of his soul, Psal. 35 13. weakning of his knees, Psal. 69. 10. [illegible: 1 word] and [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word] body, Psal. 109 24. And when [illegible: 1 word] the [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 9 words]. [illegible: 2 words] him wine mingled with myrthe, to [illegible: 2 words], and make him [illegible: 1 word] sensible of his pain, he received it not, [illegible: 1 word]. 15 23. To [illegible: 1 word] us ([illegible: 1 word] a [illegible: 2 words]) in our extraordinary humilations for our sinnes, to forbear all such refreshments as might hinder the course of our just griefs. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into heavinesse, Jam. 4 9. such [illegible: 2 words]. a [illegible: 1 word] as may be seen in the countenance, as the word [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words] & [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 2 words] comedere. [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 2 words] vultus demis. sione. Budaeus. But when our Saviour biddeth, anoint the head, at such a time, and wash the face, it is, as he expounds himself, that we may not appear to men to fast: In a private fast, eschewing wholly the [illegible: 1 word]; in a publike, not performing to the shew, or to this end, that we may be [illegible: 1 word].

Verse 18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, &c.] [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Ne te [illegible: 1 word] extra. [illegible: 2 words] the glow-worm, which seems to have both light and heat; but touch it, and it hath neither indeed. In the history of the World encompassed by Sr Francis Drake, it is [illegible: 1 word], that in a certain Island to the southward of Celebes, among the trees, night by night did shew themselves, an infinite swarm of fiery-seeming worms, flying in the ayre, whose bodies no bigger then an ordinary flye, did make a shew, and give such [illegible: 2 words] encomp. [illegible: 1 word] S. Fr. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. light, as if every twig on every tree had been a lighted candle, or as if that place had been the starry sphere. This was but a semblance, but an appearance: no more is that of hypocrites, but a [illegible: 1 word], but a flourish. A sincere man is like a crystall-glasse with a light in the midst, which appeareth through every part thereof, so as that truth within, breaketh out in every parcell of his life. There is in his obedience to God, 1. An universality, he doth every as well as any part and point of Gods revealed will, so far as he knows it. 2. An uniformity, without prejudice or partiality, I [illegible: 1 word]. 5. 21. without [illegible: 1 word] the balance of one side, Inequality [non-Latin text not transcribed]. of the leggs [illegible: 2 words], and an unequall pulse argues bodily [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 104, [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]; so doth an unsuitable carriage an unsound soul. 3. [illegible: 2 words]: [illegible: 2 words] the same at home as abroad; in the closet as in [illegible: 1 word]. 23 [illegible: 1 word]. the [illegible: 1 word]; and mindes secret as well as open [illegible: 1 word]: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] is [illegible: 2 words] the same in his masters house, in the [illegible: 1 word] and at [illegible: 1 word]; [illegible: 2 words] or [illegible: 1 word], not like the planet [illegible: 1 word], that is [illegible: 3 words] with good, and bad with bad. [illegible: 4 words] is unfained, 1 Tim. 1. 5. his love [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 3. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. ndissembled. [illegible: 1 word]. 3. 17. his repentance, [non-Latin text not transcribed] a renting of [illegible: 2 words] [illegible: 1 word] 2. 12. his [illegible: 1 word], an afflicting of the soul. with [illegible: 2 words], till [illegible: 1 word] heart be as sore within him as the [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words] the third day aster circumcision, Lev. 16. 31. & 23. 37. He truly [illegible: 1 word] at pleasing God, and not at byrespects. This is truth in the inwards, Psal. 51. 6. this is that [illegible: 1 word] and truth, 1 Cor. 5. 8 that simplicity and godly sincerity, 2 [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 12. A dainty word: It is a Metaphor (saith one) from [non-Latin text not transcribed]. such things as are tried by being held up against the beams of the [illegible: 5 words]. Sun (as chap-men doe in the choice of their wares) to see what faults or flaws are in them, It is properly used (saith B. Andrews) of [illegible: 1 word] wares, such as we may [non-Latin text not transcribed], bring forth, [illegible: 5 words] her [illegible: 4 words]. and shew them in the Sun. And as a godly man is sincere, without wax, or grosse matter, as he is unmingled, and true of heart, so he doeth truth, Joh. 3. 21. he will not lye, Isa. 63. 9. that great reall [illegible: 1 word] mel. 1. [illegible: 2 words]. lye especially. Hypocrites in doing good, they doe lyes (by their delusion, as grosse hypocrites, by their collusion, as close hypocrites.) Thus Ephraim compassed God with lyes. His knowledge was but a form, his godlinesse a figure: his zeal a flash, all he did, [illegible: 1 word]. 11. 12. a semblance: as these Pharisees only appeared to fast and doe [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 2. [illegible: 1 word]. duties. But every fowl that hath a seemly feather, hath not the2 [illegible: 1 word]. 3. 5. sweetest flesh; nor doth every tree that beareth a goodly leaf,Luk 8. 18. [illegible: 1 word]. 6. [illegible: 1 word]. bring good fruit. Glasse giveth a clearer sound then silver, and many things glister besides gold. A true Christian cares as well to approve his inside to God, as his outside to the world: And it is a just question, whether the desire of being, or dislike of seeming sincere, be greater in him. He [illegible: 1 word] his worst to men, and best to God (as Moses did, when going to the mount he pulled off his veil; and shents himself oft before God for [illegible: 1 word], which the world applauds in him. God he knows, seeth in secret, there's no tempting him with Ananias and Saphira, to try whether he tryeth the hearts or not. His sharp nose easily discerneth, and is offended with the stinking breath of rotten lungs, though the words or outward actions be never so sented and persumed with shews of holinesse. Thy Father, which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly] He is the rewarder of all that diligently seek him in this soul fatting [illegible: 1 word]: Heb 10. 6. which as it was seen and allowed by the Lord Christ, Luk. 5. 33. so it was never rightly used without effect: It is called the day of Reconciliation or Attonement, and hath most rich and precious promises, Ioel 2. 13. to the 21. Its sure, God will pardon our sins, and that carries meat in the mouth of it, Psal. 42, 1, 2. Its probable, that [illegible: 1 word] leave a blessing [illegible: 1 word] him (and the rather, that we may therewith chearfully serve him) even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord our God: according to that of the [illegible: 1 word]; There is mercy with thee that thou mayest be feared, i. e. served. Fullnesse of bread was Sodoms sin, and in those sacrificing Sodomites, Isa. 1. 10. it was noted for an inexpiable evil, Isa. 22. 14. They that fast not on earth, when God calls to it, shall be [illegible: 1 word] with gall and [illegible: 1 word] in hell: they that [illegible: 1 word] not among men, shall howle among devils: whereas those that sow in Psal. 126. 5. [illegible: 1 word] shall reap in joy, they that mourn in time of sinning, shall beEz [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] in time of punishing: and as they have sought the Lord [illegible: 1 word] fasting, so shall he yet again be sought and found of such with [illegible: 1 word]. 8 10. [illegible: 1 word] feasting; as he hath [illegible: 1 word] and performed to his people inJudg. [illegible: 2 words]. all [illegible: 1 word] of the Church, not an instance can be alledged to the contrary. [illegible: 1 word] 8 [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] three great fasters met gloriously upon mount Tabor. [illegible: 1 word]. 4. [illegible: 1 word]. The Israelites fasting (and not till then) were [illegible: 1 word], Iudg. 20. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 26. [illegible: 1 word] was delivered, Esther and her people reprived, Daniel Acts 10. 30. [illegible: 1 word] visions from heaven, Ezra help from heaven. And surely if with fasting and prayer we can wrestle with God, as Iacob, we need not fear Duke Esau, with his 600 cut-throats comming against us. Si Deus nobiscum, quis contra nos. Numa being told [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 1 word]. that his enemies were coming upon him as he was offering sacrifices, thought it sufficient for his safety, that he could say, At ego [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. rem divinam facio, but I am about the service of my God. When [illegible: 1 word] had once established a preaching Ministery in all the Cities of Iudah, then, and not till then, the fear of the Lord fell upon 2 Chron. 17. the neighbour Nations, and they made no warre; albeit he had [illegible: 1 word], 8. 9. before that placed forces in all the fenced Cities. Leotine Prince Ego, [illegible: 1 word], formido [illegible: 1 word] eleemosynas [illegible: 3 words] quam ejus copias. D Povvel, in sua Camb. [illegible: 1 word]. of Wales, when he was moved by some about him to make warre [illegible: 1 word] our Henry the third, replied thus; I am much more afraid of his alms then of his Armies. Frederike the Electour of Saxony, intending warre against the Archbishop of Magdeburg, sent a spy to search out his preparations, and to hearken out his designes. But understanding, that the Archbishop did nothing more then commit Alius insaniat ut [illegible: 1 word] inserat ei qui [illegible: 1 word] se [illegible: 3 words]. Bucholc. his cause to God, and give himself to fasting and prayer, Alius, inquit insaniat, &c. Let him fight, said he, that hath a minde to it: I am not so mad as to fight against him, that trusts to have God his defender and deliverer. It is reported, that at the siege of [illegible: 1 word], the people of God, using daily humiliation, as their service would permit, did sing a Psalm after, and immediatly before their [illegible: 1 word] forth; with which practice the enemy coming acquainted, ever upon the singing of the Psalme (after which they expected a sally) they would so quake and tremble, crying, They come, they come, [illegible: 1 word] though the wrath of God had been breaking out upon [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. them. The souldiers that went against the [illegible: 1 word] (where God was sincerely serv'd amidst a whole Kingdom of Papists) told their Captains they were so astonished, they could not strike. Some others said, that the Ministers, with their [illegible: 1 word] Act. [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. and praier, conjured and [illegible: 1 word] them, that they could not fight. It was the custome of this poor people, so soon as they saw the enemy to approach, to cry all together for aid and [illegible: 1 word] to the Lord, &c. while the [illegible: 1 word] fought, the rest of the [illegible: 1 word] with their Ministers, made their hearty praier to God, with sighes and tears, and that from the morning to the evening: when night was come, they assembled again together. They which had fought, rehearsed Gods wonderfull aid and succour, and so all together rendered thanks. Alway he turned their [illegible: 1 word] into joy. In the morning, trouble and affliction appeared before them, with great terrour on all sides: but by the evening they were delivered, and had great cause of [illegible: 1 word] Ibid. 885. and comfort.

Verse 19. Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth.] This is the fourth common-place handled here by our Saviour, of casting away the inordinate care of earthly things, which he presseth upon all, by nine severall arguments, to the end of the Chapter. By treasures here are meant worldly wealth in abundance, precious things stored up, as silver, gold, pearls, &c. All [illegible: 1 word] are but earth, and it is, but upon earth [illegible: 1 word] they are laid up. What is silver and gold but white and yellow earth? And what are pearls and precious stones, but the guts and garbage of the earth? Dan. 2. 45. The stone brake in pieces, the iron, the brasse, the clay, and silver, &c. The Prophet breaks the [illegible: 1 word] order of speech, for [non-Latin text not transcribed] clay, iron, brasse, silver, &c. to intimate (as some conceive) [non-Latin text not transcribed] that silver is clay, by an elegant allusion in the Chaldee, shouldBroughton. we load our selves with thick clay? Surcharge our hearts with cares of this life, Luke 21. 34? Gen. 13. 2. It is said, Abraham was [illegible: 1 word] rich in cattel, in silver and in gold. There is a Latine translation that hath it, Abraham was very heavy. And the originall [non-Latin text not transcribed] indifferently beareth both: to shew (saith one) that riches are a heavy burden, and a hinderance many times to heaven and happinesse. They that have this burden upon their backs, can as [non-Latin text not transcribed]. hardly get in at the straight gate, as a Camel or Cable into a needle, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and that because they trust in their riches (as our SaviourMat. 19 23. [illegible: 1 word] expounds himself) and here plainly intimates, when he [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word] up [illegible: 1 word]; providing thereby for hereafter, [illegible: 1 word] to morrow (so [illegible: 1 word] word [illegible: 1 word]) and thinking themselves [illegible: 1 word] the safer, and the [illegible: 1 word] for their outward abundance, [illegible: 1 word] the rich fool did, The rich mans wealth is his strong City, saithProv 10. 15. [illegible: 1 word], his wedge his confidence, his gold, his god; [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 5 5. [illegible: 1 word]. Paul calleth him an Idolater, S. James an [illegible: 1 word], because he [illegible: 1 word], 4. 4. [illegible: 1 word] God of his flower, his trust; and goeth a whoring after [illegible: 1 word] vanities: he soweth the winde, and reapeth the whirlwinde: [illegible: 1 word] treasureth up wealth, but withall wrath, Jam. 5 3. and by [illegible: 1 word] all sish that commeth to net, he catcheth at length, the [illegible: 1 word] and all. Hence it is that S. James bids such (and not [illegible: 1 word] Atistoteles [illegible: 2 words] [non-Latin text not transcribed]. l 4 Ethic. ca 1. cause) Weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon them. [illegible: 1 word] looks upon them as deplored persons, and such as the [illegible: 1 word] could call and count incurable and desperate. For the heart [illegible: 1 word] is first turned into earth and mud, will afterwards freeze and [illegible: 1 word] into steel and adamant, The Pharisees that were covetous [illegible: 1 word] Luk. 16. 14. Christ, and perished irrecoverably. And reprobates are [illegible: 1 word] by S. Peter to have their hearts exercised with covetous practices, 2 Pet. 2. 14. which they constantly follow, as the Artificer his trade, being [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 1 word]. ab [illegible: 1 word] illu [illegible: 1 word] viduarum domos devorantibus [illegible: 1 word] apprentices to the devil, 2 Cor. 2. 11. Lest Satan should get an advantage against us. or [illegible: 1 word] us, as covetous wretches do [illegible: 1 word] novices. These as they have served an ill Master, so they shall receive the reward of unrighteousnesse, and perish in their corruptions, 2 Pet. 2. 12, 13. Their happinesse hath been laid up in the earth, nearer hell then heaven, nearer the devil then God, whom they have forsaken, [illegible: 1 word] shall they be written in the earth, Jer. 17. 13. that is, in hell, as it stands opposed to having their names written in [illegible: 1 word]. 3. 19. heaven. Those that are earthly minded have damnation for their end. God to testifie his displeasure, knocks his fists at them, Ezek. 22. 13. as Balac did at Balaam. And lest they should reply, Tush, these [illegible: 1 word] but big words, devised on [illegible: 1 word] to [illegible: 1 word] silly people: we shall do well enough with the Lord; he addeth, vers. 14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the daies that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will doe it. Oh that cur greedy muck-moles (that lie rooting and poring [illegible: 1 word] the earth, as if they meant to dig themselves thorow it, a nearer way to hell) would consider this before the cold grave holds their bodies, and hot Tophet [illegible: 1 word] their souls [illegible: 1 word] the one is as sure as the other, if timely course be not taken, O [illegible: 1 word] nequam, saith S. Bernard; O most wretched and [illegible: 1 word] world, how little are thy [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 5 words]. beholden to thee; seeing thy love and friendship exposeth [illegible: 1 word] to the wrath and [illegible: 1 word] of God, which burneth as low as [illegible: 1 word] nethermost hell. How fitly may it be said of thee, as [illegible: 2 words] the river [illegible: 1 word]: they that know it at [illegible: 2 words] [illegible: 5 words] it, they that have experience of it at last, doe, not [illegible: 1 word] cause condemn it? Those that will be rich, are resolved to get rem rem, [illegible: 1 word] modo rem, as he saith, these [illegible: 1 word] necessarily [illegible: 1 word] many noisome lusts that drown men in [illegible: 1 word]: desperately drown them in remedilesse misery (as [illegible: 1 word] word signifieth;) Christ must be praid to be gone, saith that [illegible: 1 word], [non-Latin text not transcribed]. lest all their pigs be drowned. The devil shall have his dwelling [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 5 words]. gain in themselves, rather then in their pigs: Therefore to the [illegible: 1 word] shall they go, and dwell with him, &c. They feed upon carrion, [illegible: 1 word] Noahs raven; upon dust, as the Serpent; upon the worlds [illegible: 1 word], as those in Job, They swallow down riches, and are [illegible: 1 word], as the Pharisees, Luk. 11. 41. but they shall vomit them [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. and [illegible: 1 word]. fol [illegible: 2 words]. again, God shall cast them out of their bellies. Their mouths [illegible: 1 word] cried Give, Give, with the horse-leech, shall be filled ere long [illegible: 5 words] with a shovell-full of mould, and a cup of fire and brimstone [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 5 words]. down their wide gullets. It shall be worse with them, [illegible: 1 word] it was once with the covetous Chaliph of Babylon, who being [illegible: 1 word], together with his City by Haalon, brother to Mango the great Chan of T [illegible: 1 word], was sit by him [illegible: 1 word] the middest of the [illegible: 2 words] which he and his predecessours had most [illegible: 1 word]. heaped up together, and bidden of that gold, silver and [illegible: 1 word] stones, take what it pleased him to eat, saying, by way of [illegible: 1 word], That so gainfull a guest should be fed with the best, whereof he willed him to make no spare. The covetons Caitiff, kept for [illegible: 1 word]. Hist. [illegible: 1 word]. 113. certain daies, miserably died for hunger, in the midst of those things whereof he thought he should never have had enough, whereby he hoped to secure himself against whatsoever dearth [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word] loveth to confute carnall men in their [illegible: 1 word]. They shall passe on hardly bestead and hungery; and it shall come to [illegible: 1 word], that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, [illegible: 2 words] their King, and their God, and look upward. And they [illegible: 2 words] unto the earth (where they have laid up their [illegible: 1 word], but now [illegible: 1 word] their hopes) and behold trouble and darknesse, [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word]: and they shall be driven into darknesse, Isa. 8. 21, 22. utter darknesse; where their Never-enough shall be quitted with [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word], but a black fire, without the least glimpse of light or [illegible: 1 word]. Where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where [illegible: 1 word], &c.] A [illegible: 3 words] earthly-mindednesse, [illegible: 1 word] the [illegible: 1 word] of riches, [illegible: 3 words] to a double danger or waste. 1. Of [illegible: 1 word] in [illegible: 1 word]. 2. Of violence from others; rust or robbery [illegible: 1 word] undo us. As the fairest flowers or fruit-trees breed a worm [illegible: 1 word], that eats out the heart of them. As the Ivy killeth [illegible: 4 words] it; so, of the matter of an earthly treasure [illegible: 1 word] moth or rust that [illegible: 1 word] it. [illegible: 1 word] ward things are of a [illegible: 1 word] nature, they perish in the use, they melt away betwixt our [illegible: 1 word]. S. Gregory upon those words in Job, Qui ingreditur in Job 38. 22. [illegible: 1 word] nivis? Who hath entered into the treasures of the snow? [illegible: 1 word], that [illegible: 1 word] treasures are treasures of snow. We see [illegible: 1 word] children what pains they take to rake and scrape snow [illegible: 1 word] to make a snow-ball; which after a while dissolves and [illegible: 1 word] to nothing: Right so, the treasures of this world, the [illegible: 1 word] that wicked men have heaped, when God entreth [illegible: 2 words], come to nothing. He that trusteth to his riches shall fall, [illegible: 1 word]. 11. 28. as he shall that standeth on an hillock of ice, or heap [illegible: 1 word] snow. David, when got upon his mountain, thought [illegible: 1 word] cock-sure, and began to crow, that he should never be [illegible: 1 word]. But God (to [illegible: 1 word] him) had no sooner hid his face, butPsal. 30. 6, 7. [illegible: 2 words] troubled. What's the air without light? The AEgyptians had no joy of it: no more can a Christian have of wealth without Gods favour. Besides, what hold is there of these earthly things? more then there is of a [illegible: 1 word] of birds? I cannot say they are mine, because they sit in my yard. Riches have wings, saith Solomon, great Eagles wings to flee from us, saith a Father; but to follow [illegible: 1 word] us, Ne passerinas [illegible: 1 word], not so much as small sparrowsProv. 23. [illegible: 1 word]. wings. Whereupon Solomon rightly argues, Wilt thou set thine [illegible: 1 word] upon that which is not? that hath no reall subsistence, that is, nothing, and of no more price, then meer opinion [illegible: 1 word] upon it? The world cals wealth substance, but God gives that name to wisdom only. Heaven is said to have a foundation, earth to be hangedJob. upon nothing. So, things [illegible: 1 word] said to be [illegible: 1 word] heaven, as in a mansion, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. but on earth, on the surface only, as ready to be shaken off. Hence the world is called a sea of glasse, frail and fickle, mingled R. v. [illegible: 1 word]. 15. 2. a Pet. 3. 10. with fire of temptations and tribulations. The very firmament (that [illegible: 1 word] name from its firmnesse) shall melt with servent heat, and the whole visible fabrick be [illegible: 1 word] by the fire of the last [illegible: 1 word]. Solomon sets forth the world by a word that betokeneth [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] for its mutability. And S. Paul, when [illegible: 1 word] telleth us, That [illegible: 1 word] fashion of the world passeth away, useth a word of art, that signifieth [illegible: 5 words]. a bare externall, mathematicall figure, Cui veri aut selidi nihil [illegible: 1 word] saith an Interpreter, that hath no truth or solidity in it at all Gilliner King of Vandals, being conquered, and carried in [illegible: 1 word] by Bellisarius the Roman Generall, when he stood in the [illegible: 1 word] field before the Emperour Justinian, and beheld him sitting [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 528. his throne of State, remembring withall what an high pitch himself was fallen from, he broke out into this speech, Vanity of [illegible: 1 word], all is vanity. That was Solomons verdict, long since delivered up, upon well-grounded experience. But men love to [illegible: 1 word] conclusions; and, when they have done, What profit, saith [illegible: 1 word] hath a man of all his pains? what [illegible: 1 word] and remaining fruit ([illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. the word signifieth) to abide with him? When all the [illegible: 1 word] Eccles. 1. 3. subducted (his happinesse resolved into it's finall issue and [illegible: 1 word]) there resteth nothing but ciphers. A Spider [illegible: 1 word] himself, and wasteth his own bowels to make a web to catch [illegible: 2 words]: so doth the worldling for that which profiteth not, but [illegible: 1 word] in the use: Or say that it abide, yet himself perisheth, when to [illegible: 1 word] the things he hath gotten might seem a happines, as the rich fool, Alexander, Tamberlain, others. Most of [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] gat nothing by their adoption or designation, [illegible: 1 word], ut citius interficerentur, that they might be the sooner slain. All, [illegible: 1 word] most of them till [illegible: 1 word], died unnaturall deaths, and in theJer. 17. [illegible: 1 word]. best of their time. He that gettethriches, and not by right, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 5. 15. leave them in the [illegible: 1 word] of his daies, and at his end shall be a fool. God will make a poor fool of him. As he came forth of his [illegible: 1 word] womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. Say his treasure escape both rust and robber, death as a thief will break in, and leave him not [illegible: 1 word] a groat. Who would not then set light by this pelf, and put on that Persian resolution, Isa. 13. 17. Not to regard silver, nor be desirous of gold? Who would not tread [illegible: 5 words]. in the steps of faithfull Abraham, and answer the devil with his golder. offers, as he did the King of Sodome, God forbid that I should take of thee so much as a shoe-latchet? When great gifts were [illegible: 4 words]. sent to Luther, he refused them with this brave speech, [illegible: 2 words] me [illegible: 1 word] fic satiari a Deo, I deeply protested that [illegible: 1 word] should not put me off with such poor things as these. The Heathenish [illegible: 5 words] Romans had, for a difference in their Nobility, a little [illegible: 1 word] in the form of a Moon (to shew that all worldly honours were mutable) and they did wear it upon their shooes (to shew that they did tread it under their feet) as base and bootlesse. This is check to many Christians, that have their hands elbow-deep in the world, and dote as much upon these earthly vanities, as Xerxes once did upon his Plane-tree, or Jonas upon his [illegible: 1 word]. There is a sort of men that say of the world, as Solomons [illegible: 1 word], It is naught, it is naught: but when he is gone apart, he boasteth and closeth with the world. S. Paul was none of these: for neither at any time, [illegible: 1 word] he, used we flattering words, as ye know: nor [illegible: 2 words]. 14. a cloak of covetousnesse, God is my witnesse. No; he looked upon [illegible: 2 words] a very [illegible: 1 word] of mortisication. the world as a [illegible: 1 word] dung-hill, and cared to glory in nothing, save in the crosse of Jesus Christ, whereby the world was crucified to him, and he to the world. So David, My soul, saith he, is even [illegible: 1 word] a weaned childe, that cares not to suck, though never so fair and [illegible: 1 word] a brest. So Luther confesseth of himself, that though he were a [illegible: 1 word] man, and subject to imperfections, yet the infection of [illegible: 1 word] Pully his [illegible: 2 words]. never laid hold of him. Now I would we were all Lutherans in this, saith One, &c.

Verse 20. But lay up for your selves treasures in heaven] That which you may draw out a thousand year hence. For in a treasure there are three things; a laying up, a lying hid, and a drawing out for present use. Riches reach not to eternity. Therefore whiles others lay [illegible: 1 word] upon riches, Lay thou hold on eternall life, 1 Tim. 6. 12. and that, by following after righteousnesse, god inesse, faith, love, patience, [illegible: 1 word]. This, this is the true treasure: this is to be [illegible: 5 words]. rich, as our Saviour speaketh, toward God, and is opposed to laying up treasure for himself, Luk 12. 21. as [illegible: 1 word], laying up treasure in heaven, is to that of laying up treasure in earth. [illegible: 1 word] cannot be done, because the heart cannot be in two so different places at once. The Saints have their commoration on earth, but their conversation is in heaven. Here are their bodies, but their hearts are, [illegible: 1 word] Christ their head is. Sancti ibi sunt ubi [illegible: 1 word] sunt, & non sunt ubi sunt, saith Chrysostome. The Saints are there, in their affections, whether as yet they are not come in their [illegible: 1 word]. All their plowing, sailing, building, planting tends to that life that is [illegible: 1 word], supernaturall: they run [illegible: 1 word] the high prize, they strive for the crown of righteousnesse, they breath after the [illegible: 1 word] vision, with, Oh when shall I come and appear before God! And [illegible: 1 line] as the Athenians, when they were besiged by Sylla, had [illegible: 1 word] hearts with him without the walls, though their bodies were held within by force: So the Saints, though detained here for a while in a farre countrey, yet their hearts are at home. They go thorow the world, as a man whose minde is in a deep study, or as [illegible: 1 line] one that hath speciall haste of some weighty businesse; they wonder much how men can a while to pick up sticks and straws with so much delight and diligence. The time is short (or trussed up into a narrow [illegible: 1 word]) the task is long, of keeping faith and [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 line] good conscience; hence they use the world, as if they used it not, as having little leisure to trifle. There's water little enough to runne in the right chanel, therefore they let none runne beside; but carefully improve every opportunity, as wise merchants, and [illegible: 1 line] care not to sell all, to purchase the pearl of price. In a witty [illegible: 1 word] (saith Broughton out os Rabbi Bochai) Kain and Abel contain in their names advertisements for matter of true continuance and corruption. Kain betokeneth possession in this world, and [illegible: 1 word] betokeneth one humbled in minde, and holding such possession vain. Such was his [illegible: 1 word], sheep-kinde, the [illegible: 1 word] of all living beasts, and therefore the favour of God followed him. And the offering of Kain was of the fruit of the earth, as he loved the [illegible: 1 line] possession of this world, and the service of the body (which yet can have no continuance) and followed after bodily lusts. Therefore the blessed [illegible: 1 word] favoured him not. Kains chief care was to build Cities, that he might call his Land after his own Name, Psal. 49. 11. and make his sonne, Lord Enoch of Enoch. Not so the better sort, Abel, Henoch, Noah, Abraham, they were content [illegible: 1 word] 11. 10. to dwell in tents, as looking for a City, which hath foundations, whose maker and founder is God. Abraham bought a piece of ground, but for buriall only. Ishmael shall beget twelve Princes, but with Isaac will I establish my Covenant: and although he grow not so great as his brother (that man of Gods hand, that had his portion [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 5. here,) yet he shall make reckoning, that the lines are fallen unto him in a fair place, that he hath a goodly heritage. Esau had his Dukes, [illegible: 1 line] and grows a great Magnifico: but Jacob gets first, the birth-right for a messe of red, red, which the hungry hunter required to be [illegible: 1 line] [illegible: 1 word] with, as Camels are fed by casting gobbets into their mouthes (so the word signifies:) And after this, he gets the blessing by his mothers means. And when [illegible: 1 word] threatened him, and had bolted out some suspitious words, she seeks not to reconcile the two brethren, by making the younger yeeld again, what he had got from the Elder; but prefers the blessing before Iacobs life, and sends him away. This was to lay up treasure in heaven, forPartus [illegible: 2 words]. her sonne, who took herein after the mother too. For if Esau will but [illegible: 1 word] him to settle in the Land of promise, a type of heaven; he will spare for no cost to make his peace. Silver and gold he hath none, but cattel good store: 550. head of them sends he for a present, to make room for him, as Solomon hath it. Let heaven be a mans object, and earth will soon be his abject. David counts one good cast of Gods countenance, [illegible: 1 word] better then all the corn and oil in the countrey. Solomon craves wisdom and not wealth. Paul counts all but drosse, dung, and dogs-meat, so [non-Latin text not transcribed]. he may win Christ, and get home to him. Here we have but aPhil. 3. 8. glimpse of those gleams of [illegible: 1 word], we see but as in a glasse obscurely; 2 Cor. 5. 6. our life is hid with Christ in God, as the pearl lies [illegible: 1 word], till the1 Cor. [illegible: 1 word]. Colos. 3. 3. shell be broken. Compare the estate of Prince Charles in his Queen-mothers womb, with his condition at full age, in all the glory of his fathers Court; there is not so broad a difference as betwixt our present enjoyments (albeit our joyes here are unspeakable1 Pet 1. glorious) with those we shall have hereafter. Sursum [illegible: 1 word] cursum nostrum dirigamus. Let therefore our affections and actions, our counsels and courses, be bent and bound for heaven: our earthly [illegible: 1 word] dispatch with heavenly mindes, and in serving men, let us serve the Lord Christ. The Angels are sent about Gods message to this earth, yet never out of their heaven, never without the vision of their maker. These earthly things distract not, if we make them not our treasure, if we shoot not our hearts over-farre into them. The end of a Christians life is (not as [illegible: 1 word] dreamed of the [illegible: 1 word] of man, to [illegible: 1 word] the heavens, but) to live in heaven. This he begins to do here by the life of faith, by walking with God, as Enoch and Elias, those Candidates of immortality Gen. 6. 9. (so the Ancients called them) by walking before God, 1 King. 9. 4. as Abraham and David by walking after God, as the Israelites Deut. 13. 4. were bidden to do. With God, a man walks by an humble friendship and familiarity; before him, by uprightnesse and integrity: after him by obedience and conformity, by doing his will on earth, as it is in heaven. And this is, to lay up treasure in heaven; this is, as the Apostle expresseth, and interpreteth it, to lay up in store for our selves a good foundation against the [illegible: 1 word] to come, that we [illegible: 1 word] lay hold on eternall life, 1 Tim. 6. 19. There shall be [illegible: 1 word] of thy times, strength, salvation, wisdome and knowledge: for the fear of the Lord shall be his treasure, Isai. 33. 6.

Verse [illegible: 1 word]. For where your treasure is, &c.] i. e. Where your chief happinesse is, there your affections will be setled; Where the carcase is, there will the Eagles be also. Beetles delight [illegible: 1 word] muck-hils: but Christs Eagles are never in their pride, till farthest off from the earth: they are said (even here) to be set [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 2 6. with Christ in heavenly places. The Church in the Canticles, hath this given her for an high commendation, That she had a nose like [illegible: 1 word]. 7. 4. the tower of Lebanon, Siverborum faciem spectemus, saith an Interpreter, [illegible: 1 line] [illegible: 1 word] poter it mag is dici ridiculum? The words at first sight seem somewhat strange: for what so great a praise is it, to have [illegible: 1 word] nose like a tower? But by this [illegible: 1 word] is notably set forth that spirituall sagacity and sharpnesse of [illegible: 1 word], whereby the Saints resent and savour the things above, being carried after Christ the true carcase, with unspeakable desire and delight. The earthlyminded, that have their bellies filled with Gods hid treasure, the [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 17. 14. of this world, and take it for their portion; these have their heads so stuft, and their eyes so stopt with the dust of [illegible: 1 word], that they neither see nor savour heavenly things. As they are of the earth, so they speak of the earth, and the earth hear's them. As the [illegible: 1 word]. 3. Grashopper is bred, liveth and dieth in the same ground: so [illegible: 1 word] terrigenae fratres, these muck-minded men, are wholly earth in their whole [illegible: 1 word]. And as the Grashopper hath wings, but flieth not: sometimes she hoppeth upwards a little, but falleth to the ground again: so these have some light and short motions to [illegible: 1 word], when they hear a piercing Sermon, or feel a pressing affliction, or see others snatcht away by sudden death before them: but this is not of any long continuance, they return to their former worldlinesse. The devil hath got full possession of them, as once of Judas by this sin, and could a man [illegible: 1 word] up their hearts, he might finde there fair-written, The God of this present world. He [illegible: 2 words]. 4. 4. holds his black hand before their eyes, lest the light of the [illegible: 1 word] Gospel should shine upon them. We cry, O earth, earth, earth, Hear the Word of the Lord: but the devil hath made a path way [illegible: 1 word] their hearts, so that the seed cannot enter. Earth [illegible: 1 word] cold and [illegible: 1 word], so are earthly-minded men to any holy duty. Earth is heavy and bears downward: so do earthly affections. Earth doth often keep down the hot exhalations, that naturally would ascend: so do those holy motions and meditations. Earth stands still, and hath the whole circumference carried about it: so are Gods mercies and judgements about earthly-minded men, and they are no whit moved thereat. Grace, on the other side, as fire, is active and aspiring. And as Moses would not be put off with an Angel to go before the people: he would have God himself, or none: so the true Christian must have Christ, or nothing will give him content. Christ is his treasure, and hath his heart: all his cry is, None but Christ, none but Christ. As the Sun draws up [illegible: 1 word], so doth the Sun of righteousnesse, the affections of his people. And as the hop in it's growing, windeth it self about the pole, alwaies following the course of the Sun, from East to West, and can by no means be drawn to the contrary, chusing rather to break then yeeld: so the Saints (as well militant as triumphant) do follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth; and being risen with Christ, and spiritualized by him, they seek the things that are above: their thoughts feed upon the fairest objects (such as are those set down by the Apostle, Phil. 4. 8.) and run withDan. 12. much content, upon that firmament, and those starrs in Daniel, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. That inheritance undefiled and unfadable in Peter; those palms and1 [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 4. white robes in the Revelation. They take ever and anon a turn or two on Tabor, and are there transfigured with Christ; or on Mount Olivet, where he was taken up, and have thence continuall ascensions in their hearts. And as our Saviour in the Interim betweenAct. 1. 3. 1 Ioh. 2 6. his Resurrection and Ascension, whiles he walked here on thePsal. 45. 1. earth, spake of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, and Nusquam origenes non ardet, sed [illegible: 1 word] est ardentior, quam ubi [illegible: 1 word]. mones [illegible: 1 word] tractat. [illegible: 1 word]. waited for his exaltation into heaven: So the faithfull Christian (that hath his part in the first resurrection) walks in his measure, [illegible: 1 word] Christ walked, talks as he talked, he speaks of the things concerning the King, and therein his tongue is as the pen of a ready Writer. Of Origen it is said, that he was ever earnest, but never more then when he treats of Christ. And of S. Paul it is well observed, that when he speaketh of heaven, he useth a [illegible: 1 word], lofty kinde of language, his speech riseth higher and higher, as 2 Cor. 4. 17. a degree above the superlative: so Phil 1. 23. to be with Hic oratio [illegible: 1 word] assurgit, &c. Rolloc. Christ, is far far the better: so 1 Thess. 2. 19. See how the Apostles mouth is opened, his heart enlarged, he cannot satisfie himself, nor utter his conceptions. This a Christian can do, he can sigh out a cupio dissolvi, I desire to be with Christ: whom as he more or [illegible: 2 words] here, in the same measure he is merry; like as [illegible: 1 word] never sing so sweetly, as when they are [illegible: 1 word] in the air, or on [illegible: 1 word] top of trees. As when Christ with-draws his gracious [illegible: 1 word] and influence, he is all amort, you may take him up for a [illegible: 1 word] man. [illegible: 1 word] cries after Christ, as idolatrous Micah did after his lostJudg 18. 14. gods: And as King Edward the third having the King of [illegible: 1 word] prisoner here in England, and feasting him one time most [illegible: 1 word], pressed him to be merry, the French King answered, [illegible: 1 word] can we sing songs in a strange land? So the good soul is in great [illegible: 1 word], while Christ absents himself, and never heartily [illegible: 1 word], till she get home to him, till she lay hold on him, whom her [illegible: 1 word] loveth.

Verse 22. The light of the body is the eye, &c.] Here our [illegible: 1 word] Saviour illustrateth what he had said before, of laying up, not [illegible: 1 word] earth, but in heaven, by a fit similitude. Like as the eye is the light of the whole body: so is the minde of the whole man. If [illegible: 1 word]. 4. 9. therefore thine eye be single, that is, if thy minde be sincere: If [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 19. have that one eye of the Spouse in the Canticles, that one heart promised in the new Covenant, set upon God alone, and not divided, and as it were cloven asunder (which is to have a heart [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] Cor. 11. 3. a heart) but minding the one thing necessary, as the main; and be not double-minded, or corrupted from the simplicity of Christ; then shall thy whole body, that is, thy whole, both constitution and [illegible: 1 word] be lightsom, diaphanous, transparent, as a [illegible: 1 word] that hath a candle in it, or as a crystall glasse with a light in the midst, which appeareth through every part thereof. There will be an uniformity, aequability, ubiquity and constancy of holinesse running thorow thy whole course, as the warp doth thorow the [non-Latin text not transcribed]. woof; when a double-minded man (that hath not cleansed his [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 8. heart, nor washt his hands of worldly lusts) is unstable and [illegible: 1 word] Jam. 1 8. in all his waies. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy minde, Luk. 10. 27. And with my minde I serve the Law of God, saith Paul, which he acknowledged to be spirituall, though he were carnall in part, sold under sin. The old man is still corrupt [illegible: 1 word]. 4. 22. according to the deceitfull lusts (which sometimes so [illegible: 1 word] and beguile the judgement, that a man shall think there is some sense in sinning, and that he hath reason to be mad) but be ye renewed [illegible: 1 word] 23. in the spirit of your mindes, in the bosom and bottom of the soul, in the most inward and subtile parts of the soul, and as it were the [illegible: 1 word] of it. Reserve these upper rooms for Christ, and be not ye conformed to the world (who minde earthly [illegible: 1 word]. 3. [illegible: 1 word]. things, and have damnation for their end) but be ye transformedRom. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. by the renewing of your mindes, that ye may see and prove by good experience (not by a Nationall knowledge only) what that good, and holy, and acceptable will of God is. Concerning the East-gate of that Temple in Ezekiel, Thus saith the Lord;Ezek. 44. 2. This gate shall be shut, and shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel hath [illegible: 1 word] by it. Here through signifying, saith a Divine, that although the heart of a Christian, which is the temple of the holy Ghost, may let many things enter into it at other gates, yet must it keep the East-gate, the most illuminate and highest power and part of it, continually shut against all men, yea against all the world; and opened only to one thing, I mean to God, who hath already entered into it, and [illegible: 1 word] it with his Spirit. That as at the windows of [illegible: 1 word] Ark, there entred in no mist nor water, nothing else but one thing only which is light: so at this East-gate, no mist of humane errours, no water of worldly cares may enter in, but only the light of heaven, and a sanctified desire to be fast knit, and perfectly united by faith and love to God.

Verse 23. But if thine eye be evil, &c. If the light that is in thee be darknesse, &c.] An evil eye is here opposed to a single eye, that looks on God singly abstracted from all other things, and affects the heart with pure love to him for himself, more then for his love-tokens. These we may lawfully have, but they may not have us. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in 1 Ioh. 2. 16. [illegible: 1 word]. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that is, pleasure, profit and preferment; these three, like those three troops of the Caldeans (Job 1. 17.) fall upon the faculties of the soul, and carry them away from [illegible: 1 word] the right owner. The minde is filled with greater darknesse then [illegible: 1 word] à non [illegible: 1 word] dicitur: & Mydas ecundum Etymologiam Graecam [illegible: 1 word] est. can be expressed. How great is that darknesse? The Prince that [illegible: 1 word] understanding is a great oppressour: but he that hateth covetousnesse, that hath not his eyes bleared and blinded with the dust of earthly-mindednesse, shall prolong his daies, Prov. 28. 16. So, Isa 56. 10, 11. His watchmen are blinde: And why? They are greedy dogs, which can never have enough, and they are shepherds which cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter, Isa. 56. 10, 11. Of this sort were those covetous Pharisees, that devoúred widows houses: therefore blinde, because covetous, Luke 16. 14. the property of which sin is to besot and infatuate, as it did Judas, who, though he wanted for nothing in our Saviours [illegible: 1 word], but was sufficiently provided for, yet for filthy lucre, basely sold his Master, and [illegible: 1 word] for thirty silverlings (the known and pitcht price of the [illegible: 1 word] slave) and had the face after all, to ask, Master is it I? when he knew Christ to be the true God, and to know all things. [illegible: 1 word] Comets (though but Comets) as long as they keep [illegible: 1 word], shine bright, but when they decline from their pitch, they fall to the earth. So, when men forsake the Lord, and minde earthly things, they lose that light they had, and are dissipated, destroy'd and come to nothing. Good therefore is the counsel of [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] 23 4. 5. [illegible: 1 word] facies [illegible: 2 words] tuos in [illegible: 1 word]? Labour not to be rich: Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? Or as Mercerus otherwise reads that text, Wilt thou darken [illegible: 1 word] eyes upon them? As those that walk long in the snow, or that [illegible: 1 word] in a smoaky corner, can see little at length. Whoredome and [illegible: 1 word] Iob 11. 17. take away the heart, saith Hosea, cap. 4. 11. as they did [illegible: 1 word]; Amos 4. 13. they drew out his spirits, and dissolved his reason: so doth covetousnesse. It makes a man that he cannot see the net that is [illegible: 1 word] before him, which every bird can do, Prov. 1. 17. but whiles [illegible: 1 word] Aves quae vident rete [illegible: 2 words] capiuntur, sed videntes periculum cavent. [illegible: 1 word]. coveteth the bait, loseth his life, as Shimei did by looking his servants: as Lot, who had like to have run the same hazard, by [illegible: 1 word] the plain of Jordan: as Jonas, that suffered himself to be cast into the sea, that the ship with her lading might come safe to shore. How many carnall mindes, like [illegible: 1 word] raven, fly out of the Ark of Gods Church, and imbrace this present world: and like the Mariners, when they found out Jonas, yet fain they would have saved him: So many will rather venture their own casting away, then cast their worldly lusts over-board. How much better Joseph, who let go his garment to save himself, as Elias did his mantle to go to heaven; and Bartimeus his cloak to come to Christ? How much better Moses, who by faith seeing him that is invisible, and having an eye to the reward; when he was come to years (as the text noteth) and therefore well knew [illegible: 1 word]. 21. 24, 25, [illegible: 1 word], what he did, for he was no baby, refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, and the worlds darling; and chusing rather the afflictions of Gods poor people, then the pleasures of sin for a season, he esteemed the reproach of Christ (the worst part of him) greater riches then the treasures of Egypt. And why all this? For [illegible: 1 word] had respect to the recompence of reward. He set his foot, as it were, upon the battlements of heaven, and there-hence looked uponPost quam in [illegible: 2 words] assendertmus parva nobis & [illegible: 1 word], & [illegible: 1 word] etiam videntur: sit parva videbantur otium gloria [illegible: 1 word] cum coeium respicias. these earthly happinesses, as base and [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] and slender, waterish and worthlesse. The great Cities of Campania seem, but small cottages to them that stand on the top of the Alps: the Moon covereth her self with a pale vail, and shines not at all in the presence of the Sun: No more doth the beauty and bravery of the world (wherewith carnall mindes are so bedazelled and [illegible: 1 word]) to a man that hath been in paradise with Paul, that hath already laid hold on eternall life. The moles of the earth, that are blinde and cannot see farre off, that have animam triticiam, a wheaten soul, with that fool in the Gospel, and know no other [illegible: 1 word]. Hom. happinesse, [illegible: 1 word] to have and to hold; these have their eyes blinded15. ad pop. [illegible: 1 word]. by the god of this world, as Isaac had his wels stopped up with2 Pet. [illegible: 1 word]. 9. [non-Latin text not transcribed], Muris [illegible: 1 word] habentes, subterranei scilicet muris, hoc est, [illegible: 1 word]. earth by the Philistines. And as a small dish being held near the eyes, hideth from our sight a great mountain: and a little hill or cloud, the great body of the Sun, though it be farre bigger then the whole earth: So these earthly trifles being placed near mens [illegible: 1 word], do so shadow and over-cloud those great and glorious excellencies that are above, that they can neither truly behold them,Gen 26. 15. nor rightly judge of them. When men travell so farre into theThe Poets [illegible: 1 word] Plutus the god of [illegible: 1 word] to be [illegible: 1 word]. South, that the sight of the North-pole is at length intercepted by the earth, it is a signe they are farre from it: so is it, that men are farre from heaven, when the love of the earth comes in betwixt Divites facul. tatibus [illegible: 1 word] alligati magis [illegible: 1 word] suspiciunt, quam coelum Minut Octan. their souls, and the sight thereof. Earth-damps quench the spirits lamp. Much water of affliction cannot quench that love, that yet a little earth may soon do.

Verse 24. No man can serve two Masters, &c.] The Mammonists minde must needs be full of darknesse, because utterly destituted of the Father of lights, the Sun of the soul: for ye cannot serve [illegible: 1 word] est cognatio [illegible: 1 word] & [illegible: 1 word]. two Masters, God and Mammon. By Mammon is meant earthly treasure, worldly wealth, outward abundance, especially when gotten by evil arts, it commeth to be the gain of ungodlinesse,Gen. 37. [illegible: 1 word]. the wages of wickednesse, riches of unrighteousnesse, filthy [illegible: 1 word]. When Joseph was cast into the pit by his bloudy brethren, What gain (saith Judah) will it be if we kill him? The Chaldee there hath it, What Mammon shall it be? What can we make of it? What profit shall we reap or receive thereby? Now these two, God and Mammon, as they are incompatible Masters, so the variance between them is irreconcileable. Amity with the world is [illegible: 1 word] with the Lord, Jam. 4. 4. Emnity, I say, in a sense both active and passive, for it makes a man both to hate God, and to be [illegible: 1 word] by God: so there's no love lost on either side. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; that's flat. But the [illegible: 1 word] any one is drowned in the world, [illegible: 1 word] more desperately he is divorced from God, who requireth to be served truly, that there be no halting, and totally, that there be [illegible: 1 word] halving. Cambden reports of Redwald the first King of the East. Saxons that was [illegible: 1 word], that he had in the same Church, one Altar for Christian religion, and another for sacrifice to devils, And [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] Deo [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 2 words], qui [illegible: 1 word] vellet. Callenucius, telleth us of a Noble-man of Naples, that was [illegible: 1 word] profanely to say, that he had two souls in his body, one for God, and another for whomsoever would have it. The Ebionites, [illegible: 1 word] Eusebius, would keep the Sabbath with the Jews, and the Lordsday with the Christians, as if they were of both religions, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. lib. 5. hist. [illegible: 1 word]. in truth, they were of neither: So Ezekiels hearers sate devoutly before the Lord at his publike Ordinances, and with their [illegible: 1 word] Euseb. lib. 3. cap. [illegible: 1 word]. shewed much love, but their heart, meanwhile, was on their halfpenny, it went after their covetousnesse. So the Pharisees heardEzek. [illegible: 1 word] 31. Christs Sermon against the service of Mammon, and derided him:Luk. 16. 13. and while their lips seemed to pray, they were but chewing of that murthering-morsell, those widdows houses that their throats (as an open sepulchre) swallowed down soon after. Thus filled they up the measure of their fathers, those ancient Idolaters in the wildernesse, who set up a golden calfe, [illegible: 1 word] then caused it to be proclaimed, To morrow is a feast to Jehovah. And such is the dealing ofExod. 32. 5. every covetous Christian. S. Paul calleth him an idolater, S. James an adulterer, for he goeth a whoring after his gods of gold and silver: And although he bow not the knee to his mammon, yet with his heart he serveth it: Now obedience is better then sacrifice: Rom. 6. 16. and Know ye not, saith the Apostle, that his servants ye are to whom ye obey &c? Inwardly he loves it, delights in it, trusts on it, secures himself by it from whatsoever calamites: Outwardly, he spends all his time upon this Idol, in gathering, keeping, increasing, or honouring of it. Hence the jealous God hateth him, and smites his hands at him, Ezek. 22. 13. and hath a speciall quarrell against [illegible: 1 word] that blesse the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. As for [illegible: 1 word]. 10. 3. his servants, he strictly chargeth them to [illegible: 1 word] their conversation without covetousnesse, Heb. 13. 5. yea their communication, Ephes. 5. 3. yea their cogitation, 2 Pet. 2. 14. branding them for [illegible: 1 word] children, that have so much as their thoughts exercised that way. He will not have his hasten to be rich, or labour after superfluities, [illegible: 1 word] nor anxiously, after necessaries. For worldlinesse ([illegible: 1 word] not [illegible: 1 word]) when men oppresse themselves with multiplying of [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 1 word], or suffer their thoughts and affections to be [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] taken up, with minding these things on earth, as a main hinderance from heaven: It fills the heart with cares, and so unfits [illegible: 1 word] deads it to divine duties. The thoughts as wings, should carry [illegible: 1 word] in worship even to the mansions of God, which being laden [illegible: 1 word] thick [illegible: 1 word], they so glue us to the earth, that the [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word] word and ordinances cannot draw us one jot from it. The [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 1 word] is also hereby made like a mill, where one cannot hear [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] noise is such as takes away all intercourse. If conscience call [illegible: 1 word] them to take heed of going out of Gods way, they are at as little [illegible: 1 word] to listen, as he that runs in a race; who many times [illegible: 1 word] with so much violence, that he cannot hear what is said unto him, [illegible: 1 word] it never so good counsel. And having thus set their hearts, and [illegible: 1 word] their hopes upon earthly things, if ever they [illegible: 1 word] them, as it [illegible: 1 word] falleth out, they are filled almost with unmedicinable sorrows, [illegible: 1 word] as they will praise the dead above the living, and wish they had [illegible: 1 word] been born, Eccles. 4. 1, 2, 3. Lo this is the guise and guerdom of those Inhabitants of the earth, those viri divitiarum, as the [illegible: 1 word] stiles them, those miserable muck-worms, that prefer Mammon before Messias, gold before God, money before mercy, earth before heaven: as childish a weaknesse as that of Honorius [illegible: 1 line] the Emperour, that preferred a Hen before the City of Rome. [illegible: 1 word], saith one, is a monster, whose head is as subtill as the serpent, whose mouth is wide as hell, eyes sharp as a Lizard, scent quick as the Vulture, hands fast as Harpyes, belly insatiable as a Wolfe, feet swift to [illegible: 1 word], as a Lionesse robbed of her whelps. Ahab will have Naboths vineyard, or he will have his bloud. Judas was both covetous and a murderer, and therefore a murderer, because covetous. He is [illegible: 1 word] also a thief, and why a thief, but [illegible: 1 word] a Mammonist. [illegible: 1 word] draws a man fromSee [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words]. all the Commandments, Psal. 116. 36. And there want not those, that have drawn the covetous person thorow all the Commandments, and proved him an Arheist, a Papist, a perjurer, a [illegible: 1 word] of Gods Sabbath, an iron boweld wretch, a murtherer, an adulterer, a thief, a false witnesse, or whatsoever [illegible: 1 word] the devil will. And can this man ever serve God acceptably? can he possibly please two so contrary masters? No: he may sooner reconcile fire and water, look with the one eye upward, and with the other eye downward, bring heaven and earth together, and gripe them both in a fist [illegible: 1 word] be habitually covetous and truly religious. These two are as inconcurrent as two [illegible: 1 word] lines, and as incompatible as light and darknesse. They who bowed down on their knees to drink of the waters, were accounted unfit souldiers for Gideon: so are [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] for Christ, that stoop to the base love of the things of this life: [illegible: 1 word] discredit it both his work and his wages: [illegible: 1 word] Abraham would not, that ancient and valiant souldier and servant of the most [illegible: 1 word] God. For when Melchisedech from God had made him heir of all things, and brought him bread and wine, that is, an earnest, [illegible: 1 word] little for the whole, &c. he refused the riches that the King of Sodom offered him, because God was his shield, and his exceeding great reward: His shield against any such enemies as [illegible: 1 word] omer and his complices had been unto him, and his exceeding great reward, for all his labour of love in that or any other service,Gen 14. 18, 19, 23. with chap. 15. 1. though he received not of any man, from a thread to a [illegible: 1 word].

Verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no carefull [illegible: 1 word], &c.] This life is called in Isaiah, the life of our hands, because it is maintained by the labour of our hands. Neverthelesse let a [illegible: 1 word] Isa. 57. 10. labour never so hard, and lay up never so much, his life [illegible: 1 word] not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth, saith our [illegible: 1 word],Luk. 12. 15. and therefore bids, take heed and beware of covetousnesse. There is in every mothers-childe of us, a false presumption of selfsufficiency in our own courses, as if we, by our own diligence, could build the house. The devils word is proved too true. He said we should be like Gods: which as it is false in respect of divine qualities resembling God, so is it true in regard of our sinfull [illegible: 1 word]: for we carry the matter for most part, as if we were petty gods within our selves, not needing any higher power, This self-confidence, the daughter of unbelief, and mother of carking care, and carnall thought-fullnesse, our Saviour [illegible: 1 word] by many arguments [illegible: 1 word] and [illegible: 1 word]. Take no thoughtfull [illegible: 1 word] for your life, what ye shall eat, &c. The word here used in the [non-Latin text not transcribed]. originall, signifieth sometimes a commendable and Christian care, as 1 Cor. 7. 33, 34. He that is married careth how to please his wife: Likewise she careth how to please her husband. It implieth a dividing of the minde into divers thoughts, casting this way, and that way, and every way how to give best content. And [illegible: 1 word] should be all the strife that should be betwixt married couples: This is the care of the head, the care of diligence, called by the Greeks, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. But there is another sort of [illegible: 1 word] here spoken against, as unwarrantable and damnable; the care of the heart, the care of [illegible: 1 word], a doubtfull and carking care, joyned with a fear of future events, a sinfull sollicitude, a distracting and distempering care, properly called [non-Latin text not transcribed], because it tortures and tears asunder the minde with anxious impiety, and fretting impatiency. This maketh a man, when he hath done his utmost indeavour, in the use of lawfull means, for his own provision or preservation, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. to sit down, and with a perplexed heart sigh out. Sure it will never be: sure I shall die a beggaer; be utterly [illegible: 1 word], &c. Surely I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul: were it not better for me to shift for my self, and to [illegible: 1 word] speedily into the land of the Philistims, 1 Sam. 27 1? A sinnefull consultation, for had not God promised him both life and Kingdom after Saul? Psal. 1 16. [illegible: 1 word]. but he said (very wisely) in his hasty fear. All men are liars, Psal. 31. 21. Prophets and all. And again; I said in my sudden haste, I am cut off. What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drinke, &c.] I would have you without carefulnes about these things, saith the Apostle, that [non-Latin text not transcribed]. ye may sit close to the Lord without distraction. And again, In nothing be carefull. How then? Why, make your requests known to 1 Cor. 7. 32, 35. God in prayer, as children make their needs known to their parents, whom if they can please, they know they shall be provided for. Little thought do they take where to have the next meal orPhil. 4. 6. 7. [illegible: 1 word]. the next new [illegible: 1 word], neither need they. [illegible: 1 word] but we have praid, and yet are to seek. [illegible: 1 word]. Sol. Add to your prayer, supplication, saith the Apostle there, strong cryes out of a deep sense of our pressing necessities, and then see [non-Latin text not transcribed], [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] est [illegible: 1 word]. what will come of it. I have done so to my poore power: and yet it [illegible: 1 word]. To thy supplication add thanksgiving for mercies already [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. saith he, Thanksgiving is an artificiall begging. See [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. in thy most carefull condition wherefore to be thankfull. Praise God for what you have had, have, and hope to have. What will follow upon this? [illegible: 1 word]. Sol What? The peace of God [illegible: 1 word] passeth all understanding, shall [non-Latin text not transcribed] keep as [illegible: 1 word] a guard or [illegible: 1 word] your hearts from cares, and mindes from feares, in Christ Jesus. This shall be the restfull successe [illegible: 1 word] your praiers and praises. And is it not good that the heart be [illegible: 1 word] with grace rather then the body forced with meats. [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] brave letters, and how full of life, were written by Luther to [illegible: 1 word], afflicting himself with continuall cares, what would be [illegible: 1 word] issue of the Imperiall Diet held by Charles the fifth, and [illegible: 1 word] States of Germany at Ansborough, about the cause of [illegible: 1 word] Gospel? Ego certè oro pro te, saith he, & doleo te, [illegible: 1 word] simam curarum hirudinem, meas preces sic irritas facere. I [illegible: 1 word] for thee, and am troubled at it, that thou, by troubling thy self [illegible: 1 word] unnecessary cares, makest my prayers of none effect for thee. [illegible: 1 word] after many sweet consolations, mixt with reprehensions, he [illegible: 1 word] cludes. But I write these things in vain, because [illegible: 1 word] thinkest to rule these things by reason, and killest thy self [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 line]. immoderate cares about them: not considering, that the [illegible: 1 word] Christs, who as he needs not thy counsels, so he will bring about [illegible: 1 word] own ends without thy carefullnesse, thy vexing thoughts, [illegible: 1 word] heart-eating fears, whereby thou disquietest [illegible: 1 word] self [illegible: 1 word] measure. Is not the life more then meat, &c?] And shall he that hath given us that which is greater and better, deny unto us that which is lesse aud worse? Shall we beleeve Gods promises in the [illegible: 1 word], but not Gods providence in the means: as the Disciples [illegible: 1 word] they [illegible: 1 word] forgotten to buy bread, and as Abraham in the case [illegible: 1 word] promise of issue of his body? Excellent is that of the Apostle, He that spared not his own sonne, but delivered him up for us all, [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 2. how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Whereupon [illegible: 1 word]. 8 32. St Bernard, Qui misit unigenitum, immisit spiritum, [illegible: 1 word] vultum, quid tandem tibi negatur us est? And to like [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 line]. S. Hierome: Never thinke, saith he, that God will deny thee any thing, whom he inviteth so freely to feed upon the fatted calfe.

Verse 26. Behold (or cast your eyes upon) the fowls of the [non-Latin text not transcribed]. ayr] Look upon them [illegible: 1 word], consider them wisely, learn of them carefully, to cast away carnall caresullnesse, and to cast all your care upon God, who careth for them, how much more for you? Ask now the fowls of the ayr, and they shall tell thee, saith [illegible: 1 word] 12. 7. Job, that there is a reward for the righteous, and a God that judgeth in the earth. As he made them at [illegible: 1 word] for his own glory (that we might admire his workmanship in their multitude [illegible: 1 word] variety of colours, [illegible: 1 word] and taste, 1 Cor. 15 39.) and for our both use and [illegible: 1 word]: so he knows them all, Psal. 50. 11. and maintaineth them: [illegible: 1 word] both for their use, Ps. 147. 9. and delight, Psal. 104. 12. [illegible: 1 word] us wisedom beyond them, Job 37. 11. and yet setting us to [illegible: 1 word] to them, to learn dependance upon God, both for [illegible: 1 word] from evil, Matth. 10. 29. and for provision of good, as here, [illegible: 1 word] Iob 39. 16. He taketh care of the Ostriches young ones, and of [illegible: 1 word] young Ravens that cry unto him, Psal. 147. 9. They are fed of God, when forsaken of their dammes, and left bare and destitute:Aristot. hist. [illegible: 1 word] out of their dung, and carrion, brought before to the nest, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 9. a worm, which creepeth to their mouth and feedeth them. [illegible: 1 word] 31. They sow not, neither do they reap, &c.] They take no care, nor [illegible: 1 word] any to care for them, as Geese, Hens, and other tame pullen; [illegible: 1 word] yet they are provided for, we see. And oh that we would see, [illegible: 1 word] our Saviour here enjoyns us, and behold not only the fowls of [illegible: 1 word] ayr, but the clouds above them, and other heavenly bodies! [illegible: 1 word] one asked [illegible: 1 word], where he could be safe and at quiet? [illegible: 1 word] coelo, said he. And to Pontanus the Chancellour of Saxony, Scultet. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] propunds to be viewed and weighed by him, that most [illegible: 1 word] arch-work of heaven, resting upon no posts nor pillars, and yetIn Epist. [illegible: 1 word] fast for ever and ever, meerly upheld by the mighty hand Non decidentes, [illegible: 1 word] velut [illegible: 2 words] nobis [illegible: 3 words]. Luth. of God. The clouds also, as thin as the liqour contained in them; [illegible: 1 word], saith he, how they hang and move, though weighty with their burden; they salute us only, or rather threaten us, and vanish we know not whether. These things would be thought on, that God may be the better rested on. [illegible: 1 word] not ye of doubtfull minde, [non-Latin text not transcribed] . saith our Saviour, live not in carefull suspense, hang not as meteors in the ayr, betwixt heaven and earth, uncertain whether to keepLuk 12 29. explained. your standing, or sall to the ground, to trust God, or otherwise as [illegible: 2 words] volunt, quod [illegible: 4 words], & quasi [illegible: 1 word] teneant. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words] de [illegible: 1 word] eorum [illegible: 3 words] vero altquo modo [illegible: 1 word] gisse Magir. [illegible: 1 word]. you can, to make sure for your selves. Meteors are matters that few men can tell what to make of. Aristotle himself [illegible: 1 word], that he knew little of many of them. And as little can the distrustfull person [illegible: 1 word], what to make of those infinite projects, and discourses in the ayr, that he [illegible: 1 word] frames for the compassing of his desires. When, he needs but either to look up to the birds, or down to the [illegible: 1 word], and learn, that if God feed and cloath them without [illegible: 1 word] their care and pains, surely he will much more provide for his people that rely upon him, and with their reasonable pains and moderate care do [illegible: 1 word] his providence. Shall the great housekeeper of the world, water his [illegible: 1 word], prune his plants, fodder his cattle, and not feed and cloath his children? Never think it. God provided for the necessity and comfort of the unrèasonable [illegible: 1 word] ere he made them: [illegible: 1 word] for the beasts, and light for all [illegible: 1 word] and moving creatures, and all for [illegible: 1 word], for the man in [illegible: 1 word] especially. Compare P [illegible: 1 word] 8. 45. with Heb. 2. 6, 7, &c. and it [illegible: 1 word] appear, that whatsoever is spoken there of man is applied to Christ; and so is proper to the Saints, by [illegible: 1 word] of their union with Christ. In which respect, saith one, they are more [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. then heaven, Angels, or any creature: and shall these want food and raiment?

Verse 27. Which of you by taking thought, can adde one cubite [illegible: 2 words] stature?] And as little able are we (though we take never so much care and pains) to adde [illegible: 1 word] mite to that dimension of our [illegible: 1 word], which God by his wise and powerfull providence [illegible: 1 word] allotted unto us. Every man shall have his statute-measure, [illegible: 1 word] [non-Latin text not transcribed] slint and proportion in his estate, as well as in his stature, to the [illegible: 1 word] 12 [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. which he shall come and not exceed. All carking care therefore is bootlesse and unprofitable. Men may eat up their hearts thereby, and trouble their houses, Prov. 15. 27. (what with labour, [illegible: 1 word] what with passion, a covetous man and his houshold never live at [illegible: 1 word], all is continually on a tumult of haste and hurry) [illegible: 1 word] cannot adde any thing to their [illegible: 1 word] or [illegible: 1 word], much I [illegible: 1 word] to [illegible: 1 word] spirituall growth, which is hereby exceedingly hindered and hide-bound: as we see in the [illegible: 2 words], the [illegible: 1 word] young Pharisee, and those other, that being called to be Christs disciples, were so taken up with the care of their worldly [illegible: 1 word], that they could finde no present [illegible: 1 word] to follow Christ.

Verse 28. [illegible: 1 word] the [illegible: 1 word] of the [illegible: 1 word].] Contemplate [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 line] saith Luther: Understand them well, [illegible: 1 word] Erasmus: Learn [illegible: 1 word] they grow, saith Beza: Hang upon these fair flowers, with the [illegible: 1 word] Bee, till [illegible: 1 word] have suckt some sweet meditation out of them. [illegible: 1 word] quomo. [illegible: 1 word], &c. God is to be seen and admired in all his wondrous works. A skilfall Artificer takes it ill, that he sets forth a curious piece, and no man looks at it. There is not a slower in the whole field (the [illegible: 1 line]. word here rendred Lillies, signifieth all sorts of flowers) but [illegible: 1 word] sorth God to us [illegible: 1 word] lively colours. [illegible: 1 word] to [illegible: 2 words], is to incur the [illegible: 1 line]. curse he hath [illegible: 1 word] against such, [illegible: 1 word] regard not the work of the Lord, that is, the first making, Neither consider the operation of his hands, that is, the wise disposing of his creatures, for our [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 5. [illegible: 1 word]. explained. and benefit. A godly Ancient being asked by a [illegible: 1 word] Philosopher, how he could contemplate high things, sith he had noAnton. Erem. upud de [illegible: 1 word] Clrist. l b 1. & [illegible: 1 word]. lib 8. c. 40. books? Wisely answered, That he had the whole world for his book, ready open at all times, and in all places, and that therein he could read things divine and heavenly. A Bee can suck honey out of a flower, that a flie cannot do. Our Saviour could have pointed us to our first parents clothed, and Elias fed, the Israelites both fed and clothed extraordinarily by God in the [illegible: 1 word]. Never Prince was so served in his greatest pomp; not Solomon in all his royalty, as they. But because all men have not faith to believe that miracles shall be wrought for them, he sendeth us to these more ordinary, and more easie instances of Gods bountifull and provident care of birds and lillies; that in them (as in so many optick glasses) we may see Gods infinite goodnes, and be confident. They toil not, neither do they spin.] This is the sluggards posie.Ne que laborant, [illegible: 2 words] Imp. How much [illegible: 1 word] that Emperour who took for his Motto, [illegible: 1 word]: Let us be doing. God made not man to play, as he hath done Leviathan, but commandeth him to sweat out his living. This was at first Gods ordinance in paradise, that his store-house should be his work-house, his pleasure, his task. AfterGen. 2. 15. the fall, it was enjoyned as a punishment. So that now manGen. 3. 19. is born to travel, and must labour with his own hands, neither eatingJob 5. 7. the bread of idlenesse, nor drinking the wine of violence. That MonkEphes. 4. 28. that laboureth not with his hands, is a thief, saith an Ancient:Hist. Tripart. Is a body-louse, sucking the bloud of others, saith a Neoterick: Ezek. 18. 18. he shall die in his iniquity, saith God, because he hath not done good Hic [illegible: 1 word] est Vacia. among his people, He buried himself alive, as [illegible: 1 word] Vacia in Seneca, he shall be buried with the buriall of an Asse, when he is dead:Jer 22 19. he shall hear, O thou wicked and slothfull servant, when he riseth againMat. 25. 26. at the last day. God puts no [illegible: 1 word] between [illegible: 1 word] and Nequaquam, an idle, and an evil servant. This made M. Calvin answer his friends with some indignation, when they admonished him, for his healths-sake, to forbear studying so [illegible: 1 word], Quid? Vultis ut Dominus [illegible: 1 word] me otiosum inveniret? Beza in vita Calvin. What? Would you that Christ when he commeth should finde me idle?

Verse 29. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory.] In all his bravery, which doubtlesse was very great, in the day of his espousals, especially, when his mother crowned him, [illegible: 1 word]. 3. [illegible: 1 word]. Herods cloth of silver did so dazle the peoples eyes in a Sunshine-day, that they deified him. Alcisthenes the Sybarites cloak,Act [illegible: 1 word]. was sold to the Carthaginians by Dionysius for 120. talents. And [illegible: 6 words]. Demetrius King of Macedon had a robe royall so stately and costly, that none of his successours would wear it, for avoiding of envy. There is no doubt but Solomons roy all robes were very sumptuous, [illegible: 1 word]. being so mighty and wealthy a Monarch. Great ones may go arraied according to their state: and they that are in Kings houses [illegible: 1 word] softs. Yet is it reckon'd as a fault in the rich man, Luk 16. 19.Mat. 11. 8. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 5 words] [illegible: 5 words]. 18. that he was often clothed in purple and fine linnen; and God threatneth to punish even Princes, and Kings children, and all other such as are cloathed with strange apparell. The Jews for [illegible: 1 word] the Chaldaean habit, were soon after carried captive into Chaldea, Ezek. 23. 15. And what heavy things are thundered against those curious dames of Jerusalem by the Prophet Isaiah, who being himself a Courtier, inveighs as punctually against that [illegible: 1 word] vanity, as if he had lately viewed the Ladies wardrobes. [illegible: 1 word] Saviour findes fault with the Scribes that loved to go in long clothing, Mark 12. 38. And S. James with those Christians that would fawn upon a gold ring, and a goodly sute, Jam. 2. 2. In the year 1580. great ruffs with huge wide sets, and cloaks reaching almost to the ancles, no lesse uncomely then of great expence, were [illegible: 2 words] as [illegible: 3 words] & [illegible: 2 words] bern. restrained here by proclamation, saith M. Camden. And need we not the like [illegible: 1 word] now, when so many Prodigals turn rents into [illegible: 1 word], and lands into laces, Singulis auribus bina aut terna dependunt patrimonia, as Seneca hath it, hang two or three patrimonies [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 3 words] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 3 words], [illegible: 2 words] est [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words]. [illegible: 1 word]. at their ears, a pretty grove upon their backs, a reasonable Lordship, or living about their necks. This is farre from that humility, wherewith S. Peter would have young men cloath themselves; and from that meek and quiet spirit, wherewith, saith he, the holy women of old adorned themselves, not with plaited hair, and golden abiliments, 1 Pet 3. 3, 4. Cyprian and Austin say, that superfluous apparel is worse then whoredom: because whoredom only corrupts chastity, but this corrupts nature.1 [illegible: 1 word]. 5. 5.

Verse 30. The grasse of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow [illegible: 1 word] cast into the oven.] A fit resemblance of all outward things, the subject of our carking cares, likened (when they are at best) to the flower of grasse, Isa. 40. 6. The Sun is no sooner risen, saith S. James, with a burning heat, but it withereth the grasse, and [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 10, 11. the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his waies, his riches cannot ransom him. But as grasse, when ripe, withereth, and is carried away, either by the teeth of beasts, or hands of men: so are all, by impartiall death. And as the sithe with a few stroaks, mows down thousands of piles and forms of grasse; so do Gods judgements millions of men, Psal. 9. 17. Prov. 11. 21. And as grasse is to day a flourishing field, to morrow cast into the oven: so are the greatest into their graves (if not into that burning fiery fornace) then when they are in their prime and pride, in their greatest flourish, in the ruff of all their jollity: as the rich fool, therefore a fool, because he stuck his clothes with these flowers of the field, these fading felicities, and thought himself thereby becomeAct. 8. 9. (as Simon Magus) some great one. Contrarily S. James makes it a signe of a convert, that though of high degree in theJam. 1. 10. expounded. world, yet he is herein made low, that he hath low thoughts of these low things, which he seeth to be mutable and momentary, as the flower of the grasse; and bids him rejoyce in that he is exalted, Animo magno [illegible: 1 word] magnum. in that he is now made a greater man ever since; being converted he is become too big for these petty businesses: As a man grown up, delights to deal in lands, and laies by his Cherry-stones. But we pitty that want of wit which maketh the minde run on bables, but never think on ought substantiall. O ye of little faith.] Ye petty fidians, ye small faiths. Unbelief is that root of bitternesse, whence carefulnesse springeth. Hence it was, that the Heathen so abounded in it. Strive we therefore to a full assurance of faith and hope: so shall we rowl our selves upon God for all things needfull to life and godlinesse. Faith fearsFides famen [illegible: 2 words]. no famine, it quelleth and killeth [illegible: 1 word] fear: but awfull dread, it breedeth, feedeth, fostereth and cherisheth. When a man can sayHier. ex Tert. with Abraham, God will provide, he will be out of fear and doubt: when he can believe not only Gods promise, but his providence, as David, 1 Sam. 26. 10, 11.

Verse 31. Therefore take no carefull thought, &c.] From the fore-named grounds. Our Saviour here resumeth and enforceth theCic. Tusc. 4. former exhortation. Sollicitudo est aegritudo cum cogitatione, saith the Oratour. Carefulnesse is a tormentfull plodding upon businesses. It is, say Divines, [illegible: 1 word] act of fear and distrust, taking up not only the head, but chiefly the heart, to the very dividing and disturbing thereof: causing a man inordinately and over-eagerly to pursue his desires, and to perplex himself like wise with [illegible: 1 word] and [illegible: 1 word] thoughts about successe. Now our Lord Christ would have none of his servants to care inordinately about any thing, but that, when they have done what they can in obedience to him, they should leave the whole matter of good or evil successe to his care. To care about the issue of our lawfull endeavours, is to usurp upon God, to trench farre into his prerogative divine, to take upon us that which is proper to him. And it is no lesse a fault to invade Gods part, then to neglect our own. Adde hereunto, that God out of his wise justice, ceaseth caring for such an one, and because he will not be beholden to God to bear his burthen, he shall bear it alone, to the [illegible: 1 word] of his back, or it least, till he is much bowed and [illegible: 1 word] under it. If we [illegible: 1 word] such as will put no trust in us, but love to stand upon their own ground, we give them good leave: as contrarily, the more we see our selves trusted to, [illegible: 1 word] more [illegible: 2 words] is carefull for them that stay upon us. Thus it is with [illegible: 1 word] heavenly Father. Saying, what [illegible: 1 word] we eat? [illegible: 1 word]] Our Saviour by these distrustful. Questions, graphically expresseth the condition of [illegible: 2 words], their endlesse projects and discourses in the air. They are full of words, and many questions, what they [illegible: 1 word] doe, and how they and theirs shall be provided for? They haven ver done, either [illegible: 1 word] themselves, or consulting to no purpose, in things that either cannot be done at all, or not otherwise. And so some [non-Latin text not transcribed] understand that of our Saviour, Luk. 12 29. Hang not in doubtfull suspences; after he had brought in the rich fool, vers. 17. reasoning and saying, What shall I doe, &c. And Solomon brings in such [illegible: 2 words] [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 2 words], [illegible: 2 words] See M Harris on Mat. 5 7. And M. Pen. [illegible: 1 word] on Eccl. [illegible: 1 word]. 1. another fool, full of words, and he recites his words, A [illegible: 1 word] cannot tell [illegible: 1 word] shall be, and what shall be after him, who can tell? Eccles. 10. 14. And in the next Chapter, ver. 1. and so forward, he makes answer to many of these mens [illegible: 1 word] queries and [illegible: 1 word], when moved to works of mercy. Old men specially are [illegible: 1 word] of this weaknesse, who are apt to cark, because they [illegible: 1 word], saith Plutarch, [non-Latin text not transcribed]; that they shall not have enough to keep them, and bring them well home, as they call it; whence some conceive that covetousnesse is called, The root of all evil, 1 Tim. 6. 10. because as there is life in the root, when no sap in the branches: so covetousnesse oft liveth, when other vices die and decay. It groweth, as they say, the Crocodile doth, as long as he liveth.

Verse 32. For after all these things doe the Gentiles seek.] With [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 3 words]. whom if you should symbolize in sins, or not exceed in vertue, it were a shame to you. They studiously seek these things, they seek them with all their might; as being without God in the world, andA [illegible: 1 word] and busie kinde of enquiry is [illegible: 1 word]. therefore left by him to shift for themselves. When we observe a young man toiling and moiling, running and riding, and not missing a market, &c. we easily guesse and gather that he is [non-Latin text not transcribed]. fatherlesse and friendlesse, and hath none other to take care for him. Surely this immoderate care is better beseeming infidels [illegible: 1 word]. z. that know not God, but rest wholly upon themselves, and their own means, then Christians, who acknowledge God most wise and all-sufficient to be their loving father. As we differ [illegible: 1 word] Heathens in profession, so we should in practice: and a grosse businesse it is, that Jerusalem should justifie Sodom, and it should be said unto her, Neither hath Samaria committed half af thy sinnes, but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more then they, Ezek. 16. 51. Such as have hope in this life only, what marvell if [illegible: 1 word] labour their [illegible: 1 word] to make their best of it. Now many of the poor Pagans believed not the immortality of the soul, and those few of them that dreamt of another life beyond this, yet [illegible: 1 word] of it very [illegible: 1 word], and scarce believed themselves. Socrates the wisest of [illegible: 3 words] meli [illegible: 1 word] Dij immortales [illegible: 1 word]: hominem quidem arbitror soire ne [illegible: 1 word]. Plato & [illegible: 1 word]. Heathens spake thus to his friends at his death: the time is now come that I must die, and you survive: but whether is the better of these two, the gods only know, and not any man living; that's mine opinion. But we have not so learned Christ; neither must we do as Heathens and alients from the Common-wealth of [illegible: 1 word]: [illegible: 1 word] now in Christ [illegible: 1 word], we who sometimes were farre [illegible: 1 word]. 2. 16, 18 off, are made nigh by his bloud, and have an accesse through him by one spirit, to the [illegible: 1 word]. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all [illegible: 1 word] things.] Not with a bare barren notionall knowledge, but with a fatherly tender care to provide for his own in all their necessities: which who so doth not, he judgeth him worse then an infidel. We need not be carefull of our maintenance here in our [illegible: 1 word] and none-age, nor yet for our eternall inheritance, when we come to full age. We are cared for in every thing that we need, and that can be good for us. Oh happy we, did we but know our happiness! How might we live in a very heaven upon earth, could we but live by faith, and walk before God with a perfect heart? He made himself known to be our gracious and [illegible: 1 word] father before we were born. And did we but seriously consider who kept and fed us in our mothers womb, Psal. 22. 9, 10. when neither we could shift for our selves, nor our [illegible: 1 word] do ought for us, how he filled us two bottles with milk, against we [illegible: 2 words] the light, bore us in his arms as a nursing-father, Numb. 11. 13. fed us, clothed us, kept us from fire and water, charged his Angels with us, [illegible: 1 word] all windes to blow good to us, Cant. 4. 16. all creatures to serve us, Hos, 2. 21, 22, 23. and all occurrences to work together for our good, how could [illegible: 1 word]. 8. 18. [illegible: 1 word] but be confident? Why art thou so sad from day to day? and what is it thou [illegible: 1 word] or needest? Art not thou the Kings sonne said Jonadab to Amnon, say I to every godly Christian. Profane [illegible: 2 words]. 13. 4. [illegible: 1 word] could go to his father for a childes portion; so could the Prodigall, [illegible: 1 word] a [illegible: 1 word]; and had it. Every childe of God shall [illegible: 1 word] a Benjamins portion here, and at length power over all [illegible: 1 word], Revel. 2. 26. and possession of that new heaven and new earth; wherein dwelleth righteousnesse, 2 Pet. 3. Either [illegible: 1 word] disclaim God for your Father, or else rest confident of his fatherly provision. Certa mihi spes est quod vitam qui dedit, idem [illegible: 3 words]. Et velit, & possit suppedit are cibum. God that giveth mouths, will not fail to give meat also.

Verse 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his [illegible: 1 word].] That, as the end, [illegible: 1 word], as the means: for grace is the way to glory, [illegible: 1 word] to happinesse. If men be not [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] no heaven to be had; as if they be, they shall have heaven and earth too: for [illegible: 2 words] the promise of both lives; and godly men, in Scripture, (Abraham, Job, David, others) were [illegible: 1 word] then any: and so men might be now, if they would be as Bonus [illegible: 1 word] Constant. mag. [illegible: 5 words]. godly. The good God had furnished Constantine the great with so many outward blessings, as scarce any man durst ever have desired, saith S. Austin. He sought Gods Kingdom first, and therefore other things sought him: and so they would do us, did we [illegible: 1 word] run the [illegible: 1 word] method. Riches and honours, delights and [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] and length of daies, seed and posterity are all entailed upon [illegible: 1 word]. The wicked, In the fulnesse of his sufficiency is [illegible: 2 words], Job 20. 22. when the godly in the fulnesse of their [illegible: 1 word]. 3. 16, 17. straights are in all-sufficiency. Oh who would not then turn spirituall [illegible: 1 word]. 28. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 2, [illegible: 1 word]. purchaser, and with all his gettings, get godlinesse? Seek [illegible: 3 words] animi. ye first the Kingdom of God, saith Divinity; Seek ye first the good things of the minde, saith Philosophy, Caetera aut aderunt, [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] certè non oberunt. But our [illegible: 1 word] over-valuing of earthly things, and underprizing of [illegible: 1 word], is that that maketh us so [illegible: 1 word] carefull in the one, and so wretchlesly affected in the other. The lean kine eat up the fat, and it is nothing seen by them. The strength of the ground is so spent in nourishing weeds, [illegible: 1 word], or corn of little worth, that the good [illegible: 1 word] is pulled down; choaked or [illegible: 1 word]. Earthly [illegible: 1 word] sucketh the [illegible: 1 word] of grace from the heart, as the Ivy doth from the Oak, and [illegible: 1 word] it [illegible: 1 word]. Correct therefore this ill humour, this choakweed: cast away this clog, this thick clay, that makes us like [illegible: 2 words] woman in the Gospel, that [illegible: 2 words] of a spirit [illegible: 1 word] years could not look up to heaven. And learn to covet Luk. 13. 11. [illegible: 1 word] things, labour for the meat that perisheth not. Lay hold [illegible: 2 words] life, what [illegible: 1 word] you let go. [illegible: 1 word] things are, Nec vera, nec vestra, [illegible: 1 word] and momentary, mixt and infected with care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in losing: [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word] are insufficient and unsatisfactory, and many times prove [illegible: 1 word] of vice, and hinderances from heaven. Spirituall things [illegible: 1 word] in [illegible: 1 word] facit [illegible: 1 word] in [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 words]. on the other side, are solid and substantiall, serving to a life that [illegible: 1 word] supernaturall and supernall. They are also certain and durable, [illegible: 1 word] prodi, nec perdi, nec eripi, nec surripi possunt. They are sound [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 2 words], a continuall feast, [illegible: 2 words], or the least [illegible: 1 word]; they serve to and satisfie the soul; as being the gain [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. of earth and [illegible: 1 word], and of him that filleth both. Seek ye therefore first, &c. Our Saviour, in his praier, gives us but one petition for temporals, five for spirituals, to teach us this [illegible: 1 word]. Scipio went first to the Capitoll, and then to the Senate, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 26. &c. [illegible: 1 word]. l. [illegible: 1 word]. c. 1. And all these things shall be addod unto you.] They shall be cast in as an over-plus, or as those smal advantages to the main bargain, as [illegible: 1 word] and pack-threed is given, where we buy spice & fruit, [illegible: 2 words] bargain. These follow Gods Kingdom, as the black guard do the Court, or as all the revenue and [illegible: 1 word] doth some great Lady, that one [illegible: 1 word] wedded. The night of Popery shall shame such as think much of the time that is spent with and for God: for in their [illegible: 2 words] they were wont to say, Masse and meat hinders no mans [illegible: 1 word]. It would be a great [illegible: 1 word] of minde, if the King should say to us for our selves, [illegible: 1 word] same that David did to Mephibosheth, Fear not, for I will surely shew thee kindenesse, and thou shalt surely eat bread at1 [illegible: 1 word]. 9 7. my table continually: Or if he should say to us for our children, [illegible: 1 word] David did to Barzillas the Gileadite concerning [illegible: 2 words] shall goe over with me, and I will doe to him that which [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 3 words]. seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, [illegible: 2 words] I doe [illegible: 1 word] thee; Hath not God said as much here as all this, and shall we not trust and serve him, cleave to him, and rest on him without fear or distraction?

Verse 34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow] The Lord Christ, well knowing which way our heart hangs, and pulse [illegible: 1 word], beats much upon this string, drives this nail home to the head. When things are over and over again repeated and inculcated, it imports. 1. The difficulty. 2. The necessity of the duty. 3. Our utter [illegible: 1 word], or at least, dulnesse to the doing of it. How hardly we come off with God in this most necessary, [illegible: 1 word] much neglected duty, who knowes not, feels not, bewails [illegible: 1 word]. The world is a most subtle, sly enemy: and by reason of her [illegible: 1 word] neighbourhood, easily and insensibly insinuates into us, and [illegible: 1 word] the best hearts. Our Saviour saw cause to warne his Disciples of the cares of life: and where was Thomas, when [illegible: 1 word] appeared to the rest of the [illegible: 1 word], the doors being shut, [illegible: 1 word] either lurking for fear of the Jews, (in probability) or packing up, and providing for one, now that his Master was [illegible: 1 word], and taken from him? What ever the cause was, the effect was wofull, Joh. 20. 24, 25. And albeit in both Testaments (as [illegible: 1 word] observeth) [illegible: 1 word] in [illegible: 2 words]. the Saints of God have been noted to be subject to divers infirmities, yet none tainted with this enormity of [illegible: 1 word]. Yet St John saw cause to say to those that were Fathers also: Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. And [illegible: 1 line]. David praies heartily, Incline my heart to thy Testimonies, and not [illegible: 1 word]. 119 36. to covetuousnesse. Satan will be busy with the best this way, as he was with our Saviour himself: he knew it a most prevailing bait. And when this would not work, he fleeth from him, as despairing of victory. Be sober therefore (in the pursuit and use of these earthly things) and watch, for your adversary the devil watcheth [illegible: 1 line] you a shrewd turne by them. They are so neer and so naturall to us, that, through Satans pollicy and malice, when we think upon them (that we may the better learn to flee, and slight them) they stick to our fingers, when we should throw them away: they catch us when we should flee from them: they come over us with fained words usually; 2 Pet. 2. 3. To hide our faults from the view of others, or subtle thoughts and evasions, to blindefold the conscience, with colour of Christ, necessary care, &c. Whence it is called, cloked and coloured covetuousnesse, 1 Thes. 2. 5. A Christian-hath ever God for his chief end, and will not, deliberately, forgoe him upon any tearms: He erres in the way, thinking he may minde earthly things, and keep God too: so being insnared with these worldly lime-twigs: (like the silly bird) before he is aware, the more he struggleth, the more he is intangled and disabled. All this, and more then this, our Saviour well [illegible: 1 word]: and therefore reiterates his exhortation, and sets it on with so many Arguments. Care not for the morrow, &c.In a letter to M. Philpot. I will be carelesse according to my name, said that Martyr John Carelesse: for now my soul is turned to her old rest again, and Act. and Mon. fol. [illegible: 1 word]. hath taken a sweet nap in Christs lap. I have cast my care upon the Lord, who careth for me, &c. And Bishop Hooper in a letter to certain good people taken praying in Bow-Church-yard, and now in trouble, writeth thus. Reade the second Chapter of Luke: there the shepheards, that watched upon their sheep all night, [illegible: 1 word] as they heard Christ was borne at Bethlehem, by and by they went to seek him. They did not reason, nor debate with [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. themselves, who should keep the woolf from the sheep in the mean-time: but did as they were commanded, and committed their sheep to him, whose [illegible: 1 word] they obeyed: so let us doe, now we be called, commit all other things to him that calleth us. He will take heed that all things shall be well: he will help the husband, comfort the wife, guide the servants, keep the house, preserve the goods: yea, rather then it shall be undone, he will wash the dishes, and rock the cradle. Cast therefore all your care upon God, &c. Judaea (as one hath well observed,) lay utterly waste for 70 years. Insomuch that after the slaughter of Pemble, on [illegible: 1 word]. 7. 14. [illegible: 1 word], when all, man woman and childe, fled into Egypt, there was not a Iew [illegible: 1 word] in the Countrey. Neither finde we any colonyes sent thither, or any displaced to make room at their [illegible: 1 word]. A wonderfull providence, that so pleasant a Countrey, left destitute of inhabitants, and compassed about with such warlike Nations, was not invaded, nor replanted for 70. years [illegible: 1 word]: but the Land kept her Sabbaths, resting from tillage, &c. and God kept the room empty, till the returne of the naturalls. Ieremy, immediately after he had foretold the captivity, and the Caldeans were now besieging the City, was bidden to buy a field of his uncles sonne; Which also he did, weighing him the mony, and [illegible: 1 word] the evidences: for although it might seem an ill time to make a purchase, yet he took no further care, then to trust God who had said, Houses, and fields, and vineyards, shall be possest again [illegible: 1 word] this Land. Now Gods promises, he knew, were the [illegible: 1 word] freehold: Ier. 32. 15. So in every seventh years rest, the people were taught to depend on Gods providence, by [illegible: 1 word]. For though the owner of the field might gather, even on that year, for the maintenance of himself and family, [illegible: 1 word]. 25. 6. yet he was neither to so we his field, thereby to greaten his harvest, nor to hedge his field, or lock up his vineyard. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of it self] That is: the providence that brings the day, shall also [illegible: 1 word] new [illegible: 1 word] to comfort us over all the evils of the day. First, no man is sure of life till to morrow, thou knowest not what this great-bellyed [illegible: 5 words]. day may bring forth. Petrarch tells of a good old man, that being invited to a feast the next day, answered: If you would have any thing with me now, here I am: what's to be done to morrow, think on't you that have time afore [illegible: 1 word], Ego enim, a multis annis, [illegible: 1 word] non habui: For I have not had, for these many years, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 3. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 2 words]. morrow to dispose of. Young men, he knew, may die, old men must die. [illegible: 1 word] mors in junuis, adolescentibus in insidijs, saith Bernard. Old men may say as Iob 17. 1. My breath is corrupt, my daies extinct, the graves are ready for me. The young man, as Iob 16. 22. When a few years (perhaps a few houres) are come, I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne. Secondly, grant a man had a lease of his life, as Hezekiah had, yet who seeth it not to be extream folly, to anticipate [illegible: 1 word] cares and combers before they come, yea even those of the next day: seeing they will come time enough to our sorrow, though we send not for them by our [illegible: 1 word] fore. thoughts, and so redoubles our vexation? It is possibe we may never feel the evils we fear. God may repent upon our repentance, and [illegible: 1 word] better to us then our [illegible: 1 word]. And therefore what a [illegible: 1 word] is it, to undergoe certain trouble and care about [illegible: 1 word]? Or if they shall happen, we may have [illegible: 1 word] to foresee them, but no power to prevent them: and therefore to vex [illegible: 1 word] selves before they come, is to be miserable before the time. It is excellent [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word], that Salomon [illegible: 1 word] us in this case: [illegible: 1 word] the [illegible: 1 word] of God: for who can make [illegible: 2 words] that he hath made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyfull, make the best of thy present comfort, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set one against the other, to the end that Eccles. 7. 14. man should finde nothing after him, to wit, of those things that may come upon him in the course of his life, and after-times. He cannot, by wit foresee, or by pollicy prevent ensuing changes. Therefore it is a great part of his wisdom, to let certain, and inevitable evils sleep, and keep in their [illegible: 1 word] till the time appointed; and not to make himself a thousand times miserable by one [illegible: 1 word] misery. Let us mannage the affairs, and master the [illegible: 1 word] of the present day; and not, by too much fore-thoughtfulnesse, and painfull preconceit, suffer fained or future evils before [illegible: 1 word] seize upon us. I grant that a [illegible: 1 word], Christian, provident care and forecast, is both convenient and commanded, both for provision of [illegible: 1 word], and prevention of dangers. See 1 Tim. 5. 8. 2 Cor. 12. 14. we reade Revel. 6. 6. A measure of wheat [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [illegible: 1 word] a penny &c. The word signifieth properly, such a measure of [illegible: 1 word], as was usually allowed for a day to servants. Hence that speech of Phithagoras, Super Chaenice non sedendum. Rest not in the provision that sufficeth for the day; but take care for the [illegible: 1 word]. But this lawfull care of necessaries, both for our selves and ours after us, Prov. 13. 22. (such as was that of Iacob for his own house, Gen. 30. 30. And that of the good huswife, Prov. 31. 15, 21.) is not distresse-full, but [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 2 words] by. God, who sendeth us to the pismire, to learn this care of hereafter, Prov. 6. 6. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof] The strongest minde and [non-Latin text not transcribed], idest [non-Latin text not transcribed]. labor improb [illegible: 1 word]. best composed, is weak enough to [illegible: 1 word] the brunt and encounter of every daies [illegible: 1 word]. whereof he is sure to have his back-burden. Troubles without, and terrours within, are the Saints [illegible: 1 word] here. And what day shines so fair over them, wherein they meet not with a sharp shower ere night? Sith therefore every day brings forth sufficient sorrow, and the heartiest man shall have his hands full, what a base and unworthy weaknesse is it (saith a reverend Divine) to unfit and disable our already too weak mindes, [illegible: 1 word] a comfortable dispatch, and digesting of daily uncomfortable [illegible: 1 word], by such needlesse, fruitlesse, [illegible: 1 word] M. [illegible: 1 word]. distractions, [illegible: 1 word] of vanity, and Utopian peregrinations, &c.

Alms. Liberality to the poor and needy. Anything given to them to supply their wants. Our Saviour, here, does not positively command his disciples to aid the poor, but supposes that they would do it of course, and gives them direction how to do it. It is the nature of religion to help those who are really poor and needy; and a real Christian does not wait to be commanded to do it, but only asks the opportunity. See Gal 2:10, Jas 1:27, Lk 19:8.

Before men, etc. Our Lord does not forbid us to give alms before men always, but only forbids our doing it to be seen of them, for the purpose of ostentation, and to seek their praise. To a person who is disposed to do good from a right motive, it matters little whether it be in public or in private. The only thing that renders it even desirable that our good deeds should be seen is, that God may be glorified. See Mt 5:16.

Otherwise. If your only motive for doing it is to be seen of men, God will not reward you. Take heed not to do it to be seen, otherwise God will not reward you.

(1) "?????" or, "righteousness" (2) "of your Father" or, "WITH your Father"

Do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do. The word hypocrite is taken from stage-players, who act the part of others, or speak not their own sentiments, but the sentiments of others. It means here, and in the New Testament generally, those who dissemble or hide their real sentiments, and assume or express other feelings than their own; those who, for purposes of ostentation, or gain, or applause, put on the appearance of religion. It is probable that such persons, when they were about to bestow alms, caused a trumpet to be sounded, professedly to call the poor together to receive it, but really to call the people to attend to it, or perhaps it may mean that they should not make a great noise about it, like sounding a trumpet.

In the synagogues. The word synagogue commonly means the place of assembling for religious worship known by that name. Mt 4:23. It might mean, however, any collection of people for any purpose. And it is not improbable that it has that meaning here. It does not appear that they made a noise in bestowing charity in the synagogues, or that it was commonly bestowed there; but it was probably done on occasion of any great assemblage, in any place of concourse, and at the corners of the streets, where it could be seen by many.

They have their reward. That is, they obtain the applause they seek, the reputation of being charitable; and as this applause was all they wished, there is of course no further reward to be looked for or obtained.

(1) "sound a trumpet" or, "cause a trumpet to be sounded"

Let not thy left hand know, etc. This is a proverbial expression, signifying that the action should be done as secretly as possible. The Hebrews often attribute actions to members which properly belong to persons. The encouragement for doing this is, that it will be pleasing to God; that he will see the act, however secret it may be, and will openly reward it. If the reward is not greater in this life, it will be in the life to come. In multitudes of cases, however, alms given to the poor are "lent to the Lord," (Prov 19:17) and will be repaid in this life. Rarely, perhaps never, has it been found that the man who is liberal to the poor, has ever suffered by it in his worldly circumstances.

Mt 6:3

(n) "reward thee openly" Lk 8:17, 14:14

And when thou prayest, etc. Hypocrites manifested the same spirit about prayer as alms-giving: it was done in public places. The word synagogues, here, clearly means not the place of worship of that name, but places where many were accustomed to assemble-- near the markets, or courts, where they could be seen of many. Our Lord evidently could not mean to condemn prayers in the synagogues. It might be said that he condemned ostentatious prayer there, while they neglected secret prayer; but this does not appear to be his design. The Jews were much in the habit of praying in public places. At certain times of the day they always offered their prayers. Wherever they were, they suspended their employment, and paid their devotions. This is also practised now everywhere by the Mohammedans, and in many places by the Roman Catholics. It seems, also, that they sought publicity, and regarded it as proof of great piety.

(o) "they have their reward" Prov 16:5, Jas 4:6

Enter into thy closet. Every Jewish house had a place for secret devotion. The roofs of their houses were flat places for walking, conversation, and meditation, in the cool of the evening. Mt 9:2. Over the porch, or entrance of the house, was, however, a small room of the size of the porch, raised a story above the rest of the house, expressly appropriated for the place of retirement, in secrecy and solitude, the pious Jew might offer his prayers, unseen by any but the Searcher of hearts. To this place, or to some similar place, our Saviour directed his disciples to repair when they wished to hold communion with God. This is the place commonly mentioned in the New Testament as the upper room, or the place for secret prayer. The meaning of the Saviour is, that there should be some place where we may be in secret--where we may be alone with God. There should be some place to which we may resort where no ear will hear us but His ear, and no eye can see us but His eye. Unless there is such a place, secret prayer will not be long or strictly maintained. It is often said that we have no such place, and can secure none. We are away from home; we are travelling; we are among strangers; we are in stages and steam-boats, and how can we find such places of retirement? I answer, the desire to pray, and the love of prayer, will create such places in abundance. The Saviour had all the difficulties which we can have, but yet he lived in the practice of secret prayer. To be alone, he rose up "a great while before day," and went into a solitary place and prayed. With him, a grove, a mountain, a garden, furnished such a place; and though a traveller, and among strangers, and without a house, he lived in the habit of secret prayer. What excuse have they who have a home, and who spend the precious hours of the morning in sleep, and who will practise no self-denial that they may be alone with God? O Christian! thy Saviour would have broken in upon these hours, and would have trod his solitary way to the mountain or the grove, there he might pray. He did do it. He did it to pray for thee, too indolent and too unconcerned about thy own salvation and that of the world, to practise the least self-denial in order to commune with God! How can religion live thus ? How can such a soul be saved?

The Saviour does not specify the times when we should pray in secret. He does not say how often it should be done. The reasons may have been,

(1.) that he designed that his religion should be voluntary--and there is not a better test of true piety than a disposition to engage often in secret prayer. He designed to leave it to his people to show attachment to him by coming to God often--and as often as they chose.

(2.) An attempt to specify the times when this should be done would tend to make religion formal and heartless. Mohammed undertook to regulate this, and the consequence is a cold and formal prostration at the appointed hours of prayer all over the land where his religion has spread.

(3.) The periods are so numerous, and the seasons for secret prayer vary so much, that it would not be easy to fix rules when this should be done. Yet without giving rules--where the Saviour has given none--we may suggest the following as times when secret prayer is proper:

(1.) In the morning. Nothing can be more appropriate when we have been preserved through the night, and when we are about to enter upon the duties and dangers of another day, than to render him thanks, and to commit ourselves to his fatherly care.

(2.) In the evening. When the day has closed, what more natural than to render thanks and to implore forgiveness for what we have said or done amiss, and to pray for a blessing on the labours of the day; and when about to lie down again to sleep, not knowing but it may be our last sleep, and that we may awake in eternity, what more proper than to commend ourselves to the care of Him "who never slumbers nor sleeps."

(3.) We should pray in times of embarrassment and perplexity. Such times occur in every man's life, and it is then a privilege and a duty to go to God and seek his direction. In the most difficult and embarrassed time of the American revolution, Washington was seen to retire daily to a grove in the vicinity of the camp at Valley Forge. Curiosity led a man to observe him on one occasion, and the father of his country was seen on his knees supplicating the God of Hosts in prayer. Who can tell how much the liberty of this nation is owing to the answer to the secret prayer of Washington?

(4.) We should pray when we are beset with strong temptations. So the Saviour prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, (Comp. Heb 5:7,8) and so we should pray when we are tempted.

(5.) We should pray when the Spirit prompts us to pray; when we feel just like praying; when nothing can satisfy the soul but prayer. Such times occur in the life, of every Christian; and they are "spring- times" of piety--favourable gales to waft us on to heaven. Prayer to the Christian, at such times, is just as congenial as conversation with a friend when the bosom is filled with love; as the society of father, mother, sister, child is, when the heart glows with attachment; as the strains of sweet music are to the ear best attuned to the love of harmony; as the most exquisite poetry is to the heart enamoured with the muses; and as the most delicious banquet is to the hungry. Prayer, then, is the element of being; the breath; the vital air; and then the Christian must and should pray. He is the most eminent Christian who is most favoured with such strong emotions urging him to prayer. The heart is then full. The soul is tender. The sun of glory shines with unusual splendour. No cloud intervenes. The Christian rises from the earth, and pants for glory. Then we may go alone with God, We may enter the closet, and breathe forth our warm desires into the ever-open ear of God, and he who sees in secret will reward us openly.

In secret. Who is unseen.

Who seeth in secret. Who sees what the human eye cannot see; who sees the secret real designs and desires of the heart. Prayer should always be offered, remembering that God is acquainted with our real desires; and that it is those real desires, and not the words of prayer, that he will answer.

(p) "seeth in secret" Ps 34:15, Is 65:24

Use not vain repetitions. The original word here is supposed to be derived from the name of a Greek poet, who made long and weary verses, declaring, by many forms and endless repetitions, the same sentiment. Hence it means to repeat a thing often, to say the same thing in different words, or to repeat the same words, as though God did not hear at first. An example of this we have in 1Kgs 18:26: "They Called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us;"*

The heathen do. The original word is one commonly translated Gentile. The world was divided into two parts, the Jews and the Gentiles; that is, in the original, the "nations," the nations destitute of the true religion. Christ does not fix the length of our prayers. He says that they should not repeat the same thing, as though God did not hear. And it is not improbable that he intended to condemn the practice of long prayers. His own supplications were remarkably short.

(q) "as the heathens do" Eccl 5:2 (*) The following is a specimen of the vain repetitions of the Romans.

"Pious Antonine, the Gods preserve thee. Gentle Antonine, the Gods preserve thee. Gentle Antonine, the Gods preserve thee."

This passage contains the Lord's prayer, a composition unequalled for comprehensiveness and for beauty. It is supposed that some of these petitions were taken from those in common use among the Jews. Indeed, some of them are still to be found in Jewish writings, but they did not exist in this beautiful combination. This prayer is given as a model. It is designed to express the manner in which we are to pray, evidently not the precise words or petitions which we are to use. The substance of the prayer is recorded by Lk 11:2-4. It, however, varies from the form given in Matthew, showing that he intended not to prescribe this as a form of prayer to be used always, but to express the substance of our petitions, to specify to his disciples what petitions it would be proper to present to God. That he did not intend to prescribe this as a form to be invariably used is farther evident from the fact, that there is no proof that either he or his disciples ever used exactly this form of prayer, but clear evidence that they prayed often in other language. See Mt 26:39-42,44, Lk 22:42, Jn 17:1-26, Acts 1:24.

(t) "Our" Lk 11:2 (u) "Father" Rom 8:15 (v) "which art in heaven" Ps 115:3 (w) "Hallowed be thy name" Ps 111:3, 139:20

Our Father. God is called a Father,

(1.) as he is the Creator and the Great Parent of all.

(2.) The Preserver of the human family, and the Provider for their wants, Mt 5:45, 6:32.

(3.) In a peculiar sense the Father of those who are adopted into his family, who put confidence in him, who are true followers of Christ, and made heirs of life, Rom 8:14-17.

Hallowed be thy name. The word hallowed means, to render or pronounce holy. God's name is essentially holy; and the meaning of this petition is, "Let thy name be celebrated, and venerated, and esteemed as holy everywhere, and receive of all men proper honours." It is thus the expression of a wish or desire, on the part of the worshipper, that the name of God, or God himself, should be held everywhere in proper veneration.

Thy kingdom come. The word kingdom here means reign. Mt 3:2. The petition is the expression of a wish that God may reign everywhere; that his laws may be obeyed; and especially that the gospel of Christ may be advanced everywhere, till the world shall be filled with his glory.

Thy will be done. The will of God is, that men should obey his law, and be holy. The word will, here, has reference to his law, and to what would be acceptable to him; that is, righteousness. To pray, then, that his will may be done on earth as in heaven, is to pray that his law, his revealed will, may be obeyed and loved. His law is perfectly obeyed in heaven, and his true children most ardently desire and pray that it may also be done on the earth. The object of these three first petitions is that God's name should be glorified, and his kingdom established; and by being placed first, we learn that his glory and kingdom are of more consequence than our wants, and that these should be first in our hearts and petitions before a throne of grace. *

(*) The following clauses respecting this prayer are found in the writings of the Jews, and were doubtless familiar in the time of Christ: "That prayer," say the Rabbins, "in which there is no mention made of the kingdom of heaven, is not a prayer.' "What," say they, "is a short prayer? Ans. Do thy will in heaven, and give rest to the spirits fearing thee below." Give us this day, etc. The Jews had a prayer like this: "The necessities of thy people are many, and their knowledge small; so that they do not know how to make known their wants: let it be thy good pleasure to give to each one what is necessary for his sustenance," etc. Deliver us from evil. The Jews prayed, "Be it thy good pleasure to free us from an evil man, and an evil event; from evil affections, from an evil companion and neighbour, from Satan," etc. The prayers of the Jews were generally closed with a doxology, or ascription of praise, not unlike this in the Lord's prayer. The people, at the close of the prayer, generally responded, "Amen!"

Give us this day, etc. The word bread here denotes, doubtless, everything necessary to sustain life, Mt 4:4, De 8:3. This petition implies our dependence on God for the supply of our wants. As we are dependent on him one day as much as another, it was evidently the intention of our Saviour that prayer should be offered every day. This is, moreover, expressed in the plural number-- give us. It is evidently, therefore, intended to be used by more than one, or by some community of people. No community or congregation can meet every day for worship but families. It is therefore evident that this prayer is a strong implied command for daily family prayer. It can nowhere else be used so as fully to come up to the meaning of the original intention; and nowhere else can it be breathed forth with so much propriety and beauty as from the lips of a father, the venerable priest of his household, and the pleader with God for those rich blessings which a parental bosom desires on his beloved offspring.

(z) "daily bread" Prov 30:8, Is 33:16

And forgive us our debts, etc. The word debts is here used figuratively. It does not mean literally that we are debtors to God, but that our sins have a resemblance to debts. Debtors are those who are bound to others for some claim in commercial transactions; for something which we have had, and for which we are bound to pay according to contract. Literally, there can be no such transaction between God and us. It must be used figuratively. We have not met the claims of law; we have violated its obligations; we are exposed to its penalty; we are guilty; and God only can forgive, in the same way, as none but a creditor can forgive a debtor. Debts here, therefore, mean sins, or offences against God-- offences which none but God can forgive. The measure by which we may expect forgiveness is that which we use in reference to others. See Ps 18:25,26, Mt 18:28-35, Mk 11:25, Lk 11:4. This is the invariable rule by which God dispenses pardon. He that comes before him unwilling to forgive, harbouring dark and revengeful thoughts, how can he expect that God will show him that mercy which he is unwilling to show to others? It is not, however, required that we should forgive debts in a pecuniary sense. To them we have a right, though they should not be pushed with an overbearing and oppressive spirit; not so as to sacrifice the feelings of mercy, in order to secure the claims of right. No man has a right to oppress; and when a debt cannot be paid, or when it would greatly distress a wife and children, a widow and an orphan, or when calamity has put it out of the power of an honest man to pay the debt, the spirit of Christianity requires that it should be forgiven. To such cases this petition in the Lord's prayer doubtless extends. But it was probably intended to refer principally to injuries of character or person, which we have received from others. If we cannot from the heart forgive them, we have the assurance that God will never forgive us.

(z) "forgive us our debts" Mt 18:21-35, Lk 7:40-48

And lead us not into temptation. A petition similar to this is offered by David, Ps 141:4 "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity." God tempts no man See Jas 1:13. This phrase, then, must be used in the sense of permitting. Do not suffer us, or permit us, to be tempted to sin. In this it is implied that God has such control over us and the tempter, as to save us from it if we call upon him. The word temptation, however, (Mt 4:1) means sometimes trial, affliction, anything that tests our virtue. If this be the meaning here, as it may be, then the import of the prayer is, "Do not afflict or try us."

Deliver us from evil. The original, in this place, has the article-- deliver us from THE evil--that is, as has been supposed, the evil one, or Satan. He is elsewhere called, by way of eminence, the evil one, Mt 13:19, 1Jn 2:13, 14, 3:12. Deliver us from his power, his snares, his arts, his temptations. He is supposed to be the great parent of evil, and to be delivered from him is to be safe. Or it may mean, deliver us from the various evils and trials which beset us, the heavy and oppressive calamities into which we are continually liable to fall.

Thine is the kingdom. That is, thine is the reign or dominion. Thou hast control over all these things, and canst so order them as to answer these petitions.

Thine is the power. Thou hast power to accomplish what we ask. We are weak, and cannot do it; but Thou art almighty, and all things are possible with thee.

Thine is the glory. That is, thine is the honour or praise. Not our honour; but thy glory, thy goodness, will be displayed in providing for our wants; thy power, in defending us; thy praise, in causing thy kingdom to spread through the earth.

This doxology, or ascription of praise, is connected with the prayer by the word "for," to signify that all these things--the reign, power, and glory of God--will be manifested by granting these petitions. It is not because we are to be benefited, but that God's name and perfections may be manifested. His glory is, then, the first and principal thing which we are to seek when we approach him. We are to suffer our concerns to be sunk and lost sight of in the superior glory and honour of his name and dominion. We are to seek temporal and eternal life, chiefly because the honour of our Maker will be promoted, and his name be more illustriously displayed to his creatures. He is to be "first, last, supremest, best," in our view; and all selfish and worldly views are to be absorbed in that one great desire of the soul that God may be "all in all." Approaching him with these feelings, our prayers will be answered, our devotions will rise like incense, and the lifting up our hands will be like the evening sacrifice.

Amen. This is a word of Hebrew origin, from a verb signifying to be firm, secure, to be true and faithful. It is a word expressing consent or strong approbation, a word of strong asseveration. It means verily, certainly, so be it. It is probable that this word was used by the people in the synagogue to signify their assent to the prayer that was uttered by the minister. And to some extent, it was probably so used in the Christian church. See 1Cor 14:16. It may be proper to remark, that this doxology, "for thine is the kingdom," etc., is wanting in many manuscripts, and that its authenticity is doubtful.

(b) "from evil" Jn 17:15 (c) "For thine" Rev 5:12,13

If ye forgive If ye pardon.

Trespasses. Offences, faults. If ye forgive others when they offend or injure you. This is constantly required in the Bible. Our Saviour says we should forgive even if the offence be committed seventy times seven times, Mt 18:22. By this is meant, that when a man asks forgiveness, we are cordially and for ever to pardon the offence; we are to declare our willingness to forgive him. If he does not ask forgiveness, yet we are still to treat him kindly; not to harbour malice; not to speak ill of him; to be ready to do him good; and be always prepared to declare him forgiven when he asks it.

Moreover when ye fast, etc. The word fast literally signifies to abstain from food and drink, whether from necessity or as a religious observance. It is, however, commonly applied in the Bible to the latter. It is, then, an expression of grief or sorrow. Such is the constitution of the body, that in a time of grief or sorrow we are not disposed to eat; or, we have no appetite. The grief of the soul is so absorbing as to destroy the natural appetites of the body. Men in deep affliction eat little, and often pine away and fall into sickness, because the body refuses, on account of the deep sorrow of the mind, to discharge the functions of health. Fasting, then, is the natural expression of grief. It is not arbitrary; it is what every person in sorrow naturally does. This is the foundation of its being applied to religion as a sacred rite. It is because the soul, when oppressed and burdened by a sense of sin, is so filled with grief, that the body refuses food. It is, therefore, appropriated always to scenes of penitence, of godly sorrow, of suffering, and to those facts connected with religion that are fitted to produce grief, as the prevalence of iniquity or some dark impending calamity, or storm, or tempest, pestilence, plague, or famine. It is also used to humble us, to bring us to reflection, to direct the thoughts away from the comforts of this world to the bliss of a better. It is not acceptable except it be the real expression of sorrow, the natural effect of feeling that we are burdened with crime.

The Jews fasted often. They had four annual fasts, in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem, (Jer 52:7) of the burning of the temple, (Zech 7:3) in memory of the death of Gedaliah, (Jer 41:4,) and in memory of the commencement of the attack on Jerusalem, Zech 8:19. In addition to these, they had a multitude of occasional fasts. It was customary, also, for the Pharisees to fast twice a week, Lk 17:12.

Of a sad countenance. That is, sour, morose, assumed expressions of unfelt sorrow.

They disfigure their faces. That is, they do not anoint and wash themselves as usual; they are uncombed, filthy, squalid, and haggard. It is said that they were often in the habit of throwing ashes on their heads and faces; and this mixing with their tears, seemed still farther to disfigure their faces. So much pains will men take, and so much suffering will they undergo, and so much that is ridiculous will they assume, to impose on God and men. But they deceive neither. God sees through the flimsy veil. Human eyes can pierce a disguise so thin. Hypocrites overact their part. Not having the genuine principles of piety at heart, they know not its proper expression, and hence appear supremely contemptible and abominable. Never should men exhibit outwardly more than they feel; and never should they attempt to exhibit anything for the mere sake of ostentation.

(e) "appear unto men to fast" Isa 57:3,5

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint, etc. That is, appear as you do daily. Do not assume any new appearance, or change your visage or dress. The Jews and all neighbouring nations were much in the habit of washing and anointing their bodies. This washing was performed at every meal; and where it could be effected, the head, or other parts of the body, was daily anointed with sweet or olive oil. In a warm climate, exposed to the great heat of the sun, this practice conduced much to health, preserved the skin smooth and tender, and afforded a most grateful sensation and odour. See Mk 7:2,3, Jas 5:14 Mk 6:13, Jn 12:3. The meaning of this whole commandment is, when you regard it to be your duty to fast, do it as a thing expressing deep feeling, or sorrow for sin; not by assuming unfelt gravity and moroseness, but in your ordinary dress and appearance; not to attract attention, but as an expression of feeling towards God, and he will approve and reward it.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures, etc. Treasures, or wealth, among the ancients, consisted in clothes, or changes of raiment, as well as in gold, silver, gems, wine, lands, and oil. It meant an abundance of anything that was held to be conducive to the ornament or comfort of life. As the Orientalists delighted much in display, in splendid equipage, and costly garments, their treasures, in fact, consisted much in beautiful and richly ornamented articles of apparel. See Gen 45:22, where Joseph gave to his brethren changes of raiment; Josh 7:21, where Achan coveted and secreted a goodly Babylonish garment. See also Jud 14:12. This fact will account for the use of the word moth. When we speak of wealth, we think at once of gold, and diver, and lands, and houses. When a Hebrew or an Orientalist spoke of wealth, he thought first of what would make display; and included, as an essential part; splendid articles of dress. The moth is a small insect that finds its way to clothes and garments, and destroys them. The moth would destroy their apparel, the rust their silver and gold; thus all their treasure would waste away.

(f) "upon earth" Prov 23:4, Lk 18:24,35, Heb 13:5

Lay up treasures...in heaven. That is, have provision made for your eternal felicity. Do not exhaust your strength, and spend your days, in providing for the life here, but let your chief anxiety be to be prepared for eternity. There nothing corrupts, nothing terminates, no enemies plunder or destroy. To have treasure in heaven is to possess evidence that its purity and joys will be ours. It is to be heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. The heart, or affections, will of course be fixed on the treasure. To regulate the heart, it is therefore important that the treasure, or object of attachment, should be right.

The light of the body, etc. The sentiment stated in the preceding verses--the duty of fixing the affections on heavenly things--Jesus proceeds to illustrate by a reference to the eye. When the eye is directed singly and steadily towards an object, and is in health, or is single, everything is clear and plain. If it vibrates, flies to different objects, is fixed on no one singly, or is diseased, nothing is seen clearly. Everything is dim and confused. The man, therefore, is unsteady. The eye regulates the motion of the body. To have an object distinctly in view, is necessary to correct and regulate action, Rope-dancers, in order to steady themselves, fix the eye on some object on the wall, and look steadily at that. If they should look down on the rope or the people, they would become dizzy and fall. A man crossing a stream on a log, if he will look across at some object steadily, will be in little danger. If he looks down on the dashing and rolling waters, he will become dizzy, and fall. So Jesus says, in order that the conduct may be right, it is important to fix the affections on heaven. Having the affections there--having the eye of faith single, steady, unwavering--all the conduct will be correspondent.

Single. Steady, devoted to one object. Not confused, as persons' eyes are when they see double.

Thy whole body shall be full of light. Your conduct will be regular and steady. All that is needful to direct the body is that the eye be fixed right. No other light is required. So all that is needful to direct the soul and the conduct is that the eye of faith be fixed on heaven, that the affections be there.

If therefore the light that is in thee, etc. The word light, here, signifies the mind, or principles of the soul. If this be dark, how great is that darkness! The meaning of this passage may be thus expressed: The light of the body, the guide and director, is the eye. All know how calamitous it is when that light is irregular or extinguished, as when the eye is diseased or lost. So the light that is in us is the soul. If that soul is debased by attending exclusively to earthly objects--if it is diseased, and not fixed on heaven--how much darker and more dreadful will it be than any darkness of the eye! Avarice darkens the mind, obscures the view, and brings in a dreadful and gloomy night over all the faculties.

(h) "is the eye" Lk 11:34,36

No man can serve two masters, etc. Christ proceeds to illustrate the necessity of laying up treasures in heaven from a well- known fact, that a servant cannot serve two masters at the same time. His affections and obedience would be divided, and he would fail altogether in his duty to one or the other. One he would love, and the other hate. To the interests of one he would adhere, the other he would neglect. This is a law of human nature. The supreme affections can be fixed on only one object. So, says Jesus, the servant of God cannot at the same time obey him and be avaricious, or seek treasures supremely on earth. One interferes with the other, and one will be, and must be surrendered.

Mammon. Mammon is a Syriac word, a name given to an idol worshipped as the god of riches. It has the same meaning as Plutus among the Greeks. It is not known that the Jews ever formally worshipped this idol, but they used the word to denote wealth. The meaning is, ye cannot serve the true God, and at the same time be supremely engaged in obtaining the riches of this world. One must interfere with the other. See Lk 16:9-11.

(i) "two masters" Lk 16:13 (k) "cannot serve God and mammon" Gal 1:10, 2Ti 4:10, Jas 4:4

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought, etc. The general design of this paragraph, which closes the chapter, is to warn his disciples against avarice and anxiety about the supply of their wants. This he does by four arguments or considerations, expressing, by unequalled beauty and force, the duty of depending for the things which we need on the providence of God. The first is stated in the 25th verse: "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" In the beginning of the verse he charged his disciples to take no thought--that is, not to be anxious--about the supply of their wants. God will take care of these. He has given life, a far greater blessing than meat; he has created the body, of far more consequence than raiment. Shall not he, who has conferred the greater blessing, be willing to confer the less? Shall not he, who has formed the body so curiously, and made such a display of power and goodness, see that it is properly protected and clothed? He who has displayed so great goodness as to form the body, and breathe into it the breath of life, will surely follow up the blessing, and confer the smaller favour of providing that that body should be clothed, and that life preserved.

No thought. The word thought, when the Bible was translated, meant anxiety, and is so used frequently in old English authors. Thus Bacon says, "Haweis died with thought and anguish before his business came to an end." As such it is here used by our translators, and it answers exactly to the meaning of the original. Like many other words, it has since somewhat changed its signification, and would convey to most readers an improper idea. The word anxiety would now exactly express the sense, and is exactly the thing against which the Saviour would guard us. See Lk 8:14, 21:34, Php 4:6. Thought about the future is right; anxiety, solicitude, trouble, is wrong. There is a degree of thinking and industry about the things of this life which is proper. See 1Timm 5:8, 2Thes 3:10, Rom 12:11. But it should not be our supreme concern; it should not lead to solicitude or anxiety; it should not take time that ought to be devoted to religion.

For your life. For what will support your life.

Meat. This word here means food in general, as it does commonly in the Bible. We confine it now to animal food, or the food of animals. When the Bible was translated, it denoted all kinds of food, and is so used in the old English writers. It is one of the words which has changed its meaning since the translation of the Bible was made.

Raiment. Clothing.

(l) "no thought for your life" 1Cor 7:32, Php 4:6

Behold the fowls of the air. The second argument for confidence in the providence of God is derived from a beautiful reference to the fowls of heaven. See, said the Saviour, see the fowls of the air: they have no anxiety about the supply of their wants; they do not sow or reap; in innumerable flocks they fill the air; they fill the grove with music, and meet the coming light of the morning with their songs, and pour their notes on the zephyrs of the evening, unanxious about the supply of their wants; yet how few die with hunger! how regularly are they fed from the hand of God! how he ministers to their unnumbered wants. He sees their young "open wide their mouths, and seek their meat at his hand, and how cheerfully and regularly are their necessities supplied! You, said the Saviour to his disciples, you are of more consequence than they are; and shall God feed them in such numbers, and suffer you to want? It cannot be. Put confidence, then, in that Universal Parent that feeds all the fowls of the air, and fear not that he will also supply your wants.

Better than they. Of more consequence. Your lives are of more importance than theirs, and God will therefore provide for them.

(m) "Father feedeth" Job 38:41, Lk 12:24

Which of you by taking thought. The third argument is taken from their extreme weakness and helplessness. With all your care you cannot increase your stature a single cubit. God has ordered your height. Beyond his appointment your powers are of no avail, and you can do nothing. So of raiment. He, by his providence, orders and arranges the circumstances of your life. Beyond that appointment of his providence, beyond his care for you, your efforts avail nothing. Seeing, then, that he alike orders your growth, and the supply of your wants, how obvious is the duty of depending on him, and of beginning all your efforts, feeling that He only can grant you the means of preserving life!

One cubit. The cubit was originally the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. The cubit of the Scriptures is not far from twenty-two inches. Terms of length are often applied to life; and it is thought by many to be so here. Thus, it is said, "Thou hast made my days as a handbreadth," Ps 39:5; "Teach me the MEASURE of my days," Ps 39:4. In this place it is used to denote a small length. You cannot increase your stature even a cubit, or in the smallest degree. Compare Lk 12:26.

Stature. This word means height. The original word, however, means oftener age, Jn 9:21,23. In these places it is translated age. If this be its meaning here, it denotes that a man cannot increase the length of his life at all. The utmost anxiety will not prolong it one hour beyond the time appointed for death.

The fourth consideration is taken from the lilies of the valley. Watch the growing of the lily. It toils not, and it spins not. Yet night and day it grows. With a beauty which the most splendid monarch of the East never knew, it expands its blossom and fills the air with fragrance. Yet this beauty is of short continuance. Soon it will fade, and the beautiful flower will be cut down and burned. God so little regards the bestowment of beauty and ornament as to give the highest adorning to this which is soon to perish. When he thus clothes a lily--a fair flower, soon to perish--will he be unmindful of his children? Shall they--dear to his heart and imbued with immortality--lack that which is proper for them, and shall they in vain trust the God that decks the lily of the valley? He will much more clothe you.

Even Solomon in all his glory, etc. The common dress of eastern kings was purple. But they sometimes wore white robes. See Est 8:15, Dan 7:9. It is to this that Christ refers. Solomon, says he, the richest and most magnificent king of Israel, was not clothed in a robe of so pure a white as the lilly of the valley.

Is cast into the oven. The Jews had different modes of baking. In early times they frequently baked in the sand, warmed with the heat of the sun. They constructed also moveable ovens, made of clay, brick, or plates of iron. But the most common kind, and the one here probably referred to; was made by excavating the earth two and a half feet in diameter, and from five to six feet deep. This kind of oven still exists in Persia. The bottom was paved with stones. It was heated by putting wood or dry grass into the oven; and when heated, the ashes were removed, and the bread was placed on the heated stones. More commonly, however, the oven was an earthen vessel, without a bottom, about three feet high, smeared outside and inside with clay, and placed upon a frame, or support. Fire was made within it, or below it. When the sides were sufficiently heated, thin patches of dough were spread on the inside, and the top was covered, without removing the fire as in the other cases; and the bread was quickly baked. The preceding representation of it is taken from Niebuhr.

For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. That is, those destitute of the true doctrines of religion, unacquainted with proper dependence on Divine Providence, make it their chief anxiety thus to seek food and raiment. But you, who have a knowledge of your Father in heaven, who know that he will provide for your wants, should not be anxious. Seek first his kingdom; seek first to be righteous, and to become interested in his favour, and all necessary things will be added to you. God has control over all things, and he can give you that which you need. He will give you that which he deems best for you,

Take therefore no thought, etc. That is, no anxiety. Commit your way to God. The evil, the trouble, the anxiety of each day as it comes is sufficient, without perplexing the mind with restless cares about another day. It is wholly uncertain whether you live to see that day. If you do, it will bring its own trouble; and it will also bring the proper supply of your wants. God will be the same Father then as to-day, and will make then, as he does now, proper provision for your wants.

The morrow shall take thought. The morrow shall have anxieties and cares of its own, but it shall also bring the proper provision for those cares. Though you shall have wants, yet God will provide for them as they occur. Do not, therefore, increase the cares of this day by borrowing trouble respecting the future. Do your duty faithfully now, and depend on the mercy of God and his Divine help for the troubles which are yet to come.

REMARKS ON CHAPTER VI.

1. Christ has here forcibly taught the necessity of charity, of prayer, and of all religious duties.

2. We see the necessity of sincerity and honesty in our religious duties. They are not done to be seen of men. If they are, they cannot be performed acceptably. God looks on the heart, nor is it possible to deceive him. And of what avail is it to deceive men? How poor and pitiable is the reward of a hypocrite! How contemptible the praise of men when God is displeased! How awful the condition beyond the grave!

3. Christ has here, in a particular manner, urged the duty of prayer. He has given a model for prayer. Nothing can equal this composition in simplicity, beauty, and comprehensiveness. At the same time that it is so simple that it can be understood by a child, it contains the expression of all the wants of man at any age, and in every rank.

The duty of prayer is urged by every consideration. None but God can provide for us; none but he can forgive, and guide, and support us; none but he can bring us into heaven. He is ever ready to hear us. The humble he sends not empty away. Those who ask, receive; and they who seek, find. How natural and proper, then, is prayer! How strange that any can live, and not pour out their desires to God! How strange that any are willing to go to eternity with this sad reflection, "I have gone through this world, spent my probation, wasted my strength, and am dying, and have never prayed!" How awful will be the reflection of the soul through all eternity,"I was offered eternal life, but I never asked for it! I lived from day to day, and from year to year, in God's world; breathed his air, rioted in his beneficence, forgot his goodness, and never once asked him to save my soul!" Who will be to blame if the prayerless soul is lost?

Secret and family prayer should be daily. We daily have the same necessities, are exposed to the same dangers, tread on the borders of the same heaven or hell. How should the voice of praise and prayer go up as incense in the morning, and rise as a rich perfume in the shades of each evening! What more lovely object than one, in the bloom of health and the dew of youth, bending with reverence before the King of heaven, seeking forgiveness, peace, guidance, and life! And what a strange, misguided, and piteous object is a soul that never prays!

4. Forgiveness is essential in prayer. If we come to God harbouring malice, and unwilling to forgive, we have his solemn assurance that we shall not be ourselves forgiven.

5. Avarice is alike foolish, and an insult to God, Mt 6:19-24. It is the parent of many foolish and hurtful lusts. It alienates the affections from God, produces envy of another's prosperity, leads to fraud, deception, and crime to obtain wealth, and degrades the soul. Man is formed for nobler pursuits than the mere desire to be rich. He lives for eternity, where silver will not be needed, and where gold will be of no value. That eternity is near; and though we have wealth like Solomon, and though we be adorned as the lily, yet like Solomon we must soon die, and like the lily our beauty will soon fade. Death will lay us alike low; the rich and the poor will sleep together; and the worm will feed no more sweetly on the unfed and unclothed son of poverty, than on the man clothed in fine linen, and the daughter of beauty and pride. As avarice is, moreover, the parent of discontent, he only that is contented with the allotments of Providence, and is not restless for a change, is happy. After all, this is the true source of enjoyment. Anxiety and care, perplexity and disappointment, find their way more readily to the mansions of the rich than the cottages of the poor. It is the mind, not mansions, and gold, and adorning, that gives ease. ,and he that is content with his situation will smile upon his stool, while Alexander weeps upon the throne of the world.

6. We see how comparatively valueless is beauty. How little it is regarded by God! He gives it to the lily, and in a day it fades and is gone. He gives it to the wings of the butterfly, and soon it dies and its beauty is forgotten. He gives it to the flowers of,the spring, soon to fall; to the leaves of the forest, soon to grow yellow and decay in the autumn. How many flowers, lilies, and roses, does he cause to blossom in solitude, where no man is, where they "waste their sweetness on the desert air!" How many streams ripple in the wilderness, and how many cataracts, age after age, have poured their thunders on the air, unheard and unseen by mortals! So little does God think of beauty. So the human form and "face divine." How soon is that beauty marred; and, like the lily, how soon is its last trace obliterated ! In the cold grave, among the undistinguished multitudes of the dead, who can tell which of all the mouldering host was blessed with a lovely "set of features or complexion.?" Alas! all has faded like the morning flower. How vain, then, to set the affections on so frail a treasure!

7. We see the duty and privilege of depending for our daily wants on the bounties of Providence. Satisfied with the troubles of today, let us not add to those troubles by anxieties about tomorrow. The heathen, and they who know not God, will be anxious about the future; but they who know him, and have caught the spirit of Jesus, may surely trust him for the supply of their wants. The young lions do roar, and seek their meat at the hand of God, Ps 104:21. The fowls of heaven are daily supplied. Shall man only, of all the creatures, vex himself, and be filled with anxious cares about the future? Rather, like the rest of the creation, let us depend on the aid of the universal Parent, and feel that HE who hears the young ravens which cry, will also supply our necessities.

8. Especially is the remark of value in reference to those in early life. Life is a stormy ocean. Over that ocean no being presides but God. He holds the winds in his hands, and can still their howlings, and calm the heaving billows. On that ocean the young have just launched their frail bark. Daily they will need protection; daily they will need supplies; daily be in danger, and exposed to the rolling of the billows, that may engulf them for ever. Ignorant, inexperienced, and in danger, how should they look to God to guide and aid them! Instead of vexing themselves with anxious cares about the future, how should they place humble reliance on God! Safe in his hand, we shall outride the storm, and come to a haven of peace. He will supply our wants if we trust him, as he does those of the songsters of the grove. He will be the guide of our youth, and the strength of our manhood. If we seek him, he will be found of us. If we forsake him, he will cast us off for ever, 1Chr 28:9.

9. From all this, how evident is the propriety of seeking first the kingdom of God! First in our affections, first in the objects of pursuit, first in the feelings and associations of each morning, be the desire and the aim for heaven. Having this, we have assurance of all we need. GoD, our Father, will then befriend us; and in life and death all will be well.

Mt 6:32

(o) "seek ye first" 1Timm 4:8 (p) "shall be added" Lev 25:20,21, 1Kgs 3:13, Ps 37:25, Mk 10:30

Mt 6:32

For Remarks on Chapter 6, Mt 6:34, end of verse.

(q) "the things of itself" De 23:25, Heb 13:5,6

[Take heed, that ye do not your alms, &c.] It is questioned, whether Matthew writ alms, or righteousness. I answer;

I. That our Saviour certainly said righteousness...I make no doubt at all; but that that word could not be otherwise understood by the common people than of alms, there is as little doubt to be made. For although the word righteousness, according to the idiom of the Old Testament, signifies nothing else than righteousness; yet now, when our Saviour spoke those words, it signified nothing so much as alms.

II. Christ used also the same word righteousness in the three verses next following, and Matthew used the word alms: but by what right, I beseech you, should he call it righteousness, in the first verse, and alms in the following,--when Christ every where used one and the same word? Matthew might not change in Greek, where our Saviour had not changed in Syriac.

Therefore we must say, that the Lord Jesus used the word righteousness in these four first verses: but that, speaking in the dialect of common people, he was understood by the common people to speak of alms.

Now they called alms by the name of righteousness, in that the Fathers of the Traditions taught, and the common people believed, that alms conferred very much to justification. Hear the Jewish chair in this matter:

"For one farthing, given to a poor man in alms, a man is made partaker of the beatifical vision." Where it renders these words [Psa 17:15] 'I shall behold thy face in righteousness,' after this manner; 'I shall behold thy face because of alms.'

One saith, "This money goes for alms, that my sons may live, and that I may obtain the world to come."

"A man's table now expiates by alms, as heretofore the altar did by sacrifice."

"If you afford alms out of your purse, God will keep you from all damage and harm."

"Monobazes the king bestowed his goods liberally upon the poor, and had these words spoke to him by his kinsmen and friends, 'Your ancestors increased both their own riches and those that were left them by their fathers; but you waste both your own and those of your ancestors.' To whom he answered, 'My fathers laid up their wealth on earth; I lay up mine in heaven; as it is written, Truth shall flourish out of the earth, but righteousness shall look down from heaven. My fathers laid up treasure that bears no fruit; but I lay up such as bear fruit; as it is said, It shall be well with the just, for they shall be at the fruit of their works. My fathers treasured up where power was in their hands; but I where it is not; as it is said, Justice and judgment is the habitation of his throne. My fathers heaped up for others; I for myself; as it is said, And this shall be to thee for righteousness. They scraped together for this world; I for the world to come; as it is said, Righteousness shall deliver from death.'" These things are also recited in the Babylonian Talmud.

You see plainly in what sense he understands righteousness, namely, in the sense of alms: and that sense not so much framed in his own imagination, as in that of the whole nation, and which the royal catechumen had imbibed from the Pharisees his teachers.

Behold the justifying and saving virtue of alms from the very work done, according to the doctrine of the Pharisaical chair. And hence the opinion of this efficacy of alms so far prevailed with the deceived people, that they pointed out alms by no other name (confined within one single word) than righteousness. Perhaps those words of our Saviour are spoken in derision of this doctrine; "Yea, give those things which ye have in alms, and behold all things shall be clean to you," Luke 11:41. With good reason, indeed, exhorting them to give alms, but yet withal striking at the covetousness of the Pharisees, and confuting their vain opinion of being clean by the washing of their hands, from their own opinion of the efficacy of alms. As if he had said, "Ye assert that alms justifies and saves; and therefore ye call it by the name of righteousness: why, therefore, do ye affect cleanness by the washing of hands, and not rather by the performance of charity?" See the praises of alms, somewhat too high for it, in the Talmud.

"R. Jannai saw one giving money openly to a poor man; to whom he said, It is better you had not given at all, than so to have given."

[Otherwise ye have no reward.] He therefore seems the rather to speak of a reward, because they expected a reward for their alms-doing without all doubt; and that, as we said, for the mere work done.

"R. Lazar was the almoner of the synagogue. One day going into his house, he said, 'What news?' They answered, 'Some came hither, and ate and drank, and made prayers for thee.' 'Then,' saith he, 'there is no good reward.' Another time going into his house, he said, 'What news?' It was answered, 'Some others came, and ate and drank, and railed upon you.' 'Now,' saith he, 'there will be a good reward.'"

[Do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and in the streets.] It is a just scruple, whether this sounding a trumpet be to be understood according to the letter, or in a borrowed sense. I have not found, although I have sought for it much and seriously, even the least mention of a trumpet in almsgiving. I would most willingly be taught this from the more learned.

[Please see Court of the Women for Alfred Edersheim's explanation of these trumpets in his book "The Temple: Its Ministry and Services."]

You may divide the ordinary alms of the Jews into three parts:

I. The alms'-dish. They gave alms to the public dish or basket: Tamchui (according to the definition of the author of Aruch, and that out of Bava Bathra in the place lately cited) was a certain vessel, in which bread and food was gathered for the poor of the world. You may not improperly call it the alms-basket; he calls it a dish. By the poor of the world are to be understood any beggars, begging from door to door; yea, even heathen beggars. Hence the Jerusalem Talmud in the place above quoted, The alms-dish was for every man. And the Aruch moreover, This alms was gathered daily by three men, and distributed by three. It was gathered of the townsmen by collectors within their doors; which appears by that caution; The collection of alms may not separate themselves one from another, unless that one may go by himself to the gate, and another to the shop. That is, as the Gloss explains it, they might not gather this alms separately and by themselves; that no suspicion might arise, that they privily converted what was given to their own use and benefit. This only was allowed them; when they went to the gate, one might betake himself to the gate, and another to a shop near it, to ask of the dwellers in both places: yet with this proviso, that withal both were within sight of one another. So that at each door it might be seen that this alms was received by the collectors. And here was no probability at all of a trumpet, when this alms was of the lowest degree, being to be bestowed upon vagabond strangers, and they very often heathen.

II. The poor's-chest. They gave alms also in the public poor's-box: which was to be distributed to the poor only of that city. The alms'-dish is for the poor of the world, but the alms'-chest for the poor only of that city. This was collected of the townsmen by two Parnasin, of whom before, to whom also a third was added, for the distributing it. The Babylonian Gemarists give a reason of the number, not unworthy to be marked: "A tradition of the Rabbins. The alms'-chest is gathered by two, and distributed by three. It is gathered by two, because they do not constitute a superior office in the synagogue less than of two, and it is distributed by three, as pecuniary judgments are transacted by three."

This alms was collected in the synagogue, on the sabbath (compare 1 Corinthians 16:2), and it was distributed to the poor on the sabbath-eve. Hence is that, "The alms'-chest is from the sabbath-eve to the sabbath-eve; the alms'-dish, every day."

Whether, therefore, the trumpet sounded in the synagogue when alms were done, it again remains obscure, since the Jewish canonists do not openly mention it, while yet they treat of these alms very largely. Indeed, every synagogue had its trumpet. For,

1. They sounded with the trumpet in every city in which was a judiciary bench, at the coming in of the new year. But this was not used but after the destruction of the Temple.

2. They sounded with the trumpet when any was excommunicated. Hence among the utensils of a judge is numbered a trumpet. For the instruments of judges, as appears there, were a rod, a whip, a trumpet, and a sandal. "A trumpet (saith the Gloss) for excommunication and anathematizing: and a sandal for the taking off of the shoe of the husband's brother." And in the same place mention is made of the excommunicating of Jesus, four hundred trumpets being brought for that business.

3. The trumpet sounded six times at the coming in of every sabbath: that from thence, by that sign given, all people should cease from servile works. Of this matter discourse is had in the Babylonian Talmud, in the tract of the Sabbath.

Thus, there was a trumpet in every synagogue; but whether it were used while alms were done, I still inquire. That comes into my mind, "The collectors of alms do not proclaim on a feast-day, as they proclaim on a common day: but collect it privately, and put it up in their bosom." But whether this proclamation did publish what was giving by every one, or did admonish of not giving any thing, but what might rightly be given; let the more learned judge by looking upon the place.

III. They gave alms also out of the field, and that was especially fourfold: 1. The corner of the field not reaped. 2. Sheaves left in the field, either by forgetfulness, or voluntarily. 3. The gleaning of the vintage; of which see Leviticus 19:9,10, Deuteronomy 24:19. And, 4. The poor's tenth; of which the Talmudists largely in the tracts, Peah, Demai, and Maaseroth. To the gathering of these, the poor were called, "By three manifestations in the day; namely, in the morning, and at noon, and at Minchah," or 'the evening.' That is, the owner of the field openly shewed himself three times in the day, for this end, that then the poor should come and gather: in the morning, for the sake of nurses; because, in the mean time, while their young children slept, they might the more freely go forth for this purpose: at noon, for the sake of children, who also at that time were prepared to gather: at Minchah, for the sake of old men. So the Jerusalem Gemarists, and the Glossers upon the Babylonian Talmud.

There were the ordinary alms of the Jewish people: in the doing which, seeing as yet I cannot find so much as the least sound of a trumpet in their writers, I guess that either our Saviour here spoke metaphorically; or, if there were any trumpet used, that it was used in peculiar and extraordinary alms.

The Jews did very highly approve of alms done secretly; hence the treasury of the silent was of famed memory in the Temple; whither "some very religious men brought their alms in silence and privacy, when the poor children of good men were maintained." And hence is that proverb, He that doth alms in secret is greater than our master Moses himself. And yet they laboured under such an itch to make their alms public, lest they should not be seen by men, that they did them not without a trumpet; or, which was as good as a trumpet, with a proud desire of making them known: that they might the more be pointed at with the finger, and that it might be said of them, 'These are the men.'

[Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth.] He seems to speak according to the custom used in some other things; for in some actions, which pertained to religion, they admitted not the left hand to meet with the right. "The cup of wine which was used to sanctify the coming in of the sabbath, was to be taken with the right hand, without the assistance of the left." "Let not man receive into a vessel the blood of the sacrifice, bring it to the altar, or sprinkle it with his left hand." And in the same tract, it is related of Shammai, that he would feed himself only with one hand.

[They love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corner of the streets.] 1. They prayed standing, Luke 18:11,13, Mark 11:25. "It is written, 'And Abraham rose early in the morning at the place where he had stood before the Lord.' But to stand was nothing else than to pray: as it is said, And Phineas stood and judged."

"One entereth into the synagogue, and found them standing in prayer." "Let scholar of the wise men look downwards, when he stands praying." And to name no more, the same Maimonides asserts these things are required in prayer; that he that prayeth, stand; that he turn his face towards Jerusalem; that he cover his head; and that he fix his eyes downwards.

II. They loved to pray in the synagogues. "He goes to the synagogue to pray."

"Why do they recite their phylacteries in the synagogue, when they are not bound to do it? R. Josi saith, They do not recite them in the synagogue for that end, that so the whole office of the phylacteries may be performed, but to persevere in prayer. For this recitation was to be said over again, when they came home."

Rabbenu Asher hath these words: "When any returns home in the evening from the field, let him not say, 'I will go into my house'; but first let him betake himself to the synagogue: and if he can read, let him read something; if he can recite the traditions, let him recite them. And then let him say over the phylacteries, and pray."

But that we be not too tedious, even from this very opinion, they were wont to betake themselves to the synagogues, because they were persuaded that the prayers of the synagogue were certainly heard.

III. They prayed in the streets. So Maimonides; "They prayed in the streets on the feasts and public fasts." "What are the rites of the fasts? They brought out the ark into the streets of the city, and sprinkled ashes upon the ark, and upon the head of the president of the Sanhedrim, and the vice-president; and every one put ashes upon his own head. One of the elders makes this exhortation; 'It is not said, O brethren, of the Ninevites, that God saw their sackcloth, or their fastings; but, that he saw their works,' &c. They stand praying, and they set some fit elder before the ark, and he prays four-and-twenty prayers before them."

But doth our Saviour condemn all prayers in the synagogue? By no means. For he himself prayed in and with the synagogue. Nor did he barely reprove those public prayers in the streets, made by the whole multitude in those great solemnities, but prayers everywhere, both in the synagogues, and the streets, that were made privately, but yet publicly also, and in the sight of all, that thereby he that prayed might get some name and reputation from those that saw him.

I. While public prayers were uttered in the synagogue, it was customary also for those that hunted after vainglory, to mutter private prayers, and such as were different from those of the synagogue, whereby the eyes of all might be the more fixed upon him that prayed.

"Hath not a man prayed his morning prayers? When he goes into the synagogue, does he find them praying the additionary prayer? If he is sure he shall begin and end, so that he may answer 'Amen' after the angel of the church, let him say his prayers."

II. They prayed also by themselves in the streets. "R. Jochanan said, I saw R. Jannai standing and praying in the streets of Tsippor, and going four cubits, and then praying the additionary prayer."

Two things especially shew their hypocrisy here:

1. That so much provision is made concerning reciting the phylacteries, and the prayers added (that it might be done within the just time), that wheresoever a man had been, when the set time was come, he presently betakes himself to prayers: "A workman, or he that is upon the top of a tree, he that rides on an ass, must immediately come down, and say his prayers," &c. These are the very instances that the canonists give, which, with more of them, you may find in the tract Beracoth. Hence, therefore, those vainglorious hypocrites got an occasion of boasting themselves. For the hour of the phylacterical prayers being come, their care and endeavour was, to be taken in the streets: whereby the canonical hour compelling them to their prayers in that place, they might be the more seen by all persons, and that the ordinary people might admire and applaud both their zeal and religion. To which hypocritical pride they often added this also, that they used very long pauses, both before they began their prayers, and after they had done them: so that very usually, for three hours together, they were seen in a praying habit and posture. See the Babylonian Talmud. So that the Canonists played the madmen with some reason, when they allowed the space, from the rising of the morning to the third hour of the day, for the phylacterical prayers; because those three-hour praying men scarcely despatched them within less space, pausing one hour before they began prayer, and as much after they were ended.

2. They addicted themselves to ejaculations, prayers, and blessings, upon the sight almost of any thing meeting them either in the streets or in the way. "When one saw a place, wherein some miracle was done for Israel; a place, from whence idolatry was rooted out; or a place, where an idol now was, a short prayer was to be used. When any saw a blackamoor, a dwarf, a crooked, a maimed person, &c. they were to bless. Let him that sees a fair tree, or a beautiful face, bless thus, Blessed be He, who created the beauty of the creature," &c.

[ROSARY, a chaplet of roses or beads used as an aid to memory in the repeating of prayers, as the Paternosters and Ave Marias. There are various patterns in use; one is a rosary of fifty-five beads, fifty small ones for the Ave Marias, separated into groups of ten by five large ones to mark Paternosters. Hindus, Mohammedans, and Buddhists all employ the rosary. The name is also given to a series of prayers ("Rosary of the Blessed Virgin") consisting of fifteen decades, comprising fifteen paternosters and doxologies, and 150 Ave Marias, divided into three parts.--Universal Standard Encyclopedia

ROSARY. Part of the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church is the rosary, fifteen groups or series of prayers, each series consisting of a Paternoster (Lord's Prayer), ten Aves (salutes to the Virgin Mary), and a Gloria. The string of beads used in counting the prayers is also called a rosary. It is symbolic, for the large beads stand for Paternosters (Our Father's) and Glorias, and the small beads for Aves (Hail Mary's), while the crucifix on the pendant symbolized the Apostles' Creed. The groups of beads are "decades"; generally only five decades are said at one time. Instead of a large bead at the end and at the beginning of each decade, only one bead is used to represent the Gloria and the Paternoster. During the telling of the beads in each decade, the worshiper meditates on one of the fifteen mysteries of the life and death of Christ.

In the Greek Church, the monks, and not the lay members of the congregation, recite their prayers with the rosary, which is composed of a hundred beads of equal size. In the Russian Church, the rosary consists of 103 beads which are divided into groups by four larger ones, representing the Evangelists. Rosaries are also used by Buddhists and Mohammedans.--The Wonderland of Knowledge Encyclopedia, 1965]

[Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do] See the civil battology [vain repetitions] of the heathen in their supplications: "Let the parricide be dragged: we beseech thee. Augustus, let the parricide be dragged. This is the thing we ask, let the parricide be dragged. Hear us, Caesar. Let the false accusers be condemned to the lion. Hear us, Caesar. Let the false accusers be condemned to the lion. Hear us, Caesar," &c.

"Antoninus the pious, the gods keep thee. Antoninus the merciful, the gods keep thee. Antoninus the merciful, the gods keep thee." See also Capitolinus, in the Maximini.

Those words savour of vain repetition in prayer, 1 Kings 18:26; "The priest of Baal called upon the name of Baal from morning to noon, saying, O Baal, hear us."

After the same manner almost as the heathen mixed vain repetitions, in their prayers, did the Jews in their using divers words importing the same thing: not repeating, indeed, the same thing in varied phrases; which appears sufficiently to him that reads their liturgies through, as well the more ancient as those of a later date. And certainly the sin is equally the same in using different words of the same thing, as in a vain repetition of the same words; if so be there were the same deceit and hypocrisy in both; in words only multiplied, but the heart absent.

And in this matter the Jew sinned little less than the heathen. For this was an axiom with them, Every one that multiplies prayer is heard. Christ, therefore, does not so much condemn the bare saying over again the same petitions, either in the same words, or in words of the same import (for he himself spake the same things thrice, when he prayed in the garden), as a false opinion, as if there were some power, or zeal, or piety, in such kind of repetitions; and that they would be sooner heard, and more prevail with God. While he strikes the heathen, he strikes the Jews also, who laboured under the same phrensy: but there is mention only of the heathen, partly because this savoured rather of heathen blindness than of the profession of true religion, which the Jews boasted of; partly, and especially, that he might not condemn the public prayers of the Jews without cause, in which they sinned not at all by using synonymous expressions, if it were done out of a pious and sincere heart.

[After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father, &c.] Some things, which seem more difficult about this divine form of prayer, will perhaps pass into a softer sense, if certain things, very usual in the Jewish church and nation, be observed, to which the apostles could not but have regard when they clearly acknowledged here the highest conformity with them. For that it was customary with our Saviour, for the most part, to conform himself to the church and nation, both in religious and civil matters, so they were lawful, most evidently appears also in this form of prayer. Let these things, therefore, be observed:

I. That the stated prayers of the Jews, daily to be said at that time when Christ prescribed this form to his disciples, were eighteen in number, or in a quantity equalling it. Of this number of their prayers, the Gemarists of both Talmuds treat at large. Whom consult.

Whether they were reduced to the precise number of eighteen, in the order that they afterward appeared in while Christ was upon earth, some scruple ariseth from some things which are said by the Babylonian Talmudists in the place alleged: but it might be plainly proved, if there were need, that little, or indeed nothing at all, wanted of the quantity and bulk of such a number. "The Rabbins have a tradition (say they), that Simeon Pekoli reduced into order the eighteen prayers according to their course, before Rabban Gamaliel in Jafne. Rabban Gamaliel said to the wise men, 'Is there any that knows to compose a prayer against the Sadducees?' Samuel the Little stood forth and constituted one," &c. That Rabban Gamaliel, which is here spoke of, was Paul's master. For, although Rabban Gamaliel (who was commonly styled 'Jafnensis,' of Jafne) was the nephew of Paul's master. Gamaliel, and this thing is mentioned to be done in Jafne; yet Paul's master also lived in Jafne: and that this was he of whom is the story before us, sufficiently appears hence, because his business is with Samuel the Little, who certainly died before the destruction of the city.

Under Gamaliel the elder, therefore, were those daily prayers reduced first into that order wherein they were received by the following ages. Which, however it was done after the death of our Saviour, in regard of their reducing into order, yet so many there were in daily use at that time when he conversed on earth. Now he condemned not those prayers altogether, nor esteemed them of no account; yea, on the contrary, he joined himself to the public liturgy in the synagogues, and in the Temple: and when he delivereth this form to his disciples, he extinguisheth not other forms.

II. When all could not readily repeat by heart those numerous prayers, they were reduced into a brief summary, in which the marrow of them all was comprised; and that provision was made for the memory, that they should have a short epitome of those prayers, whom the weakness of their memory, or sometime the unavoidable necessity of business, permitted not to repeat a longer prayer, or to be at leisure to do it. This summary they called a fountain. "Rabban Gamaliel saith, 'Let every one pray the eighteen prayers every day.' R. Joshua saith, Let him pray the summary of those eighteen. But R. Akibah saith, If prayer be free in his mouth, let him pray the eighteen; but if not, let him pray the summary of those eighteen." That our Saviour comprised the sum of all prayers in this form, is known to all Christians; and it is confessed that such is the perfection of this form, that it is the epitome of all things to be prayed for, as the Decalogue is the epitome of all things to be practised.

III. It was very usual with the doctors of the Jews,

1. To compose forms of short prayers, and to deliver them to their scholars (which is asserted also of John, Luke 11:1); whereof you will find some examples, and they not a few, in the Babylonian Gemara, in the tract Beracoth, and elsewhere. Not that by those forms they banished or destroyed the set and accustomed prayers of the nation; but they superadded their own to them, and suited them to proper and special occasions.

2. To the stated prayers, and others framed by themselves, it was very usual to add some short prayer over and above, which one may not amiss call 'the concluding prayer.' Take these examples of these prayers: "R. Eliezer, when he had finished his prayers, was wont to say thus, 'Let it be thy good pleasure, O Lord, that love and brotherhood dwell in our portion,' &c. R. Jochanan, when he had finished his prayers, was wont to say thus, 'Let it be thy good pleasure, O Lord, to take notice of our reproach, and to look upon our miseries,'" &c. In like manner,

1. Our Saviour, while he delivers this form to his disciples, does not weaken the set forms of the church; nor does he forbid his disciples not to use private prayers: but he delivers this most exact summary of all prayers, to be added, over and above, to our prayers; his most perfect to our most imperfect.

2. The apostles, sufficiently accustomed to the manners of the nation, could not judge otherwise of this form. In interpreting very many phrases and histories of the New Testament, it is not so much worth, what we think of them from notions of our own, feigned upon I know not what grounds, as in what sense these things were understood by the hearers and lookers on, according to the usual custom and vulgar dialect of the nation. Some inquire by what authority we do subjoin or superadd the Lord's Prayer to ours; and feign arguments to the contrary out of their own brain. But I ask, whether it was possible that the apostles and disciples, who from their very cradles had known and seen such forms instituted for common use, and added moreover to the set prayers and others, should judge otherwise of this form given by our Lord; which bore so great conformity with those, and with the most received rite and custom of the nation?

IV. That church held it for a just canon, and that indeed no discommendable one neither, He that prays ought always, when he prays, to join with the church. Which is not strictly to be understood only of his presence in the synagogue (that is elsewhere and otherwise commanded many times over), but wheresoever in the world he be placed, yea, when he is most alone, that he say his prayers in the plural number: for thus the Gloss explains it, Let none pray the short prayer (that is, one different from the set prayers) in the singular number, but in the plural. In which number our Saviour teacheth us also to pray in this form; and that upon very good reason, when, in whatsoever solitude or distance we are, yet we ought to acknowledge ourselves joined with the church, and to pray for her happiness as well as for our own.

[Our Father which art in heaven.] I. This epithet of God was very well known among the Jews, and very usual with them:

"Our Father which art in heaven, deal so with us as thou hast promised by the prophets." And in another place this is thrice recited; "Whom have we whereon to rely, besides our Father which is in heaven?" "Blessed are ye, O Israelites; who cleanseth you? Your Father, who is in heaven." "Ye gave not to your Father, who is in heaven, but to me the priest."

II. But in what sense did the Jews call God their Father in heaven, when they were altogether ignorant of the doctrine and mystery of adoption, besides that adoption whereby God had adopted them for a peculiar people? I answer, For that very cause they were taught by God himself so to call him, Exodus 4:22, Deuteronomy 32:6, &c. Nor was there any among them who not only might not do this, but also who ought not to do it. While the heathen said to his idol, 'Thou art my father,' Jeremiah 2:27, the Israelite was bound to say, Our Father which art in heaven, Isaiah 63:16, 64:8.

III. When Christ useth this manner of speech so very well known to the nation, does he not use it in a sense that was known to the nation also? Let them answer who would have the Lord's Prayer to be prayed and said by none but by those who are indeed believers, and who have partook of true adoption. In what sense was our Saviour, when he spake these words, understood of the hearers? They were thoroughly instructed, from their cradles, to call God the Father in heaven: they neither hear Christ changing the phrase, nor curtailing any thing from the latitude of the known and used sense. Therefore let them tell me, Did not Peter, John, and the rest of the apostles, think that it was as lawful for all Christians to say to God, Our Father which art in heaven, as it was lawful for all Jews? They called God Father, because he had called them into the profession of him, because he took care of them, and instructed them, &c. And what, I beseech you, hinders, but all Christians, obtaining the same privileges, may honour God with the same compellation? There is nothing in the words of Christ that hinders, and there is somewhat in the very phrase that permits it.

9,10. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed

[Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.] This obtained for an axiom in the Jewish schools; That prayer, wherein there is not mention of the kingdom of God, is not a prayer. Where these words are also added: "Abai saith, Like to this is that of Rabh to be reckoned, that it is a tradition I have not transgressed thy precepts, nor have I forgotten them" (they are the words of him that offereth the first-fruits, Deuteronomy 26:13). "'I have not transgressed,' that is, by not giving thanks: 'And I have not forgotten them'; that is, I have not forgot to commemorate thy name, and thy kingdom."

[Thy will be done, as in heaven, &c.] "What is the short prayer? R. Eliezer saith, Do thy will in heaven, and give quietness of spirit to them that fear thee beneath," or in earth.

[Our daily bread.] That is, provide to-morrow's bread, and give it us to-day, that we be not solicitous for to-morrow...

"The necessities of thy people Israel are many, and their knowledge small, so that they know not how to disclose their necessities; let it be thy good pleasure to give to every man what sufficeth for food," &c.

[Deliver us from evil.] "Rabbi [Judah] was wont thus to pray: 'Let it be thy good pleasure to deliver us from impudent men, and impudence; from an evil man, and from an evil chance; from an evil affection, from an evil companion, from an evil neighbour, from Satan the destroyer, from a hard judgment, and from a hard adversary,'" &c.

[For thine is the kingdom, &c.] I. In the public service in the Temple, the commemoration of the kingdom of God was the respond; instead of which the people answered Amen, when the priests ended their prayers. "For the tradition is, that they answered not 'Amen' in the house of the sanctuary. What said they then? Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever." Hence in the tract Joma (where the rubric of the day of Expiation is), after various prayers recited, which, on that day, the high priest makes, is added, "And the people answered, Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever." See the places of that tract noted in the margin. There a short prayer of the high priest is mentioned, in which he thus concludes; "Be ye clean before Jehovah"; and these words are added, "But the priests and people standing in the court, when they heard the name Jehovah pronounced out in its syllable, adoring, and falling prostrate upon their face, they said, Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever." See also the tract Taanith, where a reason is given of this doxology in the Gloss there.

II. This also they pronounced softly, and in a gentle whisper, while they were reciting the phylacteries. It is said of the men of Jericho, that they folded up the Schemah. It is disputed what this means; "And R. Judah saith, That they made some small pause after the reciting of this period, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord': but they said not, 'Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever.' But by what reason do we say so? R. Simeon Ben Levi explains the mystery, who saith, Our father Jacob called his sons, and said, 'Gather yourselves together, and I will declare unto you.' It was in his mind to reveal to them the end of days, and the Holy Spirit departed from him: he said, therefore, 'Perhaps there is something profane in my bed, (which God forbid!) as it was to Abraham, from whom proceeded Ishmael; and to Isaac, from whom proceeded Esau.' His sons said unto him, 'Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord'; as, in thy heart, there is but one; so, in our hearts, there is but one. At that time our father Jacob began, and said, Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever. The Rabbins said, What shall we do? Shall we say this doxology? Our master Moses said it not. Shall we not say it? Our father Jacob said it. Therefore it was appointed to say it softly," &c.

You see how very public the use of this doxology was, and how very private too. Being a response, it was pronounced in the Temple by all with a loud voice; being an ejaculation, it was spoken in the phylacterical prayers, by every single man, in a very low voice. And you see how great an agreement it hath with the conclusion of the Lord's prayer, "For thine is the kingdom," &c.

III. As they answered Amen, not at all in the public prayers in the Temple, so they seldom joined it to the end of their private prayers. In the synagogue, indeed, the people answered Amen to the prayers made by the minister: and also at home, when the master of the family blessed or prayed; but seldom, or indeed never, any one praying privately joined this to the end of his prayers.

And now, to apply those things which have been said to the matter under our hands, consider the following things:

1. That this prayer was twice delivered by our Saviour: first, in this sermon in the mount, when he was not asked; and afterward, when he was asked, almost half a year after, Luke 11.

2. That this conclusion is added in St. Matthew, "For thine is the kingdom," &c.; but in St. Luke it is not. In St. Matthew is added moreover the word Amen; but in St. Luke it is wanting. Upon the whole matter, therefore, we infer,

I. That Christ, in exhibiting this form of prayer, followed a very usual rite and custom of the nation.

II. That the disciples also, receiving this form delivered to them, could not but receive it according to the manner and sense of the nation, used in such cases: since he introduced no exception at all from that general rule and custom.

III. That he scarcely could signify his mind, that this prayer should be universally and constantly used, by any marks or signs more clear than those which he made use of. For,

First, He commanded all, without any exception or distinction, "After this manner pray ye"; and, "When ye pray, say, Our Father," &c.

Secondly, As, according to the ordinary custom of the nation, forms of prayer, delivered by the masters to the scholars, were to be used, and were used by them all indifferently, and without distinction of persons; so also he neither suggested any thing concerning this his prayer, either besides the common custom, or contrary to it.

Thirdly, The form itself carries along with it certain characters, both of its public and private and constant use. It may certainly with good reason be asked, Why, since Christ had delivered this prayer in such plain words in his sermon upon the mount, this command moreover being added, "After this manner pray ye," it was desired again, that he would teach them to pray? What! had they forgotten that prayer that was given them there? Were they ignorant that it was given them for a form of prayer, and so to be used? But his seems rather the cause why they desired a second time a form of prayer, namely, because they might reckon that first for a public form of prayer; since this might easily be evinced, both by the addition of the conclusion so like the public response in the Temple, and especially by the addition of Amen used only in public assemblies: therefore, they beseech him again, that he would teach them to pray privately; and he repeats the same form, but omits the conclusion, and Amen, which savoured of public use. Therefore you have in the conclusion a sign of the public use, by the agreement of it to the response in the Temple; and of the private, by the agreement of it to the ejaculation in the phylacterical prayers. A sign of the public use was in the addition of Amen; a sign of the private use was in the absence of it: a sign of both in the conformity of the whole to the custom of the nation. Christ taught his disciples to pray, as John had taught his, Luke 11:1: John taught his, as the masters among the Jews had theirs, by yielding them a form to be used by all theirs daily, verbatim, and in terms.

[They disfigure their faces.] That is, they disguised their faces with ashes; as he heretofore upon another cause, 1 Kings 20:38: "In the public fasts every one took ashes, and put upon his head. They say of R. Joshua Ben Ananiah, that, all the days of his life, his face was black by reason of is fastings. Why is his name called Ashur? (1 Chron 4:5). Because his face was black by fastings."

Here let that of Seneca come in; "This is against nature, to hate easy cleanliness, and to affect nastiness."

[But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, &c.] For those that fasted neither anointed themselves nor washed. "On the day of Expiation it was forbidden to eat, to drink, to wash, to anoint themselves, to put on their sandals, to lie with their wives. But the king and the bride may wash their faces, and a midwife may put on her sandals." See the Babylonian Gemara here. See also the Babylonian Talmud in the tract Taanith, concerning other fasts, and the fasts of private men.

They were wont to anoint their bodies and heads upon a threefold reason:

I. For finer dress. "Anointing is permitted to be used on the sabbath, whether it be for ornament, or not for ornament. On the day of Expiation both are forbidden. On the ninth day of the month Ab, and in the public fasts, anointing for dress is forbid; anointing not for dress is allowed."

II. They anointed themselves often, not for excess, or bravery, or delight, but for the healing of some disease, or for the health of the body. He that is troubled with the head-ache, or on whom scabs arise, let him anoint himself with oil.

"A tradition of the Rabbins. It is forbidden [in fasts] to wash a part of the body, as well as the whole body. But if it be defiled with dirt or dung, let him wash according to the custom, and let him not be troubled. It is also forbidden to anoint a part of the body, as well as the whole body: but if a man be sick, or if a scab arise on his head, let him anoint himself according to the custom."

Hence, when the apostles are said "to anoint the sick with oil, and to heal them," Mark 6:13, they used an ordinary medicine, and obtained an extraordinary and infallible effect.

Hence that of St. James, chapter 5:14: "Let the sick man call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord": that is, to that ordinary medicine, namely, anointing for recovery of health, let the prayers of the ministers of the church be used.

III. They used sometimes a superstitious anointing of the head, and nothing differing from magical anointing: He that mutters, let him put oil upon his head, and mutter. this muttering is to be understood concerning the manner of saying a charm upon the wound, or some place of the body that feels pain; muttering over the wound; of which mention is made in the tract Sanhedrim. Mention also is made in the tract Schabbath now alleged, that some used this enchanting muttering in the name of Jesus: "One being sick, a certain person came to him, and muttered upon him in the name of Jesus of Pandira, and he was healed." And a little after; "R. Eliezer Ben Damah was bitten by a serpent. James of Capharsam came to heal him in the name of Jesus: but R. Ismael permitted him not," &c. See Acts 19:13.

If the words of James before alleged be compared with this cursed custom, they may well sound to this sense; 'It is customary for the unbelieving Jews to use anointing of the sick joined with a magical and enchanting muttering; but how infinitely better is it to join the pious prayers of the elders of the church to the anointing of the sick!'

20-24. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot

[If thine eye be single. If thine eye be evil.] That the business here is about a covetous, or a not covetous mind, may be gathered,

I. From the context on either hand: for, verse 20, 21, the discourse is concerning treasures either earthly or heavenly, and, verse 24, concerning serving either God or Mammon.

II. From a very usual manner of speech of the nation. For a good eye, to the Jews, is the same with a bountiful mind; and an evil eye is the same with a covetous mind. "This is the measure of the Truma" (or, of the oblation yielded to the priests), A good eye yieldeth one out of forty; that is, the fortieth part. "The school of Shammai saith, One out of thirty. A middling eye, one out of fifty. And an evil eye, one out of sixty. He that gives a gift, let him give with a good eye: and he that dedicates any thing, let him dedicate it with a good eye." See Matthew 20:15. Hence covetousness is called the lust of the eyes, 1 John 2:16. Therefore our Saviour shows here with how great darkness the mind is clouded and dimmed by covetousness, and too much care of worldly things.

[The fowls of the air, they sow not, &c.] "Have you ever seen beasts or fowls that had a workshop? And yet they are fed without trouble of mind," &c. See also Midras Tillin.

[O ye of little faith.] Small of faith, a phrase very frequent in the Talmudists. He that prayed with a loud voice, is to be numbered among those that are little of faith. The Israelites in the wilderness were of little faith. R. Abuhabh in the preface to Menorath hammaor; "R. Eliezer saith, 'Whosoever hath but a small morsel in his basket, and saith, What have I to eat to-morrow, behold, he is to be reckoned among those of little faith.'"

[Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.] There is enough of trouble in the very moment.

Observe here, 1. The duty directed to, almsgiving after a right manner; Do not your alms before man: some copies read it, Do not your rigteousness before men: because almsgiving is a considerable part of that righteousness and justice which we owe unto our neighbour: he that is uncharitable is unjust: acts of charity are acts of justice and equity. It also intimates to us, that the matter of our alms should be goods righteously gotten: to give alms of what is gotten unjustly, is robbery, and not righteousness.

Observe, 2. Our Savoiur's cautionary direction in giving alms, Take heed that you do them not be seen of men. It is one thing to do our alms that men may see them, and another thing to do them that we may be seen of men. We ought to do alms before men, that God may be glorified: but not to be seen of men, that ourselves may be applauded.

Observe, 3. The particular sin which our Saviour warns his disciples against in giving their alms, namely, ostentation and vain-glory, which the Pharisees wre notoriously guilty of: Sounding a trumpet, to call people about them when they gave their alms.

Thence learn, That the doing any good work, especially any work of charity and mercy, vain-gloriously, and not with an eye to God's glory, will certainly miss of the reward of well-doing in another world.

Observe, 4. The advice given by our Saviour for the prevention of this sin and danger; and that is, to do our alms as secretly as we can; Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that is, conceal it from thy nearest relations, and, if possible, from thyself.

Note thence, That the secrecy of our charity is one good evidence of its sincerity. Hence the Egyptians made the emblem of charity to be a blind boy reaching out honey to a bee that had lost her wings.

Here our Saviour warns his disciples against the same Pharisaical hypocrisy in praying, which he had before reproved in almsgiving. It was lawful to pray in the synagogues, and to pray standing, and that before men; but to do this upon design to be applauded by men, is condemned by Christ. Our business in prayer lies with God; we are not to concern ourselves how men like our performances; it is sufficient if God doth approve and will accept them. To cure the foregoing vanity, Christ directs to secret prayer, in our closets, where God is the witness, and will be the rewarder of our sincerity.

Note, That secret prayer is a commanded and encouraged duty, and when in sincerity performed, shall be attended with a public and glorious reward; Pray to thy Father which is in secret, &c.

A vain-glorious ostentation in prayer was condemned by our Saviour in the former verse; here a vain-glorious multiplicity of words, by idle tautologies and impetinent repetitions, is condemned also; after the manner of the heathens, who expected to have their prayers granted by God, for the multiplicity of words used by themselves.

Hence note, That a Christian's business in prayer being not to inform God (for he knoweth what things we need before we ask him) nor yet to move and persuade God (for he is our Father) it certainly argues an undue apprehension of God, when we lengthen out our prayers with vain repetitions and a multitude of words.

Yet note, 1. That it is not all repetition of the same words in prayer which Christ here condemns, for he himself prayed thrice, using the same words, that the cup might pass from him.

Nor, 2. Are we to apprehend that prayers continued to a considerable length are forbidden by Christ; for Solomon's prayer was such, 1Kgs 8:1-66. In Neh 9:1-23, it is said, the people confessed, and worshipped for three hours; Christ continued in prayer all night; and the church, Acts 7:1-60, made prayers without ceasing for St. Peter's enlargement.

And we read of St. Paul's praying night and day, 1Thess 3:10, and of his commanding the churches to be instant in prayer, and to continue in prayer. But Christ here condemns prayers lengthened out upon an apprehension that we shall be heard by our much speaking, or can move God by arguments, whilst we continue in our sins. (Dr. Whitby)

As if Christ had said, For preventing these and all other faults in prayer, I will myself give you a complete form of prayer, and an exact pattern and platform for your imitation when you pray.

Note, That the Lord's Prayer is both a perfect form of prayer which ought to be used by us, and also a pattern and platform, according to which all our prayers ought be framed. St. Matthew says, After this manner pray ye: St. Luke says, When ye pray, say,

-"Our father which art in heaven; Hallowed be thy name: 10 Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven: 11 Give us this day our daily bread: 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The sense and signification of this best of prayers, is this: "O thou our Father in Jesus Christ! who remainest on thy throne in heaven, and art there perpetually praised, and perfectly obeyed by glorious angels and glorified saints; grant that thy name may be glorified, thy throne acknowledge, and thy holy will obeyed, here on earth below, by us thy sons and servants, proportion to what is done in heaven.

And because, by reason of the frailty of our natures, we cannot subsist without the comforts and supports of life, we crave, that such a proportion of the good things of this life may be given unto us, as may be sufficient for us; and that we may be content with our allowance.

And knowing that thy holiness and justice oblige thee to punish sin and sinners, we plead with thee, for the sake of thy Son's satisfaction, to pardon to us our daily trespasses, which we are guilty of in this state of imperfection; as we so freely and heartily forgive others that have offended and wronged us.

And seeing that by reason of the frailty of our natures we are prone to rush upon and run into temptation; we crave that, by the power of thy omnipotent grace, we may be kept from Satan's temptations, from the world's allurements, from our own evil inclinations, and be preserved unblamable to thine everlasting kingdom; which is exalted over all persons, over all places, over all things, in all times, past, present, and to come: and accordingly, in testimony of our desires, and in assurance to be heard and answered, we say Amen; so be it; so let it be, even so, O Lord, let it be for ever."

More particularly, in this comprehensive and compendious prayer, the following severals are remarkable.

Namely, 1. That the learned observe, that this prayer is taken our of the Jewish liturgies, in which it is entirely found, excepting these words, As we forgive them that trespass against us.

From whence Grotius notes, how far Christ the Lord of his Chursh was from affecting novelties, or despising anything because it was a form; a piece of piteous weakness amongst some at this day.

Observe, 2. The person to whom Christ directs us to make our prayers; namely, to God, under the notion of a Father; teaching us, that in all our religious addresses to God, we are to conceive of him, and pray unto him, under the notion and pray unto him, under the notion and relation of a Father. Our Father, &c.

So is he by creation, by a right of providence and preservation, by redemption, by outward and visible profession, by regeneration and adoption; and this relation which God stands in to us, may encourage us to pray unto him; for being our Father, we are sure that he is of easy access unto, and graciously ready to grant what we pray for.

And whereas it is added, which art in heaven; this is not to be so understood as if his essence were included, or his presence circumscribed or confined there, for he fills heaven and earth with the immensity of it: but he is said to be so in heaven, because there is the special manifestation of his presence, of his purity, of his power and glory, and teaches us with what holy fear, with what humble reverence, and not without a trembling veneration, polluted dust ought to make their solemn approaches to the God of heaven.

Observe, 3. That the three first petitions relate more immediately to God.

1. That his name may be hallowed. By the name of God, understand God himself, as made known to us in his attributes, words, and works. This name is hallowed or sanctified by us three wars; by our lips, when we acknowledge his divine perfections, and tell of all his wondrous works; in our hearts, by entertaining suitable conceptions of God; and in our lives, when the consideration of these divine perfections engages us to suitable obedience.

2. That his kingdom may come: by which we are not to understand his general and providential kingdom, by which he ruleth over all the world, that being always come, and capable of no farther amplification; but principally the kingdom of grace, promoted in the hearts of his people by the preaching of the gospel: we pray that God would dethrone sin and Satan in our own and others' souls, and increase grace and sanctification both in us and them, and that the kingfom of glory may be hastened, and we may be preserved blameless to the coming of Christ in his kingdom.

3. That his will may be done; by which the preceptive rather than the providential will of God us to be understood: we are to obey the former universally, and to submit to the latter very cheerfully. It intimates, that it ought to be the prayer and care, the study and endeavour, of every Christian, that the commanding will of God may be so done by men upon earth, as it is by the glorified saints and glorious angels done in heaven; namely, with that alacrity and cheerfulness, with that speed and readiness, with that constancy and diligence, that the imperfection of human nature will admit of; imitating the blessed angels, who execute the divine commands without reluctancy or regret.

Observe, 4. The three last petitions respect ourselves, as the three former did Almighty God.

The first of which is a prayer for temporal blessings: give us this day our daily bread.

Where note, The mercy prayed for, bread, which comprehends all the comforts and conveniences of life, and whatever is necessary for the supporting human nature.

Also the qualification; it must be our own bread, not another's, what we have a civil right to as men, and a covenant right to as Christians.

Note farther, The kind of bread we ask and desire; it is daily bread. Hereby we are put in mind of our continual dependence upon God for our lives, and for all the supports of life which we enjoy, and also kept in mind of our mortality. And mark the way and manner of conveying all good things to us, it is in a way of free-gift.

Give us our daily bread, we cannot give it ourselves; and when we have it of God, we receive it not as a debt, but as a free gift.

The next petition is for spiritual blessings, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Where note, 1. Some things supposed, namely, That we are all sinners, and, as such, stand in need of pardon and forgiveness.

2. That our sins are debts, willful debts, repeated debts, innumerable debts, inexcusable debts, debts diffcultly discharged, undoing debts.

3. That we are obliged to pray every day for daily pardon, as we do for daily bread, for our sins are many and daily.

4. It is here supposed, that since we are to pray for forgiveness of sin, it is impossible ever to satisfy the justice of God for sin.

Lastly note, The condition or qualification required, forgive as we forgive:

This requires, 1. That our minds be full of charity, free from rancour and ill-will, and all desires of revenge, and a secret grudge against another.

2. That we stand ready to help them, and to do any office of love and service for them that have offended us.

3. That we admit our offending brother into friendship and familiarity, which is called forgiving him from the heart: our heart must be towards him as formerly it was.

The sixth and last petition follows, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Here note, A double mercy prayed for; namely, preventing mercy, and delivering mercy.

1. Preventing mercy, lead us not into temptation.

Hereby it is supposed, 1. That we are unable to keep our selves from temptation, partly through our natural depravity, partly through carnal security.

2. That it is God that must keep us from Satan's assaults, his traps and snares, which every where he lays in ambush for us.

3. That it is our own daily duty to be earnest and instant with God in prayer, not to suffer us, by the subtraction of his grace, or in a way of punishment for sin, to run into the circumstances which may prove snares to us, but daily to afford us such a measure of his grace as may keep us from falling by temptation, and not leave us falling under the temptation, but recover us speedily by his power, and enable us to stand more firmly for the future.

2. We here pray for delivering mercy, Deliver us from evil: by which may be understood Satan the evil one, but especially the evil of sin. We pray here that God would graciously preserve us from those vicious inclinations of our minds, and evil dispositions of our hearts, which render us so prone to yield to the temptations of Satan.

Here we see the ugly and deformed face of sin: it is evil: evil in its author and original, it is of the devil, the evil one; evil in its effects and fruits, it doth debase and degrade us, pollute and defile us, befool and deceive us, and, without repentance, damns and destroys us.

Observe lastly, The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which contains a complication of arguments to urge Almighty God with, for obtaining the mercy prayed for.

1. For thine is the kingdom; thou art the only absolute and rightful Sovereign, and all men are concerned to honour thee, and obey thy laws; thou art the supreme Governor of the world, and King of thy church, therefore let thy kingdom come, and thy will be done.

2. Thine is the power, therefore give us daily bread, and forgive our daily sins; for thou hast power to supply the one, and authority to pardon the other. The power of God is a mighty encouragement to prayer, and faith is the power of God has amighty prevalency in prayer with God.

3. Thine is the glory, that is, thine will be the glory; as if we should say, "Lord! by enabling us to hallow thy name by owning thy kingdom, by doing thy will, and by thy providing for us, and pardoning of us, thou wilt have much glory by us and from us."

It teaches us, that as our prayers in general ought to be argumentative; so an argument in prayer drawn from the glory of God is a mighty encouragement to hope for audience and acceptance.

4. For ever and ever, that is, thy kingdom is eternal, thy power eternal, thy glory eternal; the God whom we pray to is an eternal God, and this attribute of God is improvable in prayer, as an encouragement to expect the same blessings from God which others have done before us; for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.

Amen; a word used in all languages, denoting an hearty assent to our own prayers, and an hearty desire to receive the mercies prayed for, and an humble assurance that we shall be heard and answered.

There being no duty to which our corrupt natures are more backward than this of forgiving injuries, our Saviour repeats that duty over and over, and frequently inculcates it in the holy Gospels; assuring us, that forgiving others is the indispensable condition upon which we are to expect forgiveness from God.

Learn thence, That every time we go to God in prayer, and beg forgiveness of him, as we forgive others; if we do not forgive them heartily and sincerely, fully and freely, readily and willingly, we fly in the face of God, and our prayers are a sort of imprecations against ourselves.

Note farther, That although God promises us forgiveness if we forgive others; yet it is with this limitation, of no other condition of salvation be wanting, for this virtue alone cannot obtain favour with God, unless other duties are performed.

The next duty which our Saviour instructs his disciples in, is that of religious fasting; which is, a devoting of the whole man, soul and body, to a solemn and extaordinary attendance upon God, in a particular time set apart for that purpose; in order to the deprecating of his displeasure, and for the supplicating of his favour, accompanied with an abstinance from bodily food and sensual delights, and from all secular affairs and worldly business. Now our Saviour's direction, as to this duty of fasting, is double:

1. He cautions us to beware of an abuse in fasting: Be not as the hypocrites are, of a sad countenance; that is, do not affect a sullen sadness, ghastliness, and unpleasantness of countenance, like the hypocritical Pharisees, who vitiate and discolour their faces, who mar and abolish their native complexion. Hypocrisy can paint the face black and sable, as well as pride with red and white.

2. He counsels us to take the right way in fasting; to anoint the head and wash the face: that is, to look as at other times, using our ordinary garb and attire, and not to affect anything that may make us look like mourners, when really we are not so.

Where we may note, That though hypocrites by their dejected countenances and mortified habits do seek to gain an extraordinary reputation for piety and devotion, yet the sincere Christian is to be abundantly satisfied with God's approbation of his services, and with the silent applause of his own conscience.

Observe here, 1. Something implied; namely, that every man has his treasure; and whatsoever or wheresover that treasure is, it is attractive, and draws the heart of men unto it: for every man's treasure is his chief good.

2. Something permitted, namely, the getting, possessing, and enjoying, of earthly treasure, as an instrument of doing much good.

3. Something prohibited; and that is, the treasuring up of worldly wealth as our chief treasure; Lay not up treasure on earth; that is, take heed of an inordinate affection to, of an excessive pursuit after, of a vain confidence and trust in, any earthly comfort, as you chief treasure.

4. Here is something commanded; But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven: treasure up those habits of grace which will bring you to an inheritance in glory; be fruitful in good works, laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may lay hold of eternal life.

Observe, 5. The reason assigned, 1. Why we should not lay up our treasures on earth; because, all earthly treasures are of a perishing and uncertain nature, that they are subjct to moth and rust, to robbery and theft; the perishing nature of earthly things ought to be improved by us, as an argument to sit loose in our affections towards them.

2. The reason assigned, why we should lay up our treasures in heaven, is this; because, heavenly treasures are subject to no such accidents and casualties as earthly treasures are, but are durable and lasting.

The things that are not seen, are eternal. The treasures of heaven are involable, incorruptible, and everlasting. Now we may know whether we have chosen these things for our treasure, by our high estimation of the worth of them, by our sensible apprehension of the want of them, by the torrent and tendency of our affection towards them, and by our laborious diligence and endeavours in the pursuit of them. Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also.

In the foregoing verses, our Saviour acquainted us what in our affections and judgments we should esteem as our chief treasure: now this judgment concerning our chief treasure, is by our Saviour here compared to the eye; as the eye is the candle of the body, that enlightens and directs it, so our understanding and judgment of the excellency of heaven, and the things above, will draw our affections towards them, and quicken our endeavours after them.

Note thence, that such as our judgment is concerning happiness, such will our desires and endeavours be for the attainment of that happiness. Our affections are guided by our apprehensions; where the esteem is high, endeavours will be strong.

Observe here a two-fold master spoken of, God and the world. God is our master by creation, preservation, and redemption; he has appointed us our works, and secured us our wages. This world is our master by intrusion, usurpation, and a general estimation: too many esteeming it as their chief good, and delighting in it as their chief joy.

Observe, 2. That no man can serve these two masters, who are of contrary interests, and issue out contrary commands; when two masters are subordinate, and their commands subservient each to the other, the difficulty of serving both is not great; but where the commands interfere, and interests clash, it is impossible. No man can serve God and the world, but he may serve God with the world: no man can seek God and mammon both as his chief good and ultimate end; because no man can divide his heart betwixt God and the world.

Learn, That to love the world as our chief good, and to serve the world as our chief and sovereign commander, cannot stand with the love and service which we bear and owe to God. The world's slaves, whilst such, can be none of God's freemen.

The next sin which our Saviour cautions his disciples against, is immoderate care for the things of this life, such a solicitous and vexatious care for food and raiment as is accompanied with diffidence and distrust of God's fatherly providence over us, and provision for us; and the arguments which our Saviour uses to dissuade from this sin, are many and cogent, laid down in the following verses.

Learn here, 1. That Almighty God will provide for every servant of his, food and raiment, and a competency of the comforts and conveniencies of life.

Learn, 2. That want of faith in God'd promise, and a distrust of his fatherly care, is a God-provoking and wrath-procuring sin.

Learn, 3. That notwithstanding God's promise to supply our wants, we not only may, but must, use such prudential and provident means as are in our own wants. Dr. Hammond's Pract. Catech.

Four arguments are here used by our Saviour to dissuade us from the sin of anxious care; it is needless, it is fruitless, it is heathenish, it is brutish.

1. It is needless; Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things, and will certainly provide for you; and what need you take care and God too?

2. It is fruitless; Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit his stature? that is, by all our solictous care, we can add nothing either to the length or comfort of our lives.

3. It is heathenish; After all these things do the Gentiles seek.

4. It is brutish; nay, worse than brutish: the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field, are fed by God; much more shall his children. Has not God a breakfast for every beast in the wilderness, that comes leaping out of its den? and will he not much more provide for you, O ye of little faith? Surely he that feeds the ravens when they cry, will not starve his children when they pray.

Naturalists observe of the raven, that she exposes her young ones as soon as they are hatched, leaves them meatless and featherless, to shift and struggle with hunger as soon as they come into the world; and whether by the dew from heaven, or flies or worms, God feedeth them; when they gape and cry, they are provided for: from whence our Saviour infers, that man being much better, that is, a more considerable creature than the fowls, the providence of God will provide for him, though no solicitude and anxious thoughtfulness of his contributes thereunto.

That is, let your first and chief care be to promote the kingdom of grace in this world, and to secure the kingdom of glory in the next; and in order unto both, seek after an universal holiness and righteousness, both of heart and life, and then fear not the want of these outward comforts, they shall be added in measure, though not to satiate; for health, though not for surfeit.

Observe, 1. That Christians must here on earth set themselves to seek heaven or the kingdom of God.

2. That God's kingdom cannot be sought without God;s righteousness: holiness is the only way to happiness.

3. That heaven, or the kingdom of God, must be sought in the first place, with our chief care and principal endeavour.

4. That heaven being once secured by us, all earthly things will be superadded by God, as he sees needful and convenient for us.

Here our Saviour re-inforces his exhortation from solicitous care for worldly things, assuring us, that every day will bring with it a sufficient burden of trouble, and therefore we ought not to torment ourselves, by antedating our own sorrows, and foretelling what may or may not come to pass.

Learn, That it is a painful sinful and unprofitable evil, to perplex ourselves with distrustful and distracting fears of what may come upon us: every day has its own duty and difficulty; and though sufferings must be expected and prepared for, yet we must not torment ourselves to-day with fears of what may be tomorrow; but every day cast our burden of care upon that God who daily careth for us.

In this part of the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus gives us instruction on two subjects: one is that of giving alms; the other is that of prayer. Both were subjects to which the Jews attached great importance; both in themselves deserve the serious attention of all professing Christians.

Let us observe that our Lord takes it for granted that all who call themselves his disciples will give alms. He assumes as a matter of course that they will think it a solemn duty to give, according to their means, to relieve the wants of others. The only point he handles is the manner in which the duty should be done. This is a weighty lesson: it condemns the selfish stinginess of many in the matter of giving money. How many are “rich towards themselves,” but poor towards God! How many never give a farthing to do good to the bodies and souls of men! And have such persons any right to be called Christians in their present state of mind? It may well be doubted. A giving Saviour should have giving disciples.

Let us observe again that our Lord takes it for granted that all who call themselves his disciples will pray. He assumes this also as a matter of course: he only gives directions as to the best way of praying. This is another lesson which deserves to be continually remembered: it teaches plainly that prayerless people are not genuine Christians. It is not enough to join in the prayers of the congregation on Sundays, or attend the prayers of a family on week days: there must be private prayer also. Without this we may be outward members of Christ’s church, but we are not living members of Christ.

But what are the rules laid down for our guidance about almsgiving and praying? They are few and simple; but they contain much matter for thought.

In giving, everything like ostentation is to be abhorred and avoided. “When thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee.” We are not to give as if we wished everybody to see how liberal and charitable we are, and desire the praise of our fellow men. We are to shun everything like display: we are to give quietly, and make as little noise as possible about our charities; we are to aim at the spirit of the proverbial saying, “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.”In praying, the principal object to be sought is to be alone with God. “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet.” We should endeavour to find some place where no mortal eye sees us, and where we can pour out our hearts with the feeling that no one is looking at us but God. This is a rule which many find very difficult to follow; the poor man and the servant often find it almost impossible to be really alone; but it is a rule which we must make great efforts to obey. Necessity, in such cases, is often the mother of invention. When a person has a real will to find some place where he can be in secret with his God, he will generally find a way.

In all our duties, whether giving or praying, the great thing to be kept in mind is that we have to do with a heart-searching and all-knowing God. “Our Father ˆ seeth in secret.”Everything like formality, affectation, or mere bodily service, is abominable and worthless in God’s sight. He takes no account of the quantity of money we give, or the quantity of words we use: the one thing at which his all-seeing eye looks is the nature of our motives and the state of our hearts.

May we all remember these things. Here lies a rock on which many are continually making spiritual shipwrecked. They flatter themselves that all must be right with their souls if they only perform a certain amount of “religious duties.” They forget that God does not regard the quantity, but the quality of our service. His favor is not to be bought, as many seem to suppose, by the formal repetition of a number of words, or by the self-righteous payment of a sum of money to a charitable institution. Where are our hearts? - Are we doing all, whether we give or pray, “as to the Lord and not to men.” Do we realize the eye of God? Do we simply and solely desire to please him who “seeth in secret,” and by whom “actions are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3)? Are we sincere? These are the sort of questions we should often ply our souls.

These verses are few in number, and soon read, but they are of immense importance. They contain that wonderful pattern of prayer with which the Lord Jesus has supplied his people, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.

Perhaps no part of Scripture is so well known as this. Its words are familiar wherever Christianity is found. Thousands, and tens of thousands, who never saw a Bible or heard the pure Gospel are acquainted with the “Our Father,” or “Paternoster.” Happy would it be for the world if this prayer was as well known in the spirit as it is in the letter.

No part of Scripture is so full and so simple at the same time as this. It is the first prayer we learn to offer up when we are little children: here is its simplicity. It contains the germ of everything which the most advanced saint can desire: here is its fullness. The more we ponder every word it contains, the more we shall feel this prayer is of God.

The Lord’s Prayer consists of ten parts or sentences. There is one declaration of the Being to whom we pray; there are three prayers respecting his name, his kingdom and his will; there are four prayers respecting our daily wants, our sins or weakness, and our dangers; there is one profession of our feeling towards others; there is one concluding ascription of praise.

In all these parts we are taught to say “we” and “our.” We are to remember others as well as ourselves.

On each of these parts a volume might be written. We must content ourselves at present with taking up sentence after sentence, and marking out the lessons which each sentence contains.

The first sentence declares to whom we are to pray to: “Our Father which art in heaven.” We are not to pray to saints and angels, but to the everlasting Father, the Father of spirits, the Lord of heaven and earth. We call him Father in the lowest sense, as our Creator: as St. Paul told the Athenians, “in him we live and move and have our being ˆ We are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28). We call him Father in the highest sense, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, reconciling us to himself through the death of his Son (Colossians 1:20–22). We profess that which the Old Testament saints only saw dimly and afar off—we profess to be his children by faith in Christ, and to have “the Spirit of adoption. Whereby we cry, ‘Abba, Father’ ” (Romans This, we must never forget, is the sonship that we must desire if we would be saved. Without faith in Christ’s blood and union with him, it is useless to talk of trusting in the “Fatherhood” of God.

The second sentence is a petition respecting God’s name: “Hallowed be thy name.” By the “name” of God we mean all those attributes under which he is revealed to us—his power, wisdom, holiness, justice, mercy and truth. By asking that they may be “hallowed,” we mean that they may be made known and glorified. The glory of God is the first thing that God’s children should desire. It is the object of one of our Lord’s own prayers: “Father, glorify thy name!” (John 12:28). It is the purpose for which the world was created; it is the end for which the saints are called and converted: it is the chief thing we should seek—“that God in all things may be glorified” (1 Peter 4:11).

The third sentence is a petition concerning God’s kingdom: “thy kingdom come.”By his kingdom we mean, first, the kingdom of grace which God sets up and maintains in the hearts of all living members of Christ by his Spirit and Word. But we mean chiefly the kingdom of glory which shall one day be set up when Jesus shall come the second time, and “ all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” ( Hebrews 8:11 ). This is the time when sin, and sorrow and Satan shall be cast out of the world. It is the time when the Jews shall be converted, and the fulness the Gentiles shall will come in (Romans 11:25), and a time that is above all things to be desired. It therefore fills a foremost place in the Lord’s Prayer. We ask that which is expressed in the words of the Burial Service: “that it may please God to hasten his kingdom.”

The fourth sentence is a petition concerning God’s will. “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” We here pray that God’s laws may be obeyed by men as perfectly, readily and unceasingly as they are by angels in heaven. We ask that those who now obey not His laws may be taught to obey them, and that those who do obey them may obey them better. Our truest happiness is perfect submission to God’s will, and it is the highest charity to pray that all mankind may know it, obey it and submit to it.

The fifth sentence is a petition respecting our own daily wants: “Give us this day our daily bread.” We are here taught to acknowledge our entire dependence on God for the supply of our daily necessities. As Israel required daily manna, so we require daily “bread.” We confess that we are poor, weak wanton creatures, and beseech Him who is our Maker to take care of us. We ask for “bread” as the simplest of our wants, and in that word we include all that our bodies require.

The sixth sentence is a petition respecting our sins: “Forgive us our debts. We confess that we are sinners, and need daily grants of pardon and forgiveness. This is a part of the Lord’s Prayer which deserves especially to be remembered. It condemns all self-righteousness and self-justifying. We are instructed here to keep up a continual habit of confession at the throne of grace, and a continual habit of seeking mercy and remission. Let this never be forgotten. We need daily to wash our feet (John 13:10).

The seventh sentence is a profession respecting our own feelings towards others: we ask our Father to “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”This is the only profession in the whole prayer, and the only part on which our Lord comments and dwells when he has concluded the prayer. The object of it is to remind us that we must not expect our prayers for forgiveness to be heard if we pray with malice and spite in our hearts towards others. To pray in such a frame of mind is mere formality and hypocrisy. It is even worse than hypocrisy: it is as much as saying, “Do not forgive me at all.” Our prayers are nothing without charity. We must not expect to be forgiven if we cannot forgive.

The eighth sentence is a petition respecting our weakness: “Lead us not into temptation.” It teaches us that we are liable at all times to be led astray and to fall. It instructs us to confess our infirmity and beseech God to hold us up, and not allow us to run into sin. We ask him, who orders all things in heaven and earth, to restrain us from going into that which would injure our souls, and never to suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear. (I Corinthians 10:13)

The ninth sentence is a petition respecting our dangers: “Deliver us from evil. ” We are here taught to ask God to deliver us from the evil that is in the world, the evil that is within our own hearts, and not least from the evil one, the devil. We confess that, so long as we are in the body, we are constantly seeing, hearing and feeling the presence of evil. It is about us, and within us, and around us on every side. And we entreat him who alone can preserve us, to be continually delivering us from its power (John 17:15).

The last sentence is an ascription of praise: “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.” We declare in these words our belief that the kingdoms of this world are the rightful property of our Father; that to him alone belongs all “power”; and that he alone deserves to receive all “glory.” And we conclude by offering to him the profession of our hearts, that we give him all honour and praise, and rejoice that he is King of kings, and Lord of lords.

And now let us examine ourselves and see whether we really desire to have the things which we are taught to ask for in the Lord’s Prayer. Thousands, it may be feared, repeat these words daily as a form, but never consider what they are saying. They care nothing for the “glory,” the “kingdom,” or the “will” of God: they have no sense of dependence, sinfulness, weakness, or danger; they have no love or charity towards their enemies. And yet they repeat the Lord’s Prayer! These things ought not to be so. May we resolve that, by God’s help, our hearts shall always go together with our lips! Happy is he who can really call God his “Father” through Jesus Christ the Saviour, and can therefore say a heartfelt “Amen” to all that the Lord’s Prayer contains.

There are three subjects brought before us in this part of our Lord’s sermon on the mount. These three are fasting, worldliness, and singleness of purpose in religion. Fasting, or occasional abstinence from food in order to bring the body into subjection to the spirit, is a practice frequently mentioned in the Bible, and generally in connection with prayer. David fasted when his child was sick; Daniel fasted when he sought special light from God; Paul and Barnabas fasted when they appointed elders; Esther fasted before going in to Ahasuerus. It is a subject about which we find no direct command in the New Testament. It seems to be left to everyone’s discretion, whether he will fast or not. In this absence of direct command we may see great wisdom. Many a poor man never has enough to eat, and it would be an insult to tell him to fast: many sick people can hardly be kept well with the closest attention to diet, and could not fast without bringing on illness. It is a matter in which everyone must be persuaded in their own mind, and not rashly condemn others who do not agree with him. One thing only must never be forgotten: those who fast should do it quietly, secretly and without ostentation. Let them not “appear to men to fast.” Let them not fast to man, but to God.

Worldliness is one of the greatest dangers that beset man’s soul. It is no wonder that we find our Lord speaking strongly about it: it is an insidious, specious, plausible enemy; it seems so innocent to pay close attention to our business! It seems so harmless to seek our happiness in this world, so long as we keep clear of open sins! Yet here is a rock on which many make shipwrecked to all eternity. They “lay up treasure on earth,” and forget to “lay up treasure in heaven.” May we all remember this! Where are our hearts? What do we love best? Are our chiefest affections on things in earth, or things in heaven? Life or death depends on the answer we can give to these questions. If our treasure is earthly, our hearts will be earthly also. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be.”

Singleness of purpose is one great secret of spiritual prosperity. If our eyes do not see distinctly we cannot walk without stumbling and falling. If we attempt to work for two different masters, we are sure to give satisfaction to neither. It is just the same with respect to our souls. We cannot serve Christ and the world at the same time: it is vain to attempt it. The thing cannot be done: the ark and Dagon will never stand together.God must be king over our hearts: his law, his will, his precepts must receive our first attention; then, and not till then, everything in our inward man will fall into its right place. Unless our hearts are so ordered, everything will be in confusion. “Thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” Let us learn from our Lord’s instructions about fasting the great importance of cheerfulness in our religion. Those words, “anoint thy head and wash thy face” are full of deep meaning. They should teach us to aim at letting men see that Christianity makes us happy. Never let us forget that there is no religion in looking melancholy and gloomy. Are we dissatisfied with Christ’s wages and Christ’s service? Surely not! Then let us not look as if we were.

Let us learn from our Lord’s caution about worldliness what need we have to watch and pray against an earthly spirit. What are the vast majority of professing Christians round us doing? They are laying up treasure on earth: there can be no mistake about it. Their tastes, their ways, their habits, tell a fearful tale. They are not laying up treasure in heaven. Let us beware that we do not sink into hell by paying excessive attention to lawful things. Open transgression of God’s law slays its thousands, but worldliness its tens of thousands.

Let us learn from our Lord’s words about the single eye, the true secret of the failures which so many Christians seem to make in their religion? There are failures in all quarters. There are thousands in our churches uncomfortable, ill at ease, and dissatisfied with themselves; and they hardly know why. The reason is revealed here: they are trying to keep in with both sides. They are endeavouring to please God and please man, to serve Christ and serve the world at the same time. Let us not commit this mistake. Let us be decided, thorough-going, uncompromising followers of Christ. Let our motto be that of Paul: “One thing I do” (Philippians 3:13). Then we shall be happy Christians: we shall feel the sun shining on our faces; heart, head, and conscience will all be full of light. Decision is the secret of happiness in religion. Be decided for Christ and “thy whole body shall be full of light.”

These verses are a striking example of the combined wisdom and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching. He knows the heart of a man: he knows that we are always ready to turn off warnings against worldliness by the argument that we cannot help being anxious about the things of this life. “Have we not our families to provide for? Must not our bodily wants be supplied? How can we possibly get through life if we think first of our souls?” The Lord Jesus foresaw such thoughts and furnished an answer.

He forbids us to keep up an anxious spirit about the things of this world. Four times over he says, “Take no thought about life.”About life, about food, about clothing, about the morrow, “take no thought.” Do not be over-careful, be not over-anxious. Prudent provision for the future is right; wearing, corroding, self-tormenting anxiety is wrong.

He reminds us of the providential care that God continually takes of everything that he has created. Has he given us “life?” Then he will surely not let us want anything necessary for its maintenance. Has he given us a “body?”Then he will surely not let us die for want of clothing. He that calls us into being will doubtless find meat to feed us.

He points out the uselessness of over-anxiety. Our life is certainly in God’s hand; all the care in the world will not make us continue a minute beyond the time which God has appointed. We cannot add one hour to our lives; we shall not die till our work is done.

He sends us to the birds of the air for instruction. They make no provision for the future: “they sow not neither do they reap; they lay up no stores against time yet to come; they do not gather into barns.They literally live from day to day on what they can pick up by using the instinct God has put in them. They ought to teach us that no man doing his duty in the station position to which God has called him, shall ever be allowed to come to poverty.

He bids us observe the flowers of the field. Year after year they are decked with the gayest colours, without the slightest labour or exertion on their part: “they toil not neither do they spin.” God, by his almighty power, clothes them with beauty every season. The same God is the Father of all believers. Why should they doubt that he is able to provide them with raiment, as well as the “lilies of the field”? He who takes thought for perishable flowers will surely not neglect the bodies in which dwell immortal souls.

He suggests to us that over-carefulness about the things of this world is most unworthy of a Christian. One great feature of heathenism is living for the present. Let the heathen if he will be anxious he knows nothing of a Father in heaven. But let the Christian, who has clearer light and knowledge; give proof of it by his faith and contentment. When bereaved of those whom we love, we are not to “sorrow as others, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). When tried by anxieties about this life, we are not to be over-careful, as if we had no God, and no Christ.

He offers us a gracious promise as a remedy against an anxious spirit. He assures us that if we “seek first” and foremost to have a place in the kingdom of grace and glory, everything that we really want in this world shall be given to us: it shall be added over and above our heavenly inheritance. “All things shall work together for the good to them that love God. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”(Romans 8:28; Psalm 84:11)

Last of all, he seals up all his instruction on this subject by laying down one of the wisest maxims. “The morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” We are not to carry cares before they come: we are to attend to today’s business, and leave tomorrow’s anxieties till tomorrow dawns. We may die before tomorrow: we know not what may happen on the morrow; this only we may be assured of, that if tomorrow brings a cross, he who sends it can and will send grace to bear it.

In all this passage there is a treasury of golden lessons. Let us seek to use them in our daily life: let us not only read them, but turn them to practical account; let us watch and pray against an anxious and over careful spirit. It deeply concerns our happiness to do so. Half our miseries are caused by fancying things that we think are coming upon us: half the things that we expect to come upon us never come at all. Where is our faith? Where is our confidence in our Saviour’s words? We may well take shame to ourselves when we read these verses and then look into our hearts. We may be sure that David’s words are true: “I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).

AN EXPOSITION of the Lords prayer, in the way of Catechisme.

THe occasion, and so also the coherence of these wordes with the former is this. The Evangelist Matthew, setting downe the Sermons and sayings of our Sauiour Christ, keeps not this course, to propounde euery thing as it was done or spoken: but sometime he settes down that first, which was done last, and that last which was done before: according as the spirit of God directed him. Which thing is verified in these wordes; where the praier is mentioned, yet the occasion wherfore our Sauiour Christ taught his disciples to pray, is not here specified. But in Saint Luke. 11. verse 1. the occasion of these wordes is euident. For there it is said, that the disciples of our Sauior, knowing that Iohn taught his disciples to pray, made request to their master that he would do the same to them likewise.

These few words, set before the praier are a commandement; and it prescribes vnto vs two duties; the first, to praie, the second, to pray after the manner following: Touching the first point, considering verie fewe among the people know how to pray aright, we must learne what it is to pray.

To make praier, is to put vp request to god, acording to his word from a contrite hart in the name of Christ, with assurance to bee hard.

For the better opening of these words, we are to consider six questions. The first is, to whome wee are to pray. The answer is to God alone: Rom. 10. 14. Howe shal they cal on him in whome they haue not beleeued, &c. Marke how inuocation and faith are linked together; And Paules reson may be framed thus. In whome we put our affiance or beleif, to him alone must we pray; but we beleue only in God: therefore wee must onely praie to him. As for Saints or Angels, they are in no wise to be called vpon: because not the least title of Gods worde prescribes vs so to doe: because they cannot heare our praiers, and discerne what are the thoughts and desires of our harts: and because invocation is a parte of diuine worship, and therefore peculiar to God alone.

The second question is, what kinde of action prayer is? Answer: it is no lip-labour, it is the putting vp of a sute vnto God, and this action is peculiar to the verie hart of a man. Rom. 8. 26. The spirite makes request for vs: But how? with grones in the hart. Exod. 14. 15. The Lord said to Moses, Why criest thou? Yet there is no mentiō made that Moses spake any word at all: the Lorde no doubt, accepted the inward mourning and desire of his hart for a crie.

The third question is, what is the forme or rule, according vnto which we are to pray. Answer. It is the reueiled wil and word of God. A man in humbling his soule before God, is not to pray as his affections carrie him, and for what he list▪ but all is to be done according to the expresse worde. So as those things which God hath cō manded vs to ask, wee are to aske, and those thinges which hee hath not commanded vs to ask, we are in no wise to pray for. 1. Iohn. 5. 14. This is the assurance vvhich vvee haue of him, that if wee aske any thing according to his will hee heareth vs. This then is a speciall clause to be marked, that men must praye in knowledge, not in ignorance. Here weigh the case of poore ignorant people: they talke muche of praying for themselues & others, they imagine that they pray verie deuoutlie to God, but alas, they doe nothing les: because they knowe not what to ask acording to Gods will. They therefore must learne Gods worde, and pray according to the same; else it will prooue in the end, that all their praying was nothing but as mocking and flat dishonoring of God.

The fourth question is, with what affection a man must pray. Answer. Prayer must proceed from a broken and contrite hart. This is the sacrifice which God accepteth. Psalm. 51. verse. 17. When Ahab abased himselfe, though he did it in hypocrisie, yet God had some respect vnto it. 1. King. 21. verse 29. Saith the Lorde to Eliah, seest thou how Ahab is humbled before me? This contrition of heart stands in two thinges. The first of them is a liuely feeling of our own sinne, miserie and wretched estate; howe that we are compassed about with inumerable enemies, euen with the Deuill and all his Angels, & within a bound, even with huge seas of wants and rebellious corruptiōs, whereby we most grieuouslie displease God, & are vile in our own eies. Being therefore thus beset on euerie side, wee are to be touched with the sense of this our gret miserie. And he that wil pray aright, must putte on the person, and the verie affection of a poore wretched begger: and certainely not being grieued with the rufull condition in which we are in our selues, it is not possible for vs to pray effectually. Psalm. 130. verse 1. Out of the deepes I called vpon thee, O Lord: that is, when I was in my greatest miserie, and as it were, not far frō the gulfes of hell, then I cried to God. Isai. 26. 16. Lord, in trouble haue they visited thee: they powred out a prayer when thy chastening was vpon them. 1. Sam. 1. 15 I am a woman (saith Anna) of an hard spirite: that is, a troubled soule, and haue powred out my soul before the lord Hence it appeareth, that the ordinary praiers of most mē greuously displease God, seing they ar made for fashion only, without any sense and feeling of their miseries: commonly men come with the Pharisie, in ostentation of their integritie, and they take greate paines with their lips, but their harts wā der from the Lorde. The second thing required in a contrite hart, is a longing desire and hungring after Gods graces and benefites, whereof we stand in need. It is not sufficient for a man to buckle as it were, and to go crooked vnder his sinnes and miseries; but also, hee must haue a desire to be eased of them, & to be enriched with graces needefull. Thus Hezekias the king, and the Prophet Isaiah the Sonne of Amos praied against Senacharib, and cried vnto heauen, 2. Chron. 32. 20. Where wee may see what a maruelous desire they had to obtaine their request. So also Rom. 8. 26. The spirite maketh request with grones▪ so greate, that they cannot be vttered, as they are felte. Dauid, Psalm. 143. 6. saith, that hee desireth after the Lorde, as the thirstie land. Now we know that the groūd partched with heat, opens it selfe in rifts and cranies, and gapes towards heauen, as though it would deuoure the cloudes for want of moisture, and thus must the hart bee disposed to Gods grace till it obtaine it. The people of Israel being in grieuous affliction▪ How do they pray? They powre out their souls like vvater before the face of the Lord. Lam. 2. vers. 19.

The fift question is, in whose name praier must be made. Answer It must not be made in the name of any creature, but onely in the name and mediatiō of Christ. Ioh. 14. ver. 14. If yee ask any thing in my name, I will do it. A man is not to present his prayers to God, in any worthines of his own merites. For what is hee? to make the best of himself, what can he make of himselfe? by nature he is no better thē the verie firebrand of hell, and of all Gods creatures the most outragious rebell to God, and therefore cannot be heard for his own sake. As for Saints, they can be no mediators, seing euen they themselues in heauen, are accepted of God not for themselues, but only for the blessed merites of Christ. If any man sinne (saith S. Iohn. 1. Epistle. chap. 2. verse 1.) Wee haue an Aduocate with the Father, Iesus Christ: But how proues he this? It followes then, And hee is the reconciliation for our sinnes. His reason stands thus: he which must bee an aduocate, must firste of all be a reconciliation for vs: no Saintes can be a reconciliation for vs: therefore no Saints can be Aduocates. Therfore, in this place is manifest an other faulte of ignoraunt people. They cry often, Lord help me, Lorde haue mercy vpon me. But in whose name pray they? poore soules like blinde bayardes, they rush vpon the Lord; they know no mediatour, in whose name they should present their praiers vnto him. Little do they consider with themselues, that God is as well a most terrible Iudge, as a mercifull Father.

The sixt question is, whether saith be requisit to prayer or not. Answere. Praier is to be made with faith, whereby a man may haue a certaine assurance to be heard. For he that praieth, must stedfastly beleeue that God in Christ will grāt his petition. This affiance being wanting, it maketh praier to bee no praier. For how can be pray for any thing effectually, who doubteth whether he shall obtaine it or noe. Wherefore, it is an especiall pointe of prayer, to be perswaded, that God to whome praier is made, not onely can, but also will graunt his request. Marke 11. 24. Whatsoeuer yee desire vvhen yee praye, beleeue that yee shall haue it, and it shall bee doone vnto you. Here we see two thinges required in praier; the first, a desire of the good thinges which we want, the second is faith, wherby we beleue that God will grant the thinges desired. The ground of this faith, is reconciliation with God, & the assurance thereof. For vnlesse a man be in conscience, in some mesure perswaded, that al his sinnes are pardoned, and that hee stands reconciled to God in Christ, hee cannot beleeue any other promises reuealed in the word, nor that any of his praiers shall be heard.

Thus much of the definition of praier; now let vs see what vse may be made of this commandement, Pray yee thus. Seeing our Sauiour commandeth his Disciples, and so euen vs also to praie to God; it is our dutie, not only to present our praiers to God, but also to doe it cheerefully and earnestlie. Rom. 15. 30. Also, brethren I besech you that yee woulde striue with me by praiers to God for me. What is the cause, why the Lord doeth oft defer his blessings after our praiers? No cause, but that hee might stirre vs vp to be more feruent, & more earnestly to crye vnto the Lord. Exod. 32. 10. When Moses praieth to God in the behalfe of the Israelites, the lord answers, Let me alone, as though his praiers did bind the Lord, and hinder him frō executing his iudgments. Wherefore this is good aduise, for all Christian men to continue and to be zealous in praier. If thou be an ignorant man, for shame learne to praie; seeing it is Gods commandement, make conscience of it. We see that there is no man vnlesse he be desperatly wicked, but wil mak some conscience of killing & stealing: and why is this? because it is Gods commandment; Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steale. Well then; this also is Gods commandement to pray. Let this consideration breed in thee a conscience of this dutie: and although thy corrupt nature shall drawe thee away from it, yet striue to the contrary, and know it certainely, that the breach of this command, maketh thee as well guiltie of damnation before God as any other. Furthermore, this must be a motiue to prick thee forward to this dutie, that as God commandes vs to pray, so also he giues the spirite of praier, whereby the commaundement is made easie vnto vs. If the Lord had commanded a thing impossible, then there had bene some cause of discouragemēt, but commanding a thing through the grace of his spirite, verie easie and profitable: howe much more are we bound to the obedience of the same? Againe, praier is the key whereby wee open the treasures of God, and pull downe his mercies vpon vs. For as the preaching of the word, serues to declare and to conuey vnto vs Gods graces: so in praier we come to haue a liue lie feeling of the same in our harts. And further, this must moue vs to praier, seeing in praier we haue familiaritie with Gods Maiestie. It is an high fauour for a man to bee familiar with a Prince; howe much more then, to be familiar with the King of Kings, the mightie Iehouah? This then can bee no burthen or trouble vnto vs, being one of the many prerogatiues that God bestowes on his Church. For in the preaching of the worde, it pleaseth God to talke to vs; and in praier, God doth vouchsafe vs this honour, to speake, and as it were, familiarly to talk with him, not as to a fearful Iudge, but as to a louing and mercifull God. Consider also, that praier is a worthie means of defence, not onely to vs, but also to the Church, and them that are absent. By it Moses stood in the breache, which Gods wrath had made into the pepill of Israell, and staied the same, Psalm. 106. ver. 23 by this Christian men fight, as valiant champions, against their own corruptions and all other spirituall enemies. Ephes. 6. vers. 18. Infinite were it to shewe, howe many blessings the Lord hath bestowed on his seruaunts by prayer. In a worde, Luther, whome it pleased God to vse as a worthie instrumēt for the restoring of the Gospell, testifieth of himselfe, that hauing this grace giuen him; to call vpon the name of the lord, he had more reuealed vnto him of Gods trueth by praier, then by reding & study.

The second point of the cōmandement, is to pray after the maner following in the Lordes prayer. Where it is to bee noted, that the Lords prayer is a direction, and as it were, a sampler to teach vs, how and in what maner wee ought to praie. None is to imagine that we are bound to vse these words only and none other. For the meaning of Christ is not to binde vs to the words, but to the matter and maner, and to the like affections in praying. If this were not so, the praiers of Gods seruants set down in the bookes of the old and newe Testament, should be al faultie, because they ar not according to the wordes of the Lords praier. Also, by reason of this, diuers in our church, ignorantly perswade them selues that it is vnlawfull to vse the wordes as they are set downe for a praier. First (say they) it is Scripture, and therefore not to be vsed as a prayer. I answer, that the same thing may be the scripture of god, and also the praier of man; else the praiers of Moses, Dauid and Paul, being set downe in the scriptures, cease to be praiers. Againe (they say) that in praier we are to expres our wantes in particular, and the graces which wee desire: nowe in these wordes all things to be praied for, are onely in generall propounded. I answer, that the maine wants that are in any man, and the principall graces of God to be destred, are set downe in the petitions of this praier, in particular. Thirdly, they pleade that the pattern to make al praiers by, should not be vsed as a praier. I answere, that therefore the rather it may be vsed a[illegible: 1 letter] a praier; and sure it is, th[illegible: 2 letters] ancient and worthie diuines haue reuerēced it as a praier; chosing rather to vse these words then any other, as Cyprianus sermone de orat. Dominic. And Tertullian lib. de fuga in persequutione. And Augustine sermone 126. de tēpore. Wherfore, the opinion is ful of ignorāce & error.

Well, whereas our Sauiour first giues a commaundement to pray, and then after giueth a direction for the keeping of it, this he doeth to stiree vp our dulnes, and to allure vs by all meanes to this heauenly exercise of praier: Wherfore still I say, imploy your selues in praier feruently, and continually; and if you cannot do it, learne to praye. Thus much of the commandement of our Sauior Christ: nowe followe the wordes of the praier.

Our Father which art &c. THese wordes containe three parts, 1. a preface, 2. the praier it self, containing six petitions. 3. the testification of faith in the last worde: Amen. Which although it be short, yet it doth not containe the smallest point in the praier: It is (I say) a testification of our faith, whereas the petitions that go before, are only testifications of our desires. Nowe of these three parts in order. We must consider how our Sauiour Christ, doth not set downe the petitions abruptly, but he first beginnes with a solemne preface. Whereby we are taught this lessō; that he which is to pray vnto God is first to prepare himselfe, and not boldly without consideration, as it were, to rushe into the presence of God. If a mā be to come before an earthly Prince, hee will order himselfe in apparel, gesture, and words, that he may do all thinges in seemelines & dutiful reuerence: how much more are men to order themselues, when they are to appear before the liuing God? Eccle. 5. 1. Be not rash with thy mouth, & let not thine hart be hastie to vtter a thing, before the Lord. And Dauid Psal. 26. 6. Washed his hands in innocencie, before he came to the Altar of the Lord to offer sacrifice. The meanes whereby men may stir vp their dul and heauie hea[illegible: 2 letters], and so prepare themselues to praier, are three. The first is, to read diligently the word of God, concerning those matters, about which they are to pray; and what then? this will be a meanes not onely to direct him, but also to quicken the heart more feruently to deliuer his praier. This is euident by a cō parison. The beames of the sunne descending, heat not before they come to the earth, or some solide body where they may reflect; and then by that means the earth and aire adjoyning is made very hote: euen so the Lord sends downe vnto vs his blessed Worde, euen as beames and the goodly sunshine, & thereby he speaks to our harts: now, when we make our praiers of that which we haue reade, Gods worde is as it were reflected, and our heartes are thereby warned with the cōfortable heat of Gods holy spirit, to powre out our praiers to God more feruently. The second meanes is to pray to God, that hee would strengthen vs with his spirit, that we might be able to pray, as it is practised. Psalme 143. 1. The third meanes, is the consideration of Gods most glorious maiestie; wherin we are to remember, first, his fatherly goodnes and kindenes, whereby he is willing, & secondly his omnipotencie, where by he is able to grant our requests One of these emboldned the Lepar to pray. Lord▪ if thou wilt, thou canst make me cleane. Mat. 8. 2. Therfore, both together are more effectuall. Nowe let vs come to the preface it selfe, Our Father vvhich art in heuen. It contains a descriptiō of the true Iehoua, to whom we pray; and that by two arguments, the first is drawen from a relation, Our Father: the second is taken frō the subiect or place, Which art in heuen.

Father. 1. The meaning. IN the opening of this word, or title of God, two questions are to be opened. 1. Quest. Whether by this title Father, is signified the whol Trinitie, or some one person thereof. Ans. Otherwhiles this name is attributed to all the persons in Trinitie, or any of them. Malac. 2. 10. Haue we not all one Father, &c. Luk. 3. 38. Which was the sonne of Adam, which was the sonne of God. And in Isai. 9. 6 christ is called the father of eternitie because al that ar truly knit to him and born a new by him, they are eternally made the sons of God. Again, oftentimes it is giuen to the first persō in trinitie, as in those places, where one person is conferred with another. And so in this place principally for some speciall respects, this title agrees to the first person. For first he is the father of Christ, as he is the eternall worde of the father, and that by nature, because hee is of the same essence with him: Secondly, he is father to Christ, in respect of his manhood, not by nature or adoption, but by personall vnion, because the humane nature doeth subsist in the person of the word. Thirdly, hee is a father to all the faithfull by adoption in Christ. 2. Question. Whether we are to pray to the Sonne and holy Ghost as to the Father. Ans. Inuocation belonges to all the three persons in Trinitie, and not only to the father Act. 7. 59. Steuen praieth, Lord Iesus receiue my spirit. 1. Thes. 3. 2. Now God our father, and our Lord Iesus Christ, guide our iourney vnto you. 2. Cor. 13. 13. The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ, the loue of God, & the communion of the holy Ghost be vvith you. Some say, this praier is a perfect platforme of all praiers: and in it wee are taught to direct our praiers to the Father, not to the Son or holy spirit. I answer, the Father, Sonne, and holy Ghost are three distinct persons, yet they are not to be seuered or diuided; because they al subsist in one and the same Godhead or diuine nature. And further, in all outward actions, as in the creation and preseruation of the world, and the saluation of the elect, they are not seuered or deuided, for they al work together onely they are distinguished in the maner of working. Now if they be not deuided in nature or operation, then they are not to be seuered in worship. And in this place we direct our praiers to the father because he is the first in order; yet so, as then we imploy the Son and holy Ghost. For we pray to the father in the name of the Sonne, by the assistance of the holy Ghost. And to what persone soeuer the praier is directed, we must alwaies remember in minde and heart to include the rest. 2. The Vse. THe vses of this point are manifolde. 1. First, whereas we are taught to com to God, as to a father, and therefore in the name of his Son our Sauiour Christ, wee learne to lay the first ground of all our praiers, in the holding & maintaining of the vnion and distinction of the three persons in Trinitie. This being the lowest and the first foundation of praier, it is requisite that al which woulde pray aright, should haue this knowledge, rightly to beleeue of the Trinitie, & to know how the three persons agree, and how they are distinguished: & the order of them, how the Father is the first, the Sonne the second, the holy Ghost the third: and therefore, how the father is to be called vpon in the name of the Sonne, by the holy Ghost. Hence it is manifest, that ignorant and sillie people which do not so much as dreame of the vnion, distinction and order of the persons in Trinitie, mak but cold and slender kind of praying. 2. Secondly, we may learn hereby, that we are not in any wise to inuocate Saintes and Angels, but onely the true Iehoua. The reason stands thus. This praier is either a perfect platform for all praiers▪ or not: to say it were not, were an injurie to our Sauiour Christ: to say it is so, is also to grant, that it doth fully set downe, to whome al praiers are to be made. Papistes that are the great patrons of invocation of Saints, in their reformed breuiaries and missales deal very fōdly: for, first they pray to Mary, that she would pray to Christ for them; and when they haue so done, like Iuglers they come to Christ, and pray vnto him that hee would accept Maries praier for them. 3. Thirdly, we learne that there can be no intercessour betweene God and vs, but onely Christ. For here we ar taught to come to God not as to a Iudge, but as to a kind and louing Father. Now he is a father to vs onely by Christ: as for Angels and Saints, & al creatures, they are not able to procure by any meanes, that God shoulde become a father, no not so much as to one man. 4. Againe, if the God to whom we pray be a father, we must learn to acquaint our selues with the promises which hee hath made in his word, to quicken our hearts in praier vnto him. For this word Father, implies redines and willingnes in God to heare, and be mercifull to our praiers. And a father cannot but must needs mak some promises of fauour to those that be his children: and therefore it cannot be, that he should call God truly his father, which hath not in his heart this assurance, that God will fulfill his promises vnto him. Promises made to praier; these and such like are to bee marked as follow. 2. Chron. 7. 14. If my people among vvhome my name is called vpon, do humble themselues, and pray, & seek my presence, and turne from their wicked waies, then I will heave in heuen & be mercifull to their sinnes. 2. Chron. 15. 2. The Lord is with you while you be with him: and if ye seeke him, he will be found of you. Isai. 65. 24. Before they call, I wil answere, and whiles they speak I vvill heare. Mat. 7. 7. Aske, and it shall be giuen you: seeke and ye shal find: knock and it shall be opened. Luk. 11. 13 If ye vvhich are euil can giue good gifts vnto your children how much more shal your heauenly father giue the holy ghost to them that desire him? Rom. 10. 12. Hee that is Lord ouer all, is rich vnto all that call on him. Iam. 4. 8. Drawe neere vnto God, and he will draw neere vnto you. 5. If God be a father who is called vpon, then praier is the note of Gods Child. S. Luke▪ and S. Paul set out the faithfull seruants of God by this note. Act. 9 14. He hath authoritie to binde al that cal on thy name 1. Cor. 1. 2. To them that are sanctified by Iesus Christ saints by calling, with all that call on the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ. And contrariwise, Psal. 14. 4. It is made one of the properties of an Atheist, Neuer to cal on the name of God. And such persons, as neither wil, nor can, or vse not hartely to pray to God, they may say, that they are perswaded there is a God, but in their doings they bear themselues as if there wer no God. 6. He which would pray aright, must be like the prodigall childe, that is, he must not onely confesse his sin, saying, Father I haue sinned against heauen and against thee, &c. but also haue a ful purpose neuer after to offend his Father. For how can a Childe call him father, whome hee cares not continually to displease through his lewd conditions? He cannot do it; neither can any Father delight in suche a child: therefore, in praier we must call to minde our lewdnes and rebellions against our heauenly Father, and with the Publican, in heuines of soule, say, Lord be mercifull to me a sinner. He which can truly do this, is a kind child. If we consider our selues as we are by nature, wee are the children of the deuill: noe childe so like his Father as wee are like him, and in this estate, we continually rebel against God; for the Deuill hath al the heart, our whol joy is to serue and please him. A man that is to pray must think on this, and be heauy for it. And happy, yea a thousand times happy ar they, who haue grace giuen them to see this their state & to bewaile it. And further, it is not sufficient to confesse our sinnes against our mercifull Father, but wee must set downe with our selues, neuer in such sort to offend him againe; and to leade a newe life. This point is very profitable for these times; For many there be, when any crosse or sicknes comes on them, they will pray and promise repentance and all obedience to Gods worde, if it shall please God to deliuer them: but this vsually is but in hypocrisie; they dissemble with God and men. For when their sicknes is past like a dogge that hath bene in the water, they shake their eares, and runne streight with all greedinesse to their former sinnes. Is this to call God father? No; hee that doth this, shall not haue God to be his father; but the man that is wounded in his soul for his offēces past, and carrieth a purpose in his heart neuer wittingly and willingly to offend God againe. 7. Lastly, here we ar to obserue, that he which would pray, must be indued with the spirit of adoptiō: the workes whereof in the matter of praier are twofold. The first to moue him to crie and call on God as a father. It is no easie thing to pray. For to a man of himselfe, it is as easie to mooue the whole earth with his hand; how then comes it that we pray? It is a blessed worke of the spirit. Rom. 8. 15. Wee haue receiued the spirit of adoption, whereby vve crie Abba, that is, Father, and Rom. 8. 26. Likewise the spirit helpeth our infirmities: for wee knowe not what to pray as we ought: but the spirit it self maketh request. And. Zach. 12. 10. the holy Ghost is called the spirit of grace and deprecations or praiers. Wel then, the man that woulde pray, must haue Gods spirite to bee his schoolmaster, to teach him to pray with grones and sighes of the hart▪ for the wordes make not the praier, but the grones & desires of the hart; and a man praies for no more then he desires with his heart, and hee which desires nothing, praies not at all, but spends liplabor. The second work of the spirit, is to assure vs in our consciences, that we are in the state of grace, reconciled to God. Rom. 8. 16. The spirit of adoption beareth witnes with our spirits, that we are the children of God. And this inward certificate of the spirit in all exercises of invocation is very necessarie: for hee which wants this assurance, if hee be secure, and benummed in his sinnes, will not, and if he be touched in conscience for them, for his life hee dare not cal God Father. Also, this confutes the opiniō of the church of Rome which teacheth, that a man must doubt whether hee be adopted or no. For howe can a man trulie cal God Father, when he doubts whether he be the child of God or no. It is a miserable kinde of praying, to call God Father, and to doubt whether he be a father. Indeede it is true, that doubts will often rise, but it is our dutie to striue against them, and not to yeeld vnto them. Yea, but (say they) to be certain of Gods mercy is presumption. I answere, if it be presumption, it is an holy presumption, because God hath bidden vs call him father.

Our Father. The meaning. THus much of the argument of relation; now let vs proceede. It is further said, Our Father. Quest. Whether may it bee lawfull for vs in praier to say, not our father, but my father? Ans. A Christian may in priuate praier say, My Father. This is warranted by the example of our Sauiour. Mat, 26. 39. O my Father if it be possible, let this cup passe from me. And Mat. 27. 46. My God, my God, whie hast thou forsaken mee? The meaning of Christe is not to binde vs to these wordes, but to teache vs that in our praiers wee must not haue regard to our selues onely, but also to our brethren: & therefore when we pray for them in our priuate praiers as for our selues, wee put in practise the true meaning of these wordes. 2. The Vses. 1 VVHen we pray, we must not make request onlie for our selues & our own good, but for others also, as the Church and people of GOD, perswading our selues, that we also are partakers of their praiers, and for the better clearing of this point, let vs search who they are for whome we are to pray. Of men there be two sortes; some liuing, some dead. Of these two kindes, the liuing are to be praied for, and there is no praying for the dead. A man that is dead knowes what shall be his estate eternally: if he died a wicked person, his state shall be according in eternall torments, if hee died godly, then he shall rest with God in his kingdom. Apoc. 14. 13. Blessed are they vvhich die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their vvorkes follow them. Gal. 6. 10. While vve haue time let vs do good to al men. Where we may note, that there is a time, namelie after death, when we cannot. Againe, of the liuing, some are our enemies, and some our frends▪ Our frends are they which are of the same religion, affection, disposition. Foes are either priuate or publike: publike foes, are either enemies to our country, as tyrants, traitors, &c. or enemies to our religion, as Iewes, Turks, Papists, Infidels, Atheists. Nowe towards all these, how ought a man to behaue himselfe in prayer? Ans. Hee is to pray for them all. Mat. 5. 44. Praie for them vvhich hurt you and persecute you, 1. Tim. 2. 1. I exhort that praiers, intercessions, &c. Be made for all men, for kinges &c. Yet when Paul gaue this commandement: we read not that there wer any Christiā kings, but all Infidels. And the Iewes are commanded to pray for Babylon, where they were captiue. Ieremie 29. 7. And seeke the prosperitie of the Cittie, whither I haue caused you to bee carried captiue, and praie vnto the lord for it. Quest. Howe, and in what maner are we to pray for our enemies? Ans. We are to pray against their sinnes, counsels, enterprises, but not against their persons. Thus praied Dauid against Achitophell. 2. Sa. 15. 31. Lord, I praie thee, bring the counsell of Achitophell to foolishnes. And thus did the Apostles pray against their persecuters. Act. 4. 29 O Lord, behold their threatnings, and graunt vnto thy seruants with all boldnes to sp[illegible: 1 letter]ake thy word. Question. Dauid vseth imprecations against his enemies, in which he praieth for their vtter confusion, as Psal. 59. & 109. &c. the like is done by Paul. Gal. 5. 12. 2. Tim. 4. 14. And Peter Act. 8. 20. though afterwards hee mitigates his exexcration. But how could they do it? Ans. 1. They were indued with an extraordinarie measure of Gods spirit; and hereby they were enabled to discerne of the estate of their enemies▪ & certainly to judge that their wickednes and malice was incurable, and that they shuld neuer repent. And the like praiers did the primatiue Church cōceiue against Iuliā the Apostata, because they perceiued him to be a malicious and desperate enemie. 2. Secondly, they were indued with a pure zeal against their enemies intending nothing else but the glory of God. Now, for vs it is good that we should suspect our zeal, because sinister affections, as hatred, enuie, emulation, desire of reuenge, wil mingle themselues with our zeal. Question. How far forth may we vse those Psalmes in which Dauid vseth imprecations against his enemies? Ans. They are to be read and song with these caueats. 1. Wee are to vse those imprecations indefinitely against the enemies of God and his Church: for wee may perswade our selues, that alwaies there be some such obstinate enemies: but we must not apply them particularly. 2. Secondly, wee must vse them (as Augustine saith) as certaine prophetical sentences of the holy Ghost, pronouncing the last sentence of destruction, of final & impenitent sinners, which oppose themselues against Gods kingdom Thirdly; they may be vsed against our spiritual enemies the flesh, the deuil and his Angels, & the world 2. Furthermore, whereas we ar taught to say, Our father; this serues to put vs in minde, that in praying to God, we must bring loue to mē with vs. We must all be as the children of one father, louingly disposed one to another. For how shuld he call God his father, who wil not take the child of God for his brother? Mat. 5. 23. When thou art to offer thie gifte vnto God, if thou haue ought against thie brother, first be reconciled, and then come and offer thy gift. So also Esay 1. 15. the Lorde saith, that when they pray vnto him hee will not heare. Why? because their hands were ful of blud. In these times many men can be contēt formally to praie; but yet they will not leaue bribing, oppression, deceit, vsurie, &c. The common song of the worlde is, euerie man for himselfe, and God for vs all: this is the common loue and care that men haue eche to other. The praiers of such are abhominable, euen as the sacrifice of a dog, as Esay saith, For howe can they call God their Father, that haue no loue to their brethren? 3. Thirdly, hence we may learn that God is no accepter of persōs. For this praier is giuen to all men of what state or degree soeuer. All then, aswell poore as rich, vnlearned as learned, subjectes as rulers, may say, Our father. It is not with the Lord as it is with the worlde, but all are his Children that doe beleeue. The poore man hath as good interest in Gods kingdome, and may call God Father as well as the King.

Which art in heauen. 1. The meaning. QVestion. Howe may God bee said to be in heuen, seeing he is infinite, and therefore must needes be euery where? 1. King. 8. 27. The heauens of heauens are not able to containe him. Answer. 1. God is saide to be in heauen, because his majestie, that is, his power, wisedome, justice, mercy, is made manifest from thence vnto vs. Psalme 115. 3. Our God is in heauen and doth vvhatsoeuer he will. Psal. 2. 4. He that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne, and the Lord shall haue them in derision. Esay saith, 66. 2. Thus saith the Lord: Heauen is my throne, and the earth is my footstoole. 2. After this life, hee wil manifest the fulnes of his glorie there, to his Angels and Saints. 2. The Vse 1. HEereby first we learn that Romish pilgrimages, wherby men went from place to place to worship God, are vain and foolish. The God to whome wee must pray is in heauen: Nowe let men trauell to what place or countrey they will, they shall not come the neerer to heauen or neerer to God by traueling; seeing the earth is in euerie part alike distāt from heuen 2. Secondly, this ouerthrowes popish Idolatrie, as woorshipping of Crosses, Crucifixes, Roods, &c. to put vs in mind of God & Christ. Wee are taught to lift vp our eies to heuen; seeing God is there: and how can we do this, as long as our mindes and eies are poring vpon an image made by mans arte? 5. Againe, wee are here admonished to vse the action of praier with as great reuerence as possible may be. Wel reasons Salomon: Eccle. 5. 1. Be not rash with thy mouth to speak a vvord before God. Why? he is in heaven, thou art in earth: therfore let thy vvords be few. This reuerence must appeare in holines of minde and affection and in al comlines of gesture. And for this cause, al wandering bythoughts and all vaine babling is to be auoided. But how goes the case with vs, that on the times appointed come to the assē blies to pray? Many, by reason of their blindenes, pray without vnderstanding. Many, when they are present at praier, yet haue their hearts occupied about other matters, about their goods and worldly busines: such men haue no joye or gladnes in praying; it is a burdē to them. Many come to the assemblie for custom only, or for fear of punishment; if they might be left free, they could find in their harts not to pray at all. But let all suche mē know, that this maner of praiing is a very greenous sinne; nay, greater then mocking of father or mother, killing or stealing; for it is directly against God, the other against men. This sin, because it is against the first Table, and therfore, more hard to bee discerned, it is lightly esteemed, and it lesse troubles the consciences of ignorant men: yet as it is indeede, so it is to be esteemed as a disgrace & plaine mockerie of Gods majestie. Wherfore, seeing God is in heuen, away with al drowsie and dead praying, let vs come with reuerence in our hearts before the Lord. 4. Againe wee are here to consider, that our harts in praier must mount vp into heauen, and there be present with the Lord. Psal. 25. 1. Vnto thee O Lord lift I vp my soule. The litle childe is neuer well, but when it is in the fathers lap, or vnder the fathers wing: and the children of God are neuer in better case, then when in affection & spirit, they can come into the presēce of their heauenly father, and by prayer, as it were, to creep into his bosome. 5. Lastly, this preface sheweth, that God is all sufficient, as in al other things, so in granting our requests: God is willing to hear our praiers, in that hee is our father, & able to performe them, because he is in heuen & therefore almightie.

Hallowed be thy name. 1. The coherence. THus much of the preface: now follow the petitions. They be six in number: the three first, concerne God, and his glorie: the other three concern our selues. The three former petitions, are againe deuided into two partes: the firste concernes Gods glorie it selfe, the other two, the meanes, whereby Gods glory is manifested, and inlarged among men. For God his name is glorified among men, whē his kingdome doth come, and his will is done. Question. Why is this petition, Hallowed be thy name, set in the first place? Answere. Because Gods glory must bee preferred before all thinges: because it is the end of all creatures, and of all the counsels of God. Prou. 16. 4. The Lord hath made all thinges for his owne sake; yea, euen the vvicked for the day of euill. And from the order of the petitions heere ariseth a worthy instruction; namely, that euery one in all thinges they take in hande, are to propound to themselues, and to intend the glory of God. The reason is this. The end which God hath appointed to all our doings, we are to propound to our selues: but God hath appointed that the highest end of all our doings shuld be his glorie: therfore, our hearts must be set to seeke it first of all. That God will haue his name glorified by vs, appeareth in this; that he punisheth those which of obstinacie, set themselues to dishonour him, or by negligence did not sanctifie him, when they should haue done so. Herod sitting in his royaltie, made such an oration that the people cried, the voice of a God and not of a man: and immediatly the Angel of the lord smote him, because he gaue not the glory to God. Act. 12. 23. And Moses because he did not sanctifie the Lord in the presence of the children of Israel, therefore, he came not into the land of promise; yet he did but faile in doing of it. Thus wee may see by these punishments, and also by the order of the petitions, that it is our duties to prefer the glory of God before all things else. Quest. Whether are we to prefer the glory of God before the saluation of our soules? Answer. If the case stand thus, that Gods name must be dishonoured, or our soules condemned: we must account the glory of God more pretious than the saluation of our soules. This is manifest in the order of the petitions. The petition that concernes Gods glory is first, and the petitions that concerne directly our saluation are the fift and sixt. Where by we are taught, that before God should want any part of his glory, we are to let soule and all go, and let God haue all his glory. This affection had Moses. Exod. 32. 32. When he said, Either forgiue them, or if thou vvilt not, blot my name out of thy booke. In this petition, as also in the rest, we must obserue three things; the first is; the mening of the words the second, the wants which men must learn to bewail, the third, the graces of god, that ar to be desired 2. The meaning. VErie fewe among the people can giue the right meaning of the wordes of this praier. They pretend, that seeing God knowes their good meaning, it is sufficient for them to say the wordes and to meane well. But faith being one of the groundes of praier, & there being no faith without knowledg, neither can there bee praier without knowledge, and therefore, ignorant men are to learne the right meaning of the words.

Name. Name in this place signifieth: 1. God himselfe. 1. Kings. 5. 5. He shal build an house to my name. 2. His attributes, as his iustice, mercy, &c. 3. His works creatures and iudgments. 4. His word. For God is knowne to vs by al these, as men are knowne by their names; and as all a mans praise & glorie lies in his name, so all the glorie of God is in these.

Hallowed. To hallowe is to feuer a thing from the common vse to som proper and peculiar end: as the temple was hallowed, that is, set apart to an holy vse; and the priests were sanctified, that is, set apart to the seruice of God. And all that beleeue in Christ are sanctified, that is, set apart from sin to serue God. In like manner, Gods name is hallowed, when it is put apart from al abuses to an holy, reuerent and honorable vse, whether we think, speake, or vse it any maner of way. Question. How can a sinful man hallow Gods name, which is pure and holy in it selfe? Answer. We do not here pray that we might make Gods name holy; but that wee might bee meanes to declare and make manifest to the world by the right vsage of it, that it is holy, and pure, and honourable. The like phrase is vsed. Luk. 7. 39. Wisedome is iustified of her children; that is, acknowledged & declared to be just. The scope therefore of the first petition is an earnest desire that we might set foorth Gods glorie, whatsoeuer become of vs; and it may be expressed thus. O Lord, open our eies, that wee may aright knowe thee, and acknowledge the gretnes of thy power, wisdom, justice, and mercie, which appeares in thy titles, worde, creatures, and judgements: and grant that when we vse any of these, we may therein glorifie thee, and vse them reuerently to thy glory. 3 The vvantes which are to be bevvailed. 1 THe wants, which we in this place are taught to bewail, are especiallie foure. The first is, an inward and spirituall pride of our hearts: a sin that none, or very few can see in themselues, vnlesse the Lord open their eies. When our first parentes were tempted in Paradise, the deuil told them, they should be as Gods: which lesson not onely they, but we haue learned: and we conceiue of our selues as litle gods, though to the world we shew it not. This hidden pride, when other sinnes die, it begins to get strength and to shewe it selfe: and it appeares in vaine thoughts, continuallie on euery occasion ascending in the minde. As maye appeare in the Pharisie, whose thoughts were these, whē he praied thus within himselfe: O God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, extortioners, vniust, adulterers, or euen as this Publican, &c. And as this was in him, so it is in vs till God giue grace: for so that men may haue praise & glory in the world, they care not for God his glorie, though it be defaced. Wee must therfore learn to discerne this hidden corruption, and to mourn for it: for it doeth poison & hinder al good desires of glorifying God, so long as it may preuaile in the hart. 2 Secondly, we are taught here to bewaile the hardnesse of our hearts: whereby we are hindred from knowing God aright, and from discerning the glorie of God in his creatures. Mark. 6. 52. The Disciples through the hardnesse of their hartes could not see Gods power, in the miracle of feeding many thousands with a few loues, though themselues were instrumentes of it, and the food did increase in their hands. Our redēption, what a wonderfull work is it, but how few consider of it, or regarde it? If wee see a man haue more wit, wealth, or honour than we haue, wee straight woonder at him: but beholding Gods creatures, we see nothing in them, because we do not goe higher to acknowledge the loue, power, wisedome, and iustice of the Creator. And this is the cause why Gods name is so slenderly honoured among men. 3 The third corruption, is our great ingratitude: for the Lorde hath made heauen and earth, and all other creatures to serue m[illegible: 1 letter]n: yet he is the most vnthankful of al creatures. Bestow manie iewels, or a kinges ransome on a dead man, he wil neuer returne anie kindnes; so men being dead in sinne deale with God. Commonlie, men are like the swine, that run with their groines and eat vp the mast, but neuer looke vp to the tree from whence it falleth. But the godlie are with Dauid, to feele this want in themselues, and to beseech God to open, and as it were, to vnlocke their lippes, that they may indeuour to be thankfull to God. Psal. 51. 15. 4 The fourth, is the vngodlines and the innumerable wantes that be in our liues, and the sinnes committed in the world. Psal. 119. 136 Mine eies (saith Dauid) gush out with riuers of waters, because men keepe not thy lawes. The reason is, because he which liues in sin reproches Gods name: euen as an euill child dishonors his father. Now some wil say, that this cannot be, because our sinnes cannot hurt God. A[illegible: 1 letter]. Yet they are a cause of slandring Gods name among men: for as we honour him by our good workes, so we dishonour him by our offences. Mat. 5. 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good workes, and glorifie your father which is in heauen. 4 Graces to be desired. 1 The graces to be desired, and to be prayed for at Gods hand, are three. The first is, the knowledge of God: that is, that we might know him, as he hath reueiled himself in his word, works and creatures. For how shal anie glorifie God before he know him? Our knowledge in this life is imperfect. Exo. 23. Moses may not see Gods face, but his hinder partes. 1. Cor. 13. 12. Wee may see God as men doe, through spectacles, in his word, sacraments and creatures. And therefore, as Paule prayed for the Colossians, Col. 1. 10. that they might increase in the knowledge of God, so are wee taught to pray for our selues in this petion. 2. A zeale for Gods glorie. Psal. 69. 9. The zeale of thine house hath eaten me vp. Psal. 45. 1. My heart shall vtter, or cast vp a good matter. I vvill speake in my workes of the king. Here the Spirit of God borrowes a comparison frō men thus. As he which hath somewhat lying heauie in his stom[illegible: 1 letter]cke, is neuer at quiet till hee haue cast it vp: euen so the care & desire to glorifie Gods name, must lie vpon a mans heart as an heauie burthen: and he is not to bee at ease and quiet with himself, till he be disburdened, in sounding forth Gods praise. Luther saith wel, that this is sancta crapula: that is, an holy surfet: and it is no hurt, continuallie to haue our harts ouercharged thus. 3 A desire to lead a godlie and syncere life, as before Gods Majestie. We see men that are in some great calling vnder honourable personages, wil so order and behaue thēselues, as they may please and honour their maisters: euen so must our liues bee well ordered, and we are to labour to walk worthie of the Lord (as Paul speaketh) that we may honour our heauenly father:

Thy kingdome come. 1 The Coherence. THis petition dependes on the former most excellentlie. For in it is laid downe the meanes to procure the first. Gods name must be hallowed among men: but how is it done? by the erecting of Gods kingdome in the heartes of men. We cannot glorifie God vntill he rule in our hearts by his word and Spirite. 2 The meaning. [Thy] This word doth put vs in mind that there is two kingdoms: one Gods, & that is the kingdome of heauen: the other the deuils, called the kingdom of darknesse. Col. 1. 13. For when all had sinned in Adam, God laid this punishmēt on all, that seeing they could not be content to obey their Creator, they should be in bondage vnder Sathan: So that by nature we are all the children of wrath, and the deuill holds vp the scepter of his kingdome in the heartes of men. This kingdome is spirituall, and the pillers of it are ignorance, errour, impietie, and all disobedience to God, in which the deuill whollie delights; which also are, as it were, the lawes of his kingdome. Blind ignorant people can not abide this doctrine, that the deuill should rule in their hearts: they spit at the naming of him, & say that they defie him with all their heartes: but whereas they liue in sinne, and practise it as occasion is offered, though they can not discerne of themselues, yet they make plain proofe, that they line in the kingdome of sinne and darknes, and are stat vessels of Sathan, & shal so continew, till Christ the strong man come and binde him, and cast him out. And this is the estate of all the children of Adam in themselues. Wherfore, our sauiour in this petition, teacheth vs to consider our naturall estate, and to pray that he would giue vs his Spirit, to set vs at libertie in the kingdome of his owne Sonne. [Kingdome] Gods kingdome in scriptures, is taken two waies. First generallie, and so it signifieth that administration, by which the Lord gouerneth all thinges, yea, euen the deuilles themselues, of which kingdome mention is made in the end of this prayer, and in Psal. 97. vers. 1. The Lorde raigneth, let the earth reioice. Againe, it is taken more speciallie, and then it signifieth the administration of Christ, the head of the Church, in which hee frameth men by his worde and Spirit, to the subjection of the same worde. And so it is taken in this petition. In a kingdome there are foure things to be noted. 1. There must bee a king. 2 There must be subiectes. 3 There are lawes. 4 Authoritie. In this kingdome, Christ is the king, it is he to whome the father hath giuen all authoritie in heauen and earth. In this kingdom, al are not subjects, but such as ar willing to giue free and frank obedience to Gods word; or at the least, though their hearts be not sound, make an outward profession of it. The lawes of this kingdome, is the word of God, in the books of the old and new Testament. Therfore it is called the kingdome of heauen. Mat. 13. The Gospell of the kingdom. Mar. 1. 13. The rod of his mouth. Isai. 11. 4 The arme of God. Isai. 53. 1. As a King by his lawes bringes his people in order, & keeps them in subiectiō: so Christ by his word, and the preaching of it, as it were by a mightie arme, drawes the elect into his kingdome, and fashions them to all holie obedience. The power and authoritie is, that whereby Christ conuerts effectually those which are to be conuerted, and glorifies himselfe in the confusion of the rest. The kingdom being taken thus specially is also twofold. The first, is the kingdome of grace, of which mention is made, Rom. 14. 17. The Kingdome of God stands not in meat & drink but in righteousnes, that is, the assurance of our justification before God, in the righteousnes of Christ: Peace of conscience, which proceeds from this assurance; and ioy in the holie Ghost, which comes from them both. In this kingdom all men liue not, but onelie those that ar subject to Christ, obedient to the lawes of his kingdome, and ruled by his authoritie, & are continually taught in his word by his spirit. But those that refuse to liue according vnto the lawes of this king, and choose to liue at their owne libertie, are in the kingdom of darknesse, sinne and Sathan. The second is the kingdome of glory in heauen, which is the blessed estate of al Gods people there, when God shal be al in al in them. And the former kingdom of grace is an entrance and preparation to the kingdome of glorie. [Come] Gods kingdome comes, when it is established and confirmed in mens hearts, and made manifest to all people, the impediments being remoued. Question. This comming implies a stopping but howe should Gods kingdome, be hindered? Answer. Kingdom in this place is not takē for the power of God, whereby hee rules all things, for that cānot be hindred: but for the kingdome of grace, which in the vsing of the outward meanes, as ministers, word, and sacraments may be hindered by the deuill, the world, and mans corruption. 3 The vvantes which are to be bewailed. THe wantes which wee in this petition are taught to mourn for, are of two sorts: some concern our own selues: some, others. That which concernes our owne persons, is a bondage and slauerie vnder sinne and Satan. This bondage indeede is weakened in Gods seruants, but none is whollie freed from it in this life. Paule complaineth, that he is sould vnder sinne, and cries pitifullie. O miserable man that I am, who shal deliuer me from this bodie of death? Question. What difference then betweene the godlie and the wicked? Answer The euil and vngodlie man, in the verie middest of his bondage hath a mery hart, sinne is no trouble to him, nay, it is meat and drinke to him. But the godly man is otherwise minded. For, considering the power of the deuill, and his craft in manifold fearfull temptations, and seeing the prooffes of his rebellious nature, euer and anon to start away from God, he is grieued and confounded in himself, & his heart bleedes within him, that hee doth offend so mercifull a Father. Manie men liue in this world & that manie yeares, and yet neuer feele this bondage vnder Satan & sinne. Such vndoubtedlie cannot tel what the Lords prayer meanes; But he that would haue the right vse of this petition must bee acquainted with it, and bee touched in his conscience, for that the flesh and the deuill beare such sway in him: As the poore captiue is alwaies creeping to the prison dore, alwaies labouring to get off his bolts & fetters, & to escape out of prison, so must we alwaies crie to the Lord for his Spirite, to free vs out of this bondage and prison of sinne and corruption, and everie day come neerer the prison doore, looking when our blessed Sauiour will vnbind vs of all the fetters of sinne and Sathan, and fullie erect his kingdome in vs. 2. The wantes which concerne others, are twofold. The former is the wāt of the good means, which serue for the furthering of the kingdome of Christ, as preaching, sacraments and discipline. When we shal see a people without knowledge, and without good guides, and teachers, and when we see one stand vp in the congregation not able to teach, here is matter for mourning: This petition puts vs in mind to bewaile these wantes. Our Sauiour, when hee sawe the Iewes, as sheepe without a shepherd, he had compassion on them, and hee wept ouer Ierusalem, because they knewe not the thinges which belonged to their peace. Luk. 9. 11. Therefore, when preachers want, to hold vp the scepter of God before the people, and to hold out the word, which is, as it were, the arme of God, to pul men from the bondage of the deuill to the kingdome of Christ: Then it is time to say, Lorde, let thy kingdome come. 3. The third want which we are to bewail, is, that there be so many impediments, and hinderances of the kingdome of grace, as the deuill and al his Angels, their instruments, the Pope, the Turke, and all the rest of the professed wicked of the world, which by subtile intisements and tyrannie, keep back & repell the means, whereby Christ ruled as a king in his Churche. When the deuill sees one that was sometime of his kingdome, but to cast a looke toward the heauenly Ierusalem, he straightway regeth against him, and labours quite to ouerthrow him. Wherfore, in regard of al these impediments, wee must pray, thy kingdom come. 4. Graces to be desired. 1. IN this petition we are taught first, that we are to haue a feruent desire, and to hunger, that God of his mercie would giue vs his Spirite to raigne and rule in our hearts, and to bow them to all obedience and subjection of his will, & further, whereas our hearts haue bene, as it were, filthie sties and stables of the deuill, that hee would renew them, and make of them sit temples, to entertaine his owne spirite. Psal. 51. 10. Create in me a cleane hearte, O God, and renew a right Spirit in me, &c. Stablish mee with thy free Spirit. If we shall consider the conuersation of the wicked and the Godly and their corrupt hearts together, wee shall see litle difference, but in this, that the wicked is delighted and glad to sinne, but the godlie do wrastle, as for life and death, with their temptations, and do resist the deuil, and doe desire, and crie to heauen, to be freed from his bondage, howsoeuer their hearts are alwaies rebelling against God. 2 Forasmuch as the kingdome of grace is erected in Gods church here vpon earth: here in this petition wee are commanded to pray for the church of God & the parts therof. Psal. 122. 6. Pray for the peace of Ierusalem, they shal prosper that loue thee. Esa. 62. 7. Ye which are the Lord his remembrancers, giue him no rest, vntill he set vp Hierusalem the praise of the world. And that Gods Church may flourish & be in good estate, we are to pray for Christian Kinges and princes, that God wold blesse thē, and increase the number of them. For they are as nursing fathers, and nursing mothers to the Church. And wee especiallie are bound to pray for the Queenes moste excellent Maiestie, as also for the Frenche King, that they may bee blessed, and Gods kingdome by them aduanced. And againe, because Ministers are the Lordes watchmen, in the Church, wee are also here put in mind to seeke their good, and to pray that their hearts may be set for the building of Gods kingdome, for the beating down of the kingdome of sin and Satan, & for the sauing of the soules of his people. And the rather, because the deuill laboureth night and day, to ouerthrow them in this glorious work, and to resist them in their ministerie: as appeareth in Zach. 3 1. When Ioshua the high Prieste stood before the Angel of the lord Satan stood at his right hand, namely, to resist him. Therefore, also we ar to pray for them, that the Lorde would keepe them, and furnish thē with giftes, and withal, make them faithfull, for, Where vision faileth, the people are left naked, saith Salomon. 2. Thes. 3. 1. Brethren pray for vs, that the vvord of the Lord may haue a free passage, and be glorified. Thirdlie, wee must pray for all Christian Schooles of learning. Howsoeuer some think but basely of them, yet they are the ordinarie means to maintaine the ministery, and so the Church of God. A man that hath diuers Orchards, wil also haue a feminarie full of young plantes to maintaine it. Schooles they are as feminaries to God his Church, without which the church falles to decay: because they serue to make supplie of Ministers. 3 Thirdly, we are to desire, that the Lord would hasten the second comming of Christ, as the Saintes in heauen pray, Come Lord Iesus, come quicklie: and therefore, the godlie are said to loue the comming of Christ. 2. Tim. 4. 8. A penitent sinner so abhors his owne corruptions, and the yrkesome temptations of Sathan, that in this respect he desires that Christ wold hasten his particular comming to him by death, for no other cause, but that he might make an end of sinning and displeasing God.

Thy vvill be done. 1 Coherence. IN the seconde petition, we desired that God wold let his kingdom come, vz. that he would rule in our harts. If he then must raign we must be his subjects: and therfore, here we craue, that being his subjects, we may obey him, and do his will. Mal. 1. 6. If I be a Father, where is mine honour? If I be a maister, where is my feare? 2. The meaning. VVIL] Will here signifies Gods worde, written in the old and new Testament. For in his worde his wil is reuealed. Of the whol wil of God, ther be three speciall pointes, which are in this place meant. 1. To beleeue in Christ. Iohn. 6. 40. This is the wil of him that sent me, that euerie one that seeth the Sonne, and beleeueth in him, should haue life euerlasting. 2. Sanctification of bodie and soule. 1. Thes 4. 3. This is the will of God, euen your sanctification, &c. 3. The bearing of affliction in this life. Rom. 8. 29 Those which he knew before, he did predestinat, to be made like to the image of his owne son. Phil. 3. 10. That I might know him & the vertue of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his afflictions, and be made conformable to his death. [Thy will] not mine: For mans owne will is wicked and corrupt; yea, it is flat enmitie to God Rom. 8. 5. [Done] That is, obeyed and accomplished of men. Then, the effect of the prayer is this; As wee wold haue thee our king: so Lord, teach vs to obey thy holie will. 3 The vvantes to be praied against. 1 HEre first, we are to bewayle this, that our hearts are so prone to vngodlines, and disobedience to Gods commandements. Put a match to an heape of gunpowder, on a sudden it will be all on a flame, and as long as we adde matter to the fire, it burnes: So by nature, we are most ready to sin so soone as the least occasion is giuen. Dauid had experience of this, when he prayed, Knit my heart to thee, O Lord, &c. Psal. 86. 11. and incline mine heart to thy cōmandements. Psal. 119. 37. Those which find not this want in themselues, and the like affection to bewaile it, are in a miserable and dangerous case: euen as a man that hath a great disease vpon him, & knowes not of it. 2 Againe, we must here bewaile the sinnes of the world, as ignorance, heresies, schismes, hypocrisie, pride, ambition, contempt of Gods worde, couetousnes, oppression, want of loue of God and his word, &c. 2. Pet. 2. 7. Lot was vexed, and his righteous heart vvas grieued, vvith the vncleane conuersation of the Sodomits from day to day: so ought our soules to bee vexed and grieued continuallie, at the wickednes of our time: and further, in this griefe we are to send vp our prayers to God for them, that they may be brought to the obedience of Gods will, Ezech. 9. 4. In a common judgement vpon Ierusalem, they are marked in the forehead▪ that mourne and crie for all the abhominations that be done in the middest of it. 3 Here also wee must humble our selues for our vnquietnesse of mind, & greate impatience, when God layes anie crosse vpon vs. It is Gods will, that we should suffer affliction. Our Sauiour prayed, that the cup might be taken away, but with submission to his fathers wil, Luke. 22. 42. And this Dauid had learned, when he said, But if he thus say, Beholde, I haue no delight in thee, behold, here I am, let him doe to me, as seemeth good in his eies. 2. Sam. 15. 26 4 Graces to be desired. 1 THe first thing which we are here to desire, is, that wee may haue grace to denie our selues, wils, and affections: because herein wee are vnlike to God, and like the Deuill. This is the first lesson that our Sauiour doeth giue his Disciples, that they must denie themselues, and follow him. 2 The second thing, is the knowledge of Gods will: for otherwise, how shal we do it? How shall that seruant please his maister, which cannot tell what hee would haue done of him? Most men will haue bookes of statutes in their houses, and if they be to deal in any great matter, they will do nothing vntil they haue looked on the Statute. In like maner, men must haue the Bible, that is, the booke of Gods statutes in their houses; the lawes of God must bee the men of our counsel: Before euerie action, wee are to searche what is the will of God, and then to doe it. Here thē wee are taught to vse the meanes, and to pray for knowledge. 3 Againe, we are here taught to haue a desire in our hearts, and an indeuour in our liues in all things to do obedience to Gods word. 4 Lastlie, we desire patience and strength, when it shall please God at anie time to exercise vs with the crosse, as Paul prayes for the Colossians, that God would strengthē them by the power of his might, vnto all patience and long suffering with ioy fulnesse. 5. Errour confuted. THe Church of Rome teacheth, that men by nature haue free-will to good: and that men, being stirred vp by the holy ghost, can of themselues will that which is good. But if this were so, why might we not pray, Let my will bee done? So far foorth as the will of man shall agree with Gods will: but this cannot be, as we see in the tenour of this petition.

In earth as it is in heauen. 1 The meaning. HAuing shewed the meaning of this petition, thy vvill be done, Now we are to speake of the condition, which is, in what maner we shuld doe it. For the question may be, how we should doe Gods will: the answer is, his wil must be done in earth as it is in heauen. Heauen] By heauē here is meant the soules of faithfull men departed, and the elect Angels. Psal. 103 20. Praise the Lord ye his Angels, that excel in strength, that doe his commandements, in obeying the voice of his vvord. Earth] By earth is vnderstood nothing but men on earth, becaus all other creatures in their kind obey God: only man, he is rebellious and disobedient. Then the meaning is, Let thy will be done by vs men on earth, as the Angels and saintes departed, doe thy will in heauen. Qu. Do we here desire to do the will of God in that perfection it is done by angels? must we be as perfit as they? Ans. the wordes here vsed (in earth as it, &c.) do not signifie an equalitie, as though our obedience should in this life be in the same degre of perfection with with Angels; but a similitude or the like maner of obeying; it may be said, in what maner do the Angels obey God? Answer. They doe the wil of God willingly, speedily, and faithfully; and this is signified, in that they are saide in the scriptures to bee winged, and to stand continually beholding the face of our heauenly Father. And this is the manner in which we desire to performe Gods will. 2. The wants to be bewailed. VVE are heere admonished to bee displeased with our selues, for our imperfect obedience to God, & for our hypocrisie, priuie pride, presumptiō, deadnes of spirit▪ and many other wants which breake out, when we are in doing Gods will. There is no seruant of God, but hath wants in his best works, so we must vnderstand, Paul. Ro. 7. 18. he saith as much, as if he culd begin a good thing, but not perfect it, & go through stitch, as we say. Whē the godly do good works, as heare, speak Gods word, pray, praise God, &c. they perform things acceptable to God: but in these actions, they finde matter of mourning; namely; the imperfectiō of the work, therfore, Dauid praieth. Psal. 143. 2. Enter not into iudgement vvith thy seruant, and here we may see, how far wide the Church of Rome is, that holds good works to be any way meritorious, that be euery way imperfect. If the mē of that church had grace, they might see that the corruptiōs of the flesh wer as gynes & fetters about their legs, that when they would faine runne the waies of Gods commā dements, they are constrained to halt downe right, and to trail their loynes after them. 3 Grace to be desired. THE grace here to be desired, is synceritie of heart in doing Gods will, so as wee may keepe a good conscience before God and men. Act. 24. 16. And for this cause I indeuoured alwaies to haue a clear conscience towards God, and towards men. This must we hunger after, & pray for: seing it is not sufficient to abstaine from euill, but also to doe good, and in doing good, striue to come to perfection.

Giue vs this day our daily bread. 1 The Coherence. THus much of the thre first petitions, which concerne God: now follow the other three, which concern our selues; In which order we learn to pray for those things, which concerne God absolutelie, and for those thinges, which concerne our selues, not absolutely; but so farre foorth as they shall make for God his glorie, the building of his kingdom, and the doing of his wil. But how dependes this petition on the former? In the first wee are taught to pray, that Gods name might bee hallowed: which is done, whē God raigns in our hearts, & his wil is done. Now further, his will is obeyed in three thinges: first, by depending on his prouidence for the thinges of this life: secondly, by depending on his mercy, for the pardon of sin: thirdly, by depending on his power and might, in resisting temptations. And thus Gods will is obeyed. 2 The meaning. BRead] By this one means of sustayning our bodies, and temporarie liues, all other meanes are vnderstood: as meat, drinke, cloathing, helth, liberty, peace, &c. Gen 3. 19. Thou shalt eat thy bread, vz. get thy liuing, in the sweat of thy browes. Out of this we learn 2. instructions; for why doth the Lord teache vs to craue onely bread, and not meate and other dainties? It is for 2. causes: the first is, that we might hereby learn frugalitie and moderation in our diet, apparel, houses, and be content if wee haue no more but bread, seeing wee desire no more. We must not with the Israelites murmur because they had nothing but Manna. Quest. Must wee vse Gods creatures onely for necessitie? Ans. we may vse them not onely for necessitie, but also for honest delight & plesure. Psal. 104. 15. God giues wine to make glad the heart of man: and oyle to make his face shine. And Iohn 12. 3. Our Sauiour Christ allowed of the fact of Mary, which tooke a pounde of ointment of spikenard very costly, and annointed his very feete, so that all the house was filled with the smell; though Iudas did esteeme it wast. But yet if the Lord shall graunt but breade, that is, so much as shal but holde bodie and soule togither, wee must bee content therewith. 1. Tim. 6. ver. 8. Therefore, vvhen vvee hauue foode and raiment, let vs be therewith content. This contentation was in Iacob. Gene. 28. 20. A second cause is, to teache vs that there is a particular prouidence. All men confesse that there is a generall prouidence of God ouer all thinges, but here wee must acknowledg an other more speciall, euen in the least thinges that be: because euery morsell of bread which we eate, wold no more nourish vs, then a peece of earth, or a stone, vnlesse God gaue his blessing vnto it. [Daily] The worde in the originall is thus much in effect, Bread vnto our essence or substances: then the meaning is; Giue vs such bread from day to day, as may nourishe our substances. Thus praieth Agur Prou. 30. 8. Feede me with food conuenient for me. Some there ar which put an Angelical perfection in fasting: But we are taught in Scriptures, that as aboue all thinges, we are to seeke for life eternall, so wee must in this life, sustaine and maintaine our naturall bodies, so long as we liue in this world. Fasting in it selfe, as it is abstinence, is no part of Gods worship; but in it own nature a thing indifferent: and therefore, it is to bee vsed so farre forth, as it shal further vs in prayer, and no further. For seeing we ar taught to pray for such food as shall preserue nature, and maintaine the vitall blood, we must not vse fasting to the hindrance or destruction of nature. [Our bread.] 1. Question. How is bread ours? 1. Corinth. 3. 22. Ye are Christes, and all things ar yours. So then, by meanes of Christe, bread is called ours. For God hauing giuen Christ to vs, doeth in him and by him, giue all thinges els to vs. 2. Question. Howe may I knowe that the thinges I enjoy, are mine by Christ, and that I doe not vsurpe them? Answere. 1. Tim. 4. 4. Paule saieth, that the creatures of God are good, and that the vse of them is sanctified to vs, by the word and prayer. Then, if we haue the word of God, to tel vs that we may enjoy and vse them: and also, if we pray to God for the right and pure vse of them, wee are no vsurpers, but indeed right owners of them. 3. Question. If the creatures must be made ours by Christ, howe comes it to passe, that the vngodlie haue such abundance of them? Answer. We lost the title and interest of the creatures in Adam: yet God of his mercie bestowes temporarie blessings vpon the vniust aswell as vpon the iust: but for all that, vnlesse they be in Christ, and hold the title of them by him, they shal in the end, turn to their great condēnatiō And whereas we cal it, our bread, wee learne, that euery man must liue of his owne calling, and his owne goods. Here also is condemned all oppression, stealing, lying, cogging, and other such deceitfull meanes to get wealth and goods. Many think it no sinne to prouide for their familie in such order, but in saying this petition▪ they pray against themselues. 2. Thes. 3. 10. Hee vvhich laboureth not, let him not eate. Ephes. 4. 28. He vvhich stole let him steale no more, but rather labour vvith his hands the thing that good is. [This day] We say not heere this weeke, this month, this age, but this day, what meanes this? may yee not prouide for the time to come? Answere. It is lawfull, yea, a man is bound in good maner to prouide for time to come. Act. 11. 28. The Apostles prouide for the Church in Iudaea, against the time of dearth, spoken of by Agabus. And Ioseph in Aegypt, in the years of plentie, stored vp against the yeares of famine. Wherefore, in these words, our Sauiour his meaning, is only to cōdemn al distrust full care, and to teach vs to rest on his fatherlie goodnes from day to day, in euerie season: this is noted vnto vs, Numb. 11. where the Israelits wer commanded to gather no more Manna, than would serue for one day, & if they did, it putrified. Wherby God taught them, to rest on his prouidence euery particular day, and not on the means. [Giue vs] Not me. This serues to teache vs, that a man must not onelie regarde himselfe, but also be mindfull of others. For a man that hath welth, is made a steward, to distribute his goods to the poore, and the good of Gods Church. True loue seekes not her owne things: the branches of the vine are loaded with clusters of grapes, not for themselues, but for others: the candle spends it self to giue others light. [Giue] If bread be ours, wherefore are we to ask it? It may seeme needles. Answer. Not so, for hereby we are taught very worthie lessons. 1. First, those that are in pouertie, are taught to wait on God, who is the fountaine and giuer of al blessings▪ Men vsuallie driuen to this estate, vse euill meanes, as robbing, deceiuing, consulting with wisards, &c. 2. Againe, here we learne, that thogh a man had al the wealth in the world, all is nothing without Gods blessing. Quest. The rich need not say, Giue [illegible: 1 letter]s, &c. for they haue aboundance already, and what neede they aske that which they haue? Answer. Let a man be neuer so rich, and want nothing that can be desired, yet if hee want Gods blessing, in effect he wants al. Wherfore, euen kings, and the greatest personages that be, are as much bounde to vse this petition, as the poorest. Gods blessing is riches, saith Salomon. Pro. 10 22. Thou maiest eat, and not haue inough, be clothed and not warm, earne wages, and put it in a brokē bagge. Hag. 1. 6. If God do not blesse thee. This blessing of God, is called the staffe of bread. Esay. 3. 1 In bread there be two thinges, the substance, and the vertue frō Gods blessing: this second, that is, the power of nourishing, is the staff of bread. For take away from an aged man his staffe, and he falls: & so take away Gods blessing from bread, it becomes vnprofitable, & ceaseth to nourish. Lastly, here wee see, that all labour and toyle taken in any kind of calling, is nothing, and auailes not, vnlesse God still giue his blessing. Psal. 127. 1. 3. The wants to be bewailed. OVr corruptions against this petition, are two especially. I Couetousnesse, a vice which is naturally ingraffed in euery mans heart; it is, when a man is not content with his present estate. This desire is vnsatiable, for men wold be euer hauing of more. Wherfore hee which shall vse this petition, must be grieued for this sinne, and pray with Dauid. Psalm. 119. 36. Incline my hearte to thy commaundements, and not to couetousnesse. And hee must sorrowe, not so much for the act of this sinne, as for the corruption of nature in this behalfe. Couetous people will plead, that they are free from this vice, but mark mens liues, and wee shall see that this is a common disease, in the most, as it is noted. Psal. 4. 6. Who vvill shew vs any good? This then is a common sin that we ar taught to mourne for. 2. The second want, is our diffidence and distrustfulnes, for the thinges of this life. Men also will shift this off, and say, they wold be sorie to distrust God. But if wee looke to our corrupt nature, man is wonderfull prone to this sinne, for being in prosperitie, we ar not troubled: but if once wee be pressed with aduersitie, then we houle and weep, and as Paul saith, 1. Tim. 6. 10. Men pearce themselues throgh vvith many sorrowes. If any shall lose a parte of his goodes, what then doth hee? straight hee goes out to the wise man: is this to beleeue in God? No, it is to distrust God, and beleeue the deuill. 4. Graces to be desired. THe grace to be desired, is a redinesse in all estates, to rest on Gods prouidence, whatsoeuer fall out. Psal. 37. 5. Commit thy vvay to the Lord, and trust in him, and hee shall bring it to passe. Prou. 16. 3. Commit or role thy workes vpon the Lord, and thie thoughts shal be directed: Whereby we ar admonished to take pains in our callings to gette meate and drink, &c. If the Lorde blesse not our labour, wee must be content: if he do, we must giue him thanks. Now for this cause, wee are further to pray to God, that hee would open our eies, & by his spirit, teach vs in all his good creatures to see his prouidence, and when meanes faile and are contrary, then also to beleeue the same. 5. Errors confuted 1. PApistes teache, that men by workes of grace, may merit life eternall, and increase of justification in this life. But howe can this be? for here we see, that euery bit of bread which we eate, is the free gift of God, without any merite of ours. Now, if we cannot merite a peece of bred, what madnes is it to think, that wee can merite life euerlasting? 2. They also are deceiued, who thinke, that any thing comes by meere chance or fortune, without Gods prouidence. Indeede, in respect of men, who knowe not the causes of thinges, many chances there are: but so, as they are ordered & come to passe by Gods prouidence. Luk. 10. 31. By chance there came downe a certaine priest that way.

Forgiue vs our debts. 1. Coherence. THis is the fift petition, & the second of those which concerne our selues: in the former we craued temporall blessings, in this and the next which followeth, we craue spirituall blessings. Where we may note, that seeing there be two petitions, which concerne spirituall thinges, & but one for temporall; that the care for our soules must be double, to the care for our bodies. In the world men care for their bodies, their hearts are sette for wealth and promotion: they can be content to heare the worde on the Sabboth, yet neither then, nor in the weeke day do they lay it vp in their heartes, and practise it, which argues, that they haue litle or no care for their soules. Question. What is the cause, that first we craue things for the body, & in the second place, those which concerne the soule? Ans. The order of the holy Ghost in these petitions is wonderfull: for the Lorde considers the dulnes and backewardnes of mens natures: therefore, he trains them vp, and draws them on by litle, euen as a schoolmaister doth his young schollers: propounding vnto them some elements and principles, and so carrying them to higher pointes. [illegible: 1 word] the former petition is a steppe or degree to these two following. He that will rest on Gods [illegible: 1 word] so the pardon of his [illegible: 1 span] of al, rest on Gods providence [illegible: 1 word] this life, and hee that cannot put his affiance in God for the prouision of meat and drink, how shall he trust in Gods mercie for the saluation of his soule? Here wee may see the faith of worldings: they say that God is mercifull, and that they beleeue in Christ: which how can it be true? Seeing in les[illegible: 1 letter]er matters, as meate and drinke, they distrust God, as appears by their couetousnes. 2. The meaning. DEbts) By debts sins ar meant, so it is in Luke 11. 4. and they are so called, because of the resemblance betwene them. For euen as a debt doth bind a man, either to make satisfaction, or else to goe to prison: so our sinnes bind vs, either to satisfie Gods iustice, or els to suffer eternall damnation. [Forgiue.] To forgiue sinne, is to couer it, or not to impute it. Psal. 32. 1. And this is done, when God is content of his mercie to accept the death and passion of Christ, as a sufficient paiment and ransome for mans sinnes; and so to esteeme them as no sinnes. And here vnder this one benefit, all the rest of the same kind are vnderstood, as iustification, sanctification, redemption, glorification, &c. 3. The vses of the vvords. 1. HEre we may learn many lessons; the first is, that seeing we must pray thus, Lord forgiue, &c. We must hold, that there is no satisfaction to Gods iustice for sinne by our workes; no not in temporary punishments: but that the doing away of our sinnes, is of Gods meere fauour: for, to forgiue and to satisfie be contrary: wherefore the doctrine of humain satisfactions, taught in the Church of Rome, is vile and diuelish. 2. Secondly, we are taught thus to pray continually, from day to day: where we note the great patience and long suffering of God: in that we offending daily, yet he suffers and forbears still, and doeth not powre out his confusion vpon vs. This teacheth vs, like patience towards our brethren: we cannot put vp the least iniury, and forbear but one day, yet we desire that god wold forgiue vs all our liues long. 3. Againe, we may obserue, that there is no perfect sanctification in this life, seeing we must euery day, to the end, craue the pardō of our sinnes. Therefore, wicked is the opinion of the Catharists or puritans, which hold that men may be without sinne in this life. 4. And when we say, forgiue, not me, but vs: we are put in minde to pray, not onely for the pardone of our owne sinnes, but likewise for our brethren and enemies. Iam. 5. 17. Confesse one to another, and pray one for another for the praier of the righteous auaileth much, if it be feruent And as so[illegible: 1 letter]ne think, the praier of Steuen was a meanes of the conuersion of Saule. 5. Also we note, that before praier for pardon of sinne, must go a confession of sinne: for whereas we say, forgiue our debts, we confes before God, that we ar stat banckrouts, and not able to discharge the least of our sinnes; this appears 1. Ioh. 1. 9. If vve confesse our sinnes, he is faithful to forgiue vs: And it was practised by Dauid, Psalm. 51. and 32. 5. The maner of making confession is this; knowen sinnes, and those which troble the conscience, are to be confessed particularlie: but vnknown sins generally. Psa. 19 6. Lastly, hence it is manifest, that there is noe iustification by workes. Our sinnes are debtes: & so also are all workes of the lawe. Now, how can any man discharge one debt by another? 4. Wants to be bewailed. THe wantes to be bewailed are the burden of our sinnes, and the corruptions of our natures, & the wickednes of our liues, and the sinnes of our youth, and of our old age. Psal. 40. 12. My sinnes haue taken such hold vpon me, that I am not able to looke vp: they are more in number then the haires of my head: therefore mine heart hath failed me. Thus with Dauid, we are to trauell and grone vnder this burden: but this griefe for sin, is a rare thing in the world. Men can mourne bitterly for the thinges of this life, but their sinnes neuer trouble them. And further, this sorrowe must be for sinne, because it is sinne, though there were neither hell nor deuill, nor conscience to accuse, nor Iudg to reuēge. 5. The grace to be desired THe grace which wee must desire, is the spirit of grace and deprecations. Zacha. 12. 10. It is that worke of the spirit, whereby wee are inabled to call to God for the pardone of our sinnes. A man hauing offēded the laws of a Prince, and being in danger of death, will neuer rest, or be at quiet, till hee haue gotten a pardon: euē so, they which feele and see their sinnes, hauing this spirite are so mooued, that they can neuer be at rest, till in praier they be eased of their sins A man may, I graunt, babble and speake many wordes, but hee shall neuer pray effectually, before hee haue this spirit of praier, to make him crie, Abba Father. For worldly cōmodities all can pray: but learn to pray for the want of Christ.

As vve forgiue our debts. 1. Coherence. THese wordes be a part of the fift petition, for it is put down with a condition. Forgiue vs, as we forgiue others: and these wordes depend on the former, as the reason thereof, and it is taken from the comparison of the lesse to the greater: thus, if wee, who haue but a sparke of mercie, doe forgiue others: then doe thou, who art the fountaine of mercie, forgiue vs: but we forgiue others, therefore, do thou forgiue vs. Thus Luk. 11. 4 hath it, Forgiue vs our sinnes: for euen we forgiue. The Papists gather a contrarie doctrine: they say, Forgiue vs as we forgiue, making our forgiuing a cause, for which God is mooued to forgiue vs. But we are to know, that our forgiuing is no cause, but a sign that God wil forgiue vs. 2 The meaning. QVestion. Whether is a man bounde to forgiue all debts. Answer. The word debt, in this place, is not vnderstoode of debt that is ciuill, and comes by lawfull bargaining, but of hurtes and dammages; which ar done vnto vs in our bodies, goods, or good name; as for the former ciuil debts a man may exact them, so he doe it with shewing of mercie. 2 Question. How may anie man forgiue trespasses, seeing God onlie forgiues sin? Answer. In euerie trespasse which anie do to their neighbours, ther be two offences▪ one to God, another to man. In the first respect it is called a sin, which God onlie forgiues: In the other respect, it is called an injurie or dammage: & so man may forgiue it. When a man is robbed, the law is broken by stealing, and the injurie that is done, is against a man that hath his goods stolne. This injurie, as it is an injurie, a man may forgiue: but as it is a sinne, he can not, but God onlie. 3 Quest. Whether may a man aright pray this petition, and yet sue him at the law, who hath injured him. An. Yea, for a man may in an holie maner sew another for an injury: and as a souldier in lawful warre may kill his enemie, and yet loue him: so may a man forgiue an injurie, and yet seeke in a Christian maner the remedie: but in doing of this, wee must obserue fiue thinges. 1. We are to tak heed of all priuate revenge and inward hatred, which if we conceiue, wee doe not forgiue. 2. We must take heed of offence, and haue care that our doinges bee not scandelous to the Church. 3. Our sutes must be taken in hand to maintaine godly peace: for, if all injuries were put vp, there would bee no ciuill state or gouernment. 4. It must be, that the partie offending may bee chastised, and bee brought to repentance for his fault: for, if many mē were not repressed, they woulde growe worse. 5. Law must bee the last remedie: as Physitions vse desperate remedies, when weaker wil not serue: euen so must we vse law, as the last meanes, when all other faile. The dealing of the worlde in this case, is no example for vs to follow. For through rage and stomacke they will abide no priuate agreement: and therefore, they vse the law in the first place, so did the Corinthians, but what saith Paule 1. Cor. 6. 7. It is vtterlie a fault among. But if the Lawe bee vsed aright, a Christian may sue at Law, and loue the partie sued; for there is difference betweene dealing against a man before a Magistrate, and the dealing of one priuat man with another. For priuate dealing is commonlie reuenge, and therefore vnlawfull. 3. The Vse. THE vse of this clause is verie profitable, for it shewes vs a liuelie signe, whereby our consciences may bee assured of the pardon of our sinnes. Indeed, manie vse these wordes long and often, yet finde no assurance of pardon, and the cause is, because they haue no desire of Gods mercie, nor willingnes to forgiue men, which if they had, then the forgiuenes of their sinnes should hereby be sealed vnto them. Wherefore, if any wold be perswaded of Gods mercie in this point, let them discend into their owne soules, and search them narrowlie, if they can finde their heartes as readie to forgiue, as they are readie to desire forgiuenes at Gods hand, then they may assure themselues of Gods mercie in Christ, as we are taught by our Sauiour Christ, Mat. 5. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtaine mercie. Consider these comparisons. A man walking vnder a wal in a cold sunnie day, is heated of the wall, which first receiued heat from the Sunne. So he that sheweth mercie to others, hath first receiued mercie from God. Also; take a peece of waxe, and put to a seale, it leaueth an impression or marke like it selfe in the waxe: which, when a man lookes on, he doth certainlie know that ther hath bin a seale, the print whereof is left behind. Euen so it is in euery one, that hath readinesse to forgiue others: by it a Christian may easilie know, that God hath sealed to him the forgiuenesse of his sinnes, euen in his heart: Therefore, let men looke into their hearts, whether they haue any affection to forgiue others, for that is; as it were, the print in their harts, of Gods mercy toward thē. Manie there are, which pray for pardon at Gods hande, but they cannot brooke it, that they should forgiue their neighbours. Herevpon come these sayinges, I may forgiue him, but I will not forget him: He may come in my Paternoster, but hee shall not come in my Creed. Behold, the deuils logicke, which makes malice to bee charitie. Blinde people play with the Lords prayer, as the flie doeth with the candle till she bee burnt: for the more they pray these words, the more they call for vengeance against thēselues. Iam. 2. 13

Lead vs not into temptation, but deliuer vs from euil. 1 The Coherence. IT might seem to some, that this petition is superfluous: for what need he care for temptations, that hath the pardon of his sinnes? But our sauiour did not teach vs thus to pray without speciall reason. 1. Because forgiuenesse of sinnes, and wonderfull temptations, bee inseperable companions in this life: which thing wee finde to be true, both in Gods word, and in Christian experience: there is no man in this world so beaten and buffeted with temptations, as the penitent sinner, that cries most bitterlie for the pardon of his sins. This is the estate, that fewe men in the worlde are acquainted with, for they ar neuer troubled with temptation, but liue in all peace & quietnes, both in bodie and soule. Luke. 11. 21. When the strong man armed keepes his hold, the thinges that he possesseth are in peace. Euen so, the wicked of the world, being possessed of Satan, are not a whit molested by him with any temptatiōs; Neither need he, seeing hee hath them at commandement, to doe what he wil. But when a man once begins to make conscience of sin, and to sue vnto the Lord for pardon of his offences, and still continues in dislike of sinne and Sathan: then the enemie bestirs him, and vseth all means to bring that man to famine: he offereth all maner of temptations to molest him, and neuer affoord this poore sinner anie rest. Hereupon, hee for feare of being ouercome, continuallie must pray vnto the Lord, that he may not be led into temptatiō. Here some christian conscience may reason thus. No man is so troubled with sin and Satan, as I, Therefore, I am not in Gods fauour, but am a plaine cast-away. Ans. If pardon of sinne, and temptations goe together, al is contrarie. If thou hadst no griefe for sin, no buffeting of thine enemies, the flesh, the world, and the deuil, thou couldst not be in Gods fauor, but vnder the power of Satā: now this great mesure of the spiritual temptations, is a signe rather of Gods loue: For whō God loues, the deuil hates: and where God workes in loue, the deuill workes in malice. 2. Meaning. THese wordes be but all one petitiō: which hath two parts, the latter being a declaration of the former, Lead vs not into temptation, how is that done? by deliuering vs from euill. [Temptation.] Temptation is nothing els, but the entisement of the soul or heart, either by the corruption of mans nature, or the allurements of the world, or the deuill to any sinne. Iam. 1. 13. God temptes no man. That is, God moues no man to sinne. [Lead vs not] Or carrie vs not into temptation, to be led, is to be ouercome of the temptation, whē it preuailes and gets the victorie. Then the meaning is this. When wee are mooued or entised to sin, Lord keepe vs, that wee be not ouercome: and giue thou an issue with the temptation. Question. God is iust, and cannot sinne: but if he lead men into temtation, shall he not be the authour of sinne? Answer. Indeed many fearing to charge God with sin, read the wordes thus, suffer vs not to be led, but the text is very piaine, leade or carrie vs not. And the scriptures elsewhere, vse the like phrases of God. Exod. 7. 3. God is said to harden Pharaos heart. 2. Sam. 24. 1. The Lorde mooued Dauid to number the people. 2. Thes. 2. 11. God sent strong delusions, that men might beleeue lies. These and such like places haue a woorthie meaning, thus to be gathered. There is no action of man or of the deuil, absolutely euil: but although in some respects it be euill, yet in some other it is good: for we are not thus to think, that as there is a maine good, so also there is a maine euill. Thus then, temptation being an action, it is not in euery respect euill: but in some good, in some euill. And so farre forth as it is good, the Lord workes it: but as it is euill, he doth not worke it, but willingly permits it to be done by him & Satan. 1. And there be foure respects in which God may be a worker in temptations, and yet be free from sinne. 1. First, he tempteth by offering occasions and objects, to trie whether a man will sinne or not. A maister suspecting his seruāt, that in worde professeth fidelitie, layes a purse of money in his way, to try if he will steale it: which if he steal, he hath found by watching him, a secreete theefe; and so hath laide him open, for deceiuing any more. Nowe, this trying o[illegible: 1 letter] him is no sin, though he sinne in stealing. In the same manner tempteth God his owne seruants to prooue and trye them. Deut. 13. 3. Tho[illegible: 1 letter] shalt not harken unto the [illegible: 1 word] of the Prophet or dre[illegible: 1 letter]amer of dreames: in the Lord your God pro[illegible: 2 letters] [illegible: 1 span] whether yee loue the [illegible: 2 letters]rd your God with al your hart 2. Secondly, God leades into temptation, by withdrawing his grace. Neither can this be a sinne in God: because he is bound to no man to giue him grace. And heere is a difference betweene the tempting of God & Sathan. God holds backe grace, when hee tempteth, the Deuill suggesteth euill morions. 3. Euery action so far foorth as it is an action, is good, & of God. Act. 17. 28. In him we liue, mooue, and haue our being. Therfore, God is a worker in temptations, so far forth as they ar actions. One man killes another: the very mouing of the body, in the doing of this villanie is of God: but the wickednes of the action, is from man and the deuill. Againe, a man rides vpon a lame horse, and stirres him: the rider is the cause of the motion, but the horse himselfe of the halting motion. So God is the author of euery action, but not of the euill of the action. 4. The fourth way, is in regarde of the end. God tempts his seruāts only to correct and humble them for their sinnes, and to trye howe they will abide the crosse, and to moue them the more to loue him. Deut. 8. 2. God afflictes the children of Israell, to trie them whether they would keepe his commandements. 2. Chron. 32. 31. He trieth Hezekiah, to see what was in his hart. The deuils end in tempting, is onely to bring the partie vnto destruction. Thus we neede not for to say, that God in some respectes doth leade his seruants into temptations. [Deliuer vs from euill] that is, free vs from the power of the flesh, the deuill and the world. Some take euil in this place, only for the deuil, but wee may take it more largely, for all spirituall enemies. 1. Iohn. 5. 19. The vvhole world lyeth in euill. vz. Vnder the power of sinne and Satan. These words (as I haue said) are a proofe and explanation of the former; for when a man is deliuered from euill, he is not led into temptation: the cause being taken away, the effect ceaseth. 3. The vses. 1. HEnce wee learne, what a righteous God, Iehoua is, that can work an euill action, & yet be void of sinne. 2. Whereas we say, Lead vs not, &c. We note, that the deuil in tēptations can go noe further, then God permits him. 3. Wee are not to pray, that temptations be quite taken from vs, or that we be whollie freed frō them: but that they doe not ouercome vs. For it is the Lordes wil, that his Church should be tempted. Nay, Dauid desired some kind of temptations. Psal. 26. 1. Prooue me O Lord. And Iames saith, account it for exceeding ioy, when ye shall fal into diuers temptations. Iam. 1. 2. 4. Note also, that euery man by nature is the bōdslaue of sin & Satan. For where is deliuerāce, there was a bondage first, This confutes the Papists, who maintain fre-wil: for we ar dead in him by nature, as a man in a graue; and we must still pray thus, til we be fully deliuered. 4. Wants to be b[illegible: 1 letter]wailed. THE corruption, which in this petition we ought to mourn for, is, the continuall rebellion of our wicked natures; & our pronenes to yeeld vp our selues in euery temptation to sin, and Satan. And the remnants of the old bondage vnder Satan, must be grieuous and irkesome vnto vs, and we must bewaile it very bitterly. The Iewes in a bodily captiuitie, wept vvhen they remembred Sion. Psal. 127. Howe much more should we weep, when we feele the lawe of our members rebelling against the lawe of our minds, & leading vs captiue to sin. 5. Graces to be desired. THE contrary blessing to bee desired, is, that God woulde stablish vs by his free spirit. Ps. 51. 12 which is so called, because it settes vs euery day more & more at liber tie out of the reach of sin & Satan.

For thine is the kingdome, the power, and glory for euer. 1. Meaning. THese words containe a reason of all the former petitions: whereby we are mooued to craue thinges needfull at Gods hand. [Thine is] Earthly kinges haue kingdome power, and glorie, Dan. 2. 37 Yet not from themselues, but frō God, whose vice-gerents they are on earth. Therfore, to make a difference betwene Gods kingdome, power, and glory; & those of earthly kings, it is said, thine is the kingdome, &c. that is, God hath all these in himself, and from himself, and they from him. [The kingdome] These wordes. 1. Chron. 29. 11. at fully expounded. Thine, O Lord, is greatnesse, power, and victorie, and praise: for al that is in heauen & earth is thine: thine is the kingdome, & thou excellest as head ouer al, &c. The kingdome is said to bee Gods, because hee is absolute possessor, and owner of al things that are; and also hath soueraigne rule ouer all things at his will. Nowe out of this first propertie of God, we may gather a strong motiue, to induce vs to pray vnto him alone. For seeing all thinges are his, both in heauen and earth whatsoeuer; therefore, wee must come to him for the graces and blessings which wee desire. [The power] Oftentimes, earthly princes haue kingdomes, yet want power: but God hath kingdom, & power also: yea, his power is infinite, and he can do al that he wil, & more then hee will: as for those things which come of impotencie; he cannot do thē, for if he c[illegible: 1 letter]ld, he should not be omnipotent. And as he is omnipotent in himselfe, so all the power which any creture hath, is from him alone. Question. Howe can this be, seeing the deuill hath power to sinne; which is not from God? Ans[illegible: 1 letter]er. To sinne is no power, but rather a want of power: otherwise, all the strength and power that Satan hath, is of God. And from this second property, is taken another motiue, to moue vs to pray vnto God. Because all power being his, wee can neuer do any of the thinges which we aske, but by power receiued from him. [Thine is the glory.] This thirde propertie of God ariseth from the two former, for seeing the title & interest in all things, and the power whereby they are disposed and gouerned, is of God: therefore it followes, that all glory is his: yea, in him is fulnes of glory, and the glory of the creature is all of him. To sinfull men belonges nothing, but shame and confusion. Dan. 9. verse 7. This third propertie ministreth a thirde motiue to induce men to pray vnto God alone. For seeing all glory by right is his: therefore wee must invocate his holy name; that in so doing, we may giue him the glory due vnto him. [For euer,] The words in the originall are, for ages. Nowe an age signifies the space of an hundred years: but here it is taken for eternitie; because eternitie is nothing but the multiplication of ages. And as eternitie is heere noted by ages: so on the contrary we reade, that eternitie is takē for a certaine and distinct time. Gen. 17. 8. God promiseth Abraham, to giue him the lande of Canaan, for an euerlasting possession: that is, for a long season. For els Abrahams seede shuld inherite the lande vntill this time, which it doth not. Wherfore, as often the whol is put for the part, vz. eternitie for a certaine time: so here the part is put for the whole, an age for eternitie. This also maketh a difference betweene earthly Princes, and the mightie Iehouah, They haue kingdome, power, and glory for a short time, but hee absolutely and for euer. 2. The vses. 1. HEre wee learne in praier, to abase our selues before God, and vtterly to deny all that is in vs. Kingdome, power, & glory, is all his, not ours: wee are no better then rebels and traitors to him: if we haue any good thing, it is frō him, euen the grace whereby we pray. And hee that in praier will not confesse this, shal no more be heard, then the insolent begger that wil not acknowledg his want. 2. Secondly, againe in praier we learne, that we must be perswaded of two things, and build vpon them, Gods power and will: his power, in that he is able, his wil, in that he is careful to performe our requests, as it was noted in the preface: the first of these, is set out in his kingdome, and power. The second is noted, in that glory is his, 2. Cor. 1. 20. For al the promises of God in him ar yea, & Amen, vnto the glory of God. 3. And hence wee gather, that praier and thanks-giuing must go together; for as in the six petitions wee made request to GOD; so in these wordes, we giue him thanks and praise him. Phil. 4. 6. But in al thinges, let your requests be shevved to God in praier and supplication, vvith thanksgiuing. There is none, but in want he will be ready to pray: but when we haue receiued, we ar slack in giuing of thanks: but hee which wil pray aright, must join thē both together. And the sum of all Gods praise stands in these three points. 1. That he is an absolute King. 2. Secondly, that hee hath absolute power to rule al thinges. 3. That hauing power and a kingdome, he hath glory also, which appears in the holding of his kingdome, and the [illegible: 1 letter]hewing of his power in gouerning of it. 4. Whatsoeuer we ask, we must refer it to Gods glorie: this is the first thing, which wee were taught to craue, and the [illegible: 1 word] we ar to performe, because it is noted both in the beginning & end of the praier Thus muche of the vse of these words altogether. Now let vs mak vse of thē particularly. First, where as we say, Thine is the kingdome. Magistrates and rulers must knowe, that all the authoritie and rule which they haue is from the Lord; & therefore they must remember to order themselues as gods Vicegerents, vsing their power to bring men in subjection to Gods lawes: and referring all their callings to his glorie. 2 Where we say▪ Thine is the power. Wee are admonished, when we are to performe anie worke, as to doe seruice to God, to walk in our callings, that we haue no power of our selues: and for this cause wee must ask power at Gods handes, that we may be enabled to walke vprightly before him, and doe our duties. 3 In saying, Thine is the glory, we learn, that if we wold haue a good report and praise among men: wee must aboue all things, seeke Gods glorie, not regarding so much our own. If he giue thee praise among men, giue him thankes: if not, be content, because al glorie is his.

Amen. 1. The meaning. VVE haue heard the preface, and the petitions what they are: Now followeth the third part, which is the assent or testification of faith, required in prayer, in this word Amen. And it containes more than men at the first woulde imagine: It signifies Certainlie▪ so be it, or, it shal be so. 2. Cor. 1. 20. It is often taken for a bare assent of the people, saying Amen to the Minister: but in this place it containes more: for euerie point in this prayer, is not onlie a direction for publike prayer, but for priuate also, and must be saide as well of the Minister, as of the people. Nowe then, there being two principall thinges in prayer: the first a desire of grace: the secōd faith, whereby wee beleeue that God will grant things desired. The first is expressed in the sixe petitions: The latter is set forth in this worde Amen, carrying this sence in effect. As we haue craued these thinges at thy handes, O Lord, so we doe beleeue, that for Christ his sake, in good time thou wilt grant them to vs. Therefore, this part is more excellent than the former, by howe much our faith is more excellent than our desire. For in this word is contained the testification of our faith, whereas the petitions are onlie testifications of our desires. And as it is in the end, so also it is the seale of our prayers, to make them authentical, and it is to be vsed (as I take it) not onlie for this end, to answer the Minister, but also to testifie our faith, for the things desired. 2 Grace to be desired. HEreby wee are taught, what grace we ar to shew in praier. We must labour to giue assent to Gods promises, when we pray, & striue against doubting and vnbeleefe. Mar. 9. 11. Lord, I beleeue, Lord help my vnbeleefe. Psal. 42. 11. Why art thou cast down my soul? and why art thou [illegible: 1 word] within me: wait on god. Manie there are, that wil stande vpon the strength of their faith, & plead for themselues, that they neuer doubted, but they ar far wide: for true faith, beeing imperfect, is alwaies accompanied with doubting▪ more or lesse: Wherefore, the heart which feeles no doubting, is not filled with faith, but with presumption. As for them, which are molested with doubtings, & complaine of them, they haue lesse cause to feare, for as fire and water do neuer striue til they meete, no more doth doubting and vnbeleefe, til faith come into a man. To conclude, we see what an excellent worke prayer is, in which, two moste excellent graces of a Christian man bee shewed foorth: hungring after mercy & faith: this might moue men to learn to pray, praier being the exercise of grace.

Of the vse of the Lords praier. THe principal vse of the Lords prayer is, to direct God his Church, in making their praiers in all places, at al times, and vpon all occasions, though their praiers should be innumerable: and vnles they be framed after this, they can not be right. In the vsing of it for direction, there be three thinges required. 1 The first is, the knowledge of the Lordes prayer, and al the partes thereof. He that would pray by it, must vnderstād the meaning therof, the wants therein to be bewailed, and the graces to bee desired, for which end it hath bin expounded. 2. Knowing this, there is in the seconde place required thus much skil, that he be able to referr euerie want & grace to one of the sixe petitions: for example: feeling in himselfe pride of heart, he must be able to say, this is a want in the first petition: and feeling a rebellion & slownes in doing Gods commandment, he must be able to say, this is a sin to be prayed against in the 3. petition. Thus, euery want he must refer to his proper hed; again, he must refer euery grace to be desired, to one of the sixe petitions: is strēgth in temptation to the sixt; assiance in Gods prouidence to the fourth; knowledge of God to the first, &c. and so in the rest. 3. In the third place, he must before he pray, consider what bee his wantes and imperfections, which moste trouble him, as also the graces which he wold obtain: then, for the helping of his memorie, he must goe to the petitions, and he must set those thinges first in his mind, which do concern the first petition; and those which concern the second petition, must haue the second place in his mind and so he must proceed in order as shall haue occasion. Thus a man keeping in minde the order of the petitions as they stand, shall be able by referring euery grace and want vnto his proper head, to mak a distinct prayer, and to varie it as time, place, and other occasions shall moue him. Quest. Must we of necessity follow al the petitions in conceiuing a praier? An. No, but only those which doe principallie belong to the time, place & occasion; as Paule maketh a prayer, Col. 1. 9. 10. and all the points of it may be referred to the third and last petitions. Againe, a Christian man may mak an excellent confession of his sins by this praier, if he shal, keping the order of the petitions, confesse and bewaile the sins which euerie petition requires vs to pray against: & it serues to mak a thanksgiuing to God: Thus, let a man remember all the graces which he hath receiued from God: let him then refer them to the petitions, and giue thankes to God after the order of them, turning euery petition into a thanksgiuing. Of the circumstances of prayer. Quest. 1. Whether a man is to vse a voice in prayer? Ans. In publik praier it is requisite that there bee a voice, for the Minister is the month of the people, and to the prayer which hee conceiues, they giue assent. For priuate prayer, vsing of a voice is conuenient: yet so, as it may be done in silence. 1. the Lord gaue vs the voyce, as well as the heart to blesse him withall. Iam. 3. 9. 2 God created the tong as wel as the heart, and so will bee praised by both. 3 The voice often stir▪ vp the heart; and againe, the vehemēcie of affection doth often draw out a voice: the voice then in priuate prayer is requisite, yet in some cases may bee omitted, for it is not absolutely necessarie. Moses and Anna prayed in silence. Quest. 2. What gesture is to bee vsed in prayer? An. The word doth not affoord any certain direction. Our Sauiour & his Disciples praied in diuers gestures, kneling, standing, groueling, looking to heauen, looking downe to the earth, sitting, lying, &c. Luk. 11. 41. Act. 7 God respectes not the gesture, but the affection of the heart; yet two thinges must be alwaies in the gesture: 1. that it be comelie. 2. that it do fitlie expresse the affection of the hart; as when we ask mercie, to look to heauen, when wee bewaile our sins, to look downward, &c. Question. 3. What place must we pray in? An. The place is set down, 1. Tim. 2. 8. we may pray in all places, of which ther is no difference: Some will say, that in the time of the Law, the Tabernacle and Temple were places for diuine prayer. Ans. The Temple and Tabernacle wer types of Christ, & his Church, and the vnitie of it: but now, wee hauing the thing it selfe, signified thereby, may pray in al places. Our Sauior prayed in the wildernes, on the Mount; Peter on the house top Paule by the sea shore: yet so, that publik praier must be vsed in publike places, as Churches, chappels, &c. not because in them is more holinesse, but for orders sake. Quest. 4. What is the time appointed for praier? Ans. Praie continuallie. 1. The 5. 7. that is, vpon al occasions, or whē a man begins any busines, whether it be in word, or deed, Col. 3. 17. or as Daniel, who praied thrise euerie daie. Dan. 6. 11. or as Dauid, who praied at euening morning, and noontide, Ps. 55. 18 and seuen times a daie. vz. many. Psa. 119. 140. Thus we shal pray continuallie. Euery day affoords three especial occasions. 1. The entrance to our callings in the morning. 2. The receiuing of Gods creatures at noonetide. 3. the going to rest at night.

Of Gods hearing our praiers. HItherto we haue spoken of the making of prayer to God: a word or two of God his hearing our prayers. Question. How many waies doth God hear mens praiers? Ans. Two waies. The first in his mercie, when he graunts the requests of such as call vpon him in the feare of his name. Secondly, hee heares mens praiers in his wrath. Thus he gaue the Israelites, quailes according to their desire. Psalme 78. 29. 30. 31. Thus often men curse themselues, and wish that they were dead: and accordinglie they haue their wish. Quest. 2. Why doth God defer to hear the praiers of his seruants? Ans. 1. to prooue them by delay. 2. To exercise their saith. 3. To make them acknowledge, that the things which they receiue, ar gods gifts, and not from themselues▪ 4. That graces quickly giuen might not be lightlie estemed 5. That an hungring after grace, might bee sharpened and increased. Quest. After what maner doth God hear his seruants prayers. An. Two waies. First, by granting the thing which was asked according to his will. Secondly, by denying the thing desired, and by giuing somthing proportional to it. Thus God denies temporary blessings, and in the roome thereof, giues eternall in heauen. Thus he refuseth to remoue the crosse from his servantes, and giues in stead thereof strength and patience. Christ praied that the cup might bee remooved. It was not remooued, but hee in his manhood was enabled to beare the wrath of God. When ded in loue, maie be able to comprehend vvith all Saintes, vvhat is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, 19 And know the loue of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye maie bee filled vvith all fulnesse of God. 20 Vnto him therefore, that is able to doe exceeding aboundant lie, aboue all that vve aske or thinke, according to the power that vvorketh in vs, 21 Be praise in the Churche by Christ Iesus, throughout all generations for euer, Amen.

The Exposition. THese wordes containe two partes, a praier, and a thanksgiuing. In the praier these pointes are to be marked. First, the gesture; I bowe my knees, whereby Paul signifieth, his humble submission vnto God in praier. Secondly, To whom he praies. To the father; who is described by two titles: the first, the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, and that by nature, as he is God, and as hee is man, by personall vnion. The other title: Of vvhome the whole familie which is in heauen and earth, is named: In which words, is set down a description of the Church, first it is a Familie, because it is the company of Gods elect children, vnder the gouernment of one Father: 1. Timoth. 3. 15. It is called the house of God. Ephes. 2. 19. They that beleeue, are saide to be of the household of God: Secondly, the partes of the Catholicke Church are noted, namely, the Saintes in heauen departed, and saintes liuing on earth: Thirdly, it is said to be named of the Father of Christ, because as the Father of Christ, is the Father of this familie; so also this familie is called by him. Genes. 6. 2. Dan. 9. 18. Thirdly, the matter of the praier standes of foure moste worthie points. The first, is strength, to bear the crosse, and to resist spiritual temptations, vers. 16. where this strenth is sette out by diuers arguments. First, that it is the meere gifte of God, that he wold grant you: Secondly, the cause of strength, by his spirit: Thirdly, the subiect or place, wher this strength must bee, in the inner man: that is, in the whole man, so farre foorth, as hee is renewed by grace. Ephes. 9. 24. The second is, the dwelling of Christ, by faith in their hearts: Faith is, when a man beeing seriously humbled for his sinnes, is further in consciēce perswaded, and resolued of the pardon of thē, and of reconciliation to god. Now where this perswasion is indeede, there followes necessarilie, Christs dwelling in the heart, which stands in two thinges; the first, is the ordering and ruling of the thoghts, affections and desires of the heart, according to his will, as a maister rules in his house: the second, is the continuance of his rule. For hee cannot be saide to dwell in a place, who rules in it but for a day. The third, is the knowledg, and the acknowledgement of the infinite greatnes of God his loue in Christ, an effect of the former, vers. 18. 19. the wordes are thus explaned. Rooted and grounded. Here the loue of God, wherewith hee loues the elect, is as a roote and foundation of all Gods benefits; election, vocation, iustification, and glorification: Men ar rooted and grounded in loue, when Gods spirite assures their hearts of Gods loue, & doth giue them some inward sense and feeling of it. For then they are as it were sensiblie put into the roote, and laid on the foundation: With al Saintes: Paule desires this benefite, not onely to the Ephesians, but also for all the faithfull with them. What is the length, the bredth. Here is a speech borrowed from Geomitricians, and it signifieth the absolute greatnes, or infinitenes of Gods loue, and that it is like a worlde, which for length bredth, height & depth, is endles. Heere note the order of receuing grace. First, Christ dwelles in the hart by faith: Secondly, thē comes a sense and feeling of Gods loue, as it were, by certain drops thereof: Thirdly, after this, ariseth a plētifull knowledge, and apprehension of Gods loue, and as it wer the powring out of a sea into a mans heart, that for greatnes, hath neither bottome nor bank. And knowe the loue of Christ, these wordes (as I take it) are an exposition of the former, for to comprehende the loue of God, is nothing else, but to knowe the loue of Christ: considering, that all whome the father loueth, hee loueth them in Christ: Which passeth knowledge: That is, which for the greatnes of it, noe man can fullie know. The fourth thing, is the fulnesse of Gods graces. verse 19. Here the fulnesse of God, doth not signifie the fulnes of the Godhead, or deuine nature, but the perfection of the inner man, which shall not be till after this life, Nowe followes the thāksgiuing, or the praise of God, ver. 20. 21. containing these points 1. The matter of praise, his power and bountifulnes, whereby he canne worke exceeding aboundantly, aboue all we ask or think: and both these are not only to be conceiued in mind, but also may be felt in the heart, according to the power that worketh in vs. 2. the forme of praise, glorie vnto God by Christ, as all benefits are receiued from the father by Christ. The proper place of true praise of God the Church. 4. The continuance of his praise, through all generations for euer.

Philip. 1. 9. AND this I praie, that your loue maie abound yet more and more, in knowledg and al sense. 10. That yee may discerne things that differ: to the end, yee may be pure and without offence, to the daie of Christ. 11. Filled with fruites of righteousnes, vvhich are by Iesus Christ, vnto the praise and glorie of God. The Exposition THis praier containes three parts. In the first, Paul praieth for increase of loue in the Philip. whether it be to God or to men, verse 9. and he shewes the meanes of increase, which ar two: knowledg and sense or feeling. For (to goe backeward) the more a godly man feeles Gods loue, and hath experience of Gods word in himselfe, the more he knowes Gods word, and perceiues his loue vnto him: the more hee is assured of Gods loue, the more he loues god again, and his neighbour for his sake. The second thing praied for, is the gift of discerning, whereby mē know what is true, what fals, what is to be done, what to be left vndone: the ends of this gift ar two. The first, that by meanes of it, they may bee pure or sincere: that is, keepe a good conscience before God and men, in their liues and callings. The second is, to be without offence: that is, innocent, giuing no occasions of euill to any, and not taking thē offered by others: and the continuance of these is noted, to the daie of Christ, which is the time in which he commeth to vs, either by our death, or by the last judgement. Thirdly, he praieth, that they might abounde in good workes, which ar described by a similitud; fruits of righteousnes: Christians being, fruitfull trees. Exech. 4. 7. 12. Esay. 61. 3. 2. By the cause efficient, which ar by Christ. 3. By the end, vnto the glorie and praise of God.

Colos. 1. 9 I cease not to praie for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with knowledg of his will, in all wisedome and spirituall vnderstanding. 10. That ye might vvalk vvorthie of the lord, & please him in al things, fructifying in all good workes, and increasing in the acknowledgment of God. 11 Strengthened vvith all might thorough his glorious power, vnto all patience, and long suffering vvith ioyfulnes. 12 Giuing thanks to the father, which hath made vs fit to be partakers of the inheritāce of the saints in light. 13 Who hath deliuered vs from the power of darknesse and hath translated vs into the kingdome of his owne sonne. The Exposition. THese wordes containe a praier and a thankesgiuing. In the praier, three things are asked. The first is the increase of the knowledge of Gods reueiled vvill in his worde, and he deuides it into two partes: Wisdom, which is not only to know Gods word, but also to apply it to euery action, for the right and holy performing thereof: and spiritual vnderstanding: which is, when men by the assistance of Gods spirit, do conceiue the will of God in general, without applying. Secondly, Paule praies for the fruites of this knowledge, which are foure. 1. To walke woorthy of God, as good seruants do, who in their apparell, gesture, and all their doings, [illegible: 1+ pages]

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's-Prayer. MATTH. 6. 6, 7, 8. But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy Closet, and when thou hast shut the Door, pray to thy Father, &c. I Intend to go over the Lord's Prayer; and to make way for it, I shall speak a little of these foregoing Verses, wherein our Lord treats of the Duty of Prayer, and the Necessity of being much therein. In the beginning of this Chapter our Lord taxeth the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees, which was plainly to be seen in all their Duties: their Alms, their Prayers, and their Fasting I. For their Alms. Christ deals with that in the four first Verses. It seems it was their Fashion when they gave Alms to sound a Trumpet; and their Pretence was to call all the Poor within hearing: Or to give notice that such a Rabby giveth Alms to Day. Now our Lord sheweth, that tho this were the fair pretence to call the Poor, yet their Heart was meerly upon their own Glory, their own Esteem with Men; and therefore he perswades his Disciples to greater Secresy in this Work; and to content themselves with God's Approbation, which will be open, and manifest, and honourable enough in due time, when the Arch-Angel shall blow the Trumpet to call all the World together, 1 Thes. 4. 16. And Christ shall publish their good Works in the hearing of Men and Angels, Matth. 25. 34, 35, 36. Thus he deals with them upon the point of Alms. II. For their Prayers; Christ taxeth their Affectation of Applause, because they sought out places of the greatest Resort, the Synagogues and Corners of the Streets, and there did put themselves into a praying Posture, that they might be seen of Men, and appear to be Persons of great Devotion, and so might the better accomplish their own Ends; their Publick Designs upon the Stage (for the Pharisees were great Sticklers at that time) and also their private Designs upon Widows Houses, that they might be trusted with the management of Widows and Orphans Estates, as being devout Men, and of great Sanctity and Holiness. In which Practice, there was a double Failing: 1. As to the Circumstance of Place, performing a personal and solitary Prayer in a publick Place, which was a great Indecorum, and argued the Action to be Scenical, or brought upon the Stage meerly for publick Applause. And certainly, that private Praying which is used by Men in Churches, doth justly come under our Lord's Reproof. 2. Their next Failing was as to their End: [Verily they do it to be seen of Men.] Object. But what Fault was there in this? Doth not Christ himself direct us in his Sermon, Mat. 5. 16. Let your Light so shine before Men, that they may see your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven? And yet the Pharisees are here taxed for praying, fasting, and giving Alms, that they might be seen of Men; How can these Places stand together? By way of Answer: 1. We must distinguish of the different Scope and Intention of Christ in these two places: There, Christ's Scope is to commend and enjoin good Works to be seen of Men, ad edificationem, for their Edification; Here, his Scope is to forbid us to do good Works to be seen of Men, ad ostentationem, for our own Ostentation: There, Christian Charity to the Souls of Men is commended; and here, Vain-Glory is forbidden. 2. Again, Good Works are to be distinguished. Some are so truly and indeed; others only in outward shew and appearance. Good Works; that are truly so and indeed, Christ enjoins there; Hypocritical and feigned Acts, that are only so in outward shew and semblance, are forbidden here. To pray is a good Work, take inward and outward Acts of it together, and so 'tis enjoined: But hypocritical and superstitious Prayer, which hath only the face and shew of Goodness; this is forbidden. 3. We must distinguish of the Ends of good Works; principal, and subordinate; adequate, and inadaequate. First, the principal and primary End of good Works, must not be that we may be seen of Men, but the Glory of God; but now the subordinate, or less principal End may be to be seen of Men. Again, it must not be our adequate End, (that is) our whole and main Intention and Scope; but a collateral and Side-End it may be. It is one thing to do good Works, only that they may be seen; it is another thing to do good Works, that they may not only be seen, but also be imitated, to win others by them to give Glory to God. It is one thing to do good Works for the Glory of God, another thing to do them for the Glory of our selves: We may do good Works to be seen, in the first respect, but not in the last. We may not pray, with the Pharisees, meerly to be seen of Men; yet we may let our Light shine before Men, to draw them to Duty, and give more Glory to God. 4. Again, There Christ speaks of the general Bent of our Conversation, and here only of particular and private Duties: It would argue too much Hypocrisy to do these in publick, tho the whole Frame and Course of our Carriage before Men, must be religious in their sight. And that is agreeable to what the Apostle saith, 2 Cor. 8. 21. We should provide for honest Things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of Men. And, Phil. 2. 15. Christians are advised there, to be blameless and harmless, the Sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crook'd and perverse Generation, shining among them as Lights in the World. That which is obvious to the Sight and Observance of Men, must be such as will become our holy Calling: But our private and particular Duties, which are to pass between God and us, these must be out of sight. I hope another Man may approve himself to be honest and religious to me, tho he doth not fall down, and make his personal and private Prayers before me. But to leave no scruple, if possible; 5. We must distinguish of the diverse Significations of that Phrase which is used here, [non-Latin text not transcribed], [That we may be seen.] There is a twofold Sence of [non-Latin text not transcribed], or That: It may be taken two ways, as they speak, either causally, or eventually. Causally, and then it implies and imports the End and Scope why we do such a thing, namely, for this very purpose, that we may obtain it. And thus the Pharisees here did pray, [non-Latin text not transcribed], that they might be seen of Men, (that is) this was their main End and Scope. Thus That is taken causally. Secondly, That, sometimes is taken eventually, and then it doth not import the End and Scope, but only the Event that will fall out, and follow upon such a thing. Thus That is often taken in Scripture. Iohn 9. 39. Christ saith there, For Iudgment I am come into the World, that they which see not, might see; and that they which see, might be made blind. 'Twas not Christ's Scope to do so, but Christ foresaw that this would be the Event of his coming into the World, and therefore he saith, That, &c. So Luke 14. 10. Christ tells them there, But when thou art bidden to a Feast, go and sit down in the lowest Room, that when he that [illegible: 1 letter]ade thee comes, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at Meat with thee. That is taken eventually, not causally: for Christ doth not bid them there, to set themselves at the lower End of the Table, for this very end, or to make this their scope: that is the thing he forbids, Affectation of Precedency: But that, hoc est, then it will follow, (that is) this is likely to be the Event; then the Master of the House will come to you, if you do this. Not that it should be your Scope to feign Humility, that you may obtain the highest Place at the Table. And so may Christ's Words be taken, Let your Light so shine, &c. This will fall out upon it then, Men will be conscious to your Christian Carriage, and gracious Behaviour, and by that means God will be much honoured and glorified: There it is taken eventually. But here it is taken causally, The Pharisees did it that they might be seen of Men; that is, this was their Scope, and principal Intention. And thus may you reconcile these two Places of Scripture. Well now, Christ having taxed them for these two Faults: For their undue Place, the Synagogue, and Corners of the Streets, being unfit for a private and personal Act of Worship; and for their End, that they might be seen of Men: He saith, They have their Reward: That is, the whole Debt is paid, they can challenge nothing at God's hands. God will be behind-hand with none of his Creatures. As they have what they look'd for, so they must expect no more; they must be content with their Penny. The Phrase is borrowed from Matters of Contract between Man and Man, and is a Word proper to those which give a Discharge for a Debt. As Creditors, and Money-Lenders, when they are paid home the full Sum which is due to them, then they can exact no more: So here, they must be contented with the empty windy Puffs of Vain-Glory, and to feed upon the unsavoury Breath of the People, they can expect no more from God; for the Bond is cancell'd, and they have received their full Reward already. Briefly, here is the Difference, in the several Rewards that the Hypocrites and the Children of God have: The Hypocrites, they are all for the present, and have their Reward, and much good may it do them; there is not a Jot behind, 'twill be in vain to expect any more: But now for the Children of God, your Father will reward you; they must expect and wait for the future. And yet in Scripture we read oftentimes, that the Children of God have their Reward in this Life; but then the Word in the Original is [non-Latin text not transcribed], which signifieth they have but in part; not the Word which is used here, [non-Latin text not transcribed], which signifies they have what is due, 'tis fulfilled, paid them. So those Expressions in Scripture are to be taken: Ye have eternal Life; And he hath; And that ye may have. 'Tis often spoken in Scripture of the Children of God, so that they seem to have their Reward too. They have their Reward, but it is partially, not totally: There is something, the best Things, yet behind. A Child of God, he hath Promises, First-Fruits, some Beginnings of Communion with God here; but he looks for greater Things to come. Well then, Christ (having disproved the Practice of the Pharisees) seeks to set his own Disciples right in the management of their Prayers, as well as in their Alms. Pharisaism is very natural in the best. We are apt to be haunted with a carnal Spirit in the best Duties, not only in Alms, where we have to do with Men, but in Prayer, where our Business lieth wholly with God, especially in Publick Prayer; even there much of Man will creep in. The Devil is like a Flie, which if driven from one place, pitcheth upon another; so drive him out of Alms, and he will seek to taint your Prayers. Therefore Christ, to rectify his Disciples in their personal and solitary Prayers, instructs them to withdraw into some place of Recess and Retirement, and to be content with God, for Witness, Approver, and Judg. But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy Closet, and when thou hast shut thy Doors, pray to thy Father which is in secret, &c. In which Words you may observe, I. A Supposition concerning solitary Prayer: But thou when thou prayest. II. A Direction about it: Enter into thy Closet, and shut thy Door, and pray to thy Father which is in secret. III. Encouragement to perform it: And thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Where two Things are asserted: 1. God's Sight; He is conscious to thy Prayers, when others are not. 2. God's Reward: He will reward thee openly. To open the Circumstances of the Text: I. In the Supposition, But thou when thou prayest. Observe: 1. Christ takes it for granted, that his Disciples will pray to God: He doth not say, If thou prayest, but when thou prayest, as supposing them to be sufficiently convinced of this Duty of being often with God in private. 2. I observe again, Christ speaks of solitary Prayer, when a Man alone, and without Company, pours out his Heart to God: Therefore Christ speaks in the singular Number, When thou prayest; not plurally and collectively, When ye pray, or meet together in Prayer. Therefore he doth not forbid Publick Praying in the Assemblies of the Saints, or Family-Worship; both are elsewhere required in Scripture. God hath made Promises to publick, and Church-Prayer, praying with Men, or before Men: Mat. 18. 19. When two or three are met together, and shall agree on Earth, as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them, of my Father which is in Heaven. And when they shall agree in one publick Prayer, it seems to have a greater Efficacy put upon it: When more are interessed in the same Prayer; when with a combined Force, they do as it were besiege the God of Heaven, and will not let him go, unless he leaves a Blessing. Look as the Petition of a Shire and County to Authority, is more than a private Man's Supplication: So when we meet as a Church to pray, and as a Family, there is combined Strength. And in this Sence that Saying of the School-men is Orthodox enough, viz. That Prayer made in the Church hath a more easy Audience with God; why? because of the Concurrence of many which are met there to worship God. Christ doth not intend in this, any way to justle out that, which he seeks to establish elsewhere. Let your Intentions be secret, tho your Prayers be publick and open in the Family, or Assemblies of the Saints. II. Let us open the Direction our Lord gives about solitary Prayer. The Direction is suited so as to avoid the double Error of the Pharisees, their Offence as to Place, and as to the Aim and End. 1. Their Offence as to the Place: Enter into thy Closet, and shut thy Door. These Words are not to be taken metaphorically, nor yet pressed too literally. Not metaphorically, (as some would carry them) Descend into thy Heart, be serious and devout with God in the Closet of thy Soul, which is the most inward Recess and retiring Place of Man. This were to be wanton with Scripture. The literal Sence is not to be left without necessity, nor yet pressed too literally, as if Prayer should be confined to a Chamber and Closet: Christ prayed in the Mountain, Mat. 14. 23. and, Gen. 24. 63. Isaac went into the Field to meditate. The meaning is, Private Prayer must be performed in a private Place, retired from Company, and the Sight of Men, as much as may be. 2. Christ rectifieth them as to the End: Pray to thy Father which is in secret: That is, Pray to God, who is in that private Place, tho he cannot be seen with bodily Eyes: Wherein Christ seems secretly to tax the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who did rather pray to Men, than to God, who was invisible; because all their Aim was to be approved of Men, and to be cried up by them as devout Persons. So that what the Lord saith concerning Fasting, Zech. 7. 5, 6. When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh Month, even those seventy Years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for your selves, and drink for your selves? So here, was this unto God? No, tho the Force and Sound of the Words carried it for God, yet they were directed to Men. When God is not made both the Object and Aim, it is not to him: when you seek another Pay-Master, you decline God, yea, you make him your Footstool, a Step to some other Thing. III. Here are the Encouragements to this personal, private, and solitary Prayer; and they are taken from God's Sight, and God's Reward. 1. From God's Sight: Thy Father seeth in secret; that is, observeth thy Carriage. The Posture and Frame of thy Spirit, the Fervor and Uprightness of Heart, which thou manifestest in Prayer, is all known to him. Mark, that which is the Hypocrites Fear, and binds Condemnation upon the Heart of a wicked Man, is here made to be the Saints Support, and ground of Comfort, that they pray to an All-seeing God. 1 Iohn 3. 20. If our Hearts condemn us, God is greater than our Hearts, and knoweth all Things. Their heavenly Father seeth in secret, he can interpret their Groans, and read the Language of their Sighs. Tho they fail as to the outside of a Duty, and there be much brokenness of Speech; yet God seeth brokenness of Heart there, and it's that he looks after. God seeth; what's that? He seeth whether thou prayest or no, and how thou prayest. (1.) He seeth whether thou prayest or no; mark that Passage, Acts 9. 11. The Lord said to Ananias, Arise, and go into the Street which is called Straight, and enquire in the House of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus; for behold, he prayeth. Go into such a City, such a Street, such a House, such a Part, in such a Chamber, behold, he prayeth. The Lord knew all these Circumstances. It is known unto him, whether we toil or loiter away our Time, or whether we pray in secret; He knows what House, in what Corner of the House, what we are doing there. (2.) He seeth how you pray. Rom. 8. 27. It is propounded as the Comfort of the Saints, And he that searcheth the Heart, knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit. God knoweth you throughly, and can distinguish of your Prayers, whether they be customary and formal, or serious Acts of Love to God, and Communion with him. 2. The other thing which is propounded here, is God's Reward: And he will reward thee openly. How doth God reward our Prayers? Not for any Worth or Dignity which is in them. What Merit can there be in begging? what doth a Beggar deserve in asking Alms? But it is out of his own Grace and Mercy, having by Promise made himself as it were a Debtor to a poor faithful and believing Supplicant. But He will reward thee openly; how is that? Either by a sensible Answer to thy Prayers, as he doth often to his Children, by granting what they pray for; as when Daniel was praying in secret, God sent an Angel to him, Dan. 9. 20. Or by an evident Blessing upon their Prayers in this World, for the conscionable Performance of this Duty. Abraham, Isaac; and Iacob, that were Men of much Communion with God, were eminently and sensibly blessed; they were rewarded openly, for their secret Converse with him. Or it may be, by giving them Respect externally in the Eyes of others. A praying People dart Conviction into the Consciences of Men. It is notable, that Pharaoh in his Distress sent for Moses and Aaron, and not for the Magicians. The Consciences of wicked Men are open at such a time, and they know God's Children have special Favour, and great Audience with him; and he having the Hearts of all Men in his hands, can manage and dispose Respect, according as he pleaseth: And when they are in Distress, this Honour God hath put upon you, they shall send for you to pray with them; and those which honour him, tho but in secret, God will openly put Honour upon them, 1 Sam. 2. 30. But chiefly this is meant at the Day of Iudgment; then those which pray in secret, their heavenly Father will reward them openly. When thou relievest the Poor, and shewest Comfort to the Needy, they cannot recompence thee; but then thou shalt be recompensed, at the Resurrection of the Just, Luke 14. 14. There's the great and most publick Reward of Christians. 1 Cor. 4. 5. Then he will bring to Light the hidden Things of Darkness, and will make manifest the Counsels of the Heart; and then shall every Man have Praise with God: That is, every Man that is praise-worthy, however he be mistaken, and judged of the World; for the Apostle speaks it to comfort them against the Censures of Men. And mark, this is opposed to the reward which the Pharisees pleased themselves with: It was much with them to be well thought of in such a Synagogue, or before such a Company of Men; but your Father which seeth in secret, will reward you openly, (that is) not only in the Eyes of such a City, or Town, but before all the World. The Point is this. Doct. That private, solitary, and Closet-Prayer is a Duty very necessary and profitable. It is a necessary Duty, for Christ supposeth it of his Disciples, to whom he speaks: But thou, when thou prayest, &c. And it is profitable, for unto it God makes Promises; you have a Father which seeth in secret, and one day shall be owned before all the World. First; It's a Duty Necessary; and that will appear, 1. From God's Precept: That Precept which requireth Prayer, requireth secret and Closet-Prayer: For God's Command to pray, first falls upon single Persons, before it falls upon Families and Churches, which are made up of single Persons; therefore where God hath bidden thee to pray, you must take that Precept as belonging to you in particular. I shall give some of the Precepts, Col. 4. 2. Continue in Prayer, and watch in the same with Thanksgiving. And 1 Thes. 5. 17. Pray without ceasing. These are principally meant of our personal Addresses to God, every Man for himself; for in joyning with others, the Work is rather imposed upon us, than taken up upon choice; and that can only be at stated Times, when they can conveniently meet together; but we our selves are called upon to continue to pray, and that without ceasing, (that is) to be often with God, and to keep up not only a praying Frame, but a constant Correspondence with him. Surely every Man which acknowledgeth a God, a Providence, and that depends upon him for Blessings; much more every one that pretends he hath a Father in Heaven, in whose Hands are the Guidance of all the things of the World, is bound to pray personally and alone; by himself to converse with God. 2. I shall argue it from the Example of Christ, which bindeth us, and hath the force of a Law in things moral; as Christ's Word is our Rule, so his Practice is our Copy. This is true Religion, to imitate him whom we worship. In this you must do as Christ did. Now we often read that Christ pray'd alone, he went aside to pray to God; therefore if we be Christians, so it should be with us. Mark 1. 35. And in the Morning rising up a great while before Day, he went out and departed into a solitary Place, and there prayed. He left the Company of his Disciples, with whom he often joyned, that he might be alone with God betimes in the Morning. And again, you have it, Mat. 14. 23. And when he had sent the Multitude away, he went up into a Mountain apart to pray; and when the Evening was come, he was there alone. And Luk. 6. 12. It is said, He went out into a Mountain to pray, and continued all Night in Prayer to God. You see Christ takes all Occasions in retiring and going apart to God. Now the Pattern of Christ is both engaging and encouraging. It is very engaging: Shall we think our selves not to need that Help which Christ would submit unto? There are many proud Persons which think themselves above Prayer. Christ had no need to pray as we have, he had the Fulness of the God-head dwelling in him bodily, yet he was not above Prayer. And if he had need of Prayer, he had no need of Retirement, to go and pray alone; his Affections always served, and he was not pestered with any Distraction; and all Places and Companies were alike to him; and yet he would depart into a solitary Place that he might be private with God. Then the Pattern of Christ is very encouraging: For whatever Christ did, he sanctified in that respect; his Steps in every Duty leave a Blessing. Look as Christ sanctified Baptism by being baptized himself, and made the Water of Baptism to be saving and comfortable for us; and the Lord's-Supper, by being a Guest himself, and eating himself at his own Table; So he sanctified private Prayer; when he prayed, a Virtue went out from him, he left a Strength to enable us to pray. And it is encouraging in this respect, because he hath experimented this Duty; he knows how soon human Strength is spent and put to it, for he himself hath been wrestling with God in Prayer with all his Might. His submitting to these Duties, gave him Sympathy; he knows the Heart of a praying Man when wrestling with God with all Earnestness; therefore he helpeth us in these Agonies of Spirit. Again, his praying is an Encouragement against our Imperfections. Christians, when we are alone with God, and our Hearts are heavy as a Log and Stone, what a Comfort is it to think Christ himself prayed, and that earnestly, and was once alone wrestling with God in human Nature: Matth. 14. 23. and when the Enemy came to attach him, he was alone striving with God in Prayer; he takes all occasions for Intercourse with God; and if you have the Spirit you will do likewise. 3. I might argue from God's end in pouring out the Holy-Ghost; wherefore hath God poured out his Spirit? Zech. 12. 11, 12, 13, 14. I will pour out the Spirit of Grace, and of Supplication, &c. He poureth out the Spirit, that it may break out by this Vent; the Spirit of Grace will presently run into Supplication; the whole House of Israel shall mourn, there's the Church, they have the Benefit of the pouring out of the Spirit; and every Houshold hath benefit, that he and his Family may mourn apart, and every Person apart; that we may go and mourn over our Case and Distempers before God, and pour out our Hearts in a holy and affectionate manner. This Argument I would have you to note, that this was God's end in pouring out his Spirit, for a double reason; both to take off Excuses, and to quicken Diligence. Partly, to take off Excuses; because many say, they have no Gifts, no Readiness and Savouriness of Speech, and how can they go alone and pray to God? Certainly Men which have Necessities, and a sense of them, can speak of them in one Fashion or other to God; but the Spirit is given to help. Such is God's Condescention to the Saints, that he hath not only provided an Advocate to present our Petitions in Court, but a Notary to draw them up; not only appointed Christ for help against our Guilt and unworthiness, but likewise the Spirit to help us in Prayer; When we are apt to excuse our selves by our Weakness and Insuff[illegible: 1 letter]ciency, he hath poured out the Holy-Ghost, that we may pray apart. Partly to this end the more to awaken our Diligence. That God's precious Gift be not bestowed upon us in vain, to lie idle and unimployed, he hath poured out the Spirit, and therefore we should make use of it, not only that we may attend to the Prayers of others, and joyn with them; but that we may make use of our own share of Gifts and Graces, and open and unfold our own Case to God. 4. That it is a necessary Duty, I plead it from the Practice of the Saints, who are a praying People. O how often do we read in Scripture, that they are alone with God, pouring out their Souls in Complaints to him! nothing so natural to them as Prayer; they are called a Generation of them that seek God; Psal. 24. 6. As light Bodies are moving upward, so the Saints are looking upward to God, and praying alone to him. Daniel was three times a day with God, and would not omit his hours of Prayer, though his Life was in danger; Dan. 6. 10. And David, seven times a day do I praise thee; Psal. 119. 164. And Cornelius, 'tis said, that he prayed to God always; Acts 10. 2. not only with his Family, but alone, in holy Soliloquies: He was so frequent and diligent that he had gotten a Habit of Prayer (he prayed always.) Well then, if this be the Temper of God's People, then to be altogether, like them; when we have no delight in these private Converses with God, or neglect them, it gives just cause of Suspition. 5. Our private Necessities shew that is a necessary Duty, which cannot be so feelingly spoken to and exprest by others, as by our selves; and (it may be) are not so fit to be divulged and communicated to others; we cannot so well lay forth our Hearts with such largeness and Comfort in our own Concernments before others: There's the Plague of our own Hearts, which every one must mourn over: 1 Kings 8. 38. As we say, no Nurse like the Mother; so, none so fit, humbly with a broken Heart to set forth our own Wants before the Lord. There is some Thorn in the Flesh that we have cause to pray against again and again: For this I sought the Lord thrice, saith St. Paul, 2 Cor. 12. 7, 8. We should put Promises in suit, and lay open our own Case before the Compassions of God. It is a Help sometimes to joyn with others; but at other times it would be a Hinderance; we have peculiar Necessities of our own to commend to God, therefore must be alone. Secondly; This Closet and Solitary Prayer, as it is a necessary Duty, so it is a profitable one. 1. It conduceth much to I[illegible: 1 letter]largement of Heart. The more earnest Men are, the more they desire to be alone, free from Trouble and Distraction. When a Man weeps, and is in a mournful Posture, he seeks Secre[illegible: 1 letter]y, that he may indulge his Grief. They were to mourn apart, Zech. 12. and Ier. 13. 17. My Soul shall weep sore for your Pride in secret Places. So here, when a Man would deal most earnestly with God, he should seek Retirement, and be alone. Christ in his Agonies went apart from his Disciples. When he would pray more earnestly, it is said, He was withdrawn from them about a Stones cast; Luke 22. 41, 44. it is said, He went apart. Strong Affections are loth to be disturbed and diverted, therefore seek Retirement. And it is notable, Iacob, when he would wrestle with God, it is said, Gen. 32. 24. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the Day. When he had a mind to deal with God in good earnest, he sent away all his Company. A Hypocrite, he finds a greater flash of Gifts in his publick Duties, when he prays with others, and is the Mouth of others; but is slight and superficial when alone with God; if he feels any thing, a little overly matter serves the turn: But usually God's Children most affectionately pour out their Hearts before him in private, where they do more particularly express their own Necessities, there they find their Affections free to wrestle with God. In publick we take in the Necessities of others, but in private our own. 2. As it makes way for Enlargement of Heart on our part, so for secret Manifestations of Love on God's part. Bernard hath a Saying, The Churches Spouse is bashfull, and will not be familiar and communicate his Loves before Company, but alone. The sweetest Experiences which God's Saints receive many times, are when they are alone with him. When Daniel was praying alone with great Earnestness, the Angel Gabriel was sent, and caused to fly swiftly to him to tell him his Prayers were answered, Dan. 9. 21. And Cornelius, while he was praying alone, an Angel of God came unto him, to report the hearing of his Prayers; Acts 10. 3. and vers. 9. Peter, when he was praying alone, then God instructs him in the Mystery of the calling of the Gentiles; then had he that Vision, when he was got upon the top of the House to pray. Before we are regenerated, God appeareth to us many times when we do not think of it; but after we are regenerated, usually he appeareth upon more eminent Acts of Grace; when we are exercising our selves, and more particularly dealing with God, and putting forth the Strength of our Souls to take hold of him in private. 3. There is this profit in it; It is a mighty Solace and Support in Affliction, especially when we are censured, scorned, and despised of Men, and know not where to go to find a Friend with whom we may unbosom our Sorrow; then to go aside, and open the matter to God, it's a mighty ease to the Soul: Iob 16. 20. My Friends scorn me; but mine Eye poureth out Tears unto God. When we have a great Burden upon us, to go aside and open the matter to God, it gives Ease to the Heart, and Vent to our Grief; as Hannah in great Trouble, falls a praying to God, and then was no more sad; 1 Sam. 1. 13. As the opening of a Vein cooleth and refresheth in a Fever: So when we make known our Case to God, it is a mighty Solace in Affliction. 4. It is a great Trial of our Sincerity, of our Faith, Love, and Obedience, when we are alone, and no body knows what we do, then to see him that is invisible; Heb. 11. 27. When we are much with God in private, where we have no Reasons but those of Duty and Conscience to move us. Carnal Hypocrites will be much in outward Worship: They have their Qualms, and pray themselves weary, and do something for Fashion sake, when foraign Reasons move them; but will they so pray, as to delight themselves in the Almighty? Will they always call upon God? Job 27. 10. That Delight in God, which puts us upon Converses with God, affects Privacy. 5. It is a profitable Duty, because of the great Promises which God hath made to it. This secret and private Prayer in the Text shall have a publick Reward; it will not be lost, for God will reward it openly. So Iob 22. 21. Acquaint now thy self with him, and be at Peace; thereby Good shall come unto thee. Frequent Correspondence with, and constant Visits of God in Prayer, what Peace, Comfort, Quickning brings it into the Soul! So Psal. 69. 32. His Soul shall live that seeks the Lord. Without often seeking to God, the vitality of the Soul is lost; we may as well expect a Crop and Harvest without sowing, as any Liveliness of Grace, where there is not seeking of God. Could a Man take notice of another in a Croud, whose Face he never saw before? So, will God own and bless you in the Crouds of the Assemblies of his People, if you mind not this Duty when you are alone? APPLICATION. Vse 1. To reprove those which neglect Closet-Addresses to God; they wrong God, and themselves; 1. They wrong God: because this is a necessary part of the Creatures Homage; of that Duty he expects from them, to be owned not only in publick Assemblies, but in private. And they wrong Themselves: because it brings in a great deal of Comfort and Peace to the Soul; and many sweet and gracious Experiences there are, which they deprive themselves of, and a Blessing upon all other things. But more particularly to shew the Evil of this Sin. 1. It is a Sin of Omission; and these Sins are very dangerous, as well as Sins of Commission. Natural Conscience usually smites more for Sins of Commission, than for Sins of Omission. To wrong and beat a Father seems a more heinous and unnatural Act, then not to give him due Reverence and Attendance. We are sensible of Sins of Commission; but yet God will charge Sins of Omission as well as Commission upon you, and so will Conscience too when it is serious; when against the plain Knowledg of God's Will you can omit such a necessary part of God's Worship; Iames 4. 17. To him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is Sin: That is, it will be Sin with a Witness; Conscience will own it so, when it is awakened by the Word, or by Providence, or great Affliction, or cast upon your Death-bed; how will your own Hearts reproach you then, that have neglected God, and lost such precious Hours as you should have redeemed for Communion with him! Sins of Omission argue as great a Contempt of God's Authority, as Sins of Commission; for the same Law which forbids a Sin, doth also require a Duty from us. And Sins of Omission argue as much Hatred of God, as Sins of Commission. If two should live in the same House, and never speak to one another, it would be taken for an Argument of as great Hatred as to sight one with another: So, when God is in us, and round about us, and we never take time to confer with him, it argues much hatred and neglect of Him. And Sins of Omission are an Argument of our Vnregeneracy, as much as Sins of Commission. A Man which lives in a course of Drunkenness, Filthiness and Adultery, you would judg him to be an unregenerate Man, and that he hath such a Spot upon him as is not the Spot of God's Children: So, to live in a constant neglect of God, is an Argument of Unregeneracy, as much as to live in a course of Debauchery. The Apostle, when he would describe the Ephesians by their unconverted State, describes it thus; Eph. 2. 12. That they lived without God in the World, when God is not owned and called upon; and unless the Restraints of Men, the Law of common Education, and Custom of Nations call for it, they live without God. So Psal. 14. 1. They are corrupt, they have done abominable Works; there is none that doth Good, they are altogether become filthy; every unregenerate Man is that Atheist. There is some Dif[illegible: 1 letter]erence among unregenerate Men; some are less in the Excesses and gross Out-breakings of their Sins and Folly: some sin more, some less; but they all are abominable on this account; because they do not seek after God. And the Apostle makes use of that Argument to convince all Men to be in a State of Sin; Rom. 3. 11. There is none that seeketh after God. The Heart may be as much hardned by Omissions, (yea, sometimes more) than by Commissions. As an Act of Sin brings a Brawniness and Deadness upon the Heart; so doth the Omission of a necessary Duty. Not only the breaking of a String puts the Instrument out of Tune; but its being neglected, and not looked after. Certainly by Experience we find none so tender, so holy, so humble, and heavenly, as they which are often with God: This makes the Heart tender, which otherwise would grow hard, dead, and stupid. 2. It is not only an Omission in general, but an Omission of Prayer, which is, first, a Duty very natural to the Saints. Prayer is a Duty very natural and kindly to the new Creature. As soon as Paul was converted, the first News we hear of him, Acts 9. 11. Behold, he prayeth. As soon as we are new-born, there will be a crying out for Relief in Prayer. It is the Character of the Saints, This is the Generation of them that seek thee. Psal. 24. 6. a People much in calling upon God. And the Prophet describes them by the Work of Prayer, Zeph. 3. 10. My Supplicants: And, Zech. 12. 10. I will pour upon them the Spirit of Grace and Supplication. Where ever there is a Spirit of Grace, it presently runneth out into Prayer. Look as a Preacher is so called from the frequency of his Work; so a Christian is one that calleth upon God: Every one that calleth on the Name of the Lord, shall be saved. Rom. 10. 13. In vain he is called a Preacher, that never preacheth; so, he is in vain called a Christian, that never prayeth. As Things of an airy Nature move upward; so the Saints are carried up to God by a kind of Naturality, when they are gracious. God hath no Tongue-ty'd or dumb Children; they are all crying, Abba, Father. Then, it is an Omission of a Duty which is of great Importance, as to our Communion with God, which lieth in two Things, Fruition, and Familiarity; in the Enjoyment of God, and in being familiar and often with him: Fruition we have by Faith, and Familiarity is carried on by Prayer. There are two Duties which are never out of season, Hearing, and Prayer, both which are a holy Dialogue betwixt God and the Soul, until we come to Vision, the Sight of him in Heaven. Our Communion with God here is carried on by these two Duties: We speak to God in Prayer, God answereth us in the Word; God speaks to us in the Word, and we return and eccho back again to him in Prayer: Therefore the New Creature delighteth much in these two Duties. Look as we should be swift to hear, James 1. 19. until we come to seeing, we should take all Occasions, and be often in hearing: So in Prayer, we speak to God, and therefore should be redeeming Time for this Work. In the Word God comes down to us, and in Prayer we get up to God; therefore if you would be familiar and often with God, you must be much in Prayer. This is of great Importance. You know the very Notion of Prayer, it is a visiting of God, Isa. 26. 16. O Lord, in Trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a Prayer, when thy Chastening was upon them. Praying to God, and visiting of God, are equivalent Expressions. Now it argueth very little Friendship to God, when we will not so much as come at him. Can there be any Familiarity, where there is so much Distance and Strangeness, as never to give God a Visit? 3. It is the Omission of personal and secret Prayer, which in some respects should be more priz'd than other Prayer. Partly, because here our Converse with God is more express as to our own Case. When we join with others, God may do it for their sakes; but here, Psal. 116. 1. I love the Lord, because he hath heard [my] Voice, and [my] Supplication. When we deal with him alone, we put the Promises in Suit, and may know more it is we that have been heard: We put God more to the Trial; we see what he will do for us, and upon our asking and striving. Partly, here we are more put to the Trial, what Love we will express to our Father in secret, when we have no outward Reasons, no Inducements from Respects of Men, to move us. In publick Duties, (which are liable and open to the Observance of others) Hypocrites may put forth themselves with great vigor, quickness, and warmth; whereas in private Addresses to God, they are slight and careless. A Christian is best tried and exercised in private, in those secret Intercourses between God and his own Soul; there he finds most Communion with God, and most Enlargement of Heart. A Man cannot so well judg of his Spirit, and discern the Workings of it in publick, because other Mens Concernments and Necessities, mingled with ours, are taken in, and because he is more liable to the Notice of others: But when he is with God alone, he hath only Reasons of Conscience and Duty to move him. When none but God is conscious, and our own Hearts, then we shall see what we do for the Approbation of God, and Acceptance with him. And partly, in some respects this is to be more prized, because Privacy and Retiredness is necessary, and is a great Advantage, that Mens Spirits may be setled and composed for the Duty. Sinful Distractions will croud in upon us, when in Company, and we are thinking of this and that. How often do we mingle Sulphur with our Incense? carnal Thoughts in our Worship? How apt are we to do so in publick Duties? But in private, we are wholly at leasure to deal with God, in a Child-like Liberty. Now will you omit this Duty, where you may be most free, without distraction, to let out the Heart to God? And partly, because a Man will not be fit to pray in publick, and in Company, which doth not often pray in secret; he will lose his Savour and Delight in this Exercise, and soon grow dry, barren, sapless, and careless of God. Look as in the Prophet Ezekiel, you read there, that the Glory of the Lord removed from the Temple by degrees; it first removed from the Holy Place, then to the Altar of Burnt-Offerings, then to the Threshold of the House, then to the City, then to the Mount which was on the East Side of the City; there the Glory of the Lord stood hovering a while, as loth to be gone, to see if the People would get it back again. This seems to be some Emblem and Representation of God's dealing with particular Men: First, God is cast out of the Closet, private Intercourses between God and them are neglected; and then he is cast out of the Family, and within a little while out of the Congregation; publick Ordinances begin to be slighted, and to be looked upon as useless things; and then Men are given up to all Prophaneness and Loosness, and lose all: So that Religion as it were dieth by degrees, and a carnal Christian loseth more and more of the Presence of God. And therefore if we would be able to pray in Company, we must often pray in secret. 4. Consider the Mischief which followeth Neglect of private Converse with God. Omissions make way for Commissions. If a Gardiner withholds his hand, the Ground is soon grown over with Weeds. Restrain Prayer, and neglect God, and noisom Lusts will abound. Our Hearts are fill'd with Distempers, when once we cease to be frequent with God in private. It is said of Iob, chap. 15. 4. Thou restrainest Prayer before God. That Passage is notable, Psal. 14. 4. They eat up my People as they eat Bread, and call not upon the Lord. Omit secret Prayer, and some great Sin will follow; within a little while you will be given up to some evil Course or other: Either brutish Lusts, Oppression, or Violence; to hate the People of God, to join in a Confederacy with them which cry up a Confederacy against God. The less we converse with God in private, the more is the Awe of God lessen'd. But now a Man which is often with God, dareth not offend him so freely as others do. As they which are often with Princes, and great Persons, are better cloathed, and more neat in their Apparel and Carriage: So they which are often conversing with God, grow more heavenly, holy, watchful, than others are; and when we are not with God, not only all this is lost, but a great many Evils to be found. It is plainly seen by Mens Conversations, how little they converse with God. But now to avoid the Stroke of this Reproof, what will Men do? Either deny the Guilt, or excuse themselves. First; Some will deny the Guilt: They do call upon God, and use private Prayer, therefore think themselves to be free from this Reproof. Yea, but are you as often with God as you should be? There are three sorts of Persons: 1. Some there are that omit it totally, cannot speak of redeeming any Time for this Work. These are practical Atheists, without God in the World, Eph. 2. 12. They are Heathens and Pagans, under a Christian Name and Profession. We should pray without ceasing, 1 Thess. 5. 17. (that is) take all praying Occasions: Therefore they which pray not at all, all the Week long God hears not from them, surely come under the force of this Reproof. 2. There are some which perform it seldom; O how many Days and Weeks pass over their Heads, and God never hears from them! The Lord complains of it, Ier. 2. 32. They have forgotten me Days without number. It was Time out of mind since they were last with God. 3. The most do not perform it so often as they should. And therefore (that I may speak with Evidence and Conviction) I shall answer the Case; what Rules may be given, how often we should be with God, and when we are said to neglect God. 1. Every day something should be done in this kind. Acts 10. 2. Corneliu[illegible: 1 letter] pray'd to God always, every day he had his Times of Familiarity with God. Daniel, tho with the hazard of his Life, would not omit praying three times a day. Dan. 6. 10. And David speaks of Morning, Evening, and Noon, Psal. 55. 17. Tho we cannot bind all Men absolutely to these Hours, beause of the difference of Conditions, Employments, and Occasions; yet thus much we may gather from hence, That surely they which are most holy, will be most frequent in this Work. 2. Love will direct you. They which love one another, will not be strange one to another; a Man cannot be long out of the Company of him whom he loveth. Christ loved Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha, Iohn 11. 5. and therefore his great Resort was to Bethany, to Lazarus's House. Surely they which love God, will have frequent recourse to him. In the Times of the Gospel, God trusts Love; we are not bound to such particular Rules, as under the Law: Why? for Love is a liberal Grace, and will put us upon frequent Visits, and tell us when we should pray to God. 3 The Spirit of God will direct you. There are certain Times when God hath Business with you alone; when he doth (as it were) speak to you, as to the Prophet in another Case, Ezek. 3. 22. Go forth into the Plain, in the Desart, and there I will talk with thee: So, get you to your Closets, I have some Business to speak with you. Thou saidst, Seek ye my Face: my Heart answered, Thy Face, Lord, will I seek, Psal. 27. 8. God invites you to Privacy and Retirement; You are sent into your Closet, to deal with God about the Things you heard from the Pulpit. This is the actual Profit we get by a Sermon, when we deal seriously with God about what we have heard. When God sends for us (as it were) by his Spirit, and invites us into his Presence by these Motions; it is spiritual Clownishness to refuse to come to him. 4. Your own inward and outward Necessities will put you in mind of it. God hath not stated what Hours we shall eat and drink; the Seasons and Quantity of it are left to our Choice. God hath left many Wants upon us, to bring us into his presence: Sometimes we want Wisdom, and Counsel in Darkness; Iam. 1. 5. If any lack Wisdom, let him ask of God, which giveth to all Men liberally. It is an Occasion to bring us to God; God is the best Casuist to resolve our Doubts, and guide us in our Way. Sometimes we lack Strength to withstand Temptations; the Throne of Grace was set up for a Time of Need, Heb. 4. 16. when any Case is to be resolved, and Comfort to be obtained. We want Comfort, Quickning, Counsel, and all to bring us to God. So for outward Necessities too. Certainly, if a Man doth but observe the Temper of his own Heart, he cannot neglect God, but will find some occasion or other to bring him into his presence, some Errand to bring him to the Throne of Grace. We are daily to beg Pardon of Sin, and daily to beg Supplies. Now certainly, when you do not observe these Things, you neglect God. Secondly; Others, to avoid it, will excuse themselves: Why, they would pray to God in private, but either they want Time, or they want a convenient Place, or want Parts and Abilities. But the truth is, they want a Heart, and that's the Cause of all; and indeed, when a Man hath no Heart to the Work, then something is out of the way. 1 Some plead they want Time: Why, if you have Time for other Things, you should have a Time for God. Shall we have a Season for all Things, and not for the most necessary Work? Hast thou time to eat, drink, sleep, follow thy Trading? (how dost thou live else?) and no time to be saved, no time to be familiar with God, which is the greatest Business of all? Get it from your Sleep and Food, rather than be without this necessary Duty. Jesus Christ, who had no such Necessity as we have, yet it is said, Mark 1. 35. He arose a great while before day, and went out, and departed into a solitary Place, and there prayed. Therefore must God only be encroached upon? the lean Kine devour the fat? Sarah thrust out instead of Hagar? and Religion be crouded out of Doors? Faelix illa domus, ubi Martha queritur de Maria: That's a happy House, where Martha complains of Mary. Martha, which was cumbred with much Service, complained of Mary, that she was at the feet of Jesus Christ, hearkning to his gracious Counsel; but in most Houses Mary may complain of Martha; Religion is neglected, and goes to the Walls. 2. Some want a Place. He that doth not want a Heart, will find a Place. Christ went into a Mountain to pray; and Peter, to the top of the House. 3. Many say they want Parts, they cannot tell how to pray. Wherefore hath God given his Spirit? In one fashion or other, a Man can open his Case to God; he can go and breath out his Complaints, the Lord will hear Breathings. Go, chatter out thy Requests to thy Father: tho you can but chatter like a Crane, yet do it with fervency, and with a Spirit of Adoption. We have not only Christ given us for an Advocate, but the Holy-Ghost to help our Infirmities. He hath given us the Spirit of his Son, whereby we may cry, Abba, Father. Gal. 4. 6. A Child can acquaint a Father with his Wants. VSE 2. To exhort God's Children to Frequency in this Duty, and to much Watchfulness and Seriousness in the performance of it. First; To Frequency. For Arguments again to press you. 1. It argueth more Familiarity to pray to God alone, than in Company. He that goeth to a Prince alone, and upon all Occasions hath access to him in private, when Company is gone, hath nearer Friendship, and a greater Intimacy with him, than those which are only admitted to a Speech with him in the Company of others: So the oftner you are with God alone, the more familiar. He loves to treat with you apart; as Friends are most free and open to one another, when they are alone. 2. Then you will have a more sensible Answer of your own Prayers; you will see what God hath done upon your Requests. Dan. 9. 21, 22. Daniel was praying for the Church, and an Angel comes and tells him, It is for thy Prayers and Supplications that I am come. Therefore surely a Man would take some time to go and plead the Promises with God. But further, by way of Means: 1. Consider the Omnipresence of God, which is the Argument in the Text: He is in secret, and seeth in secret. If Men were convinced of that, they would make Conscience of secret Prayer. Look as Jesus Christ says of himself, Iohn 16. 32. You leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. So when you are alone, you are not alone; there is a Father in secret; tho no-Body to see and hear, yet God is there. We are apt to think all is lost, which Men are not conscious to, and done in their [illegible: 2 letters]ght. Acts 10. 4. Thy Prayers, and thine Alms, are come up for a Memorial before God. God keeps a Memorial of your private Prayers; there is a Register kept in Heaven, and never a Prayer lost. 2. Consider the Excellency of Communion with God. Ier. 2. 32. Can a Maid forget her Ornaments, and a Bride her Attire? Women are very curious and careful of their Ornaments, and will not forget their Dressing-Attire, especially a Bride upon the Wedding-Day, she that is to be set forth in most costly Array, she makes it her Business to put on Jewels, to be seen in all her Glory. God is as necessary to us, as Ornaments to a Bride. We should be as mindful of Communion with God, as a Bride of her dressing Ornaments. (Ye[illegible: 1 letter] they have forgotten me days without number.) What ever is forgotten, God must not be forgotten. 3. Make God a good Allowance; resolve to be much in the practice of it. It is best to have set Times for our Religious Worship. For Persons, which are sui juris, at their own dispose, it is lawful, and very convenient to dedicate a certain part and portion of our Time to the Lord of Time. Lazy idle Servants must be tasked, and required to bring in their Tale of Brick: So it is good to task the Heart; to make God a fair, and reasonable, and convenient Allotment of some part of our Time. David had his fixed Hours: Three times a day will I call upon thee. And Daniel had his set Times; he pray'd three times a day. Tho we cannot charge you to observe these Hours, yet you should make a prudent Choice your selves, and consecrate such a part of Time, as will suit with your Occasions, your Course of Life, according to your Abilities and Opportunities. It is an Expression of Love to God, to give him somewhat that is your own; and it will be of exceeding Profit to you, and make your Communion with him more seasonable and orderly. This will make you careful and watchful how you spend your other Hours, that you may not be unfit when Times of Prayer come. 1 Pet. 3. 7. Husbands, dwell with your Wives according to knowledg, that your Prayers be not hindred. But do not propose a Task too great for your Strength, and perplex your selves with such an unreasonable Allowance, as will not suit with your Occasions. Men create a Trouble to themselves, and bind themselves with Chains of their own making, when they propose more Duty than they can well discharge. The second Part of the VSE. Do it seriously, with Caution, and warily. Here Christ gives direction; When thou prayest, enter into thy Closet, and shut thy Door, and then think of thy Father which is in secret. We need a great deal of Caution: for, 1. When you shut the Door upon all others, you cannot shut the Devil out of your Closets; he will croud in. When you have bolted the Door upon you, and shut other Company out, you do not lock out Satan; he is always at hand, ready to disturb us in holy Duties; where-ever the Children of God are, he seeks to come at them. When the Sons of God met together, Satan was in the midst of them. Iob 1. He meets in Congregations, he gets into the Closet. When Ioshua the High-Priest was ministring before the Lord, Satan stood at his right-hand, ready to resist him. Zech. 3. 1. 2. There needs Caution, because in private Duties there may be many Failings and Evils, which we are apt to be tainted with in our private Addresses to God. (1.) There may be danger of Ostentation; therefore Christ gives direction here, that it should be managed with the greatest Secrecy, both as for Place, Time, and Voice. Let none but God be conscious to our drawing aside, that we may be alone. Withdraw your selves out of the sight and hearing of others, lest Pride and Ostentation creep upon you. The Devil will seek to blast this serious Acknowledgment to God, one way or other. (2.) There may be Customariness, for fashion sake. It is said of Christ, That he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath-Day, as his Custom was. We may use accustomed Duties; but we must not do them customarily, and for fashion sake, no more than Christ himself did; for tho this was his Custom, yet he was not customary in these his Synagogue-Attendances. We are very apt to do so, because we have used it for these many Years. Men go on in a Tract of Duty, and regard not the Ends of Worship. Zech. 7. 3. they come with a fond Scruple, and Case of Conscience, to the Prophet: They had an old Custom among them, to [illegible: 1 letter]ast for the Destruction of the Temple; now when the Temple was built again, Should I weep in the [illegible: 1 letter]ith Month, separating my self, as I have done these so many Years? (3.) Much Slightness and Perfunctoriness of Heart you may be guilty of. Such is the Wickedness of Men, that they think God will be put off with any thing. And tho they would set off themselves with Applause in the hearing of others, yet how slight are they apt to be, when they deal with God alone. Consider, you must sanctify the Name of God in private, as well as in publick; you must speak to God with Reverence and Fear, and not in an overly fashion. Take heed of this Slightness; it is a great Wrong to the Majesty of God. When they offered a sickly Offering, saith God, I am a great King, and my Name is dreadful among the Heathen: You do not consider my Majesty. (4.) There may be this Evil; Resting in the Work, in the Tale and Number of your Prayers. Luke 18. 11. I fast twice in the Week. Man is very apt to rest and dote upon his own Worth, and to build all his Acceptance with God upon it; to come to God, and challenge him for a Debt, as the Pharisee did. It is very natural to rest in those Duties, and make them an Excuse for other things. (5.) There may be Pride, even in the Exercise of our Gifts. There is a Delight in Duties, which seems spiritual many times, when it is not. As when a Man delighteth in the Exercise of his own Gifts, rather than in Communion with God; when there is a secret tickling of Heart, with a conceit of our own Worth; as when in the carriage of a Duty we come off roundly, and Parts have their free Course and Career. This Complacency and Pride, it may be not only in publick, where we have advantage to discover our selves with Applause; but in private, between God and our Souls. When a Man is conceited of his Gifts, they may end in the private Exercise of them, to the wrong of God. When Invention is quick and free, he may have such a delight, as may make him rest in the Work, as it is a Fruit of Parts, rather than as a Means of Communion with God. Therefore there needs a great deal of Caution, when we are alone with our heavenly Father. MATTH. 6. 7, 8. But when ye pray, use not vain Repetitions, as the Heathen do; for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. OUr Lord having spoken of the Ostentation of the Pharisees, and their Vain-Glory, he cometh here to dissuade from another Abuse, and that is Babling and Liplabour: They pray'd to be seen of Men, but the Heathens were guilty of another Abuse. Here take notice, 1. Of the Sin taxed. 2. The Reasons which our Lord produceth against it. First; The Sin taxed is set forth by a double Notion: Here is [non-Latin text not transcribed], and [non-Latin text not transcribed]; the first we translate, Vain Repetitions; and the last, Much speaking. Both may well go together; for when Men affect to say much, they will use vain Repetitions, go over the same things again and again; which is as displeasing to God, as it is irksom to prudent and wise Men. But let us see a little what these Words signify. The first Word is, [non-Latin text not transcribed], which we translate vain Repetitions. Battus was a foolish Poet, that made long Hymns, consisting of many Lines, but such as were often repeated, both for Matter and Words. And Ovid brings in a foolish Fellow, that would be often repeating the same Words, and doubling them over. Montibus, inquit, erant, & erant sub montihus illis. And again, —Et me mihi perfide prodis? Me mihi prodis? ait— And from thence this Word is taken, which is here used by the Evangelist, [non-Latin text not transcribed], or idle babling over the same thing. And the Scripture representeth this vain going over of the same things. Eccles. 10. 14. A Fool also is full of Words; a Man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell? The most judicious Interpreters do conceive there's a [non-Latin text not transcribed], an Imitation of the Fool's speaking. Groundless, fruitless Repetitions are here reproved, or the tumbling out of many insignificant Words, and the same over and over again; this is vain Repetition. But the other Word which Christ useth to tax the same Abuse, is [non-Latin text not transcribed], Much speaking; it signifieth Affectation of Length in Prayer, or using many Words, not out of fervency of Mind, but meerly to prolong the Duty, as if the length of it made it more powerful or acceptable with God, or a more comely piece of Worship. This is what our Lord here reproves, vain Repetitions, and much speaking. Secondly; Here are the Reasons produced against it; they are two. (1.) That it is a Heathenish Custom, and that grounded upon a false Supposition. The Heathens were detestable to the Jews, and therefore their Customs should not be taken up, especially when grounded upon an Error, or a Misprision of the Nature of God. Now the Heathens think they shall be heard for their much speaking, for their meer praying, and composing Hymns to their Gods, with thundring Names repeated over and over again. It is inconsistent with the true Nature of God, vers. 8. Be not therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what Things you have need of, before you ask him. Here we learn three Things. (1.) Christianity and true Religion takes up God under the Notion of a Father, that hath a care of his Children. This will decide many Questions about Prayer, and what Words we should use to God in the Duty; go to God, as Children to their Father. (2.) He is represented as an Omniscient God, one that knows all Things, our Wants and Necessities. (3.) As an Indulgent Father, who hath a propense and ready mind to help us, even before we ask. From the Words thus opened, that which we may observe is this: Viz. Doct. That certainly it is a Sin, needlesly to affect length of Speech, or vain Repetitions in Prayer. Our Lord dissuadeth us from it here, and his Authority should sway with us: He knew the Nature of Prayer better than we do; for he appointed it, and he was often in the practice and observance of it. So we are directed to the contrary, Eccles. 5. 2. Be not rash with thy Mouth, and let not thine Heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in Heaven, and thou upon Earth; therefore let thy Words be few. Remember, you have to do with a great God, and do not babble things over impertinently in his Ears. It is a Truth evident by the Light of Nature: Paucis verbis rem divinam facito. Platinus. If you be to worship God, a needless Prolixity doth not become Addresses to him. But because this Text may be abused, I shall endeavour to clear it a little further. There are two Extremes; the slight and careless Spirit, and Babling. (1.) There is the slight and careless Spirit, who doth the Work of an Age in a Breath, and is all for Starts, and sudden Pangs, which pass away like a Flash of Lightning in a dark Room; whose good Thoughts are gone, as soon as they rush into the Heart. A poor, barren, and slight Spirit, which is not under the Influence and Power of that Celestial Love, which keeps the Soul in converse with God, cannot endure to be any while with God. Alas! we need Stroke upon Stroke to fasten any thing upon the Heart. We are like green Wood, that will not presently take Fire, until it lie long there, and be throughly and well warmed; so until we have gone far in the Duty, we can hardly get any warmth of Heart. They which are short in Prayer, had need of much habitual preparation of Heart. The Babler is another Extreme, who thinks the Commendation of a Duty is to be long in it; and affects to say much, rather than well; whereas serious and short Speech makes the best Prayer. Prov. 10. 19. In the multitude of Words there wanteth not Sin: Either to God, or Men, 'tis true; but especially when affected: So they do but beat the Air, rather than pray to God. These, then, are the two Extremes; Shortness, out of Barrenness or Slightness; or Length, out of Affectation: [illegible: 2 letters]d we must carefully avoid these. Christ would [illegible: 1 word] justify that Shortness, which comes from Slightness, and Barrenness of Heart; nor, on the other side, indulge the Affectation of Length in Prayer. Therefore let us a little see, I. What is the Sin. II. Give you the Force of our Lord's Reasons here urged, or how conclusive our Saviour's Arguments are against this Practice. What is the Sin? That's necessary to be known; for all Repetitions are not vain, nor is all Length in Prayer to be accounted Babling. First; For Repetitions: 1. When they express Fervency and Zeal, they may be used: And so we read, Christ prayed over the same Prayer thrice; Mat: 26. 44. O my Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me. And another Evangelist sheweth, that he did this out of special Fervency of Spirit; Luk. 22. 44. Being in an Agony, he prayed more earnestly. And so we read of the Prophet Daniel, chap. 9. 17, 18, 19. O our God, hear the Prayer of thy Servant; O my God, incline thine Ear, and hear; O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not for thine own sake, O my God. All this was out of vehemency; he goes over again and again the same Request. When we use many Words of the same kind and signification, and it be out of vehemency and fervency of Spirit, it is not forbidden. 2. This Repetition is not to be disproved, when there is a special Emphasis, and spiritual Elegancy in it, as Psal. 136. you have it twenty six times repeated, [For his Mercy endureth for ever,] because there was a speci[illegible: 2 letters] [illegible: 1 letter]eason in it, his purpose there being to she[illegible: 3 letters] Unweariedness, and the unexhausted Riches of God's free Grace; that notwithstanding all the former Experiences they had had, God is where he was at first. We waste by giving, our Drop is soon spent; but God is not wasted by bestowing, but hath the same Mercy to do good to his Creatures, as before. Tho he had done all those Wonders for them, yet his Mercy was as ready to do good to them still. All along God saved and blessed his People; For his Mercy endureth for ever. But as there are Repetitions which have their Use; so there are useless Tautologies, and vain Repetitions: And such they are, when they neither come from the Heart, nor go to the Heart; when they come not from the abundance of the Heart, but rather the emptiness of the Heart, because we know not how to inlarge our selves to God, therefore fall upon idle and useless Repetitions of the same Words and Requests. As a Man that hath small Skill in Musick, doth only play over the same Note; so when Men have not a full spiritual Abundance, they waste themselves in Prayer in these idle Repetitions. And then they go not to the Heart, they do not conduce to warm the Affections. A vain clamorous ingeminating the same thing without Faith, and without Wisdom, meerly to fill up the Tale of Words, or to wear out a little time in a religious Exercise; that's it which is here condemned under the notion of vain Repetitions. Secondly; For the other word [non-Latin text not transcribed], or much speaking. Every long Prayer is not forbidden; for our Lord Jesus himself centinued all Night in Prayer, Luke 6. 12. And in extraordinary Duties of fasting, Length seems to be very necessary; Esther 4. 16. They fasted and prayed together for three days and nights, without eating any Bread. And Solomon pray'd long at the Dedication of the Temple. But that which is forbidden, is, when Men speak Words without need, and without Affection; a needless lengthening out of Prayer, and that upon a Conceit that it is more acceptable to God. 1. In the General, Prayer should be short, as all Examples of Scripture teach us; and the Lord's Prayer you see how concise and short it is, for presently upon this our Lord teacheth his Disciples to pray. For Prayer is a spending rather then a feeding Duty. Those which affect long speaking, many times run into this, they make it a feeding Duty, for they mingle Exhortations with Prayer, which is a great Abuse: A Man can bear up under the hearing of the Word for an Hour or two, better than half an Hour in Prayer, with that necessary Vigor of Spirit which God hath required. Therefore the general Rule is, Let your Words be concise, but full of Affection. Look as in vast and great Bodies, the Spirits are more diffused and scattered, and therefore they are more unactive than those which are of a smaller Compass; so in a long Prayer, there may be more of Words, but less of Life. 2. The Affectation of Prolixity is naught; usually it comes from some evil Ground; either from Pride, and Ostentation of Gifts. Thus we read, the Pharisees were taxed for making long Prayers, Mat. 23. 14. that under the colour of them, they might devour Widow's Houses, (that is) be credited and trusted with the Management of their Estates: Or else it may come from Superstition, such as is in the Heathens, who had unworthy Thoughts of God, as if he were harsh and severe, and delighted in much speaking, and need to be quickened: Or it may come from Folly, for Folly abounds in Words though it be scanty in true Affection and hearty Respect to God. A wise Man is content with Words enough to express his Mind: Choice and measure of Speech discovereth Wisdom. 3. So much time should be spent in Prayer, and so many Words are necessary, as may be convenient and profitable both for our selves and others. For our Selves, when we are alone, so much as may express Faith, and may argue great Plea in the Promises; and so much as may reach fervent Desire; while the Fervency continues, the Speech should continue: and so much as may express our filial Dependance, that we have a Sense that God is our Father, which are the ends for which Prayer was appointed. And so as it may suit with the Conveniency of others, that they may be warmed, but not tired, and may not be exposed to the Temptations of Weariness, and Wandrings, and Distractions in their Mind, when things are spun out unto an unreasonable length; for then it's neither pleasing to God, nor profitable to Men. Thus I have stated the Offence our Lord forbids; what are those vain Repetitions and idle Babblings, such as arise from Weariness of Soul, and mis-conceit of God, or some other base Grounds; not that plentiful Expression, which comes from a large and free Heart, pouring out it self before the Lord. And if we be sway'd by his Authority, these things should be regarded by us, and we should remedy these Sins in Prayer. II. Let us come to examine our Lord's Reasons which are produced against it, and see how conclusive they are in the Case, and you will discern the drift of Christ's Speech. Our Lord reasons; First; From the Practice of the Heathens, [But when ye pray, use not vain Repetitions, as the Heathens do.] In this Reason, several Propositions are couched and contained, which deserve to be weighed by us. 1. This is implied, That the Heathens had a sense of the necessity of Worship, as well as the Being of a God. Though natural Light be inferioris Haemisphaerii, of the lower Hemisphere, and chiefly reacheth to Duties of the second Table, of Commerce between Man and Man; for that Light which was left in the Heart of Man, since the Fall, more directly respects our Carriage towards Men, and there it is more clear and open; yet it so far reaches to the Duties of the higher Hemisphere, as that there is some discerning too of the Duties of the First Table; of Piety as well as Honesty: as that there is a God; and if there be a God, he is to be worshipped; for these two Notions live and die together. The rude Mariners were sensible of a Divine Power which was to be call'd upon, and consulted with in case of Extremity; and that the way of Commerce was by Worship. Ionah 1. 5. when the Storm arose, They called every Man upon his God. 2. Though Heathens were sensible of the Being of a God, and the necessity of Worship; yet they were blind and dark in Worship; for Christ saith, Be not as the Heathen, for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Usually a half-Light misleads Men. The Heathens, though they had some Notions of an eternal Power, yet when they came to perform their Worship; Rom. 1. 21. They glorified him not as God, but became vain, [non-Latin text not transcribed], in their Imaginations, (that is) in their Practical Inferences: They saw an infinite, eternal Power, which was to be loved, trusted, worshipped; but when they came to suit these Notions to practice, to love, trust, and worship him, there they were vain, frivolous, and had Mis-conceits of God. 3. Their Errors in Worship were many. Here our Lord takes notice but of one, that they thought to be heard for their much speaking; and there the original Mistake of the Heathens (and that which compriseth all the rest) was this, a Transformation, or changing of God into the Likeness of Man, which is very natural and incident to us; upon all occasions we are apt to mis-conceive of God, and to judg him according to our own Model and Scantling; Ps. 50. 21. Thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thy self: so did these. Because Man is wrought upon by much speaking, and carried away with a Flood of Words, therefore they thought so it would be with God. This Transformation of the Divine Nature into an Idol of our own shaping and picturing, the turning of God into the form of a corruptible Man, this hath been the Ground of all the Miscarriage in the World. But more particularly: their Error in this matter was charging Weakness and Harshness upon God, or not worshipping him according to his Spiritual Nature. 1. Charging Weakness upon God, as if many Words did help him to understand their meaning, or to remember their Petitions the better. Hence that Practice of Baal's Priests, 1 Kings 18. 26. They called on the Name of Baal from Morning till Night; O Baal, hear us. They were repeating and crying again and again, O Baal; as if their Clamor would awaken their God; whence Elijah's Sarcasm, He sleepeth, and must be awaked: As those that for two hours together cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians, Great is Diana of the Ephesians, Acts 19. 34. 2. Their ascribing Harshness to God, as if he were hard to be entreated, and delighted in the pain of his Creatures, and would be more affected with them, because they wearied themselves with the Irksomeness of a long Prayer. Penal Satisfactions are very natural. Superstition is a Tyranny, it vexeth the Soul with unreasonable Duty, affects outward length to the weariness of the Flesh. The general conceit is, that Man thinks God must be served with some self-denial, and the Flesh must be displeased; but it shall be displeased but in a little, and in an outward way, as Baal's Priests gasht themselves; as if God were pleased with our burdensom and long Exercises. 3. There was this Error in it; They did not conceive aright of the Spiritual Nature of God, as if he were pleased with the meer Task, a long Hymn, and an idle Repetition of Words, without Sense and Affection: Whereas the Lord doth not measure Prayers by Prolixity, but by the Vehemency; not by the Labour of the external Work, but by the inward Affection manifested therein: and Words are only accepted with him, as they serve to quicken, continue, or increase our Affection. Secondly; Our Saviour's next Reason is drawn from Vers. 8. Be not ye like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before you ask him. It is inconsistent with the true Notion of God. Here are three Propositions; all which are of force to draw us off from babling, or Affectation of many Words in Prayer. As, 1. That God is a Father, and that both by Creation and Covenant. By Creation, to all Mankind, kind, so he will be ready to sustain that which he hath made; he that hath given Life, will give Food; he that hath given a Body, will give Raiment; Things expect Supply thence, from whence they received their Being. But much more by Covenant, so he is our Father in Christ, (Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us—Isa. 63. 16.) Well, but what's this to the present Purpose, that God is a Father? This is a Check to babling; therefore we should go to him in an unaffected manner, with a Childlike Spirit and Dependance, with Words reverent, serious, and plain. Children do not use to make starch'd Speeches to their Fathers, when they want Bread, but only express their natural Cry, and go to them for such things as they stand in need of; there they speak and are accepted; and a Word from a Child moves the Father, more than an Orator can move all his Hearers. Even such a naked Address should we make to God in a plain manner; for when we come to pray, Christ would have us take up God in the Notion of a Father, and to behave our selves in a natural way to him; for affected Eloquence or Loquacity in Prayer, is one of the main things Christ here disproves. Prayer ought to be simple, and plain: Therefore the great Business of the Spirit of Adoption is to make us cry, Abba, Father; Rom. 8. 15. 2. He is such a Father as is not ignorant of our Wants. The care of his Providence is over all the Creatures he hath made; God hath an Inspection over them, to provide Necessaries for them; much more over his People. His Eyes run to and fro, to find them out in all the places of their Dispersion; and he doth exercise his Power for their Relief. 2 Chron. 16. 9. Now this Thought should be rooted in our Hearts, when we come to pray to God; I go to a Father, which hath found me out in the Throng of his Creatures, and knows what is good for me. This is a great ground why we should not use Battology, because God knows what my Needs are. Words are not required for God's sake, but for ours; not to inform God, but that we may perform our Duty the better. Well then, so far as they are useful, so far they should be used; to bound our Thoughts, to warm our Affections, to strengthen our Faith. (1.) To bound our Thoughts; for an Interruption in Speech is sooner discerned, than an Interruption in Meditation. (2.) And to warm our Affections. Words at first are Vent to Affection, but afterwards they continue to increase the Affection; as a Hearth is first warmed by the Fire, and then it serves to keep in the Fire. (3.) And they conduce to strengthen our Faith, while we plead Promises in God's hearing. We wrestle with God, that we may catch a heat our selves. And therefore Words should be only used, as they conduce to the strengthning our Faith, or continuing our Affection to God: Longer than they serve that End in Prayer, they are Babling, and vain Repetitions, and much speaking, which Christ here forbids. Consider, there is not a Change in God, but a Change in us, wrought by Prayer. 'Tis neither to give Information to God, that he may know our meaning; nor to move him, and persuade him to be willing, by our much speaking: but only to raise up our own Faith and Hope towards God. 3. He is such a Father, as is not unwilling to relieve us. Your heavenly Father is very ready to give you such Things as you stand in need of, as Christ expresseth it, Mat. 7. 11. If ye being evil, know how to give good Things unto your Children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give good Things to them that ask him? And, Luke 11. 13. it is, How much more shall your heavenly Father give his holy Spirit? When you come to beg for Grace, consider what earthly Parents would do for a Child: Their Affections are limited, they are in part corrupt; and poor straitned Creatures have not such Bowels of Compassion as God; and yet when a Child comes to them with a genuine Cry, with a sense of his Want, and Confidence of his Father, he cannot harden his Bowels against his Child. This also checks much speaking; for we do not pray to stir up Mercy in him, as if he needed much Intreaty, and were severe, and delighted to put the Creature to Penance: No, he is ready before we ask; he knows our Wants and Needs, and is ready to supply us with those Things we stand in need of, only will have this comely Order observed. Sometimes he prevents our Prayers, before we ask: Before they call, I will answer; and I am found of them that sought me not. Before we can have a Heart to come, the Lord prevents us with his Blessing. And sometimes he gives us what we ask. This is the Condescension of God, that when you call, he will answer; and when you cry, he doth in his Providence say, What will you have, poor Creatures? And he gives more than we ask: As Solomon asked Wisdom, and God gave him more than he asked, Wisdom, Riches, and Honour. Object. But here's an Objection: These Notions seem not only to exclude long Prayer, and much speaking, but all Prayer. If God know our Wants, and is so ready to give, whether we ask or no, what need we open them to him in Prayer at all? I answer; It is God's prescribed Course, and that should be enough to gracious Hearts, that will be obedient to their Father. Whatever he intends, tho he knows our Wants, and resolves to answer them; yet it is a piece of religious Manners, to ask what he is about to give. Ier. 29. 11. I know my Thoughts towards you, Thoughts of Peace; yet will I be enquired of you for these Things. God knows his own Thoughts, hath stated his Decrees, and will not alter the beautiful Course of his Providence for our sakes; yet he will be sought unto. So Ezek. 36. God purposed to bless them, and therefore promiseth, I will do thus and thus for you; yet, vers. 37. I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel, to do it for them: I will do it, but you shall milk out the Blessing by Prayer. This Course is also necessary, and that both for his Honour, and our Profit and Comfort. (1.) It is necessary for his Honour, that God may still be acknowledged; that the Creature may be kept up in a constant dependance upon God, and may go about nothing, but may ask his Leave, Counsel, and Blessing. Prov. 3. 6. In all thy Ways acknowledg him, and he shall direct thy Paths. We ask God's Leave that we may do such a thing, for he hath the Dominion over all Events: And if we are doubtful, we ask his Counsel, whether we may stay here or there, or dispose of our selves and Families: And we ask his Blessing upon our Resolution. Now that we may know God doth all, that he governeth all humane Affairs; that we may live upon his Allowance, and take our daily Bread from his hands; and that we may see we hold all these Things from our great Landlord, therefore we pray unto him. We are Robbers and Thieves, if we use the Creature without his Leave. God is the great Owner of the World, who gives us our daily Bread, and all our Supplies; therefore he will have it asked, that we may acknowledg our dependance. (2.) It is most for our Profit. Partly, that our Faith should be exercised in pleading God's Promise, for there we put the Promise in Suit. Faith is begotten in the Word, but it is exercised in Prayer; therefore it is called the Prayer of Faith. In the Word, we take Christ from God; in Prayer, we present Christ to God. That Prayer which is effectual, it is an Exercise of Faith. Rom. 10. 14. How shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? And as it concerns our Faith, so also our Love, which is both acted and increased in Prayer. It is acted; for it is Delight in God, which makes us so often converse with him. Thus the Hypocrite, Iob 27. 10. Will he always call upon the Lord? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? They that love God, cannot be long from him; they that delight in God, will be often unbosoming themselves to him. It doth also increase our Love; for by Answers of Prayer, we have new Fuel to keep in this holy Fire in our Bosoms. We pray, and then he gives direct Answers, Psal. 116. 1. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my Voice, and my Supplication. So our Hope is exercised, in waiting for the Blessing pray'd for: Psal. 5. 3. O Lord, in the Morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee, and will look up. That looking up is the Work of Hope; when we are looking and waiting to see what comes in from pleading Promises. It is much too for our Peace of Conscience; for it easeth us of our Burthens: It is the Vent of the Soul, like the opening of a Vein in a Fever. When our Hearts swell with Cares, and we have a Burthen upon us, and know not what to do, we may ease our selves with God. Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing; but in every Thing, by Prayer and Supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your Requests be made known to God: And the Peace of God shall keep your Hearts. O blessed Frame, that can be troubled at nothing here in this World, where there are so many Businesses, Encounters, Temptations! What's the way to get this Calmness of Heart? Be much in opening your Hearts to God; let your Requests be made known to God. Look as in an Earthquake, when the Wind is imprisoned in the Bowels of the Earth, the Earth heaves, and shakes, and quakes, until there be a Vent, and the Wind be got out, then all is quiet: So we have many Tossings and Turmoilings in our Minds, till we open and unbosom our selves to God, and then all is quiet. Also it prepareth us for the Improvement of Mercies, when we have them out of the hands of God by Prayer: For this Child I prayed, said Hannah, and I will lend him unto the Lord. 1 Sam. 1. 27, 28. Those Mercies we expresly pray'd for, we are more throughly obliged to improve for God. What is won with Prayer, is worn with Thankfulness. APPLICATION. VSE 1. To caution us against many Abuses in Prayer, which may be disproved and taxed, either formally, or by just Consequence. I shall instance in five. 1. An idle and foolish Loquacity, when Men take a liberty to prattle any thing in God's hearing, and do not consider the Weight and Importance of Prayer, and what a Sin it is to be hasty to utter any thing before God. Eccles. 5. 2. It is a great Irreverence, and Contempt of the Majesty of God, when Men go hand over head about this Work, and speak any thing that comes into their mind. As Men take themselves to be despised, when others speak unseemly in their presence: Surely it is a lessening, and a despising of God, when we pour out raw, tumultuous, undigested Thoughts, and never think of what we are to speak, when we come to God. Psal. 45. 1. My Heart is inditing a good Matter: The Word signifieth, it boils or fryes a good Matter. It is an Allusion to the Mincah, or Meat-Offering, which was to be boil'd or fry'd in a Pan, before it was to be presented to the Lord, that they might not bring a Dough-bak'd Sacrifice and Offering to the Lord. Such ignorant, dull, sensless Praying, it is a blaspheming of God, and a lessening of the Majesty of God. 2. A frothy Eloquence, and an affected Language in Prayer, this directly comes under Reproof: As if the Prayer were more grateful to God, and he were moved by Words and Strains of Rhetorick, and did accept Men for their Parts, rather than Graces. Fine Phrases, and quaint Speeches, alas! they do not carry it with the Lord: They are but an empty Babble in his Ears; rather than an humble Exercise of Faith, Hope, Love, and Child-like Affections, and holy Desires after God. If we would speak with God, we must speak with our Hearts to him, rather than with our Words. This is a Sin of Curiosity, as the other was of Neglect. 'Tis not Words, but the Spirit and Life, which God looks after. Prayer, it is not a Work of Oratory, the Product of Memory, Invention, and Parts; but a filial Affection, that we may come to him, as to a Father, with a Child-like Confidence. Therefore too much Care of verbal Eloquence in Prayer, and tunable Expressions, is a Sin of the same nature with Babling. Tho Men should have the Wit to avoid impertinent Expressions, and Repetitions; yet when Prayer smells so much of the Man, rather than of the Spirit of God, alas! 'tis but like the unsavoury Belches of a rotten Breath in the Nostrils of God. We should attend to Matter, to the Things we have to communicate to God, to our Necessities▪ rather than to Words. 3. Heartless speaking, filling up the Time with Words; when the Tongue out-runs the Heart; when Men pour their Breath into the Air, but their Hearts are dead and sleepy, or their Hearts keep not time and pace with their Expressions. We oftner pray with our Tongues, than with our Minds; and from our Memories, than our Consciences; and from our Consciences, than our Affections; and from our Affections, as presently stirred, than from our Hearts renewed, bended and inclined towards God. Be the Prayer long or short, the Heart must keep pace with our Tongues. As the Poet said, Disticha longa facit, his Disticks were tedious; so it is tedious and irksom to God, unless we make Supplication in the Spirit. Eph. 6. 18. Remember, God will not be mocked. 4. When Men rest in outward Vehemency, and loud Speech. Saith Tertullian, Quibus Arteriis opus est, si pro streno audiamus? What Lungs and Sides must we have, if we be heard to speak to Heaven, by the Noise and Sound? In some there is a natural vehemency and fierceness of Speech, which is rather stirr'd up by the heat and agitation of the bodily Spirits, than any vehemency of Affection. There is a Contention of Speech, which is very natural to some, and differeth much from that holy Fervor, the Life and Power of Prayer, which is accompanied with Reverence, and Child-like Dependance upon God. It is not the loud Noise of Words, which is best heard in Heaven; but the fervent affectionate Cries of the Saints, are those of the Heart, rather than of the Tongue. Exod. 14. 17. it is said, Moses cried to the Lord: We do not read of the Words he uttered; his Cry was with the Heart. There is a crying with the Soul, and with the Heart to God. Psal. 10. 17. Lord, thou hast heard the Desire of the Humble. It is the Desires God hears. Psal. 39. 9. Lord, all my Desire is before thee; and my Groaning i[illegible: 1 letter] not hid from thee. The Lord needs not the Tongue, to be an Interpreter between him and the Hearts of his Children. He that hears without Ears, can interpret Prayers tho not uttered by the Tongue. Our Desires are Cries in the Ears of the Lord of Hosts: the vehemency of the Affections may sometimes cause the extention of the Voice; but Alas! without this it is but a tinkling Cymbal. 5. Popish Repetition, and loose shreds of Prayer often repeated, as they have in their Liturgy over and over again, their Gloria Patri, so often repeated, their Lord have Mercy; and in their Prayer made to Jesus, Sweet Iesus, Blessed Iesus; and going over the Ave Maria, and this to be tumbled over upon their Beads, and continuing Prayer by tale and by number: Surely these are but vain Repetitions, and this is that much-speaking which our Lord aims at. Thus I have dispatched the abuses of Prayer. Vse. 2. To give you direction in Prayer; how to carry your selves in this holy Duty towards God in a comely manner. I shall give you Directions, 1. About our Words In Prayer. 2. About our Thoughts 3. About our Affections First, about our Words; there is a use of them in Prayer, to excite, and convey, and give vent to Affection: Hos. 14. 2. Take with you Words, and turn to the Lord, and say, Take away all Iniquity, and receive us graciously. Surely the Prophet doth not only prescribe that they should take Affections, but take with them Words: Words have an Interest in Prayer. Now these may be considered, either when we are alone, or in Company. 1. When we are alone: Here take the advice of the Holy-Ghost, Eccl. 5. 2. God is in Heaven, and thou art upon Earth, therefore let thy Words be few. How few? Few in Weight, Conscience, Reverence. Few in Weight, affecting rather to speak Matter than Words; concisely and feelingly, rather than with curiousness, to express what you have to say to God. Few in Conscience. Superstition is a Bastard-Religion, and is tyrannous, and puts Men upon tedious Services, and sometimes beyond their Strength; therefore pray neither too short, nor too long: do it not meerly to lengthen out the Prayer, or as counting it the better for being long; the shortness and the length must be measured by the fervency of our Hearts, our many necessities, and as it tendeth to the inflaming our Zeal; as it can get up the Heart, let it still be subservient to that. Few with Reverence, and managed with that Gravity, Awfulness, and Seriousness, as would become an Address to God. As Abraham, Gen. 18. 31. had been reasoning with God before, therefore he saith, Let not God be angry, if I speak to him this once, when he renewed the Suit. Thus alone. 2. In Company; there our Words must be apt and orderly, moving as much as may be, not to God, but to the Hearers; managed with such Reverence and Seriousness, as may suit with the Gravity of the Duty, and not encrease, but cure the Dulness of those with whom we join. And what if we did in publick Duties choose out Words to reason with God, as Iob saith, Chap. 9. 14. Choose out my Words, to reason with him. If we did use Preparation, and think a little before hand, that we may go about the Duty with serious Advice, and not with indigested Thoughts. But this hath the smallest Interest in Prayer. Secondly, Our Thoughts; That we may conceive aright of God in Prayer, which is one of the greatest difficulties in the Duty. 1. Of his Nature and Being. 2. Of his Relation to us. 3. Of his Attributes. First, Of the Nature and Being of God. Every one that would come to God, must fix this in his Mind, That God is; and that God is a Spirit: And accordingly he must be worshipped, as will suit with these two Notions. Heb. 11. 6. He that cometh to God, must believe that God is, and then that God is a Spirit; for it is said, Ioh. 4. 24. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and Truth. O then, when ever you come to pray to God, fix these two Thoughts, let them be strong in your Heart, God is: I do not speak to an Idol, but to the living God: And God is a Spirit, and therefore not so much pleased with plausibleness of Speech, or tuneable cadency of Words, as with a right Temper of Heart. Alas! when we come to pray, we little think God is, or what God is: much of our Religion is performed to an unknown God; and like the Samaritans, We worship we know not what. It is not Speculations about the Divine Nature, or high strain'd Conceptions, which doth fit us for Prayer: the discoursing of these things with some Singularity, or Terms removed from common Understanding, this is not that which I press you to; but such a sight of God, as prompteth us to a reverent and serious worshipping of him. Then we have right Notions of God in Prayer, when we are affected as Moses was, when God shew'd him his Back-parts, and proclaimed his Name, Exod. 34. He made haste, bowed his Head and worshipped; when our Worship suiteth with the Nature of God, 'tis Spiritual and Holy, not Pompous and Theatrical. Well then, these two things must be deeply imprinted in our Minds, that God is, and that He is a Spirit. And then is our Worship right. For Instance, 1. For the first Notion, God's Being. Then is our Worship right, when it doth proclaim to all that shall observe us▪ or we that observe our selves, there is a great, an infinite, eternal Power, which sits at the upper end of Causes, and governeth all according to his own Pleasure. Alas! the Worship of many is flat Atheism, they say in their Hearts, either there is no God, or believe there is no God. Therefore, do you worship him as becomes such a glorious Being? Is his Mercy seen in your Faith and Confidence? His Majesty, in your Humility and Reverence? His Goodness, in your Soul's rejoycing? His Greatness and Iustice, in your trembling before his Throne? The Worship must be like the Worshipped, it must have his Stamp upon it. 2. For the other Notion, God is a Spirit, therefore the Soul must be the chief Agent in the Business, not the Body, or any Member of the Body. Spirits they converse with Spirits: The Body is but employed by the Soul, and must not guide and lead it, but be led by it. Therefore see whether there be the Spirit, otherwise that which is most Essential to the Worip is wanting. To have nothing employed but the Tongue, and the Heart about other Business, is not to carry your selves as to a God, and a God that is a Spirit. Recollect your selves; where's my Soul in this Worship? And how is it affected towards God? Secondly, As there must be Thoughts to direct us in his Being and Nature; so also, in his Relation as a Father: As one that is inclinable to pardon, pity and help you. We have the Spirit of Adoption given us for this very end and purpose, that we may cry, Abba, Father; and Gal. 4. 16. Because you are Sons, therefore he hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And Rom. 8. 15. We have received the Spirit of Adoption, crying, Abba, Father; that we may come to God in a Child-like manner, dealing with him as with a Father, acquainting him with our Wants, Necessities, Burdens, with a hope of Relief and Supply. Object. Ay, saith a distressed Soul, if my Heart be thus carried up to God, if I could discern such a Spirit of Adoption, prompting me to go to God as a Father, then it would be better with me. To this I answer: 1. Many times there is a Child-like Inclination, where there is not a Child-like Familiarity and Boldness: What's that Child-like Inclination? The Soul cannot keep away from God, and that's an implicite owning him as a Father. Jer. 3. 19. Thou shalt call me, My Father, and shalt not turn away from me. It is a Child-like act to look to him for all our Supplies, and to recommend our Suit: As when a Child wants any thing, he goes to his Father. 2. There's a Child-like Reverence many times, when there is not a Child-like Confidence; the Soul hath an awe of God, when it cannot explicitely own him as our God, and Father, yet it owns him in the humbling way, Luk. 15. 18. I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy Son. Tho we cannot confidently approach to God, as our reconciled Father; yet we come with Humility and Reverence: Lord, I would fain be, but I deserve not to be called thy Child. 3. There's a Child-like dependance upon God's General Offer, tho we have not an Evidence of the Sincerity of our particular Claim: God offereth to be a Father in Christ to all penitent Believers. Now, when a broken-hearted Creature comes to God, and looks for Mercy, upon the account of the Covenant, tho he cannot see his own Interest; for then we come to God, tho not as our Father, yet as the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ; and that's a Relief in Prayer; as, Eph. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. And vers. 17. The God of our Lord Iesus Christ, the Father of Glory. And Eph. 3. 14. I bow my Knees unto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. Mark, when we come to him as the Father of Christ, we believe what God offereth in the Covenant of Grace; namely, that he will deal kindly with us, as a Father with his Children; that he will be good to those that come to him by Christ. The Term [Father] is not only to be considered with respect to the Disposition or Qualification of the Persons, but the Dispensation they are under. 'Tis the New Covenant. In the new Covenant, God undertakes to be Fatherly, that is, to pitty our Miseries, to pardon our Sins, to heal our Natures, to save our Persons. Now all that come for refuge to take hold of this hope set before them, may come to God as a Father, if they believe the Gospel in general, tho they are not assured of God's love to themselves. 4. There may be a Child-like Love to God, when yet we have not a Sense and Assurance of his Paternal Love to us. God hath a Title to our choicest and dearest Love, before we can make out a Title to his highest Benefits. We owe our Hearts to him. Prov. 23. 26. My Son give me thy Heart. If you give him your Hearts, you are Sons, tho you know it not. God may be owned as a Father, either by our Sense of his Fatherly Love, or by our Choice and Esteem of him, Optando, si non affirmando. Come as Fatherless without him, Hos. 14. 3. or (to speak it in other Words) the unutterable Groans of the Spirit, do discover the Spirit of Adoption, as well as the unspeakable Joys of the Spirit, 1 Pet. 1. 8. There is an Option and Choice, tho we be not assured of our special Relation. 5. God is glorified by an Affiance, and a resolute Adherence, where there is no Assurance. When you are resolved, let him deal with you as an Enemy, you will stick to him as a Father. Job. 13. 15. Tho he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Faith can take God as a Friend, and Father, and put a good construction upon his Dealings, when he seems to come against us as an Enemy. And we give Glory to God, when we can adhere to him as our only Happiness, and trust his Fatherly Kindness and Goodness, tho he cover himself with Frowns, and hide himself from our Prayers; and you own him as the Father of Mercies, tho it may be you have no Sense and Feeling of his Fatherly Love to you. 6. There is a difference between the Gift it self, and the Degree. We cannot say we have not the Spirit of Adoption, because we have not so much of the Spirit of Adoption as others have; I mean as to the Effects: We may have the Spirit as a Sanctifyer, tho not as a Comforter; tho he doth not calm our Hearts, and rebuke our Fears, yet if he doth sanctify us, and incline us to God. The Spirit was only given to Christ without measure, but to Christians in a different Measure and Proportion; and usually, as you submit more to his gracious Conduct, and overcome the Enemies of your Peace, the Devil, the World, and the Flesh. The impression is left upon some in a smaller, and upon others in a larger Character. All are not of one growth and size; some are more explicitely Christians, others in a Riddle. Much Grace doth more discover it self, than a little Grace under a heap of Imperfection. Some are more mortified and Heavenly-minded than others. 7. When all other Helps fail, Faith will make use of our common Relation to God as a Creator, as we may come to him as the workmanship of his Hands. It is better to do so than keep off from him. And we may come to him as the workmanship of his Hands, when we cannot come to him as Children of his Family. The Church saith, Isa. 64. 8. Now, O Lord, thou art our Father: we are the Clay, and thou our Potter, and we all are the work of thy Hand. They plead for Favour and Mercy, by that common Relation, as he was their Potter, and they his Clay. And David, Psal. 119. 73. Thy Hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy Commandments. Surely it is some Comfort, to claim by the Covenant of Noah, which was made with all Mankind; when we cannot claim Mercy by the Covenant of Abraham, which was made with the Family of the Faithful. The Scriptures warrant us to do so; Isa. 54. 9. For this is as the Waters of Noah unto me. All this is spoken to shew, that one way or other we should bring our Hearts to depend upon him, as a Father, for Succour and Relief. Thirdly; His Attributes. Three this Text offereth: God's Omnisciency, He knows; His fatherly Care, Your Father knows what you stand in need of: And his Readiness to help, even before we ask. 1. He is Omniscient: He knows our Persons; for Christ calleth his own Sheep by Name. Joh. 10. 3. He knoweth every one of us by Head and by Pole, by Person and Name. Yea, and he knows our State and Condition. Psal. 56. 8. Thou tellest my Wandrings; put thou my Tears into thy Bottle; are they not in thy Book? All our Wandrings, he tells them; all our Tears, he hath a Bottle for them: to shew God's particular Notice, they are Metaphorical Expressions. And he observes us in the very Posture, when we come to pray, and where. Acts 9. 11. Go to such a Street, in such a Place, and enquire for one Saul of Tarsus; for, behold, he prayeth. The Lord takes notice, in such a City, in such a Street, in such a House, in such a Room, and what you are doing when you are praying. And he seeth, not only that you pray, but how you pray. Rom. 8. 27. And he that searcheth the Heart, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh Intercession for the Saints, according to the Will of God. He can discern between Lust[illegible: 1 letter] and Groans, Words and Affections, and such Words as are the Belches of the Flesh, and such as are the Breathings of the Spirit. 2. There's his fatherly Care; for it is said, Your Father knows what Things you have need of. He knows what pincheth and presseth you. 'Tis said, 1 Pet. 5. 7. Casting all your Care upon him, for he careth for you. It is not said, that he may take care of you, but he doth take care. God is afore-hand with us; and our carking Care doth but take the Work out of God's hand, which he is doing already. Our Cares are needless, fruitless, burthensom; but his are assiduous, powerful, blessed. A small Matter may occassion much Vexation to us; but to him all things are easy. Upon these Considerations, We should be careful for nothing, but make known our Requests unto God. Phil 4. 6. Praying for what we want, and giving thanks for what we have; For your Father knoweth you have need of these Things. Mat. 6. 32. His fatherly Love will not suffer him to neglect his Children, or any of their Concernments. Therefore if you have a Temptation upon you to Anxiety and Carefulness of Mind, and know not how to get out of such a Strait, and conquer such a Difficulty, remember you have a Father to provide for you: This will prevent tormenting Thoughtfulness, which is good for nothing but to anticipate your Sorrow. 3. The next Thought is, his Readiness to help. This should be deeply impressed upon your Minds, and should habituate these Thoughts, how ready God is to help, and to run to the Cry. Psal. 32. 5. I said, I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin. Before his Purpose could be brought to pass. Isa. 65. 24. Before they call, I will answer, and whiles they are yet speaking, I will hear. So Jer. 31. 20. I heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, &c. God's Bowels were troubled presently. He is more ready to give than you to ask: This will help and direct you mightily in the business of Prayer, for God hath a care for his Children, and very ready to help the weak, and relieve them in all their Straits. Thirdly, For Directions about our Affections in Prayer: three things are required, viz. Fervency, Reverence, Confidence. 1. Fervency; that usually comes from two grounds; a broken-hearted Sense of our Wants, and a desire of the Blessing we stand in need of. For the broken-hearted Sense of our Wants, especially Spiritual Weaknesses, are incident to the best. All Christians have continual need to cry to God. We have continual Necessities both within and without. Go cry to God your Father without Affectation, but not without Affection, and seek your Supplies from him. Let me tell you, the more Grace is increased, the more sense of Wants is increased. For Sin is more hated, Defects are less born. And then, there must be a desire of the Blessings, especially Spiritual; our Needs must stir up fresh Longings and holy Desires after God. Mat. 7. 7. Ask, Seek, Knock. Luk. 11. 8. For his Importunity, he will rise and give. We spend the earnestness of our Spirits in other Matters, in Disputes, Contests, Earthly Pursuits; our importunate earnestness runs in a worldly Channel: No, no, it must be from simplicity and sincerity, pouring out your Hearts before him: No Sacrifice without him. Jam. 5. 16. The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much. 2. Reverence; a reverent respectful Carriage towards our heavenly Father: Psal. 2. 11. Serve the Lord with Fear, and rejoice with Trembling. Mark, there is in God a mixture of Majesty and Mercy; so in us there must be of Ioy and Trembling. God's Love doth not abase his Majesty; nor his Majesty diminish his Love. We ought to know our distance from God, and to think of his Superiority over us; therefore we must be serious. Remember, God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints: and to [illegible: 1 letter]e had in reverence of all them that are about him, Psal. 89. 7. 3. With Confidence; Eph. 3. 12. In whom we have boldness and access, with confidence by the Faith of him. There is boldness in pouring out our Requests to God, who will certainly hear us, and grant what is good; we must rely upon his Goodness and Power in all our Necessities. He is so Gracious in Christ, that he will do that which is best for his Glory, and our Good; and upon other Terms we should not seek it. If you would not turn Prayer into Babling, much-speaking to Affectation of Words; take heed of these Abuses, and labour to bring your Hearts to God in this manner.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's-Prayer. Our Father, which art in Heaven. I Have insisted upon the foregoing Verses, which do concern the Duty of Prayer; let me now come to the Lord's-Prayer it self. This Prayer was form'd and digested by Christ, and therefore to be highly esteemed by Christians. Jesus Christ, who was the Wisdom of God, he knew both our Necessities, and the Father's good Will towards us; and therefore surely he would give us a perfect Form and Directory. We are not absolutely tied to this Form; we do not read that it was ever used by the Apostles, tho we have many of their Prayers upon Record, in the Acts, and in the Epistles, yet they plainly differ as to the Construction of the Words. And this very Prayer is diversly set down by the Evangelists themselves. Mat. 6. 11. Give us this day our daily Bread; it is in other Words, Luke 11. 3. Give us day by day our daily Bread. And, v. 12. And forgive us our Debts, as we forgive our Debtors; in Luke 11. 4. it is, And forgive us our Sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. But however, tho we are not tied to this Form, yet I think it may be humbly used: for Christ taught his Disciples how to pray, while as yet they were in their Ignorance and Tenderness, and had not received the Spirit. And God usually puts Words into Sinners Mouths; Hosea 11. 2. Take with you Words, and say unto him, Receive us graciously. Look as Ioseph is said to feed his Father, and his Brethren, as a little Child is nourished, as it is in the Margent, (there is not only Food provided, but it is put into their Mouths) Gen. 47. 12. So did Christ teach his Disciples to pray, not only as directing them what they should pray for, but putting a Form of Words into their Mouths. In this Prayer, there are three Parts observable: 1. The Preface. 2. The Petitions themselves. 3. The Conclusion. In the Preface we have a Description of God, as always we should begin Prayer with awful Thoughts of God. God is described, partly, from his Goodness and Mercy, Our Father; and partly, from his Greatness and Majesty, Which [illegible: 1 word] in Heaven. I. His Goodness and Mercy, Our Father: Where is set forth, 1. The Relation wherein God standeth to his People, in the Word, Father. 2. Their Propriety and Interest in that Relation; wherein not the particular Interest of a single Believer is asserted, My Father; but the general Interest of all the Elect in Christ, Our Father. I shall wave all which may be said concerning Prayer in general; concerning the Lawfulness or Unlawfulness of a Form in Prayer; The Disputes concerning the Use of this Form; as also all the Disputes concerning the Object of Prayer, which we learn from hence to be God alone. Surely Prayer is a Sacrifice, and belongeth only to God; it cannot be made to any other but to him, who knoweth all the Prayers that are made in the World at the same time, and the Hearts of all those that pray. I will also wave what might be spoken concerning Preparation before Petition; for here there is a Preface before the Prayer it self. Neither shall I speak concerning the Necessity of conceiving right Thoughts of God in Prayer; how we may conceive of his Goodness, to beget a Confidence; of his Majesty, to beget an Awe and Reverence. That which I shall insist upon, is, the Notion and Relation under which God is here expressed, which is that of Father; Our Father. Observe, Those that would pray aright, must address themselves to God, as a Father, in Iesus Christ. Hypocrites at the last Day will cry, Lord, Lord; but Christ hath taught us to say, Our Father. Here I shall, I. Enquire in what Sence God is a Father. II. What Encouragements we have from thence in Prayer, when we can take him up under this Notion and Appellation. I. In what Sence God is a Father? This Title may be given to God, either essentially, or with respect to personal Relation. 1. Essentially; and so 'tis common to all the Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy-Ghost; all three are God, and our Father. And thus not only the First Person, but the Second is called the Everlasting Father, Isa. 9. 6. And the Holy-Ghost, being Author of our Being, is called our Maker. But, 2. It may be ascribed to God personally: And so the first Person is called God the Father; and that either with relation to Christ, or to us. (1.) With relation to Christ, as the Son of God: So the first Person is called the Father, as he is the Fountain of the Deity, communicating to and with him the Divine Essence. Psal. 2. 7. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. The personal Property of the Father, is to beget; and of the Son, to be begotten. There is an eternal Now, wherein God is said to beget him. Thus he may be called the Father of Christ, as he is the second Person; now, as Incarnate and Mediator. Tho God be Christ's Father, as second Person; yet they are all equal in Power, Dignity, and Glory: But as Mediator, God is his Father in another respect. So it is said, Iohn 14. 28. My Father is greater than I: Not as God, for so he was equal: He thought it no Robbery to be equal with God. Phil. 2. 6. But greater than I, that is, consider him as Man and Mediator, in the state of his Humiliation: For it is notable to consider upon what occasion Christ speaks these Words: If ye loved me, ye would rejoyce, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I: That is, You admire me, and prize my Company exceedingly, because you see the Power which I put forth in the Miracles which I do; ye would rejoice, if you understood it aright; He is infinitely more glorious, than I appear in this State of Abasement and Humiliation. Thus with respect to Christ, God, the first Person, may be called the Father. (2) With respect to Vs; for the first Person is not only the Father of Christ, but our Father; John 20. 17. I go to my Father, and your Father. We share with Christ in all his Relations: As God was his God by Covenant; so he is our God. And in this Sence, personally, it may be taken here; for our Business lieth mainly with the first Person, with whom Christ intercedeth for us: 1 Iohn 2. 1. We have an Advocate with the Father, even Iesus Christ the Righteous. Before whom doth he appear? Before the Father. And it is to him to whom we direct our Prayers, tho not excluding the other Persons. Eph. 3. 14. I bow my Knees unto the Father of our Lord Iesu[illegible: 1 letter] Christ. Tho it be not unlawful to pray to Christ, or to the Holy-Ghost; for that hath been done by the Saints. Stephen saith, Lord Iesus, receive my Spirit; and Iacob saith, The Angel of the Covenant bless the Lads. And all baptized Persons are baptized in the Name of the Son and Holy-Ghost, as well as in the Name of the Father. But usually Christian Worship is terminated upon God the Father, as being chief in the Mystery of Redemption; and so it is said, Eph. 2. 18. Through him, by one Spirit, we have access to the Father. We come to him through Christ, as the meritorious Cause, who hath procured Leave for us; and by the Spirit, as the efficient Cause, who gives us an Heart to come; and to the Father, as the ultimate Object of Christian Worship. Christ procureth us Leave to come, and the Spirit gives us a Heart to come: So that by the Spirit, through Christ, we have access to God. So that now you may see what is meant by the Father; Our Father. But now let me distinguish again; God is a Father to Mankind, either, 1. In a more general consideration and respect, by Creation; or, 2. In a more special regard, by Adoption. First; By Creation God is a Father: At first he gave a Being to all Things; but to Men and Angels he gave Reason; Iohn 1. 4. And this Life was the Light of Man. Other Things had Life; but Man had such a Life as was Light; and so by his original Constitution he became to be the Son of God. To establish the Relation of a Father, there must be a Communication of Life and Likeness. A Painter, that makes an Image or Picture like himself, he is not the Father of it; for tho there be Likeness, yet no Life. The Sun in propriety of Speech is not the Father of Frogs, and putrid Creatures, which are quickned by its heat; tho there be Life, yet there is no Likeness. We keep this Relation for univocal Generations, and rational Creatures. Thus by Creation the Angels are said to be the Sons of God; Iob 38. 7. When he was laying the Foundations of the Earth, the Sons of God shouted for Ioy; that is, the Angels. And thus Adam also was called the Son of God, Luke 3. ult. Thus by our first Creation, and with respect to that, all Men are the Sons of God, Children of God. And (mark it) in respect of God's continual concurrence to our Being, tho we have deformed our selves, and are not the same that we were; when we were first created; yet still in regard of some sorry Remains of God's Image, and the Light of Reason, all are Sons of God, and God in a general Sence is a Father to us; Yea, more a Father than our natural Parents are: For our Parents, they concur to our Being but instrumentally, God originally: We had our Being under God from our Parents: He hath the greatest hand and stroke in forming us in the Belly, and making us to be what we are. Which appeareth by this: Parents, they know not what the Child will be, Male or Female, beautiful or deformed; they cannot tell the Number of Bones, Muscles, Veines, Arteries; and cannot restore any of these, in case they should be lost and spoil'd: So that he that framed us in the Womb, and wonderfully fashioned us in the secret Parts, he is our Father, Psal. 139. 14. As the Writing is rather the Work of the Pen-man, than of the Pen; so we are rather the Workmanship of God, than of our Parents: They are but Instruments; God is the Author and Fountain of that Life and Being, which we still have. And again, consider, The better Part of Man is of his immediate Creation; and in this respect, he is called the Father of Spirits. Heb. 12. 19. They do not run in the Channel of carnal Generation, or fleshly Descent; but they are immediatly created by God. And it is said, Eccles. 12. 7. The Spirit returneth to God which gave it. Well then, you see how in a general Sence, and with what good reason God may be called, Our Father. Those which we call Fathers, they are but subordinate Instruments; the most we have from them is our Corruption, our being depraved; but our Substance, and the Frame and Fashion of it, our Being, and all that's good in it, that's from the Lord. Now this is some Advantage in Prayer, to look upon God as our Father by virtue of Creation, that we can come to him, as the Work of his Hands, and beseech him that he will not destroy us, and suffer us to perish. Isa. 64. 8. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the Clay, and thou our Potter; and we are all the Work of thine Hand. There is a general Mercy that God hath for all his Creatures; and therefore as he gave us rational Souls, and fashioned us in the Womb, we may come to him, and say; Lord, thou art our Potter, and we thy Clay, do us good, forsake us not. What Advantage have we in Prayer, from this common Interest, or general Respect of God's being a Father by virtue of Creation? 1. This common Relation binds us to pray to him: All things which God hath made, by a secret Instinct they are carried to God for their Supply. Psal. 145. 15. The Eyes of all Things look up to thee. In their way they pray to him, and moan to him for their Supplies, even very Beasts, young Ravens, and Fowls of the Air. But much more is this Man's Duty, as we have Reason, and can clearly own the first Cause. And therefore upon these natural Grounds the Apostle reasons with them, why they should seek after God. Acts 14. 17. 2. As this common Relation binds us to pray; so it draweth common Benefits after it. Mat. 6. 25, 26. Is not the Life more than Meat, and the Body than Raiment? Behold the Fowls of the Air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into Barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Christ saith, where God hath given a Life, he will give Food; and where he gives a Body, he will give Raiment, according to his good pleasure. He doth not cast off the Care of any living Creature he hath made, as long as he will preserve it for his Glory. Beasts have their Food and Provision, much more Men, which are capable of knowing and enjoying God. 3. It giveth us Confidence in the Power of God. He which made us out of nothing, is able to keep, preserve, and supply us, when all things fail, and in the midst of all Dangers. Saints are able to make use of this common Relation. And therefore it is said, 1 Pet. 4. 19. That we should commit our Souls unto him, in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. The Apostle speaks of such Times, when they carried their Lives in their hands, from day to day: They did not know how soon they should be haled before Tribunals, and cast into Prisons. Remember, you have a Creator, which made you out of nothing; and he can keep and preserve Life, when you have nothing. Thus this common Relation is not to be forgotten, as he gives us our outward Life and Being. Psal. 124. 8. Our Help is in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth: As if the Psalmist had said, As long as I see these glorious Monuments of his Power, these Things framed out of nothing, shall I distrust God, whatever Exigence or Strait I may be reduced to? Secondly; More especially, there is a particular Sort of Men, to whom God is a Father in Christ, and that is, to Believers. Iohn 1. 12. To as many as received him, to them gave he Power to be called the Sons of God. Those which in their natural State and Condition were Children of Wrath, and Slaves to Sin and Satan; when they come, and are willing to welcom and receive Christ into their Hearts; in a sense of their Misery, are willing to make out after God and Christ; they have an Allowance to call God Father, and may have Child-like Communion with him, and run to him in all Straits, and lay open their Necessities to him. 2 Kings 4. 19. When the Child cried unto his Father, he said, Carry him to his Mother: So when we are ill at ease, and in any Straits, this is the Privilege of our Adoption, that we have a God to go to; we may go to our Father, and plead with him, as the Church, Isa. 63. 16. Doubtless thou art our Father, tho Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer. It is good to know God under this special Relation of a Father in Christ; and this is that which is the Grace of Adoption. Adoption is an Act of Free-Grace, by which we that were Aliens and Strangers, Servants to Sin and Satan, are, in and by Christ, made Sons and Daughters of God, and accordingly are so reckoned, and treated with, to all Intents and Purposes. It is a great and special Privilege, given to God's own Children, by virtue of their Interest in Christ; and therefore it is said, 1 Iohn 3. 1. Behold what Love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the Sons of God! That is; Behold it as a certain Truth, and admire it as a great Privilege. This second Relation is a very great Privilege, and it will appear to be so, if we consider, 1. The Persons that receive it: We that were Aliens, and Enemies, and Bond-slaves; that were of another Line and Stock: That might say to Corruption, Thou art my Father; to the Worm, Thou art my Mother, and my Sister. Job 17. 14. We that were Cousin-Germans to Worms, a handful of enlivened Dust, that we should be taken into such a Relation to God! We that might say indeed to the Devil, Thou art our Father, and the Lusts of our Father we will do. Iohn 8. 44. Satan is the Sinners Father, and God disclaims them. The Lord disclaims the People which were brought out of the Land of Egypt, when they rebelled against him. Exod. 32. 7. The Lord said unto Moses, Go, get th[illegible: 1 letter] down; for thy People which thou broughtest out of [illegible: 1 word] Land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: [illegible: 1 word] People, which thou hast brought, in Scorn and D[illegible: 3 letters]dain, as if God did disavow them from being hi[illegible: 1 letter] And so it was with us all. When Adam had [illegible: 2 letters] belled against God, God executed the Law of the rebellious Child against him, which was this, that he should be turn'd out of Doors. So was Adam turn'd out of Paradise, and lost his Title and Heritage; and we were reckoned to the Devil. Now, behold what manner of Love was this, that we should be called the Sons of God! 2. You will wonder at it, you will behold it as an excellent Privilege, if you consider the Nature of the Privilege it self; To be Sons and Daughters of God, to be able to call God Father. This was Christ's own Title and Honour. When God had a mind to honour Christ, he proclaims it from Heaven, Mat. 3. 17. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. Surely, if our Hearts were as apprehensive of heavenly Privileges, as they are of earthly, we would admire it more. Earthly Alliance, how is it prized! If a great Man should match into our Blood and Line, what an Honour and Glory do we reckon it to us! 1 Sam. 18. 23. Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a King's Son in Law? Do we account this a small Matter, to be related to Kings, and Princes, and Potentates? No, no; we have high thoughts of it: And is not this an excellent thing, to be Sons and Daughters of God? In all other Cases, if Men have Children of their own, they do not adopt: God had a Son of his own, in whom his Soul found full Delight and Complacency; yet he would adopt and take us wretched Creatures, he would invest us with the Title of Sons. And shall it be said of this and that Believer, Here's the Son of God? O behold what manner of Love! &c. 3. Then do but consider the Consequents of it, both in this Life, and the Life to come. In this Life, what Immunities and Privileges have we? Free Access to God; we may come and treat with him when we please, as Children to a Father, when we stand in need of any thing. We have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Rom. 8. 15. If we ail any thing, we may go to our Father, and acquaint him with our Case and Grief. And we shall have a Child's Allowance here in the World: The Heirs of Glory are well provided for in their Non-age; they have a Right to a large Portion, all the good Things of the World, Meat, Drink, Marriage; such Things they have by a Son's Right: They have a Right to the Creature, in and by him who is Heir of all Things; so they are established in their Right which Adam lost. 1 Tim. 4. 3, 4. And they are under the Ministry of Angels; the Angels are sent forth to be their Guardians, and to supply and provide for them. And then in the Life to come, (for we are not only Sons, but Heirs) we have a Right to the glorious Inheritance. Rom. 8. 17. If Children, then Heirs, Heirs of God. Here all the Children are Heirs, Male and Female, every Son and Daughter, an Heir, and Joint-heirs with Christ. We do as it were divide Heaven between us; we have a great, blessed, and glorious Inheritance; poor despicable Creatures, chosen Heirs of a Kingdom. James 2. 5. 4. You will see it was a very great Privilege, if you consider how we come to be entitled to it. Ephes. 1. 5. Having predestinated us unto the Adoption of Children, by Iesus Christ, to himself: We come to it in and by Jesus Christ. Christ was fain to come down, and to take a Mother upon Earth, that we might have a Father in Heaven. He comes down, and was made a Man; he became our Brother, and so layeth the Foundation for the Kindred. Heb. 2. 11. Nay, not only incarnate, but he died, to purchase this Title for us. When the Business was debated in the Council of the Trinity, how lost Man might be restored in Blood, and have a Right and Interest in God; and when Justice put in Exceptions against us, Jesus Christ was content to be made under the Law, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons. Gal. 4. 4, 5. There could be no Reconciliation, no Amity, no Alliance, until Sin was expiated, and Justice satisfied: therefore Christ was not only made of a Woman, but made under the Law; first, our Brother by In[illegible: 2 letters]rnation, and then our Redeemer by his Death and Suffering. As under the Law, if a Man had waxen poor, the next of Kin was to be his Redeemer; Levit. 25. 25. Or if he had sold himself, v. 47. one of his Brethren was to redeem him. Christians, there was a kind of Sale and Forfeiture, on our part, of the Inheritance, and Right and Title of Children; therefore Jesus Christ, when he became a Man, jure propinquitatis, by virtue of his Kindred, and Nearness to us, came to redeem his People, and purchase us to God. And this is the Relation which is mainly intended in this place; for mark, Christ taught his Disciples to pray, Our Father; others, they cannot speak of this Relation; and in them all that believe, and all that walk in the Spirit, these alone can come to God as a Father. II. What Advantage have we in Prayer, by taking up God under this Notion and Relation, when we can come to him, and say, Our Father? 1. It conduceth to our Confidence in Prayer. 2. It furthereth our Duty. First; It conduceth to our Confidence in Prayer: For it is not an empty Title, or a naked Relation; but this is the ground of all that Favour and Grace which we stand in need of, and receive from God. [illegible: 1 letter]It is notable, 2 Cor. 6. 8. saith God, I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters. In other places it is said, Ye shall be called my Sons; but here, You shall be my Sons; you shall not only be called so, but be so. He will really perform all the parts of a Father to us; yea, no Father like God. The outward Father is but a Shadow; as still in the Comparison, outward Things are but the Shadow and Similitude, the Reality is in inward Things: A Servant is not always a Servant, there may be a Release; a Husband is not always a Husband, there may be a Separation by Divorce: but a Father is always a Father, and a Child a Child. I am the true Vine: The ou[illegible: 1 letter]ward Vine is but a Shadow, but Christ himself hath the true Properties of a Vine: So the outward Father is but a Shadow and Similitude, the Reality is in God; none so fatherly and kind as he. Mat. 7. 11. If ye being evil, know how to give good Gifts unto your Children; how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven, give good Things to them that ask him? There is a how much more upon the fatherly Care of God. Natural Parents, whose Affections are stinted and limited, nay, corrupt and sinful, when a Son comes for a Fish, will not give him a Scorpion; when he comes for Bread, will not give him a Stone; that were a monstrous thing, vile, and unnatural. So Isa. 49. 15. Can a Woman forget her sucking Child, that she should not have Compassion on the Son of her Womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Passions in Females are more vehement, the Mother hath stronger Affections; if the Mother could do so, as totally to forget that ever she had such a Child, yet she would not forget her Sucking Child; a poor shiftless, helpless Babe, that can do nothing without the Mother; a Child which never provoked her, she would not forget such a Child: they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Certainly God which hath left such an impression upon the Hearts of Parents, hath more of Pity, Bounty, and Goodness in his own Heart; for whatsoever of God is in the Creature, is in God in a more eminent manner. But particularly, How will God perform the parts of a Father? 1. In allowing them full leave to come to him in all their Necessities, Gal. 1. 6. Because ye are Sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts, crying, Abba, Father: There is a Spirit that attendeth upon this State. They which are Sons shall have the Spirit of Sons, and God will incline their Hearts to come and call to him for Supplies. This is a great Advantage. When he gives a Spirit of Prayer, then he will be ready to hear and grant our Requests; not only to give us a Heart to ask them, but to incline his Ear. Luk. 11. 13. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? When we ask for the highest Blessing; when we come and are importunate with him, and will take no nay. 2. In supplying all our Wants. Mat. 6. 32. Your Father which is in Heaven, knoweth you have need of these things. A Father will not let his Child starve; certainly none so Fatherly as God: You have not such a Father as is ignorant, regardless of your Condition, but takes an exact notice of all your Wants and Pressures. It is notable to observe, how God condescendeth to express the particular notice he taketh of the Saints: Isa. 49. 16. Behold, I have graven thee upon the Palms of my Hands. As we use to tye things about our Hands, that we may remember such a Work and Business: So God doth as it were put a print and mark upon his Hands, to speak after the manner of Men. Nay, Mat. 10. 30. The Hairs of their Heads are numbred; God hath a particular notice of their Necessities: And Jesus Christ, he is his Remembrancer, one that ever appeareth before him to represent their Wants. Heb. 9. 24. As the High-Priest, in the Law, was to go in with the Names of the Tribes upon his Breast and Shoulder, when he did minister before God, Exod. 28. Which is a Type, how much we are in the Heart of Christ, ever representing himself before the Lord on the behalf of such and such a Believer. 3. Pitying our Miseries. As he taketh notice of them, so he will pity their Miseries; as a Father pityeth his Children, when he seeth them in an afflicted Condition. Psal. 103. 13. Like as a Father pityeth his Children: So the Lord pityeth them that fear him. Nay, he will pardon their Sins. Ma[illegible: 1 letter]. 3. 17. And, I will spare them, as a Man spareth his own Son which serveth him. An only Son needs not fear much, if his Father were to be his Judg, tho he hath done unworthily. They may exhaust and draw up all their Pity, their Bowels may shrink when they meet with multitude of Provocations. Now God will spare us, as a Man spares his only Son: Nay, not only his only Son, but his dutiful Son, which serves him. Many times we forget the Duty of Children, but God will not forget the Mercy of a Father. I will go to my Father, saith the Prodigal. He had forgotten the Duty of a Child, he went into a far Country, and wasted his Patrimony, and that basely and [illegible: 1 letter]ilthily upon Harlots; yet upon his Return, when he was a great way off, The Father runs to meet him half way, and kisseth him. 4. In disciplining, and treating us with much Indulgence, and Wisdom, and Care. A Father takes a great deal of Pains, in forming his Child, and fashioning its Manners, and Behaviour: So doth God with his Children. If he afflicteth, it is as a Father, only with purposes of good, and not so as an Earthly Father: Heb. 12. 10. For verily, for a few days they chastned us after their own Pleasure; but he for our Profit, that we might be partakers of his Holiness. They mingle a great deal of Passion with their Correction, when they are inflamed; but God never mingleth Passion with his Rod: When he gives a bitter Cup, he is a Father still, Ioh. 18. 11. 5. In providing able Guardians for his Children. None so attended as God's Children are, those which are adopted and taken into Grace and Favour with Christ; Heb. 1. 14. Angels are ministring Spirits, sent abroad for the Heirs of Salvation. They have a guard of Angels to watch over them, that they dash not their Foot against a Stone. 6. In laying up an Inheritance for them. The Apostle saith, 2 Cor. 12. 14. Children ought not to lay up for their Parents, but Parents for their Children. Now, God hath laid up for us, as well as laid out much upon us. Luk. 12. 32. Fear not, little Flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. He has a Kingdom, a glorious Inheritance to bestow upon us: And we are kept for that happy State. Tho he hath an Heir already, Jesus Christ, the Heir of all things; yet God hath made us Co-Heirs with Christ, Rom. 8. 17. Thus, then it is a mighty Advantage: If we did take up God in this Notion, to look upon him as a Father, it would increase our Confidence, and Dependance upon him; This is a sweet Relation; the Reality is more in God, than can be in an Earthly Father: for he is a Father according to his Essence, knowing our Necessities, pardoning our Sins, supplying our Wants, forming and fashioning our Manners, providing able Guardians for us, and laying up a blessed Inheritance for us, in Heaven. Secondly, As it encourageth us to pray, so it furthereth our Duty in Prayer, that we may behave our selves with Reverence, Love, and Gratitude. 1. With a Child-like Reverence, and Affection in Prayer; Mal. 1. 6. If then I be a Father, where is mine Honour? And if I be a Master, where is my Fear? If we expect the Supplies of Children, we must perform the Duty of Children. God will be owned as a Father, not with a Fellow-like Familiarity, but humbly, and with an awe of his Maj[illegible: 1 letter] sty. 2. With Love. Now, our Love to God is mainly seen by Subjection, and Obedience to his Laws. Thus Christ would have us take up God in Prayer, under such a Relation, that we might mind our Duty to him. 1 Pet. 1. 17. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. We never pray aright, but when we pray resolving to cast off all Sin. How can we call him Father, whom we care not continually to displease from Day to Day? So the Lord treats his People. Jer. 3. 5, 6. Thou hast said, thou art my Father: Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest. God takes it to be a Contumely and Reproach to himself, when we do evil, yet come and call him Father. He takes it ill, that Men should come complementally, and flatter him with Lying Lips, and do not walk as Children in holy Obedience: Therefore it is an engagement to serve God with Holiness. 3. With Gratitude. When we come to pray, we must remember, not only what we want, but what we have received, acknowledging we have all from him, he is our Father, Deut. 32. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish People, and unwise? Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee and established thee? We must acknowledg the good we have, as well as that we expect to come from him. Therefore, if we would have a praying Frame, and be eased of our Sollicitude, and that anxious care which is a disparagement to Providence, it is good to take up God under the Notion of a Father, which makes us rest upon him for all things. Mat. 6. 25. Take no thought for your Life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your Body, what ye shall put on, Why? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. You that are able Fathers would take your selves disparaged, if that your Children should filch and steal for their Living, and beg, and be sollicitous, and go up and down from Door to Door for their Maintenance and Support, and not trust to your Care and Provision. A Believer, which knoweth he hath a Heavenly Father, will not be negligent in his Calling, but be active and industrious in his way, and use those lawful means which by the Providence of God he hath been brought up in, and then, Be careful for nothing, as the Apostle's advice is, Phil. 4. 6. And in every thing, by Prayer and Supplication, make your request known unto God. O could we turn Carking into Prayer, and run to our Father, it would be happy for us. Care, and Diligence, and necessary Provision, that's our work and labour; but for the Success and Event of Things, leave it to God. When we are carking in the World with such anxiousness, and troubled with restless Thoughts; how we should be provided for in old Age, and what will become of us and ours, we take God's work out of his Hands; this is a disparagement to our Heavenly Father, and a reproach to his Providence and Fatherly Care. Well then, certainly this is of great advantage in Prayer. APPLICATION. Vse. If it be a great advantage in Prayer, to take up God under the Notion and Relation of a Father: Then those that would pray aright, let this instruct and quicken them above all things. Clear up your Adoption, that you may be able to call God Father, for otherwise when you come to pray, it is a very Lye to God: As Acts 5. 4. When Annanias spake false to the Apostle, saith Peter to him; Thou hast not lyed unto Men, but unto God. Why? Because he knows all that is done in the World. But much more do they lie unto God here; this is a very Disgrace and Blasphemy, a Contumely, rather than a Prayer and Supplication, when you will come, and make God to father the Devil's Brats: When you that live in Sin, and have no Reverence and Awe of God upon your Hearts, shall come and pray to him, this is a Lye, which is told to the very Face of God. But if this be a Truth, that all those which would pray aright must clear up their Adoption, and get a sense of it, then here will Doubts arise. Therefore, here I shall handle three Cases. 1. What shall natural Men do? Must they desist from Prayer? for they have no right to it. 2. What shall they do, which have not as yet received the Testimony of the Spirit? For a Child of God may have the Right of Children, yet have not a sense of his Adoption. 3. What are the Evidences by which our Adoption may be cleared up to us, how we may know we are taken into a Child-like State? First; What shall natural Men do? must they desist from Prayer? for they have no Right to it. I answer; You may see here the miserable Condition of wicked Men, how much they are bound to pray, and yet what an Impossibility lieth upon them of praying aright. Certainly none should desist from this Duty of Prayer, because they cannot perform it aright; for tho we have lost our Power and Fitness, yet there is no reason God should lose his Right, and his Power to our Obedience. There is an Obligation and Precept from God, as a Father by Creation, upon all Mankind; all which are reasonable Creatures, they are to own God as a Father in this way. I say, Prayer is an Homage we owe to God by natural Right; therefore no doubt wicked Men do sin, when they cease to pray. It is one of the Accusations brought against natural Men, and is an Aggravation of their Sin. Psal. 14. 1. They do not call upon God. Rom. 3. 10. it is applied to natural Men. This is the Misery they have subjected themselves to, that their Prayer is turned into Sin. As a natural Man must not omit Hearing, because it is a means to bring him to be acquainted with God, tho he cannot hear in Faith: So he must not omit Prayer, because it is one Means to bring us to own God as a Father by Adoption. A Man is not to turn the Back upon him, but call him Father, as well as he can. Ier. 3. 19. But I said, How shall I put thee among the Children, and give thee a pleasant Land, a goodly Heritage of the Hosts of Nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me My Father, and shalt not turn away from me. Better to own God any way, than not to own him at all, than not to enquire after him; to own him rationally, if not spiritually; to own him by Choice, if not out of Sense. If we cannot come and clear up our Title to this great Privilege by the Spirit of Adoption; yet any way, Thou shalt not turn away from me. We should not shut the Door upon our selves. It is required of a natural Man, being weary of his Sins, to flie to God in Christ Jesus, for his Grace and Favour, that he might become his God and Father. Secondly; What shall they do, which have not as yet received the Testimony of the Spirit, that do not know their Adoption? I answer; A Child of God may have the Effects and Fruits of Adoption, yet not always the feeling of it, to witness to him, that God hath taken him into a Child-like Relation to himself. Certainly, they are in a very uncomfortable Condition, for they want an Help in Prayer. Doubtless thou art our Father; O what an Advantage is that! How much of Eloquence and Rhetorick is there in that, when we can speak to God as a Father! Yet they are not to neglect their Addresses to God; for this is a means to obtain the Spirit of Adoption. Luke 11. 13. He will give the Spirit to them that ask him. Therefore in what ever Condition we be, we must pray; otherwise we shut the Door upon our Hopes. You continue the Want upon your selves, and so wholly detain your selves in a comfortless Condition. There is a fourfold spiritual Art we must use in Prayer, when we have not the Sense of our Adoption, that we may be able to speak to God as our Father. 1. Disclaim, when you cannot apply. When you cannot clear up your own Relation and Interest, then disclaim all other Confidences. If thou canst not say, Father; yet plead Fatherless. Hos. 14. 3. In thee the Fatherless find Mercy. Come as poor, helpless, shiftless Creatures; seek Peace and Reconciliation with God in Christ: It may be, God may take you into his Favour; He is a Father of the Fatherless. 2. Own God in the humbling way; Learn the Policy of the Prodigal, Luke. 15. 18, 19. Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy Son. This is the Policy and Art of an humble Faith, to call God Father. As Paul catcheth hold of the Promise on the dark Side, Iesus Christ came to save Sinners; and presently he addeth, Whereof I am chief: So when a Believer can come, and say, Lord, I am not worthy to be called thy Son, make me as one of thy hired Servants. 3. The third Policy we should use in Prayer, is, to call him Father in Wish; Optando, si non affirmando: If we cannot do it by direct Affirmation, let us do it by Desire. Let us pray our selves into this Relation, and groan after it, that we may have a clearer Sense that God is our Father in Christ. 4. Faith hath one Art more, it maketh use of Christ Jesus. God hath a Son, whose Name signifieth much in Heaven; therefore if you cannot come to him as your Father, come to him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 3. 14. For this cause I bow my Knees to the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. Let Christ bring you into God's presence. He is willing to change Relations with us. Take him along with you in your Arms; go to God in Christ's Name: Whatsoever you ask in my Name, shall be given to you. Thirdly; But what are the Evidences by which our Adoption may be cleared up to us? How shall we know that we are taken into a Child-like State? 1. Consider, how it is brought about. How do we come to be related to God by Christ Jesus? By receiving Christ, as he is offer'd in the Gospel. John 1. 12. To as many as received him, to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God. It is a Prerogative, and special Grant, those which receive Christ, even those that believe in his Name, (that is) those who out of a sense of their own Need, and Sight of Christ offered in the Promise, do really consent to take him, for the Ends for which God offereth him, to wit, as Prince and Saviour, that he might give you Repentance, and Remission of Sins, not in pretence, but in your Hearts: These have full liberty to call God Father, to come to treat and deal with him; tho they have not a sense of the Blessedness of their State, for this followeth Believing: After you believed, you were sealed by the holy Spirit of Promise. Ephes. 1. 13, 14. 2. There is a Witness which is given to the Saints, that the thing may not be always dark and doubtful: The Holy-Ghost is given as a Witness. If you would know whether or no you are the Children of God, see that of the Apostle, Rom. 8. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the Children of God. As under the Law, in the Mouth of two Witnesses every doubtful Thing was to be established, Deut. 17. 6. So here, the Spirit beareth Witness, together with our Spirits, that we are the Children of God. Our Spirits alone may be lying, deceitful; we may flatter our selves, and think we are the Children of God, when we are Children of the Devil. All certainly comes from the Holy-Ghost; and therefore the great Question which is traversed to and fro in the Heart, is, Whether we be God's Children? What is the Spirit's Witness? (1.) He lays down Marks in Scripture, which are the Ground and Decision of this Debate; for the Scriptures are of the Holy-Ghost's inditing, and so may be said to bear witness. Rom. 8. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God. 1 John 3. 10. In this the Children of God are manifest, and the Children of the Devil: Whosoever doth not Righteousness, is not of God, neither he that loveth not his Brother. Thus the Spirit beareth witness to our Spirits, by laying down such Marks, as we by our own spiritual Sense, and renewed Conscience, feel to be right within our selves. And this is the main thing called the Witness of the Spirit. (2.) He worketh such Graces as are peculiar to God's Children, and are Evidences of our Interest in the Favour of God: and therefore it is called, the Sanctification of the Spirit, 2 Thess. 2. 13. and the renewing of the Holy-Ghost, Tit. 3. 5. Look as Iohn knew Christ to be the Son of God, by the Spirit's descending and abiding upon him, Iohn 1. 32. So by the Spirit's Work, and the Spirit's Inhabitation, we know whether we are the Children of God, or no; whether we dwell in God, and God in us, because of his Spirit that he hath given us, that is, because of those Graces wrought in us. And this is called the Seal of the Spirit; for the Holy-Ghost, stamping the Impress of God upon the Soul, working in us an answerable Likeness to Christ, is said to be the Seal; then we have God's Impress upon us. (3.) The Spirit goes further; he helpeth us to feel and discover those Acts in our selves. There is a stupid Deadness in the Conscience, so that we are not always sensible of our spiritual Acts. Hagar saw not the Fountain near her, until God opened her Eyes: So we may not see the Work of the Spirit, without the Light of the Spirit. We cannot own Grace in the midst of so much Weakness and Imperfection, there is a misgiving of Conscience; therefore the Spirit of Sanctification is also a Spirit of Revelation. Eph. 1. 17. The Author of the Grace, is the best Revealer and Interpreter of it: He works, and he gives us a sight of it. As a Workman that made a thing, can best warrant it to the Buyer; he knows the Goodness and Strength of it, and how it is framed and made: So the Holy-Ghost, which works Grace, he reveals and discovers this Grace to us. (4.) The Spirit helps us to compare them with the Rule, and accordingly to judg of their Sincerity. The Spirit opens our Understandings, that we may be able to discern the Intent and Scope of the Scripture, that so we may not be mistaken. We must plow with God's Heifer, if we would understand the Riddle. In thy Light, we shall see Light. We shall be apt to misapply the Rule, so as to judg of our own Actions. Rom. 9. 1. I lie not, the Holy-Ghost bearing me witness; when he had spoken of some eminent Thing wrought in him. We are apt to lie, and feign and misapply Rules, Comforts, and Privileges: But now the Holy-Ghost bearing witness with our Spirits, by this means we come to have a Certainty. There are so many Circuits, Wiles, Turnings in the Heart of Man, that we are not competent Judges of what is wrought in us; therefore it is usually ascribed to the Spirit to be the Searcher of the Heart. Psal. 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy Presence? Acts 5. 4. Thou hast not lied unto Men, but unto God. The Holy-Ghost is rather spoken of, than any other Person, because it is his personal Operation to abide in the Hearts of Men, and to search and try the Reins: It is more particularly ascribed to him, tho it belongs to all the Persons. (5.) As the Spirit helps us to compare that which is wrought with the Rule, the impression or thing sealed with the Stamp or the thing sealing; so he helps us to conclude rightly of our Estate: For many times when the Premises are clear, the Conclusion may be suspended, either out of Self-Love, in case of Condemnation; or out of legal Fear and Jealousy, in case of Self-acquitment. Therefore the Conclusion is of the Holy-Ghost. 1 John 4. 13. Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. There's a great deal of do to bring us to Heaven with Comfort. There needs a Person of the Godhead to satisfy us, as well as to satisfy God, and help us to determine concerning our Condition. (6.) He enlivens and heightens our Apprehensions in all these Particulars, and so fills us with Comfort, and raiseth our Joy upon the feeling of the Sense of the Favour of God; for all this is the Fruit of his Operation. Therefore it is said, Rom. 5. 5. The Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts, by the Holy-Ghost which is given unto us. Those unspeakable Glimpses of God's Favour, and sweet Manifestations of God's Love in the Conscience, which we have, these are given by the Holy-Ghost. There is not one Act of the Soul, but the Holy-Ghost hath a stroke in it for our Comfort, in every degree, all comes from God. So that if you would know what the Witness of the Spirit is, consider, What are the Marks in Scripture? What Graces are wrought in your Hearts? How doth the Spirit help you to discern those Graces, to compare them to the Rule, to make accordingly in these Things a Determination of our Condition? And what Joy and Peace have you thereupon wrought in your Hearts by the Holy-Ghost? For an immediate Testimony of the Spirit, the Scripture knows of no such thing. All other is but Delusion, besides this. (3.) There are certain Fruits and Effects, which do more sensibly evidence it unto the Soul. What are those Fruits of the Spirit of Adoption in our Hearts, by which we may further evidence it, whether we are the Children of God, or no? (1.) In Prayer, by a kind of Naturalness or Delight in this Duty of holy Commerce with God. Rom. 8. 15. We have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Gal. 4. 6. Because ye are Sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And, Zech. 12. 10. I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace, and of Supplication. Where-ever the Spirit of God is dispensed, and dwelleth in the Hearts of any, the Heart of that Man will be often with God: The Spirit of Grace will put him upon Supplication; he will be often acquainting God with his Desires, Wants, Fears. (2.) You will be mainly carried out to your Inheritance in Heaven. Those which are the Children of God, do look after a Child's Portion; and will look for an Estate in Heaven, and cannot be satisfied with present Things. Worldly Men, they have their Reward. Mat. 6. 2 They discharge God for other Things; If they may have Plenty, Honour, worldly Ease, and Delights here, they never look after Heaven. As a Servant hath his Reward from Quarter to Quarter, but a Child waits until the Inheritance comes: So when we are begotten for this lively Hope, when there is an Heavenly-mindedness in you, this is a Fruit of the Holy-Ghost wrought in the Heart, by which you might know you are the Sons of God. Rom. 8. 23. Having the First-Fruits of the Spirit, we groan within our selves, waiting for the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of our Body. (3.) By a Child-like Reverence and Dread of God; when we are afraid to offend God. Ier. 35. 5, 6. The Sons of Rechab, their Father had commanded them that they should drink no Wine; now saith God by the Prophet, Set Pots full of Wine, and Cups, and say unto them, Drink ye Wine: That is, present the Temptation. No, they would not; Our Fathers have forbidden us. So, when a Child of God is put upon Temptation, his Heart recoils, and reasons thus; How can I do this Wickedness, and sin against God? I dare not, my Father hath forbidden me. There is an Awe of his Heavenly Father upon him. 1 Pet. 1. 17. If you call on the Father, who without respect of Persons, judgeth according to every Man's Work; pass the Time of your sojourning here in Fear. We now come to speak of the Possessive Particle, [Our] Father. The Word is used for a double Reason: 1. To comfort us in the Sense of our Interest in God. 2. To mind us of the common Interest of all the Saints in the same God: It is not my, or thy Father only, but our Father. First; Observe the great Condescension of Christ, that poor Creatures are allowed to claim an Interest in God. If Christ had not put these Words in our Mouths, we never had had Boldness to have gone to God, and said, Doubtless, thou art our Father. But he which was in the Bosom of God, and knew his Secrets, hath told us, it is very pleasing to God, we should use this Compellation to him. This is a Privilege which cannot be sufficiently valued, if we consider, 1. The Unworthiness of the Persons which enjoy it; poor Dust and Ashes, sinful Creatures, that were Children of the Devil, that we should lay Claim and Title to God for our Father! And, 2. If we consider the Greatness of the Privilege it self: O behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called his Children! 1 John 3. 1. We think it much, when we can say, This Field, this House is mine; but surely this is more, to say, this God is mine. Again; Observe here, That Interest is a ground of Audience. So Christ would have us begin our Prayers, Our Father; God's Interest in us, and our Interest in God. God's Interest in us: When Christ mediates for his Disciples, he saith, Ioh. 17. 6. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. And David, Psal. 119. 94. I am thine, save me: That's his Argument; the Reason is, Because God, by taking them for his own, binds himself to preserve and keep them. Every Body is bound to look to his own. He that provides not for his own, is worse than an Infidel. Now what a sweet thing is it, when we can go to God, and say, we are thine. So it is the same, as to our Interest in God; it is an excellent Encouragement. Psal. 42. 11. Hope thou in God, saith David to his Soul; why? for he is my God. And elsewhere, reasoning with himself, Psal. 23. 1. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want: First, his Covenant-Interest is built, and then Conclusions of Hope. So 2 Sam. 30. 6. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. It is sweet, when we can go to God, as our God. Luther was wont to say, God was known better by the Predicament of Relation, than by his natural Properties. Why is Interest such a sweet thing? Because by this Relation to God, we have a Claim to God, and to all that he can and will do. God hath made over himself, quantus quantus est, as great as great he is, for his Use and Comfort. Therefore the Psalmist saith, Psal. 16. 5. The Lord is the Portion of mine Inheritance, and of my Cup. A Believer hath as sure a Right and Title to God, as a Man hath to his Patrimony, to which he is born. Look as the Right was any Israelite had to that Share which came to him by Lot; so we may lay claim to God, and live upon his Power and Goodness, as a Man doth upon his Estate. Well then, labour to see God is yours, if you would find acceptance with him. It is not enough to know the Goodness and Power of God in general, but we must discern our Interest in him; that we may not only say, Father, but Our Father. It is the Nature of Faith, thus to appropriate and apply. Iohn 20. 28. My Lord, and my God. How is God made ours? How shall we know it, that we may come and lay our Claim to him? Behold, Christ teacheth us here to say, Our Father, by taking hold of his Covenant; and this is God's Covenant-Notion, I will be your God, and you shall be my People. When we give up our selves to be God's, then he is ours. Resignation and Appropriation go together. I am my Beloved's; there's the Resignation of Obedience: And he is mine; there's the Appropriation of Faith. A Believer cannot always say, God is his, but, I am thine; however it be with him, he would be no others but the Lord's. If he cannot say, he is God's, by an especial interest; yet he will be God's, by the resignation of his own Vows. He knows God hath a better Right and Title to him, than he hath to himself. Quest. But how shall we know that we do indeed resign up our selves to God? I answer; When we make him our chief Good, and our utmost End, (that is) when we unfeignedly chuse him for our Portion, and set apart our selves to act for his Glory. 1. When we chuse and cleave to him, as our all-sufficient Portion: The Lord is my Portion, saith my Soul. Lam. 3. 24. Sometimes the Lord speaks to us, I am thy Reward, I am thy Salvation, Psal. 35. 3. So the Soul speaks to God, Thou art my Portion. When we cleave to God, He is my Portion for ever, Psal. 73. 25. Whom have I in Heaven but thee? &c. When our Souls are satisfied in God, having enough in him; this is to give up our selves to him. 2. When we set apart our selves to his Use, to live and act for his Glory; this is also entring into Covenant with God. As in that formal Matrimonial Covenant, that was used between the Prophet and his Wife, Hos. 3. 3. Thou shalt not be for another Man, so will I also be for thee: So in the Covenant, we resolve to renounce all others, and to live and act for God. The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. Psal. 4. 3. When we are thus set apart for God, to serve him, and glorify him, by this special Dedication of our selves to his Use; this is the Act of Grace on our part. We were God's by Election; but he comes and takes possession for himself by the Spirit, and then the Soul sets himself apart for God. Secondly; That all the Saints have a common Interest in the same God; therefore Christ taught us to say, Our Father. They have one Father, as well as one Spirit, one Christ, one Hope, and one Heaven. Eph. 4. 6. Questionless, it is lawful to say, My Father. Some have disputed it, because they suppose this Expression is used to signify Christ's singular Filiation; Christ could only say, My Father. But it is lawful, provided we do not say it exclusively, and appropriating it to our selves. But here Christ, when he giveth us this perfect Form, teacheth us to say, Our Father. As the Sun in the Firmament is every Man's, and all the World's; so God is every single Believer's God, the God of all the Elect. But why would Christ put this in this perfect Patern and Form of Prayer? 1. To quicken our Love to the Saints in Prayer. When we come to pray, there must be a brotherly Love expressed; now that's a distinct thing from common Love: Add to brotherly Kindness, Charity. 2 Pet. 1. 7. When we are dealing with God in Prayer, we must express somewhat of this brotherly Love: How must we express it? In praying for others, as well as for our selves. Necessity will put Men upon praying for themselves; but brotherly Love will put them upon praying for others. Wherein must Brotherly Kindness be expressed in Prayer? In two Things: (1.) In a Fellow-feeling of their Miseries, in being touched with their Necessities, as we would be with our own. To be sensless, it is a spiritual Excommunication, a casting our selves out of the Body. Members must take care for one another. We must be grieved with their Pains: Who is offended, saith the Apostle, and I burn not? If there be any Power in such a Confession, or Title of a Father, we must be wrestling with God, how well soever it be with us, remembring we speak to him, in whom others have a joint Interest with our selves. (2.) It must be expressed, in wishing the same good to others, as to our selves. Many that pray in their own Case, with what Earnestness and Importunity are they carried out! but how flat and cold in the Case of others! Now a good Christian must be as earnest with God for others, as for himself. Look what Earnestness and Heedfulness of Soul he sheweth, when he puts up Prayers for himself; the same must he do for all Saints. Ephes. 6. 18. Self-love, and Self-respect must not breath only in our Prayers; they must be carried out with as much Earnestness, as if we would go to God in our own Case. 2. Again; As it sheweth us what brotherly Love we should express in Prayer; so it checketh many carnal Dispositions, which we are guilty of, and Christ would mind us of them. It checks Strife and Contention; we are Brethren, have one common Father. Every where Meekness and Love, it is a Qualification for Prayer. Let the Husband live with his Wife according to Knowledg, that their Prayers be not hindred. 1 Pet. 3. 7. If there be such Brauls in the Family, how can the Husband and Wife call upon God with such an united Heart as is requisite? So, 1 Tim. 2. 8. I will that Men pray every where, lifting up holy Hands, without wrath and doubting. Not only lift up pure Hands to God, and that without doubting; there must be Confidence in our Prayers: But that's not all, but without wrath; there must be nothing of Revenge and Passion mingled with your Supplication. And then it checketh Pride and Disdain. Christ teacheth all, in all Conditions, whether Masters or Servants, Fathers or Children, Kings or Beggars, all to say, Our Father; for we have all one Father. Thou hast not a better Christ, nor a better Father in Heaven, than they have. The Rich and the Poor were to give one Ransom under the Law, Exod. 30 to shew they have all the same Redeemer. The Weak should not despise nor disdain the Strong, nor the Rich be ashamed to own the Poor as Brethren. We should never be ashamed to own him as a Brother, whom God will own as a Son. Which art in Heaven. WE have considered the Title given to God, with respect to his Goodness and Mercy; He is a Father, [Our Father.] Now let us consider the Titles given to him, with respect to his Greatness and Majesty, [Which art in Heaven.] From thence note: Doct. It is an Advantage in Prayer, to look upon God as a Father in Heaven. By way of Explication, to shew, First; What is meant by Heaven. There are three Heavens in the Computation of the Scripture: There is, first, the lowest Heaven, that where the Fowls of the Air are, whence the Rain descendeth; therefore the Fowls are called the Fowls of Heaven, Job. 35. 11. And, Iam. 5. 18. Elijah prayed, and the Heaven gave Rain. Secondly, the Luminary Heaven, where the Sun, Moon, and Stars are: Therefore it is said, Mat. 10. 25. The Stars of Heaven shall fall. Thirdly, there is the highest Heaven, or the Heaven of the Blessed, spoken of, Mat. 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; that is, into the third Heaven, the glorious Heaven, the blessed Presence of God. Mat. 18. 10. In Heaven, their Angels do always behold the Face of my Father which is in Heaven: [In Heaven,] that is, the third Heaven; so it is called by Paul, 2 Cor. 12. 2. Which was the highest Part, because he saw and heard Things which it is not lawful for a Man to utter. In this Heaven God is. Secondly; How is God there, since he is every where? 1. Negatively; It is not to be understood so, as if he were included in Heaven, or locally circumscribed within the Compass of it; For the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him, 1 Kin. 8. 27. In regard of his Essence, he is in all Places, being infinite and indivisible: He is not included within the Heavens, nor excluded from Earth, but filleth all Places alike. Ier. 23. 24. Do not I fill Heaven and Earth? saith the Lord. But yet in an especial manner is God present in Heaven: That appears, because there is his Throne: Psal. 103. 19. He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens. Earthly Kings, they have their Thrones exalted higher than other Places; but God's Throne is above all, it is in Heaven. He hath a more universal and unlimited Empire, than all the Kings of the Earth; so he hath a more glorious Throne. Heaven is the most convenient Place, to set forth his Majesty and Glory to the World, because of the Sublimity, Amplitude, and Purity of it. And so, Isa. 66. 1. Thus saith the Lord, The Heaven is my Throne, and the Earth is my Footstool. Heaven is his Throne, because there is his Majestical Presence, more of his Glory and Excellency is discovered: And the Earth is his Footstool, because there, in the lowest part of the World, he manifesteth his powerful Presence, among the lower Creatures. Briefly, to conceive how God is in Heaven, we must consider, 1. The several ways of his Presence: He is in Christ, hypostatically, essentially, or (as the Apostle speaks) bodily; Col. 2. 19. The Fulness of God dwells in him bodily. In the Temple under the Law, there God was present symbolically, because there were the Signs and Tokens of his Presence. The Jewish Temple was a Sacramental Place, and Type of Christ, in whose Name▪ and by whose Merit, Worship was acceptable to God. But now in Christians, he is present energetically, and operatively, by his Spirit. And in Heaven, he there dwells by some eminent Effects of his Wisdom, Power, Greatness, and Goodness. God hath shewed more of his Workmanship in the Structure of the Heavens, than in any other part of the Creation, that being the most glorious part of the World. Psal. 19. 1, 2, 3. The Heavens declare the Glory of the Lord, and the Firmament sheweth his handy Work, &c. Certainly it is meet, God should dwell in the most glorious part of the World; now Heaven is the most glorious part of the Creation. Heathens in their Straits would not look to the Capitol, where their Idols were; but to Heaven, where God hath impressed his Majesty and Greatness. When ever we look upon these aspectable Heavens, the vast Expansion of those glorious Luminaries, the Purity of the Matter, and Sublimity of its Posture, it cannot but raise our Hearts to think of a glorious God that dwelleth there. When we come by a poor Cottage, we guess the Inhabitant is no great Person; but when we see a magnificent Structure, we easily imagine some Person of account dwells there: So, tho the Earth doth declare the Glory of God, and shew much of his Wisdom and Power, yet chiefly the Heavens, when ever we look upon them, we cannot chuse but have awful Thoughts, and be struck with a Religious Horrour, at the remembrance of the great God, which hath stretched out these Heavens by his Wisdom and Power. 2. Therefore God is said to dwell in Heaven, because from thence he manifesteth his powerful Providence, Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness. God is not so shut up in Heaven, as not to mind human Affairs, and to take notice of what is done here below: Psal. 11. 4. The Lords Throne is in Heaven: His Eyes behold, his Eye-lids try the Children of Men. Tho his Throne be in Heaven, yet his Providence is every where, his Eyes behold, he seeth how we behave our selves in his Presence; and his Eye-lids try the Children of Men: He may seem to wink now and then, and to suspend the strokes of his Vengeance, but it is but for our Trial. He owneth his Children from Heaven, Deut. 26. 15. Look down from thy holy Habitation, from Heaven, and bless thy People. And from thence he punisheth the Wicked, Rom. 1. 18. The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven. 3. There is God most owned by the Saints and glorified Angels, therefore he is said to dwell there; as a King is beloved by his Subjects, but most immediately served and attended upon by those of his own Court. So that in Heaven, there we have the highest Pattern of all that Duty which doth immediately concern God. In this Prayer, Hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done; these three Petitions concern God more immediately; now before we put them up, Christ would have us think of our Father in Heaven, praised by [illegible: 1 word] and Saints, that fall down before his Throne, crying, Honour, [illegible: 1 letter]lory, and Praise. There he Reign[illegible: 1 letter]th, his [illegible: 1 letter]hrone is there, and there he is perfectly obeyed, and served without any oppo[illegible: 1 letter]ition. 4. There God is most enjoyed, and therefore he dwells there, for there he doth more immediately exhibit the fulness of his Glory to the Saints and Angels. In Heaven God is all in all. Here we are supplied at second or third Hand. Hos. 2. 18. I will hear the Heavens, and the Heavens shall hear the Earth, &c. But there God is immediately and fully enjoyed. Here there are many Wants and Vacuities to be filled up; But in thy Presence there is fulness of Ioy, and at thy right hand there are Pleasures for evermore, Psal. 16. 11. Look, as when the Flood was poured out upon the World, you read, that the Windows of Heaven were opened, Gen. 7. 11. The drops of Rain were upon Earth, but the Cataracts and Flood-Gates were in Heaven: So when he raineth down drops of Sweetness upon his People, the Flood-Gates are above, they are reserved for that place where they are fully enjoyed. Thirdly, Why hath God fixed and taken up his dwelling place in the Heavens? I answer, 1. Because mortal Men they cannot endure his glorious presence. Deut. 5. 23. When ye heard the Voice out of the midst of the Darkness, for the Mountain did burn with Fire, ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his Glory, and his Greatness, and we have heard his Voice out of the midst of the Fire: now therefore why should we dye? For this great Fire will consume us; if we hear the Voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall dye. Any manifestations of God, how easily do they over-set, and overcome us? A little Spiritual Enjoyment it is too strong for us. If God pour out but a drop of Sweetness into the Heart, we are ready to cry out, Hold, Lord, it is enough; Our crazy Vessels can endure no more. Therefore, when Christ was transfigured, the Disciples were astonished, and fell back; they could not endure the Emissions and Beamings out of his Divine Glory, because of the Weakness and Incapacity of the present State; therefore hath God a place above, where he discovereth his Glory in the utmost Latitude. It is notable, in Scripture, sometimes God is said to dwell in Light, 1 Tim. 6. 16. And sometimes to make Darkness his dwelling place, Psal. 18. 11. How doth he dwell in Light, and how in Dark[illegible: 1 letter]ess? Because of the glorious mani[illegible: 1 letter]estations which are above, therefore it is said he dwells in Light; and because of the weakness and incapacity of our apprehension, therefore he is said to dwell in Darkness. 2. To try our Faith, and our Obedience, that he might see whether we would live by Faith, yea or no; whether a Believer would love him, and obey him, tho he were invisible, and withdrawn within the Curtain of Heaven. You know when the Israelites saw the Glory of God, then they cryed, All that God hath commanded us we will do, Deut. 5. 27. But as soon as that Manifestation ceased, they were as bad as ever. If all were liable to Sense, there would be no trial of this World; but God hath shut up himself, that by this means the Faith of the Elect might be manifested; for Faith is the Evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11. 1. Where there is no sight there is exercise for Faith. And that our Love might be tried, 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen, ye love: in whom tho now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of Glory. And this is that which discovereth the Faithless and disobedient World. Job 22. 12, 13, 14. Is not God in the height of Heaven? How doth God know? Can he judg through the dark Cloud? Thick Clouds are a Covering to him that he seeth not, and he walketh in the circuit of Heaven. 3. It is fit there should be a better place, into which the Saints should be translated, when the course of their Obedience is ended. Eph. 1. 3. He hath blessed us with Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places. The main of Christ's Purchase we have in Heavenly Places. It is fit the place of Trial and place of Recompence should differ: therefore the place of Trial, that's God's Foot-stool; and the place of Recompence, that's God's Throne. The World, that's a place of Trial, it is a Common Inn for Sons and Bastards, for the Elect and Reprobate; a Receptacle of Man and Beast: Here God will shew his Bounty unto all his Creatures. But now in the place of his Residence, he will show his Love to his People. Therefore when we have been tried and exercised, there is a place of Preferment for us. Fourthly, What Advantage have we in Prayer by considering God in Heaven? Very much, whether we consider God absolutely, or with respect to a Mediator; both ways we have an Advantage. First, If we consider the Father, Son, and Holy-Ghost, who have their Residence in Heaven; consider them without respect to a Mediator. Why, the looking up to God in Heaven▪ 1. It sheweth us, that Prayer is an act of the Heart, and not of the Lips; that it is not the sound of the Voice which can pierce the Heavens, and enter into the Ears of the Lord of Hosts, but Sighs and Groans of the Spirit. Christians, in Prayer God is near to us, and yet far from us; for we must look upon him as in Heaven, and we upon Earth. How then should we converse with God in Prayer? Not by the Tongue only, but by the Heart. The Commerce and Communion of Spirits is not hindred by local Distance: but God is with us, and we with him, when our Heart goeth up. 2. It teacheth, the great work of Prayer is to lift up the Heart to God; To withdraw the Heart from all created things which we see and feel here below, that we may converse with God in Heaven. Psal. 123. 1. Vnto thee lift I up mine Eyes, O thou that dwellest in the Heavens. And, Lam. 3. 41. Let us lift up our Heart with our Hands unto God in the Heavens. Prayer doth not consist in a multitude and clatter of Words, but in the getting up of the Heart to God, that we may behave our selves as if we were alone with God, in the midst of glorious Saints and Angels. There's a double Advantage which we have by this getting the Soul into Heaven in Prayer: It's a means to free us from Distractions, and Doubts. To free us from Distractions and other inter-current Thoughts. Until we get our Hearts out of the World, as if we were dead and shut up to all present things, how easily is the Heart carried away with the Thoughts of earthly Concernments? Until we can separate and purge our Spirits, how do we interline our Prayers with many ridiculous Thoughts? It is too usual for us to deal with God, as an unskilful Person that will gather a Posy for his Friend, and puts in as many, or more, stinking Weeds, than he doth choice Flowers. The Flesh interposeth, and our carnal Hearts interline and interlace our Prayers with vain Thoughts and earthly Distractions. When with our Censor we come to offer Incense to God, we mingle Sulphur with our Incense. Therefore we should labour, all that we can, to get the Heart above the World, into the Presence of God, and company of the Blessed, that we may deal with him, ad if we were by him in Heaven, and were wholly swallowed up of his Glory. Tho our Bodies are on Earth, yet our Spirits should be with our Father in Heaven. For want of practising this in Prayer, these Distractions encrease upon us. So for Doubts, when we look to things below, even the very manifestations of God to us upon Earth, we have many Discouragements; Dangers without, and Difficulties within: till we get above the Mists of the lower World, we can see nothing of Clearness and Comfort; but when we can get God and our Hearts together, then we can see there is much in the Fountain, tho nothing in the Stream; and tho little on Earth, yet we have a God in Heaven. 3. This impresseth an Awe and Reverence, if we look upon the Glory of God manifested in Heaven, that Bri[illegible: 1 letter]ht and Luminous Place. This is urged by the Holy-Ghost, Eccles. 5. 2. Thou art upon Earth, and God is in Heaven; therefore let thy Words be few. Gen. 8. 27. Who am I that I should take upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but Dust and Ashes? We are poor crawling Worms, and therefore when we think of the Majesty of God, it should impress an holy awe upon us. Mean Persons will behave themselves with all Honour and Reverence, when they supplicate to Men of Qu[illegible: 1 letter]lity; So should we to God, who is so High and so much above us, he is in Heaven. It is a Diminution of his Greatness, Mal. 1. 14. when we put off God with any thing, and come slightly and carelesly into his Presence. 4. It teacheth us, that all our Prayers should carry a Correspondence with our great Aim. What's our great Aim? To be with God in Heaven, as remembring that's the Center and Place of our Rest, to which we are all tending. Col. 3. 1. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those Things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right-hand of God. We come to our Father which is in Heaven; He will have his Residence there, that our Hearts might be there. Therefore the main things we should seek of God from Heaven, are Saving-Graces; for these come down from above, from the Father of Lights. Jam. [illegible: 1 letter]. 17. We have liberty to ask Supplies for the outward Life, but chiefly we should ask spiritual and heavenly Things. Mat. 6. 22, [illegible: 1 letter]3. Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these Things: What then? First seek the Kingdom of God, &c. If we have to do with a heavenly Father, our first and main Care should be to ask Things suitable to his Being, and his Excellency. If Children should ask of their Parents, such a thing as is pleasing to their Palate, possibly they might give it them; but when they ask Instruction, and desire to be taught, that's far more acceptable to them. When we ask Supplies of the outward Life, Food, Raiment, God may give it us; but it is more pleasing to him, when we ask for Grace. In every Prayer, we should seek to be made more heavenly, by conversing with our heavenly Father. 5. It giveth us ground of Confidence in God's Power, and absolute Dominion over all Things; for God is in Heaven, above all created Beings. Psal. 115. 3. Our God is in the Heavens, and doth whatsoever he pleaseth. So, 2 Chron. 20. 6. Art not thou God in Heaven? And rulest not thou over all the Kingdoms of the Heathen? And in thine hand is there not Power and Might, so that none is able to withstand thee? O what an Advantage is this in Prayer, when we think of our All-sufficient God, who made Heaven and Earth, and hath fixed his Throne there! What can be too hard for him? 6. Here is Encouragement against carnal Fear. Whatever the World doth against us, we have a Father in Heaven, and this should bear us up against all their Threatnings and Oppositions. When there were Tumults and Confusions in the World, it is said, Psal. 2. 4. But God which sits in Heaven, shall laugh them to Scorn. An earthly Parent may have a large Heart, but a short Hand; tho they may wish us well, yet they cannot defend us, and bear us out in all Extremities: But our Father in Heaven will laugh at the Attempts against his Empire and Greatness. Thus considering God absolutely, it is an Advantage to reflect upon him as a Father in Heaven. But I suppose this Expression hath respect to a Mediator. Therefore, Secondly, Let us look upon God with respect to a Mediator; for so I think we are chiefly bound, to consider our Father in Heaven, because of Christ, which sits there at his right-hand. Heb. 8. 1. It is said there, He sate down on the right-hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens, a Minister of the Sanctuary. O this is comfortable to think of: In Heaven we have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, representing our Persons, and presenting our Prayers to God, by which means God is reconciled and well pleased with us. So that our Duty in Prayer is, to look up to Heaven, and to see Christ at God's right-hand, as or High-Priest, mediating for us, that we may be accepted with God. A notable Resemblance we have between God's Presence in the Tabernacle or Temple, and God's Presence in Heaven. In the Temple you know there were three Partitions: There was to outward Court; and the Sanctuary, as the Apostle calls it, where the Table of Shew-bread was set; and there was the holy Place, the Holy of Holies. Just so in Heaven there are three Partitions; there is the Airy Heaven, and the Starry Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens: The lower Heaven, which answers to the outward Court; the Starry Heaven, which answers to the Sanctuary; and the Heaven of Heavens, which answers to the Holy of Holies, by a fit Analogy and Proportion. Well, In the Holy of Holies, saith the Apostle, there was the Golden Censer, and the Mercy-Seat; Heb. 9, 4. There you find God conspicuously manifesteth his Presence, and give Answers to his People: At the Mercy-Seat, there will I answer thee, saith the Lord, So here, in this Heaven of Heavens, there's a Mercy-Seat, there's a Throne of Grace, and there God will answer. We may come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain Mercy, and find Grace to help in time of Need. Heb. 4. 16. Into this Holy of Holies none but the High-Priest did enter, and that once a Year, after the Sacrifice of Atonement for the whole Congregation; then the High-Priest was to come into the Holy of Holies, he as to pass through the Vail with Blood, and with sweet Incense in his hand. Just thus is Jesus entred into the Heaven of Heavens for us; he is gone there to present his Blood and Sufferings, to appear before God for us, to present himself as a sweet-smelling Sacrifice. Heb. 9. 24. Eph. 5. 2. Now the High-Priest, when he went with this Blood into the Mercy-Seat, he went in with the Names of the twelve Tribes upon his Breast and Shoulder; and Jesus also doth appear before God for us, representing our Persons continually before his Father. Now about the Mercy-Seat, there were Cherubims, and Figures of Angels; just about the Ark, there they stooped down, to shew, the Angels do attened about the Throne, to dispatch Messages abroad into the World, and convey Blessings to the Saints. There is a Throne of Grace, a Mercy-Seat, a Mediator there, Angels at God's Beck, ready to send up and down, to and fro, for the good of the Saints. And mark, not only hath Jesus this Liberty to enter into this Heaven of Heavens; but all the Saints have a Liberty to enter, and that not only at Death, but in their Life time; for saith the Apostle, Heb. 10. 19. Having therefore boldness to enter into the Holiest, by the Blood of Iesus. All of us, not only when we die, and personally go to God, do we enter into the Holy of Holies, but now we have Boldness: It relateth to Prayer, for the Word signifieth Liberty of Speech. This Holy of Holies, which was closed and shut up against us before, is opened by the Blood of Jesus; the Vail is rent, and now all Saints have a Privilege to come freely to converse with God. It is good to observe the Difference between the Holy of Holies, and the Heaven of Heavens: The Jews, their Sanctum Sanctorum was earthly; but our Holy of Holies is heavenly. Into theirs, which was as it were God's Bed-chamber, the common People were not admitted; none but the High-Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies: But now into ours all Believers may enter, and converse with God. There the High-Priest could enter but once a Year: Now we may come to the Throne of Grace, as often as we have a Cause to present to God. There the High-Priest, he entred with the Blood of Beasts; but we enter by the Blood of the Son of God. O what a great Privilege is this, that we have a Father in Heaven! In this respect the Holy Place is now open to us: Tho we have not a personal Access till Death, yet by the Blood of Jesus we may come with Boldness, presenting our selves before the Lord, with all our Wants and Desires. The great Distance between Heaven and Earth shall not hinder our Communion with God, if we have a Friend above. Therefore it is very comfortable now to say, Our Father, which art in Heaven; (that is) our gracious and reconciled Father, in and by Christ. APPLICATION. If we have a Father in Heaven, let us look up to Heaven often. 1. If we have a Father in Heaven, and a Saviour at his right-hand, to do all things that are needful for us; let us look upon the aspectable Heavens with an Eye of Sense, with our bodily Eyes, It is good to contemplate the Glory of the heavenly Bodies, or the Outside of that Court which God hath provided for the Saints. It is not an idle Speculation I press you to: The Saints of God have thought it to be worthy of their Morning and Evening-Thought. It is notable, David doth (in two Psalms especially) contmeplate Heaven▪ [illegible: 1 word] seems to be a Nightly, the other a [illegible: 1 word] -Meditation. The Night-Meditation you have, Psal. 8. 3. When I consider thy Heavens, the Work of thy Fingers, the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained. David was got abroad in a Moon-shining Night, looks up, and had his Heart affected. But now the 19th Psalm, that seems to be a Morning-Mediation; he speakds of the Sun coming out like a Bridegroom from his Chamber in the East, and displaying his Beams, and Heat, and Influences to the World; and then saith he, v. 1. The Heavens declare the Glory of God. Morning and Evening, or when ever you go abroad to see the Beauty of the outward Heavens, say, I have a Father there, a Christ there; this is the Pavement of that Palace, which God hath provided for the Saints. Christians, it is a sweet Meditation, when you can say, He that made all Things, is there. It will be a delightful, profitable thing, sometimes with an Eye of Sense to take a view of our Father's Palace, as much as we can see of it here below. 2. Let me especially press you to this, with an Eye of Faith to look within the Vail; and when ever you come to pray, to see God in Heaven, and Christ at his Right-hand. The great Work of Faith is, to see him that is invisible; and the great Duty of Prayer is, to get a Sight of God in Heaven, and Christ at his right-hand. What Stephen did miraculously, or in an Extasy, we must do graciously in Prayer. Now it is said of Stephen, Acts 7. 56. Behold, I see the Heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right-hand of God. There is a great deal of Difference about Stephen's Sight: How the Heavens could be opened; for they are solid Bodies, and cannot be divided; fluent Air, and so come together again: How he could see the Glory of God with his corporal Senses, which is invisible: How he could see Christ at such a Distance, the Eye not being able to reach so far. Some think it to be a meer intellectual Vision, or a Vision of Faith; that is, he did so firmly believe, and had the Comfort of it in his Heart, as if he had seen it with his Eyes. So they think Stephen saw the Glory of God, and Christ at his right-hand, as Abraham saw Christ's Day, and rejoiced; that is, he saw it by Faith. Some think it to be a Prophetical Vision, by seeing those things objected to his Fancy, by imaginary Species; as Isaiah saw God in a Vision, Isa. 6. and as Paul's Rapture. Some think it a Symbolical Vision; that he saw these thing represented by some corporeal Images, as Iohn saw the Holy-Ghost descending in the form of a Dove. Some think his bodily Eyes did pierce the Clouds, and got a sight of the Glory of Christ. Whatever it be, there must be such a Sight in Prayer, something answerable to this; in a spiritual way this must ever be done. Psal. 5. 3. I will pray, saith the Psalmist, and look up. There is a looking up required in all Prayer, a seeing the invisible God by Faith. If you would have God look down upon you from his holy Habit[illegible: 1 letter]tion, you must look up with an Eye of Faith, and converse with God in Heaven. Psal. 63. 4. I will lift up my Hands in thy Name. If you would have God look upon you with an Eye of Compassion, you must look up, and see Christ at his right-hand, by an Eye of Faith. 3. Let us love our Father; love God in Christ, and love the Place for his sake, where his Residence is. (1.) Love God in Christ. Psal. 73. 25. Whom have I in Heaven but thee? When God hath been so gracious to you! Christians, if I had no other Argument to press you to love god, but that he which is in Heaven, offereth to be your Father in Christ Jesus, it might suffice; because it is a great Condescension, that the God of Heaven will look upon poor boken-hearted Creatures: that he whose Throne is in Heaven, would look upon him that is of a trembling Spirit. Isa. 66 2. That the high and lofty One, that dwelleth in the high and holy Place, will look to him that is of a contrite Heart. Isa. 57. 15. That he that is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, will be our Father, and own us, and bless us! A great Condescension on God's part, and a great Dignity also is put upon us; and how should our Hearts be affected with it? Therefore though there be a great Distance between Heaven and Earth, it should not lessen our Affections to God. He is mindful of us, visits us at every turn, we are dear and tender to him; therefore let the Lord be dear to you. The Butler, when he was exalted, forgot Ioseph; but Christ is not grown stately with his Advancement, He doth not forget us; O let not us forget God. Let us manifest our Love, by being often with him at the Throne of Grace, with our Father which is in Heaven. A Child is never well, but when in the Mother's Lap, or under the Father's Wing: So should it be with us, with an humble Affection coming into the presence of God, and getting into the Bosom of our heavenly Father. Never delight in any thing, so much as conversing with him, and serious Addresses to him in Prayer. Again, (2.) Love the Place for his sake; God is there, and Christ is there. We have cause to love the Place for our own sakes; and in a short time, if you continue patient in well-doing, you will be with God. It is not only God's Throne, but it is your House. 2 Cor. 5. 1. We look for an House in Heaven, no made with hands. It is a Place appointed for our everlasting Abode; therefore all our Hopes, Desires, and Delights should run that way. But chiefly I would press you to love it for his sake, the Place where you heavenly Father dwells. God hath not taken his Denomination from Earth, which is the Place of Corruption; but from Heaven, which is the Place of Glory and Happiness. O let us not forget our heavenly Father's House. We are to apt to say, it is good to be here. Christians, let us draw home apace; let us grow more heavenly-minded every day, seek the things which are above; prize it rather upon this occasion, because if we were more heavenly in the frame of our Hearts, we would be more heavenly in our solemn Approaches to God. What's the reason a Man is haunted with the World, and things which are of a worldly Interest and Concern, when he comes to Prayer? 'Tis because his Heart is taken with these Things. Hallowed be thy Name. WE are now come to the first petition of the Lord's Prayer; there three Things will fall under Discussion. I. The Order of this Petition. II. The Necessity of putting up such a Request to God. III. The Sence and M[illegible: 1 letter]aning of the Petition it self. I. Of the Order; it is the first of all the six. The Petitions of the Lord's-Prayer may thus be ranked: The four first concern the obtaining of Good; and the two last, the removal of Evil: either the removal of Evil past, and already committed; or the removal of Evil future, and such as may be admitted by the Temptation of the Devil. Among the former, those Things that do more immediately concern the Glory of God, they have the first place. In this Petition, the Glory of God is both desired and promised on our part; for every Prayer is both an Expression of a Desire, and also an implicit Vow, or a solemn Obligation that we take upon our selves, to prosecute what we ask. Prayer, it is a preaching to our selves in God's hearing. We speak to God, to warm our selves; not for his Information, but for our Edification. From the Order observe, Doct. That those Things are to be desired in the first place, and with the greatest Affection, which do concern the Glory of God: The first Petition is, Hallowed be thy Name. Here to shew; 1. Why this Petition if put first. 2. Present some Reasons of the Point. First; This Petition is put first, for a double Reason: 1. Partly, to shew that this must be the End of all our Requests. All that we desire and pray for, in behalf of our selves and others, must be subordiante to this End. All these things must be asked, that by the accomplishment of them, God may be brought more in request in the World. See all the other Petitions in this Prayer, how they are suited to this End in Scripture. When we say, Thy Kingdom come, what do we beg that for, but ultimately the Glory of God? Phil. 2[illegible: 1 letter] 10, 11. God hath given him a Name which is above every Name, that every Tongue should confess, that Iesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father. When we say, Thy Will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven; it is still to the Glory of God. Mat. 5. 16. That our good Works may so shine forth before Men here upon Earth, that they may glorify our Father which is in Heaven, When we ask our daily Bread, and Provisions for the present Life, it is still that he may be glorified in our comfortable Use of the Creature: 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the Glory of God. When we ask for the Remission of Sins, it is, that God may be glorified in Christ: Rom. 3. 25, 26 Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation, through Faith in his Blood, to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past, that he may be just, &c. When we beg Freedom from Temptation, it is that we may not dishonour God: Prov. 30. 8, 9. Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain. Still that God may be glorified in every Condition. When we ask Deliverance from Evil: Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the Day of Trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. So that the Glory of God, in all Requests that we make to him, like Oil, still swims on the Top, and must be the End of all the rest; for other things are but Means in subordination to it. 2. It notes, that our chiefest Care and Affection should be carried out to the Glory of God, when we pray: We should rather forget our selves, than forget God. God must be remembred in the first place. There is nothing more precious than God himself, therefore nothing should be more dear to us than his Glory. This is the great Difference between the Upright and the Hypocrite: The Hypocrite never seeks God, but when his Necessities do require it, not in and for himself; But when the Upright come to seek God, it is for God in the first place: their main Care is about God's Concernments, rather than their own. Tho they seek their own Happiness in him, and they are allowed so to do; yet it is mainly God's Glory which they seek, not their own Interests and Concernments. See that, Psal. 115. 1. Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy Name give Glory, for thy Mercy, and for thy Truth's sake. It is not a Doxology, or Form of Thanksgiving, but a Prayer; not for our Safety and Welfare, so much as thy Glory: Not to reek and satisfy our Revenge upon our Adversaries, not for the Establishment of our Interest, but for the Glory of thy Grace and Truth, that God may be known to be a God keeping Covenant; for Mercy and Truth are the two Pillars of the Covenant. It is a great dishonouring of God, when any thing is sought from him, more than himself, or not for himself. Saith Austin, it is but a carnal Affection in Prayer, when Men seek Self more than God. Self and God are the two things that come in competition. Now there are several sorts of Self; there is carnal Self, natural Self, spiritual Self, and glorified Self; above all these, God must have the Preheminence. (1.) Carnal Self. By a foolish Mistake we take our Lusts to be our selves. Col. 3. 5. Mortify your Members here upon Earth: And these Members he makes to be Fornication, Uncleanness, and the like. Our Sins are as dear to us, as any essential or integral part of the Body; they are our Members. Now these should have no room in our Prayers at all, tho usually they have the first place. Jam. 4. 3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your Lusts. Our Prayers should be the Breathings of the Spirit, and usually they are but the Belches and Eructations of the Flesh. And for these it is we are so instant and earnest with God. We would have God bless us in some revengeful and carnal Enterprize. We deal with God, as the Thief that lighted his Candle at the Lamps of the Altar: So many would make God a Party in their carnal Designs. Prov. 21. 27. The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination; how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked Mind? It is an Abomination, when it is at the best; but when he hath an ill Aim, then it is an Abomination with a witness. Foolish Creatures vainly imagine to entice Heaven to their Lure. Balaam buildeth Altars, and sacrificed, out of hope that God would curse his own People, and engage in Moab's Quarrel; like the Man in the Gospel, that would make no other use of Christ, than to compose his civil Difference: Luke 12. 13. he comes to him as a Man of Authority, Master, speak to my Brother, that he divide the Inheritance with me. We all look upon God, tanquam aliquem magnum, (as Austin said he did in his Infancy) as some great Power, that would serve all our carnal Turns. In this Sence, we make God to serve our Sins, Isa. 43. 24. when we would have God to contribute to our Lusts; to our Pride, Wantonness, Revenge. This is such a foolish Request, as if a Wife should beg of her Husband, to give her leave to go on with her Adulteries. Survey all the Petitions which are in this present Platform of Prayer, there is not one that is calculated for such an evil purpose, as our Revenge, Pomp, Pride, Pleasure. Carnal Self surely must give way to God. (2.) There's a natural Self, when we seek our own Temporal Felicity. Christ hath allowed these natural Desires a Room in our Prayers; but they must keep their Order, and their Place: first, God's Glory; and then, our Safety. The obtaining of natural Good is put in the last place. And therefore when our Thoughts only run upon Temporal Felicity, and outward Supplies, it is not Prayer, but a brutish Cry: Hos. 7. 14. They howl upon their Beds for Corn, Wine and Oil. Beasts are sensible of their Pain, and are carried by natural Instinct to seek their own Welfare, as well as Men. And therefore when this is our first and only Request, it is a Perversion of that Order, which Christ hath set down in this perfect Form of Prayer. (3.) There is Spiritual Self: Which is valuable, either in point of Justification, or Acceptance with God; or in point of Sanctification, and Conformity to him. Now as these Blessings cannot be severed from God's Glory, where they are really enjoyed; so they must not be severed in our Prayers, nor preferred before it. To ask Pardon as a separate Benefit, as it concerns our Ease and Quiet, not as it concerns God's Glory, is a Perversion and a Diversion of our Prayers. The main thing, which God intends should be the main thing in our Requests, is, the Praise of his glorious Grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Eph. 1. 6. And therefore this is the main thing which the Soul intends: Psal. 79. 9. Help us, O God of our Salvation, for the Glory of thy Name; and deliver us, and purge away our Sins, for thy Names sake. The Argument is not taken from themselves meerly, or from their own Misery, but from God's Glory. If God could not be more glorified in our Pardon, and Acceptance with him, than in our Death and Damnation, it were an evil thing to desire Pardon. But now when God hath abundantly cleared up this to us, he is no Loser by Acts of Mercy; that this conduceth more to the exalting of his great Name, to accept poor Sinners to Mercy: the Soul goeth with the more confidence to beg it of God, that he would purge us from our Filthiness for his Names sake. But now Mens Thoughts are wholly taken up with their own Peace and Safety, and take no care for God's Honour; this is but a Selfish Request, or an Offer of Nature after Ease. For the other part, to ask for Grace, and Conformity to God's Will, meerly as it is a Perfection of our Nature, abstractly from God's Glory; it is not a right Request: It is contrary to the very Nature of Grace, whose Tendency is to God in the first place, that his Name may be glorified, that we should be to the praise of his glorious Grace. Grace wrought in us, is but a Creature, and not to be preferred before the Creator. See how the Apostle prays, 2 Thess. 1. 11, 12. We pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this Calling, and fulfill all the good Pleasure of his Goodness, and the Work of Faith with Power: That the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the Grace of our God, and the Lord Iesus Christ▪ That is a regular Prayer, when all our spiritual Interests are swallowed up in God, and we beg that his Name may be glorified in us, and upon us. (4.) There is glorified Self, which standeth in the eternal Fruition of God. Man was made for two Ends; to glorify God, and to enjoy him. Now our Crown of Glory must be laid at God's Feet; as the Elders, Rev. 4. 10. Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Power. All our Desires must give place to this, that he may be glorified in our eternal Happiness; and we are to beg it no farther, than as it may stand with his Honour. Mans chief End, and so his chief Request in respect of himself, is, to enjoy God; but with respect to God, so it is the highest only of subordinate Ends; for the highest chiefly and absolutely, is the glorifying of God. Well then, therefore this is put first, to shew, that our chiefest Care and Affection should mainly run upon the Glory of God, and that God might be advanced, and lifted up on high. Secondly; To give you some Reasons, why those things which concern the Glory of God must be sought in the first place, and with the greatest Affection. 1. As we are reasonable Creatures, it is fit it should be so. In all regular Desires, the End is first intended, and then the Means. But now the Glory of God, that is the End of all things: Prov. 16. 4. The Lord hath made all Things for himself; that is, for his own Glory, for the manifesting of his Excellency. And so our Redemption, Luke 2. 14. Glory be to God on high. When God came to shew his Good-Will in Christ, it was to make way for his Glory: As it begins in Good-Will, so it must end in Glory. This is the end of all the Privileges we have by Nature and Grace. Now God's Glory is the end of our Being and Service, and therefore must be first taken care of in our Prayers; first his Glory, and then our Profit, for the End is the first thing intended by any rational Agent. 2. As we are the Children of God by Adoption: The great Duty of Children is to honour their Parents. God pleads for Honour upon this account, Mal. 1. 6. If I be a Father, where is my Honour? So that if you consent to the Preface, and say, Our Father; then the next request will be, Hallowed be thy Name. If we would own our selves in such a P[illegible: 1 letter]lation, then we must make it our chief desire and care, that God might be glorified by our selves and others. Every kind of Honour will not serve the turn of our Heavenly Father. He must not be honoured as an ordinary Father, in a common Notion, but as an In[illegible: 1 letter]inite and Eternal Majesty; and to prefer any thing to his Interest or Glory, or to equal any thing to him, it is to make an Idol of him, and to renounce him to be our Father. The case of earthly Parents is not always so. But now you renounce God, when an Idol is set in the Throne; when any Interest or Concernment of yours is preferred before God, and before his Interest and Concernment. 3. That which is of most value and consideration should be sought first. Now God's Glory, it hath an in[illegible: 1 letter]inite Excellency above all other things. The Glory of God is of more worth than all Creatures, than their Being and Happiness. The End is more worthy than that which serveth and conduceth to the End. Meats and Drinks, they were made for the Body, therefore are not so good as the Body. Who would dig for Iron with Mattocks of Gold? The Means or Instrument is better worth than the Purchase. Now no matter what becomes of us, so God may be glorifyed. As it is said of David, Thou art better than ten thousand of us; therefore, tho they exposed their Bodies to hazard, they thought it not safe for him: So is God better than the whole World of Men or Angels. Our first care must be that he may be glorifyed, then let other Things succeed in their place. 4. The Example of Christ, shews how much the Glory of God should be cared for, and preferred before the Creatures Good; Joh. 12. 27, 28. Father, save me from this hour: There was the Innocent and sinless Inclination of his Human Nature. But, For this Cause came I unto this Hour; Father glorify thy Name. He doth not so earnestly insist upon that, but submits all his Human Concernments, tho exceeding precious, that they might give way to the Glory of God; and he had no respect to his own Ease, or to the innocent inclination of his Human Nature, or to the felt Comforts of the God-head. Now Christ's Example, it is the best Instruction: he taught us how we should behave our selves to our Heavenly Father; and therefore, we should learn to prefer the Honour of God, before our own ease: And if God but get up, tho we be kept low and poor, yet we should be contented. Look, as all natural Things will act against their particular Inclination on for a general Good; as to avoid a Vacuity, the Air will descend, and the Water ascend, that there may not be a Confusion or Dissolution of the Frame of Nature: So hath Christ taught us still to prefer a general Good. Father, glorify thy self; that is it we must insist upon, tho it be with our Loss, Suffering, Trouble, yea, sometimes with our trouble of Conscience, we must be content. 5. From the Nature of Prayer. The whole Spiritual Life it is a living to God. Gal. 2. 19. I am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God. The whole Tendency and Ordination of all acts of the Spiritual Life, they are to God. Even the Natural Life is over-ruled and directed to this End; there is an Eating and Drinking to God; the Meat and Drink we take, if God be not the last End of it, it is but a Meat-Offering, and a Drink-Offering to our own Appetite, and a Sacrifice to Moloch: Now much more in acts of immediate Worship, there God will be principally regarded, for their respect and tendency is mainly to God. In our whole Life we are God's, dedicated to him. Every Godly Man is set apart for God. A Man that is a Christian, must Be holy in all manner of Conversation, 1 Pet. 1. 15. A Christian must look upon himself, as one that is dedicated to God, when he is at his Meals, in his Trade and Calling; and Grace is to run out in every Act. But much more is this tendency of Grace to bewray it self in our solemn Sequestration of our selves, when we make our nearer approaches to him. Lev. 10. 3. I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the People will I be glorified. What is it to sanctify God? A thing is sanctified when it is set apart: And God is sanctified, when we set apart our selves wholly for him, when he hath more than common Affections, and common Respects. And therefore in Prayer, in the first[illegible: 1 letter] place we should go to God, for God, and surely in such a Request we are likely to speed. 6. Love to God (if it be unfeigned, and hath any Strength in the Soul) will necessarily put us upon this. Love seeks the good of the Party beloved, as much or more than its own. Those which love, have all things in common between them; and one counts it done to himself what is done to the other: So it is in the Love between us and God. Look, as Christ loves the Saints, and counteth what ever you do to them it is done to him, because done to those whom he loved, Mat. 25. So reciprocally, the Saint which loves God, what is done to God is done to us; when God is honoured, we are comforted as much or more than with our own Benefit: And when God is dishonoured, we have the Grief and Sorrow. Psal. 69. 9. The Reproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me. Or if they hear God's Name rent in pieces, and Men dishonour him by their filthy Lives, it goeth to their Hearts; for God and they have but one common Interest: Nay, they prefer God's Interest before their own, or any others; Ioh. 21. 15. Simon, Son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? By the Worlds Maxim, Love should begin at home; but by Christ's Direction, it beginneth with God: They are more tender of God's Glory, than their own Lives, and outward Comfort. I count not my Life dear to me, saith Paul. Thus you see, what reason there is why our main Care and Thoughts should be taken up about the Concernments of God, and about the Glory of his Holy Name. Vse. 1. To reprove us, that we are no more affected with God's Glory, O how little do we aim at and regard it in our Prayers? We should seek it, not only above the Profits and Pleasures of this Life, but even above Life it self; yea, above Life present and to come. But alas! since the Fall we are corrupt, and wholly poisoned with Self-Love, we prefer every base Interest and Trifle before God; nay, we prefer carnal Self before God. Some are wholly brutish, and so they may wallow in Ease and Pleasure, and eat the Fat, and drink the Sweet, never think of God, care not how God is dishonoured, both by themselves and others. And then some, O how tender are they in matters of their own Concernment, and affected with it, more than for the Glory of God! Ioh. 12. 43. They are more affected with their own Honour, and their own Loss and Reproach, than with God's dishonour, or God's Glory. If their own Reputation be but hazarded a little, O how it stings them to the Heart! But if they be faulty towards God, they can pass it over without Trouble. A Word of Disgrace, a little Contempt cast upon our Persons, kindles the Coals, and [illegible: 1 letter]ills us with Rage; but we can hear God's Name dishonoured, and not be moved with it. When they pray, if they beg outward Blessings, if they ask any thing, it is for their Lusts, not for God; 'tis but to feed their Pomp and Excess, and that they may shine in the Pomp and Splendor of external Accommodations. If they beg Quickning and Enlargment, it is for their own Honour; that their Lusts may be fed by the Contributions of Heaven: So by a wicked Design, they would even make God to serve the Devil. The best of us, when we come to pray, what a deep Sense have we of our own Wants, and no desire of the Glory of God. If we beg daily Bread, Maintenance and Protection; we do not beg it as a Talent to be improved for our Master's use, but as Fuel for our Lusts. If we beg Deliverance, it is because we are in pain, and ill at ease; not that we may Honour and glorify God, that Mercy and Truth may shine forth. If we beg Pardon; it is only to get rid of the Smart, and enlarged out of the Stocks of Conscience. If they beg Grace; it is but a lazy Wish after Sanctification, because they are convinced there is no other way to be happy. If they beg eternal Glory; they do not beg it for God, it appears plainly, because they can be content to dishonour God long, provided they at length may be saved. Most of us pray without a Heart set to glorify God, and to bring Honour unto his great Name. Tho a Man hath never so much sense and feeling in his Prayer, yet if his H[illegible: 1 letter]art be not duly set as to the Glory of God, his Prayer is turned into Sin. It is not the manner of the Vehemency only, for a Carnal Spring may send forth High-Tides of Affection; and Motions that come from Lust, may be earnest and very rapid: Therefore it is not enough to have Fervour and Vehemency, but when our aim is to honour and glorify God: Zech. 7. 5, 6. When ye fasted, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did you not eat for your selves, and drink for your selves? Vse. 2. For Exhortation, to press us to seek the Glory of God above all things. Take these Arguments. 1. How necessary it is the Lord should have his Glory. The World serves for no other purpose, it is made and continued for this End; Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Power: For thou hast created all things, and for thy Pleasure they are and were created. All that God hath made, it was for his own Glory. And Rom. 11. 36. For of him, and through him, and to him are all things: To whom be Glory for ever. Amen. Of him, in a way of Creation; Through him, by way of Providential Influence and Supportation; that they may be To him, in their final tendency and result. God did not make us for our selves, but his own Glory. 2. It is a singular Benefit to be admitted to sanctify God's Name. O that poor Worms should come and put the Crown upon God's Head! And that he will count any thing we can do to be a Glory to himself; [illegible: 1 letter] Chron. 29. 14. But who am I, and what is my People, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. 3. Consider how much it concerneth us; that we may make some Restitution for our former dishonouring of God, therefore we should be more zealous in this Work. How forward have we been to dishonour God in Thought, Word, and Deed, before the Lord wrought upon us? There is not a Mercy but we have abused it, nor any thing we have medled with, but one way or other we have turned it to the Lord's Reproach and Dishonour. Now when the Lord hath put Grace in our Hearts, When we are a People formed for his Praise. Isa. 43. When he hath made us anew, we should think of making some Restitution, some amends to God, and should zealously affect his Glory above all things. Vse. 3. For Trial. Do we prefer the Glory of God in the first place? Take these Marks. 1. Then we would be content with our own loss, provided the Name of God may gain any respect in the World; and so he may be magnified, no matter what becomes of us, and our Interest and Concernment. Phil. 1. 20. The Apostle expresseth there a kind of Indifferency; So Christ shall be magnified in my Body, whether it be by Life or by Death. O then it is a sign you make it your purpose, drift, and care, when you are contented to do or be any thing that God will have you to be or do. This holds good, not only in temporal Concernments, when you are content to want necessary Food, &c. But it holds also in Spiritual Concernments: As to sense of Pardon; tho God should suspend the Consolations of his Spirit, yet if it be for the Glory of his Grace, I am to be content: Nay, in some Cases God's Glory is more to be cared for than our own Salvation, if they two could come in competition; but that case never falls out with the Creature; our Salvation is conjoyned with the Glory of God. But yet in supposition, if it should, as Paul and Moses puts the Supposition, Exod. 32. 32. Blot me, I pray thee out of the Book which thou hast written: So God might be honoured in saving that People. So Rom. 9. 3. For I could wish that my self wer[illegible: 1 letter] accursed from Christ, for my Brethren, my Kinsmen according to the Flesh. It was not a rash Speech, a thing spoken out of an unadvised Passion; see but with what a serious Pre[illegible: 1 letter]ace it is ushered in, vers. 1. God is my Witness I lye not, my Conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost: He calls God to witness, this was the real disposition of his Heart, and he speaks advisedly, and with good deliberation. Object. But is it lawful thus to wish to be accursed? Certainly Paul could not wish himself to love Christ less, or to be less beloved of him; for these things we cannot part with them without Sin: but in our enjoyment of Christ there is a happy part, some personal Happiness which resulteth to us; now all this he could lay at God's Feet. How so? What for others? A regular Love begins at home, and every Man is bound to look to his own Salvation first, and then the Salvation of others. But that was not the case, it was not their Salvation, and Paul's Salvation, which was in Competition; but the Glory of God, and the common Salvation of the Iews, and Paul's particular Salvation. It was a mighty prejudice to the Gospel, that the People from whom Christ's Messengers proceeded, (for the Law went out of Sion, the Gospel came out from among the Iews,) that so many of them were prejudiced, and a mighty Eclipse to the Glory of God. Now he could lay down all his personal Happiness at God's Feet, he speaks in Supposition, if such a Case falls out. But however this is a clear Rule, the Glory of God must be preferred before our own Salvation. In some Cases there will be need of this Rule. For Instance, there's many a Man that possibly is convinced of a false Religion; and the first Question Men make is, if they can be saved in such a Religion, but many Men are hardned in Popery. When therefore a Man is contented to continue in a false Religion, and dishonour God with his complyance there, provided he may be saved; he prefers his own Salvation before the Glory of God. And in case of the delay of Repentance, when Men dally with God, and put off the work of returning to the Lord until another time, or hereafter it is time enough to repent; these Men prize their Salvation before the Glory of God: If it were true upon that Supposition, that if ever they shall be saved, they are contented God shall be dishonoured a great deal longer, and that if they be saved at length, this will satisfy them. Quest. But how may we discern that we make the Glory of God the first and chief thing we aim at in Prayer? 1. Partly by the work of your own Thoughts. The End is first in Intention, tho last in Execution. When you are praying for a publick Mercy against an Enemy, what runs in your Thoughts? Revenge, Safety, and your own personal Happiness, or God's Glory? What wilt thou do, O Lord, unto thy great Name? Josh. 7. 9. Are you pleasing your selves, with Suppositions of your Escape and Deliverance, and reeking your Wrath upon your Adversaries? So in Prayer for Strength and Quickning, what is it that runs in your Mind? Are you entertaining your Spirit with Dreams of Applause, and feeding your Minds with the sweetness of popular Acclamation? 2. By the manner of praying, absolutely for God's Glory, but for all other things with a sweet Submission to God's Will. Joh. 12. 27. Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy Name. Then came there a Voice from Heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. Christ is absolute in the Request, and he receives an Answer. Is this enough? Do you mainly press God with this, that he might provide for his own glorious Name, that his Name might not lye under Reproach? But now carnal Aims do make Affection impetuous and impatient of check and denial. Rachel must have Children, or dye. When the Heart is set upon earthly Success, Pleasure, or Comfort, then they cannot brook a denial without Murmuring. The Children of God only accept of God's Glory, and in all other things they leave themselves to God's disposal, and therefore this is the main thing. 3. Partly too by the Disposition of your Hearts when your Prayers are accomplished, and God hath given any Blessing you pray for; we do not ask it for God's Glory, if we do not use it for God's Glory. The time of having Mercies is the time of Trial, and therefore when we consume our Mercies upon our Lusts, when they do not conduce to check our Sins, it is a sign God's Glory is not the thing intended, as it should be. Thus for the Order of this Petition. II. The Necessity of putting up such a Request to God. 'Tis his charge to us in the Third Commandment, That we should sanctify his Name; Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain: The positive part of that Commandment, is, Thou shalt sanctify it. Now here we make it matter of Prayer to God; Hallowed be thy Name. From whence let me observe. Doct. Those that would have God's Name Hallowed and Glorified, must seriously deal with God about it. There are several Reasons why we must put up such Requests to God. I might argue from the Utility, and the Necessity of it. First, the Utility: We put up these Requests to God. 1. That we may more solemnly warn our selves of our own Duty. In Prayer there is an implicit Vow, or solemn Obligation, that we take upon our selves, to prosecute what we ask; It is a Preaching to our selves in God's hearing. So that every Word we speak to God, is a Lesson to us, and our Requests are as so many Exhortations to glorify his Holy Name: With what Face can we ask that which we are wholly wretchless and neglectful of. Then we shall certainly come under that Character, Mat. 15. 7, 8. This People draweth nigh unto me with their Mouth, and honoureth me with their Lips: but their Heart is far from me. It is the greatest Mockage of God to ask, unless we have a Mind to pursue, and diligently to attend to this Work and Business, that the Name of God may be glorified in us, and upon us. 2. That we may have a due Sense and Grief for God's Honour. God's Children, they are troubled to see God dishonoured. Lot's righteous Soul was vexed, not with Sodom's Injuries, but with Sodom's Sins. 2 Pet. 2. 8. And David saith, Rivers of Tears run down mine Eyes, because Men keep not thy Law, Psal. 119. 136. Many will scarce weep for their own Sins, where they have advantage of remorse of Conscience; but when they are zealously affected with God's Glory, they will weep for others Sins: When his Name is torn and rent in pieces, it is a grief of Heart to them. Now God will have us ask this, that this Holy Sense of Spiritual Grief may be kept up; for when it is become the matter of our Requests, then we are interested in the Glory of God. We are loth to see things miscarry, where we have petitioned and begged for others; so when we have begged the Glory of his Name, it will further this Spiritual Sense and Grief of Heart, when his Name is dishonoured. 3. That we may count it as great a Blessing when God is glorified, as when we are saved. Continue in Prayer, saith the Apostle, and watch thereunto with Thanksgiving. When we have been instant with God in Prayer, that he might be glorified, then we shall count it as great a Blessing when he is glorified, as when we are saved. Prayer makes way for the increase of our Esteem, and engages us to observe the return. When we have asked it of God, we will be affected with it then. When we see all his Works praise him, what a Comfort will this be to the Soul. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, Psal. 103. ult. But Secondly, Let me shew the Necessity of dealing with God about it. The Necessity will appear, both in respect of Persons, and Things; when we beg that God's Name may be Hallowed, we beg Dispositions of Heart, and Occasions. First, The Necessity will appear in respect of Persons; both as to our Selves, and Others. First, In respect of our Selves. There is a great Necessity that we should deal with God about the Hallowing of his Name; because we need Direction, Quickning, Sincerity, Submission to God, Humility, and Holiness. To instance in these six Things. 1. We need Direction. The Habits of Grace are God's Gifts, and the Exercise of Grace is another thing; to actuate, quicken, guide, and direct it, 2 Thess. 3. 5. The Lord direct your Hearts to the love of God. And so in Prayer, and in honouring of God. In Prayer, We know not how, or what to pray for as we ought. Tho we have Grace, yet we need Direction. A Ship that is well rigg'd, yet needs a skilful Pilot. Rom. 8. 26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. How much are we to seek, to give God his due Honour? Of our selves we cannot so much as think a good Thought, 2 Cor. 3. 5. There is an utter insufficiency in us to meditate of God, and conceive aright of his Excellency, and give him the Honour which is due to him. None of us but needs daily to go to God, that we may be taught how to hallow and sanctify his Name. 2. We need Quickning, being so backward to this Duty. All the Lepers could beg Help, and but one returned to give God the Glory. There is much dulness and deadness of Heart, as to the praising of God, and glorifying of God. Self-Love will put us upon other Things; but it is Grace must quicken us to glorify him, and praise him. When we go to God for our selves, our Necessities will sharpen our Affections, and put a shrill Accent upon our Prayers: But now when we beg of God, for God, then there is a greater Restraint upon us. And therefore David saith, Psal. 51. 15. Open thou my Lips, and my Mouth shall shew forth thy Praise. We need God to open our Mouths, (that is) enlarge our Hearts, and quicken our Affections. How apt are we to turn the back upon the Mercy-Seat? Ezek. 46. 9. If a Man came in at the North Gate, he was to go out at the South Gate, but never at the same Door; why? That he might not turn his Back upon the Mercy-Seat. When we have prayed, we are apt to forget that God which hath blessed as; and therefore that our Hearts might be inlarged and quickned, we need to go to God. 3. We need Vprightness and Sincerity, that we may mind the Glory of God. This is not a Work of Nature, but Grace. Phil. 2. 21. All Men seek their own, not the Things which are Iesus Christ's. There is the Fruit and Effect of Nature, it puts Men upon seeking their own Things, worldly Ease, Profit, and Pleasure; every Creature naturally seeks its own Welfare: But to make the Glory of God our great Aim and Pursuit, it is [illegible: 1 letter]ra[illegible: 1 letter]e puts upon that. Water ascends no higher than it descends; so Nature cannot rise beyond it self. The Stream cannot rise above the Foun [illegible: 1 letter]ain, and above the Principle. A Man that hath nothing but Nature, he cannot unfeignedly seek the Things which are of God. The Old-Man, with the deceitful Lusts, that's the natural Man: The upright Heart, that unfeignedly seeks God, needs Grace from above. Without Influence from God, our Actions cannot have a tendency to God. We shall prefer our Interest before God's Glory, if we have no higher Principle than what our Hearts could furnish us with. 4. We must go to God for Submission. Now there is a double Submission required, which if we have not, we shall find it marvellously difficult to glorify God: One, as to the choice of Instruments; another, as to the Way and Means, by which God will bring about his own Glory. (1.) As to the Choice of Instruments. There is in us an Envy, and wicked Emulation. O how hard a matter is it, to rejoice in the Gifts, and Graces, and Services of others, and be content with the Dispensation, when God will cast us by, as unworthy, and use others for the glorifying of his Name! Therefore that we may refer the Choice of Instruments to God, we need go to him, and say, Lord, hallowed be thy Name; do it which way, and by whom thou pleasest. We are troubled, if others glorify God, and not we, or more than we; if they be more holy, more useful, or more serious, Self will not yield to this. Now by putting up this Prayer to God, we refer it to him, to chuse the Instrument whom he will employ. It was a commendable Modesty and Self-denial in Iohn Baptist, which is described, John 3. 13. He must increase, I must decrease. When we are contented to be abased and obscured, provided Christ may be honoured and exalted; and be content with such a Dispensation, tho with our Loss and Decrease. Many are of a private Station, and straitned in Gifts, and can have no publick Instrumentality for God; now these need to pray, Hallowed be thy Name, that they may rejoyce when God useth others, whom he hath furnished with greater Abilities. (2.) A Submission for the Way; that we may submit to those unpleasing Means, and Circumstances of his Providence, that God will take up, and make use of, for the glorifying of his holy Name. Many times we must be content, not only to be active Instruments, but passive Objects of God's Glory: And therefore i[illegible: 1 letter] God will glorify himself by our Poverty, or our Disgrace, our Pain and Sickness, we must be content. Therefore we need to deal with God seriously about this Matter, that we may submit to the Lord's Will, as Jesus Christ did, Iohn 12. 27, 28. Save me from this Hour; but for this cause came I unto this Hour: Father, glorify thy Name. And there was a Voice from Heaven, that said, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. Put me to Shame, Suffering, to endure the Cross, the Curse, so thou mayest be glori[illegible: 1 letter]ied. This was the humble Submission of Christ Jesus, and such a Submission should be in us. The Martyrs were [illegible: 2 letters]ntented to b[illegible: 1 letter] bound to the Stake, if that way God will use them to his glory. Phil. 1. 20. saith Paul, So Christ shall be magnified in my Body, whether it be by Life, or by Death: If my Body be taken to Heaven in glory, or whether it be exercised or worn out with Ministerial Labour. We need to deal with God, that we may have the End, and leave the Means to his own chusing; that God may be glorified in our Condition, whatever it be. If he will have us rich and full, that he might be glorified in our Bounty; if he will have us poor and low, that he may be glorified in our Patience; if [illegible: 1 letter]e will have us healthy, that he may be glorified in our Labour; if he will have us sick, that he may be glorified in our Pain; if he will have us live, that he may be glorified in our Lives; if he will have us die, that he may be glorified in our Deaths: And therefore, Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Rom. 14. 9. A Christian is to be like a Dye in the hand of Providence, content whether he be cast high or low; and not to grudg at it, whether he will continue us longer, or take us out of the World. As a Servant employed beyond the Seas, if his Master will have him tarry, there he tarries; if he would have him come home, home he comes. So that we had need to deal seriously with God about this submissive Spirit. 5. Humility; that we may not put the Crown upon our own Heads, but may cast it at the Lamb's feet; that we may not take the Glory of our Graces to our selves. God's great Aim in the Covenant is, That no Flesh should glory in it self: but whosoever glories, may glory in the Lord. 1 Cor. 1. 27,-31. He would have us still come and own him, in all that we are, and in all that we do. As the good Servant gave account of his Diligence, Luke 19. 16. he doth not say, My Industry, but, Thy Pound hath gained ten Pounds. And Paul was a zealous Instrument, that went up and down doing good; he laboured more abundantly than they all: Yet not I, but the Grace of God, which was with me. 1 Cor. 15. 10. In this Case, if we would honour and glorify God, we must do as Ioab did, when he was likely to take Rabbah: He sent for David, to gather up more Forces, and encamp against the City, and take it, Lest I take the City, and it be called after my Name. 2 Sam. 12. 28. How careful was he that his Sovereign might have the Honour? So careful should we be, that the Crown be set upon Christ's Head, and that he may have the glory of our Graces and Services, that they may not be called after our own Name, that God may be more owned in them than we. Now what more natural, than for Creatures to intercept the Revenues of the Crown of Heaven, and to convert them to their own Use? It is a vile Sacriledg, to rob God of the Glory of that Grace he hath bestowed upon us; and yet what more common? The Flesh is apt to interpose upon all occasions; and therefore we need to put up this Request, Hallowed be thy Name. 6. There is Holiness required, that we may not be a Disgrace to God, and a Dishonour to him. The Lord saith, Ezek. 20. 9. That his Name should not be polluted before the Heathen, among whom they (his People) were. The Sin of God's People doth stain the Honour of God, and profane his Name. When Men profess much, to be a People near God, and live carnally and loosly, they dishonour God exceedingly by their Conversation. Men judg by what is visible and sensible, and so they think of God, by his Servants and Worshippers; as the Heathens did of Christ in Salvian's time, If he was a holy Christ, certainly Christians would live more temperately, justly, and soberly. They are apt to think of God by his Worshippers, and by the People that profess themselves so near and dear to him; therefore it concerns us to walk so, that our Lives may honour him. Mat. 5. 16. Let your Light so shine before Men, that they may see your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. As the Loins of the Poor (saith Iob) blessed him, Job 31. 20. namely, as they were fed and cloathed by his Bounty: So our Lives may glorify God. David saith, Psal. 119. 7. Then shall I praise thee with Vprightness of Heart, when I have learned thy righteous Iudgment. There is no way to praise God entirely and sincerely, until we have learned both to know and do his Will. Real Praise is the Praise God looks after. Otherwise we do but serve Christ, as the Devil served him, who would carry him upon the Top of the Mountain, but it was with an intent to bid him throw himself down again: So we seem to exalt God much in our Talk and Profession; yea, but we throw him down, when we pollute him, and deny him in our Conversation. Our Lives are the Scandal of Religion, and a Pollution and Blot to the Name of God. So that with respect to our selves, you see what need we have to go to God, that he will give us Grace that we may please him, and glorify his Name. Secondly; In regard of Others. A Christian cannot be content to glorify God himself, but he would have all about him to glorify God. As Fire turns all Things round about it into Fire; and Leaven, it spreads still, until it hath subdued the whole Lump: So is Grace a diffusive, a spreading thing. As far as we can reach and diffuse our Influence, we would have God brought into request with all round about us. Being converted, saith Christ to Peter, strengthen thy Brethren? So it will be, where there is true Grace. Mules, and Creatures which are of a Mongril and Bastard-Race, they beget not after their kind: So Bastard-Christians are not for the calling in of others, and the gaining of those about them. But a true Christian will be earnest, and much in this Matter. Now their Hearts are not in our Power, but in God's; therefore we need to be much in Prayer, and make this our main Request, Lord, hallowed be thy Name. For hereby, 1. We acknowledg God's Dominion over the Spirits of Men, which is a great Honour to God, and a quieting to us. It is a Title often given to God in Scripture, that he is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh. If they had a Magistrate to chuse, they go to God: Numb. 27. 16. Let the Lord, the God of the Spirits of all Flesh, set a Man over the Congregation. If a Judgment to be averted, Numb. 16. 22. O God, the God of the Spirits of all Flesh, shall one Man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the Congregation? This is a great Honour to God, when we acknowledg the Power and Dominion that he hath over the Hearts and Spirits of Men. To roll a Stone, is not so much as to rule the Creatures; and to keep the Sun in his Course, is not so much as to rule the Spirits of Men, and to work them to the glorifying of his holy Name. God can turn the Hearts of Men this way, and that way, according as he pleaseth. Prov. 21. 1. The King's Heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the Rivers of Water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. As a Man can dispose of a Water-Course, turn it hither and thither, as the Necessities of his Field or Garden require: So can God draw out the Hearts and Respects of Men. Surely there would not be so many Disorders in the World, if we did often reflect upon [illegible: 1 word] Attribute, or did deal with God about his Power over the Spirits of Men. We are wrathful, and think nothing but the Confusion of Men would serve the Turn; and there is no Riddance of our Burthen, but by the Destruction of those who stand in our way: Whereas the Conversion of Men, a Change of their Spirits and Hearts, would be a better Cure, and bring more Honour to God, and Safety with it. The truth is, we look more to Men than to God; and that is the Reason why we pitch rather upon the Destruction, than the Conversion of others: Destruction, that may be executed by the Creature; but Conversion, that is a Power (to order and regulate the Spirits of Men) which God hath reserved in his own hands. One Angel could destroy above an Hundred and Eighty Thousand in Sennacherib's Camp, in one Night; but all the Angels, with their united Strength, cannot draw in one Heart to God. But now the God of the Spirits of all Flesh, who is too hard for him? O did we often reflect upon this, we would be dealing with God about this Matter, that he would work upon the Spirits of Men. If there be a wicked Ruler, or an obstinate Child or Servant, &c. that he would sanctify himself upon them, and change their Hearts. 2. You discover much Love to God, when as you would not dishonour him your selves, so you are careful others may not dishonour him. Praise him, all ye Ends of the Earth. Psal. 98. 4. & 100. 1. You would have all the World own him. Private Spirits, that would impale and enclose Religion, that they may shine alone, they do not love God, but themselves, their own Credit, and their own Profit. Would to God all the Lord's People were Prophets! Numb. 11. 29. That was a free and noble Speech. God is resembled to the Sun, because it is He that must shine alone; but the Church is compared to the Moon and Stars, where all may shine, but every Star in its own glory. True Christians would have all to be as they are, unless it be with respect to their Bonds and Incumbrances. 3. You discover Love to others, you would have them glorify God. The Angels, they rejoice when a Sinner is converted; they have a great Love to Souls. Luke 15. 7. And so do Christians; the more spiritual they are, the more they come near to the blessed Spirits above, and the more affected they are with the good done to others, and with their Conversion. Saith Paul, Rom. 9. 3. I could wish that my self were accursed from Christ, for my Brethren, my Kinsmen according to the Flesh: Such a Zeal and entire Affection he had to the Souls of others, that he could lay all his personal Happiness at Christ's feet. And thus you see what need we have to deal seriously with God in this Business, if indeed we make this our Aim: Especially those which are in publick Relations, as Paul was, which had an Office put upon him to procure the Salvation of others; how will their Hearts run out upon it? Secondly; It is needful we should deal with God about the sanctifying of his Name, as in regard of Persons, so of Things and Events. God hath the disposal of all Events in his own hands. There are many Things which concern the Glory of God, that are out of our Reach, and are wholly in God's hands; and therefore it discovers our Love to his Glory, and our Submission to his wise and powerful Government of all Affairs, when we deal with God about it, and refer the Matter to his disposal, and say; Lord, hallowed be thy Name, take the Work into thy own hands. We discover our Love to his Glory, because we make it a part of our Request, that all these Events may conduce to the glory of his Majesty. As Ioshua, when Israel fell before their Enemies, Iosh. 7. 9. Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great Name? There was his Trouble. And Moses, Numb. 14. 15, 16. What will the Nations say round about? Because the Lord was not able to bring this People into the Land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the Wilderness. It goeth near to the Heart of God's Children, when they see any thing that will tend to God's Reproach. But that is not all; it is not enough we discover that, but also our Submission to his wise and powerful Government, when we refer the Matter to his disposal, and can see that he can work out his own Ends, out of all the Confusions which happen there, out of Sins, Errors, Wars, Blood. Psal. 76. 10. The Wrath of Man shall praise thee; the Remainder of Wrath shalt thou restrain. In the Septuagint it is, the Wrath of Man shall keep Holy-Day to thee, shall increase a Festival for thee. God many times gets up in the World, upon Satan's Shoulders. When Matters are ravell'd and disordered, he can find out the right End of the Thread, and how to disentangle us again; and when we have spoil'd a Business, he can dispose it for good, and make an Advantage of those things which seem to obscure the Glory of his Name. By the way, both these must go together; our Love to his Glory, and our Submission to his Providence. Our Love to his Glory; for we should not be altogether wretchless and careless how Things go; and yet not carking, because of the Wisdom and Power of his Providence. The truth is, we should be more sollicitous about Duties, than Events. The Glory of Events belongeth to God himself, and we are not to take his Work out of his hand, but mind him in it. Look as some would lern their School-fellows Lesson better than their own; so, we would have Things carried thus and thus: And so by murmuring we tax Providence, rather than adore it, and we eclipse the Glory of God. Yet we must be sensible of the Reproaches cast upon God, and must pray the Lord to vindicate and right his Name, to take the Way and Means into his own hands. Thus you have seen the Necessity of putting up such a Request to God, Hallowed be thy Name. Vse 1. Is for Information. It informs us, That whatever we bestow upon God, we have it from God at first. 1 Chron. 29. 11. Of thine own have we given thee. The King of all the Earth, we cannot pay him any Tribute, but out of his own Exchequer. When we are best affected to God's Interest, and pray for God's Concernments, we must beg the Grace which maketh us to do so. It is his own Gift: It is he must enable and incline us, quicken and direct us. So that in all Things he is Alpha and Omega; we begin in him, when ever we end in him: And when we do most [illegible: 1 word] God, we have all from him▪ Vse 2. For Direction in the Matter of glorifying God, in four Propositions. 1. This Life is not to be valued, but as it yieldeth us Opportunities for this End and Purpose, to glorify God. We were not sent into the World to live for our selves, but for God. If we could make our selves, then we could live to our selves: If we could be our own Cause, then we might be our own End. But God made us for himself, and sent us into the World for himself. Christ saith, Iohn 17. 4. Father, I have glorified thee on Earth, &c. It is not our Duty only to glorify God in Heaven, to join in Consort with the Angels in their Hallelujahs above, where we may glorify him without Distraction, Weariness, and Weakness; but here on Earth, in the midst of Difficulties and Temptations. There are none sent into the World to be idle, or to bring forth Fruit to themselves, Hos. 10. 1. to improve their Pains and Strength, to promote meerly their own Interest; but God's Glory must be our chief Work and Aim, while we are here upon Earth; this must be the Purpose and Intent of our Lives. 2. Every Man, besides his general Calling, hath his own Work and Course of Service, whereby to glorify and honour God. Iohn 17. 4. I have finished the Work which thou gavest me to do. As in a great House, one hath one Employment, one another: So God hath designed to every Man his Work he hath to do, and the Calling he must be in; some in one Calling, and some in another; but they all have their Service and Work given them to do for God's glory. 3. In discharge of this Work, as they must do all for God, so they can do nothing without God. Every morning we should revive the Sense of it upon our selves, as the Care of our Work and Aim, so the Sense of our Impotency: This day I am to live with God; but how unable am I? and how easily shall I dishonour him? The way of Man is not in himself. Jer. 10. 23. When a Christian goeth abroad in the Morning, he must remember he is at Christ's dispose; he is not to do as he pleaseth, but to be guided by Rule, and act for God's glory, and fetch in Strength from Christ. Col. 3. 17. Whatsoever ye do in Word or Deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Iesus: Not only in our Duties, or immediate Converses with God, but in our Sports, Business, Recreation. What is it to do things in the Name of Christ? That is, to do it according to Christ's Will and Command. He hath allowed us Time for Recreation, for conversing with God, and calling in Christ's Help, and aiming at his Glory. If we have any thing to do for God, we must do it in his own strength, in every Word and Deed. 4. You are directed again, when the Glory of God, and sanctifying of his Name, either sticks with us, or sticks abroad, God must be specially consulted with in the Case. When our Hearts are backward; then, Lord, open thou my Lips; Lord, affect me with a sense of thy Kindness and Mercy. When it sticks abroad, when such Events fall out, as for a while God's Name is obscured, and seems to be clouded; Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great Name? III. Having opened the Order of the Words, and the Reasons of putting up such a Request to God, I now come to the Sence of the Petition, Hallowed be thy Name. Four Things will come under Consideration: 1. What is meant by the Name of God. 2. What it is to hallow and sanctify it. 3. I shall take notice of the Form of the Proposal, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Hallowed. 4. The Note of Distinction, Thy Name. First; What is meant by God's Name? 1. God himself. 2. Any Thing whereby he is made known. 1. God himself. Name (by an Hebraism) is put for the Person it self. Thus, Rev. 3. 4. Thou hast a few Names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their Garments; that is, many Persons. So, Acts 1. 15. it is said there, The Number of the Names together were abo[illegible: 1 letter]t one hundred and twenty; that is, of Persons. So it is used in the present Case: God's Name is put for God himself. Psal. 20. 1. The Name of the God of Jacob defend thee! That is, God himself. So, Psal. 44. 5. Through thy Name will we tread them under, that rise up against us; that is, by Thee. And to believe in the Name of Christ, is to believe in Christ himself. Name is put for Person; for the immediate Object of Faith, is the Person of Christ. Iohn 1. 12. To as many as received him, to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name. 2. Any thing whereby he is made known to us▪ Nomen quasi not [illegible: 1 letter]men. As a Man is known by his Name; so God's Titles and Attributes, his Ordinances, his Works, his Word, are his Name; chiefly the two latter. For his Works, they are a part of the Name of God: Psal. 8. 1. the Burthen of that Psalm is twice repeated; O Lord, our Lord, how great is thy Name in all the Earth! By the Name there, is meant, God made known in his Works of Creation and Providence; for he speaks there of Sun, Moon, and Stars, which proclaim an Eternal Power to all the World; and he speaks of such a Name as is in all the Earth. And, Psal. 117. 19, 20. He hath not dealt so with any Nation, and given them his Word, Statutes, and Ordinances; every one hath not that Privilege: But, How great is thy Name in all the Earth! That is, how manifestly art thou made known by thy Works! But above all, by Name is meant his Word: Psal. 138. 2. Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name. There is more of God to be seen in his Word, than in all the Creatures of the World, and in all his other Works besides. We understand more of God, than can be taken up by the Creation: It helps us to interpret the Book of Nature and Providence; there we have his Titles, Attributes, Ordinances; there we have his greatest Work, in which he hath discovered so much of his Name, the Mystery of Redemption, which is not elsewhere to be known. Thus by the Name of God, is meant God himself, as he hath made known himself in the Word: We desire that he may be sanctified, that he may with honour and reverence be received every where. Secondly, The second Thing to be explained; What is meant by Hallowed? In Scripture God is said sometimes to be magnified, sometimes to be justified, sometimes to be glorified, and sometimes to be sanctified. Now it is not here said, Magnificetur nomen tuum, or glorificetur, but san[illegible: 1 letter]tifi[illegible: 2 letters]tur, Let thy Name be sanctified. All these Terms do express how God is to be honoured by the Creature; and they have all distinct Notions. God is said to be magnified, Luke 1. 46. My Soul doth magnify the Lord. To magnify God, argueth a high esteem, or a due sense of his Greatness. Again, God is said to be justified, Luke 7. 29. The People and the Publicans justified God. What is it to justify God? To justify, is to acq[illegible: 1 letter]it from Accusation; and when that Word is applied to God, it signifieth our owning of him, notwithstanding the Prejudices of the World against him. To glorify God, is to make him known to others, and to bring him into Request wi[illegible: 1 letter]h others; for Glory, it is clara cum laude notitia, a publick Fame or Knowledg of Excellency. Thus Christ saith, Iohn 17. 10. I am glorified in them; speaking of his Apostles, because by their means he was made known to the World. All these are included in the Word of the Text. Yet there is somewhat more intended by to be sanctified: When is God then said to be sanctified? To hallow, and to sanctify, is to set apart from common Use; and so to sanctify the Name of God, is to use it in a separa[illegible: 1 letter]e manner, with that reverence and respect which is not used to any thing else. So that when we pray, that God's Name may be h[illegible: 1 letter]llowed or sanctified, we desire, that according as he hath made known himself in the Word, so he may be known, reverenced, and esteemed in the World; known to be the only true God; 1 Kings 18. 36. Let it be known this day, that thou art God in Israel; and accordingly worshipped and glorified in the Hearts and Lives of Men. The third Thing to open, is the Form of Proposal, [non-Latin text not transcribed]: It is not sanctificemus, let us hallow; but sanctificetur, let it be hallowed: For in this Form of Speech, all the Persons concerned in this Work are included, God, our selves, and others. 1. God is to be included in the Prayer, that we may express our sense of his Providence, working all things for the glory of his holy Name, yea, discovering his Excellency, shewing himself to be the holy God. Ez[illegible: 1 letter]k. 38. 23. I will magnify my self, and sanctify my self, and I will be known in the Eyes of many Nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. The Lord magnifieth himself, by the more eminent Effects of his Care and Providence; but he sancti[illegible: 1 letter]ieth himself chiefly, by blessing and defending the Godly, and by punishing and afflicting the Wicked; for thereby he declareth his Holiness, the Purity of his Nature, and his Love to Saints. So that when we say, Hallowed be thy Name, we mean; Lord, declare thy self to be a holy God, by putting a distinction between Men [illegible: 1 letter]nd Men in the course of thy Providence, and owning thy People from Heaven. 2. We include our selves, when we say, Hal [illegible: 3 letters]ed be thy Name; for it is especially the Duty of God's People. Isa. 29. 23. They shall sanctify my Name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and [illegible: 2 letters]all fear the God of Israel. It is our Duty, by our religious Carriage to evidence that we have a holy God. This must be our first Care, that we our selves be sanctified, and to sanctify our Sanctifier, the Holy One of Israel. Some, they would have God glorified by others, but do not look to themselves, how they sanctify God. Now God hath made this to be a great part of our Care, that his own People should not only magnify and glorify him, but sanctify him; therefore he rather makes them good than great. When he would make Men great, then he shews his Magnificence, to be the Almighty Disposer of the Riches of the World; but when he makes them good, then he expects to be sanctified, that his People should discover, that he is a holy One; that he is holy in himself, for we add nothing to him, when we sanctify him, but only discover him to be such an one. In short, God sanctifieth us effectively, by working Grace and Holiness in us; and we sanctify him relatively, objectively, declaratively, declaring him to be a holy God, and that we are a People belonging to this God. 3. The Speech is so formed, that others may be included, and that we may express our Sense of their dishonouring God, as a thing that is grievous to us; that we may shew how near it goeth to our Heart, to see the Ignorance, Atheism, and Blasphemy that is in the World. They would have the holy God to be sanctified abroad, either by the Conversion of Men, or by their Punishment. And so it is meant, Isa. 5. 16. God that is holy, shall be sanctified in Righteousness: That is, his Holiness, and Hatred of Sin shall appear, either in the Conversion of obstinate Sinners, that God may be sanctified by them; or else for Punishment, that God may be sanctified upon them. Fourthly, The next thing is the note of Distinction, Hallowed be [thy] Name, not ours. There seems to be a secret opposition between our Name, and the Name of God. When we come to pray, we should distinctly remember whose Name is to be glorified, that God may be at the end of every Request. We beg of God many times, but we think of our selves, our Hearts run upon our own Name, and upon our own Esteem. How often do we come to him with a selfish aim, as if we would draw God into our own Designs and Purposes? None are so un[illegible: 1 letter]it to glorify God, and so unwelcome to him, as those that are so wedded and vehemently addicted to their own Honour and Esteem in the World. Therefore Christ by way of Distinction, by way of Opposition to this innate Disposition that is in us, he would have us to say, Hallowed by THY Name. That which gives [illegible: 1 letter]ost Honour to God, is believing. Rom. 4. 19, 20. Abraham was strong in Faith, giving Glory to God. Now none so unfit for the work, as they that seek Glory for themselves, Joh. 5. 44. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Affectation of Vain-Glory, or Splendor of our own Name, is a temper inconsistent with Faith, which is the Grace that gives honour to God. I say, when we hunt after Respect from Men, and make that the chiefest scope of our Actions, God's Glory will certainly lye in the Dust; when we are to suffer ignominy and Abasement for his sake, the care of God's Glory will be laid aside. The great Sin of the old-World was this, Gen. 11. 4. Let us [illegible: 1 word] u[illegible: 1 letter] a Name. There are many Conceits about that Enterprize, what that People should aim at there, in building so great and so vast a Tower, before God confounded their Tongues. Some interpreting that place, Let us build us a Tower even to Heaven, think this was their intention to make a way into Heaven. But it is not likely they would be so foolish that had so late Experience of the Flood, and when the Ark rested upon the top of the highest Mountains, found themselves to be at so great and vast a distance from Heaven. Some think it was (as Iosephus) to secure themselves from another Flood: But that was sufficiently done by God's Promise, who had engaged to them he would no more destroy the Earth by Water; and if that were their intention, why should they build in the Plain, between the two Rivers of Tygris and Euphrates? Moses gives the main reason there, that they might have an immortal Name among Posterity. But now see how ill they reckon, that do reckon without God. Those that are so busy about their own Name, how soon will God blast them! When in any Action we do not seek Glory to God, but our selves, it's the ready way to be destroyed. This was the Means to bury them in perpetual Oblivion. Nebuchadnezzar, when he re-edified the City, Dan. 4. 30. Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom, by the might of my Power, and for the honour of my Majesty? How doth God disappoint him, and turn him out among the Beasts? Thus are we sure to be disappointed and blasted, when our Hearts run altogether upon our own Name. But now Christ saith [Thy Name] when we are careful of that, this is the way to prosper. From the Words thus illustrated, I shall only observe, Doct. That God will be so glorified in the World, as that his Name may be hallowed or sanctified. Here I shall shew, 1. How many ways God's Name is sanctified. 2. Why God will be so glorified, as that he may be sanctified. First, How many Ways is God's Name sanctified? I answer, either upon us, or by us. (1.) Vpon us, by the righteous Executions and Judgments of his Providence. And so God is sanctified, when he doth by a high hand of Power, recover and extort the Glory of his Holiness from the dead and stupid World. As by that notable stroke of the Bethshemites, when Fifty thousand were slain for peeping into the Ark; 1 Sam. 6. 20. This was the result of all, Who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God? There he discovered himself to be a Holy God, to be one that hath a high displeasure against the Creatures Disobedience. Now when he doth by a high hand extort this from the Wicked, or from his Children, then he sanctifieth himself upon us. (2.) By us. And so he is sanctified, in our Thoughts, Words, and Actions; in our Heart, Tongue, or Life. 1. In our Hearts; 1 Pet. 3. 15. Sanctify the Lord God in your Heart. How is God sanctified in our Hearts? (1.) When we have awful Thoughts of his Majesty, Psal. 111. 9. Holy and Reverend is his Name. Not only when we speak of the Name of God, but when we think of it, we should be seriously affected. But, (2.) More especially God is sanctified, when in Straits, Difficulties, and Dangers, we can bear our selves upon the power and sufficiency of God, and go on resolutely and chearfully with our Duty, notwithstanding Discouragements. This is to sanctify the Lord God in our Hearts. I shall prove it by two places where the Phrase is used; one is, 1 Pet. 3. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh you a reason of the Hope that is in you, with Meekness and Fear. Mark, the Christians that did profess the Name of God, which spake of God as their Hope, or Object of their Religion, were in great danger: Now what direction doth he give them, that they might not be afraid, but bear up? For he speaks before, Be not afraid of their Terror, or be troubled: But sanctify the Lord God in your Hearts. See the same Phrase used for the same purpose, Isa. 8. 13. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your Fear, and let him be your Dread. He opposeth it plainly there, to Carnal Fear, vers. 12. Say ye not a Confederacy, to all them to whom this People shall say a Confederacy; neither fear ye their Fear, nor be afraid: But sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your Fear. How comes this direction to be used in the present Case? Thus, to sanctify is to set apart, and to sanctify God, is to set God apart as the alone Object of Fear and Trust, that he alone is to be feared and trusted; so that we can see no match for God among the Creatures: Therefore we are to embolden our selves in the Lord, and go on chearfully; when we can counter-ballance all Fears and Dangers with his surpassing Excellency. To Glorify God, is, to do that which simply and absolutely tendeth to the Manifestation of his Excellency, without any Relation to the Creature: But to Sanctify God, is, to set God above the Creature, to do that which tends to exalt his Greatness and Excellency from and above all Terrors, and all the Discouragements that we can have from the Creature: It is to ascribe that Greatness, that Power and Glory to God alone, which cannot be ascribed to any thing else, and so to go on chearfully with our Duty, whatever Difficulties we meet with. Thus Moses was chidden, that was amazed with present Difficulty, Numb. 20. 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the Eyes of the Children of Israel; therefore ye shall not bring this Congregation into the Land which I have given them. Because they were discouraged, and thought they should never carry on their Business, therefore God saith, Ye believe not to sanctify me: You sanctify not God, or set him aloft, as the alone and Supream Object of Fear and Trust. It is a practical acknowledgment of God's matchless Excellency. Thus we sanctify God in our Hearts. 2. God is sanctified with our Tongues, when we use God's Name, Titles, Ordinances, and Word, as Holy Things. When we speak of the Lord with Reverence, and with great seriousness of Heart, not tak[illegible: 1 letter]ng his Name in vain; especially when we are deeply affected with his Praise. It is no slight thing to praise God. God's People when they have gone about it, see a need of the greatest Help. Psal. 51. 15. O Lord, open thou my Lips, and my Mouth shall shew forth thy Praise. And Psal. 45. 1. My Heart is inditing a good matter; my Heart frys or boyls a good Matter. When we will not give God Dough-bak'd Praise, nor speak of his Name slightly, but so as becomes his Greatness, and surpassing Excellency. 3. In our Actions. Our Actions may be parted into two things; Worship, and ordinary Conversation. 1. In our Worship, there God especially will be sanctified. Lev. 10. 3. I will be sanctified in all that draw near unto me. God is very tender of his Worship: Sancta Sanctis, Holy Things must be managed by Holy Men, in a Holy Manner. Therefore what is it to sanctify God, when we draw nigh to him? To have a more excellent frame of Heart in Worship, than we have about other things. As in Prayer, the frame of our Hearts must not be common, we must not go about it with such a frame of Heart, as we go about our Callings, worldly Business, and Converses with Men; but there must be some special Reverence, such as is peculiar to him. When we draw near to God in the Word, he will be sanctified. The Word must be received with Meekness, and by Faith applied to our Souls, as an Instrument designed to our endless Good. When we have a peculiar Reverence for God, and a respect to God in all our Approaches; Eccles. 5. 1. Look to thy Feet when thou goest to the House of God: we must not go about these Holy Services Hand over Head, but with great Caution and Heed. Thus is God sanctified in Worship, or in our immediate converse with him. 2. In our ordinary Conversation. Then God is sanctified; when our Life is ordered so, that we may give Men occasion to say, that surely he is a Holy God whom we serve. By two things you may know you sanctify God in your Conversations; when you walk as remembring you have a Holy God; and when you walk as discovering to others you have a Holy God. (1.) When you walk as remembring your selves that you have a Holy God, therefore you must be watchful and strict. It is notable, when the Israelites were making a hasty Promise, Ioshua puts them in Mind, Chap. 24. 9. You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a Holy God. So we should remember when we give up our selves to God, he is a Holy and Jealous God, that is narrowly observant, and he will not be put off with any thing that is Common. (2.) As discovering you have a Holy God. A carnal Worshipper prophaneth the Memory of God in the World. But now a Christian that walks according to his Holy Calling, that is Holy in all manner of Conversation, he discovereth what a God he hath. 1 Pet. 2. 9. That ye should shew forth the Praises of him, who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light. We are not only to conceive, and make use of them to beget Fear and Reverence in our Hearts of the All-seeing God; but are to shew them forth, to evidence them to others: We should discover more than a Human Excellency, that so those which look upon us may say, these are the Servants of the Holy God. Secondly, For the Reasons, Why God will be so glorified, that he may be sanctified. 1. Because this is the Glory that is due to his Name; Psal. 96. 8. Give unto the Lord the Glory due to his Name. Every Glory will not serve the turn, but such Glory as is proper and peculiar for that God we serve. It is a stated Rule in Scripture, That Respects to God must be proportioned to the Nature of God. God is a Spirit, therefore will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth. God is a God of Peace, therefore lift up pure Hands, without Wrath and Doubting. God is a Holy God, therefore will be sanctified. They which worship the Sun, among the Heathens, they used a Flying-Horse, as a thing most suitable to the swift Motions of the Sun. Well then, they that will glorify and honour God with a Glory due to his Name, must sanctify him as well as honour him: Why? for God is glorious in Holiness, Exod. 15. 11. This is that which God counteth to be his chief Excellency, and the Glory which he will manifest among the Sons of Men. 2. This is that Glory which God affects, and therefore the Saints will give it him. Isa. 6. 3. The Holy Angels, what do they cry out when they honour God? They do not acknowledg his Power and Dominion over all Creatures as Lord of all; but they give him his peculiar Glory, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole Earth is full of his Glory. So David, Psal. 103. 1. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, yea, all that is within me bless his Holy Name. That's the Notion upon which he pitcheth, he would praise God with such praise as is welcome and acceptable to him. 3. This is that Attribute which is most eclipsed, and most blotted out in the Hearts of the Sons of Men, because of God's Patience, because he doth not take Vengeance of all the Sins of Men: Thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thy self, Psal. 50. 21. Certainly if Men did not blot and stain God in their Thoughts, if they did not fancy an unreasonable Indulgence, such as is not comely and proper to his Majesty, they could not go on in Sin, and think God could be so pure; therefore he will be so glorified, that he may be sanctified. Vse. To press us so to glorify God, as we may also sanctify him. Let this be your care. To quicken you, remember, 1. God is much offended with his People that do not sanctify him. Moses and Aaron, as choice and as dear to God as they were, yet you know what the Lord saith, Numb. 20. 12. Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the Eyes of the Children of Israel; therefore ye shall not bring this Congregation into the Land which I have given them. When Moses and Aaron murmured, and spake unadvisedly, and did not sanctify him, nor carry God's Excellency aloft, They shall not enter. And God remembreth this a great while after, in that Deut. 32. 51. Because ye trespassed against me among the Children of Israel, at the Waters of Meribahkadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the Children of Israel, thou shalt not go unto the Land which I give the Children of Israel. Well then, tho God's Children should get to Heaven, yet if they do not sanctify God, they will want many a Priviledg. God will remember this against them; for he takes it ill, when his People will not sanctify him, as becoming his peculiar Excellency. 2. If you do not sanctify God, then you pollute God, and stain his Memory in the World; Ezek. 36. 20. Ye have profaned my Holy Name among the Heathen. How is God polluted? Not intrinsecally, God cannot receive any Pollution from us. It is here, as in that Case, A Man that lusteth after a Woman, hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart, Mat. 5. 28. The Man pollutes the Woman in his Heart, while she remains spotless and undefiled: So in this Case, we blemish God in appearance, as much as in us lies we pollute and blot God, tho he remains pure and undefiled. You make Heathens think as if you had an unholy God. Well then, glorify God. For Directions, 1. Be Holy. The Praise of the Wicked is a disgrace to him, it is an obscuring of his Praise, 1 Pet. 1. 15. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation. 2. Study his Name, if ye would sanctify his Name. Psal. 9. 10. They that know his Name will put their trust in him. 3. Submit to his Providence without Murmuring. When we can speak well of him, tho he seem to deal most hardly; as the Bethshemites, when there was such a Slaughter made among them, fifty thousand slain: They do not say, murmuringly, who can stand before this severe, cruel God? but before this Holy God? They own his Holiness in the Dispensation, tho it were so dreadful, 1 Sam. 7. 20. It is a great Glory to God when you own him as just in all his ways, when he deals most hardly. Whatsoever be our Lot and Portion, yet he is a Holy God. But to cavil and murmur, it is to tax and blemish God before the World. 4. Live to publick Ends, that is to draw God into Request with others: Let this be the aim of your Conversation, not only to get Holiness enough to bring you to Heaven, but to allure others, and recommend God to them, that by the Purity and Strictness of your Conversation you might gain upon others, and bring them to be in love with God, and acquainted with him. And Lastly, be sensible when God's Name is dishonoured, by your selves and others, not enduring the least prophanation of it. Thy Kingdom come. THE first Petition concerneth the End, the rest the means. Now among all the Means, none hath such a near and immediate respect to the Glory of God as Christ's Kingdom; for here there is more of God discovered, more of his infinite Grace, Justice, Wisdom, and Power, than possibly can be elsewhere: All other things are for the Church, and the Church for Christ as Head and King, and Christ for God, 1 Cor. 3. 22, 23. So that Christ's Kingdom is the primary Means of advancing God's Glory; and therefore among all the Means it must be sought in the first place, Mat. 6. 33. Seek first the Kingdom of God. First, not above the Glory of God, it doth not come in competition with that, but above all other things whatsoever, before Pardon and Grace. In the Words observe three things. 1. We grant [a Kingdom.] 2. By way of Distinction and Appropriation, we say [Thy Kingdom.] 3. By way of Supplication, we beg of God that it [may Come.] The Concession, the Distinction, the Supplication are the three things to be opened. First, The Concession of a Kingdom, which our heavenly Father hath. A Kingdom (in the general, signifieth the Government of a People under one Head, or Governour; and therefore the Term may be fitly applied to God, who alone is Supream, and we are all under his Dominion. Now God's Kingdom is twofold: 1. Universal. 2. More Particular and Special. First, There's a Universal Kingdom over all Things; over Angels, and Devils; over Men Elect, and Reprobate; over Beasts, and Living Creatures; and over inanimate Things, Sun, Moon, and Stars. This is spoken of, 1 Chron. 29. 11. Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as Head above all. And again, Psal. 103. 19. The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens: and his Kingdom ruleth over all. There is no such Monarch as God is, for largeness of Empire, for absoluteness of Power, and Sublimity of his Throne. This is not principally understood here, but is implied as a Foundation and Ground of Faith, whereupon we may deal with God about that Kingdom, which is specially intended in this Request. Secondly, More Particularly and Especially, God hath a Kingdom over a certain Order and Estate of Men. Of this especial Kingdom there are two notable Branches and Considerations. One is, that Administration which belongeth to the present Life, and is called the Kingdom of Grace; and the other belongeth to the Life to come, and is called the Kingdom of Glory. 1. The Kingdom of Grace is spoken of in many places, specially that Luk. 17. 20, 21. When he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God should come? he answered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. Neither shall they say, Lo, here, or, lo, there: for, behold the Kingdom of God is within you, (or among you.) He speaks of a Kingdom of God that was already come among them, in the dispensation of his Grace by Christ. And then, the other belongeth to the Life to come, called the Kingdom of Glory, Mat. 25. 34. Come ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World. 1 Cor. 15. 50. Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Now the Kingdom of Grace may be considered two ways; as Externally administred; and as internally received. (1.) As Externally administred in the Ordinances and Means of Grace, as the Word, and Seals, and Censures, and the like. In this Sence it is said, Mat. 21. 43. The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a Nation, bringing forth the Fruits thereof. The Gospel, or Means of Grace, administred in the visible Face of the Church, they are called God's Kingdom upon Earth, and a very great Priviledg they are, when they are bestowed upon any People. Surely, when Christ saith, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, he doth not mean it of the inward Kingdom, that they had not, that cannot be lost, but of the outward and external Means. (2.) As internally received: and then by it is meant the Grace of God, which rules in the Hearts of the Elect, and causeth their Souls to submit and subject themselves unto the Obedience of Christ, and unto his Scepter, and to his Word and Spirit, and this is that Kingdom properly which is within us. This is the Kingdom of God which consisteth in Righteousness, Peace, and Ioy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14. 17. And this differeth from the Kingdom of Glory, not so much in Nature, as in Degree. Well then, That by the Kingdom of God is here meant, not his general Empire over all the World, and all the things of the World (tho that be not wholly excluded); but his special Kingdom, which he doth administer by Christ: And that either as externally managed by Ordinances, and visible means of Grace; or as internally received and administred in the Hearts of the Elect. This is that Kingdom we beg, that it may flourish and get ground more and more. 2. Then for the Kingdom of Glory, it is either begun and inchoate, or else consummate and perfect. 1. 'Tis begun and inchoate upon our Translation to Heaven, in the very moment of Death: In which Christ reigns in the other World, in the Spirits of just Men made perfect (that is) being perfectly freed from Sin, and admitted into the clear and immediate Vision and Fruition of God, tho our Bodies abide in the Grave, expecting full Redemption and Deliverance. That there is such a Kingdom carried on, many Scriptures intimate, Phil. 1. 23. I desire to depart, and to be with Christ. As soon as the Saints are loosed from the Body, they are with Christ under his Government. Luk. 23. 43. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. As soon as Christ died he was in Paradise, and there was the good Thief with him. The Scriptures do not establish any such drousy conceit as the Sleep of Souls; or such an Estate wherein they do not enjoy God. We read of the Spirits of just Men made perfect, which make up the Congregation which is above, of which Christ is Head, Heb. 12. 23. As the Spirits of the Wicked are in Prison, 1 Pet. 3. 19. that is, in Hell. This is the Kingdom of Glory begun. 2. There's a Kingdom of Glory consummate; when Sin, and Death is utterly abolished, and the Elect perfectly separated from the Reprobate, and conducted into Heaven, and there remain with the Lord for ever. This is a Kingdom, Mat. 25. 34. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you. The full and final Estate we enjoy after the general Judgment and Resurrection, that's called a Kingdom. Well, now you see what's meant by the Kingdom we pray for. Secondly, Here's a note of Distinction, [Thy Kingdom;] by which the Kingdom here spoken of is limited by particular reference to God; not only to difference it from the Kingdoms of Men, which are subordinate to it; but those adverse Kingdoms which are set up against God; as the Kingdom of Sin, Satan, Anti-christ, the destruction of which we intend when we pray for the advancement of God's Kingdom; As I shall shew you. Thirdly, Here's the Supplication, or the Request which we make to God about this Kingdom, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Let it [Come.] What do we mean by that? This Word must be applied to the several acceptations of Christ's Kingdom. 1. If you apply it to the External Kingdom of Grace, then when we say, [Thy Kingdom come;] the meaning is, Let the Gospel be published, let Churches be set up every where, let them be continued and maintained against all the malignity of the World, and Opposition of the Devil: And in the publication of the Gospel where the sound of it hath not been heard, that God would come there in the Power of his Spirit, and draw People into Communion with himself. Mat. 12. 28. If I cast out Devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you; meaning in the publick tenders thereof. Saith he, if this Miracle doth clearly (as it doth in your Consciences) evidence my Mission, then you may know the Kingdom of God is come, (that is) that there is a Publication of the Gospel of Grace. Then we pray for the continuance of this Privilege, notwithstanding opposition, that Christ may stand his Ground. This is that we seek of God, that he may maintain his Interest among the Nations of the World, that the Gates of Hell may not prevail against his Kingdom. 2. If you refer it to the Internal Part of this Kingdom, then we beg the Beginning, the Progress, and the final Consummation of it. First, the Beginning, or the Erection of a Throne for Christ in our own Hearts, and the Hearts of others, that he may fully exercise Regal Power. Secondly, The Increase of this Kingdom by Holiness and Obedience, and sincere Subjection to him; for the Kingdom of Grace is so come already, that it will still be coming yet more and more. So long as we need to pray, so long shall we have cause to say, Thy Kingdom come. Thirdly, The Consummation of it, when the Fulness of Glory in the second Coming of Christ shall be revealed; when our Head shall be glorious, and his Day shall come, [non-Latin text not transcribed]: For the present it is Man's Day, so the Scripture seems to call it; but then it is the Day of the Lord, when all the Devils shall stoop, and Enemies receive their final Doom, and the Saints shall have the Crown of Glory put upon their Heads in the Sight of all the World. Well, the Sum of all is this, That tho this Petition do mainly concern the special Kingdom, which God administreth by Christ; yet God's universal Kingdom, the Kingdom of his Power and Providence, is a mighty Support and Prop to our Faith, in making this Request to God. When we consider what an unlimited Power God hath over all Creatures, even Devils themselves, to dispose of them for his own Glory, and his Churches Good; we need not to be discouraged, though Christ's Kingdom be opposed in the World, but should with the more confidence deal with God about it. That which I shall handle upon this Petition, will fall under these two Points: 1. That God hath a Kingdom, which he will administer and manage for his own glory. 2. All those which are well affected to God's glory, should desire the coming of this Kingdom, and seriously deal with God about it. For the first, namely, Doct. 1. That God hath a Kingdom, which he will administer and manage for his own Glory. I speak not of the Kingdom of his Power and Providence, but of the Dispensation of Grace by Christ. The Evangelical Gospel-State is compared to a Kingdom; as, Mat. 3. 2. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. So to the Disciples, Mat. 10. 7. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. And so Christ himself. It may be called so with very good reason: For in this Kingdom there is a Monarch, Jesus Christ, to whom all Power and Authority is given. God the Father calls him, my King; Psal. 2. 6. I have set my King upon my holy Hill. And this King hath his Throne in the Consciences of Men, where Thoughts are brought into Captivity to him. 2 Cor. 10. 5. And he hath his Royal Scepter, Psal. 110. 3. which is called the Rod of his Strength. And he hath his Subjects, and they are the Saints, Rev. 15. 3. King of Saints. And he hath his Laws and Constitutions; we read of the Law of Faith, and the Law of Liberty. And in this Kingdom there are Privileges, and Royal Immunities; there's Freedom from the Curse of the Law, and from the Power of Sin, and from the destructive Influence of Satan and the World. And here are Punishments and Rewards, both for Body and Soul; there is Hell and Heaven. Now because all these things do so fitly suit, therefore is the Gospel called a Kingdom. It will not be amiss to insist upon some of these. 1. The State of the Gospel, or Evangelical State, 'tis God's Kingdom, in regard of the Monarch whom God hath set up, (that is) Jesus Christ, the great Lord of all Things. There is no King like him: God hath made him higher than the Kings of the Earth. Psal. 89. 27. How doth he exceed all other Monarchs and Potentates in the World? Partly, for Largeness of Command and Territory. All Kings and Monarchs have certain Bounds and Limits, by which their Empire is terminated; but Christ is the true Catholick King, his Government runs throughout the whole Circuit of Nature and Providence; he hath Power over all Flesh, Iohn 17. 2. yea, Devils themselves are to stoop to him. Phil. 2. 10. Every Thing under the Earth is to bow the Knee to Christ. Partly, for the Excellency of his Throne. This King hath a double Throne, one in Heaven, the other in the Heart of an humble Sinner, which is his second Heaven. Isa. 57. 15. And in both these respects there is no Monarch like Christ. He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens, and his Kingdom ruleth over all. Psal. 103. 19. Earthly Kings, that their Majesty may appear to their Subjects, have their Thrones usually exalted; there were six Steps to Solomon's Throne, a Description of it you have in 1 Kings 10. 18, 19. But what's this to the Throne of Christ, which God hath fix'd above in the Heavens? The whole Globe of Sea and Earth is but as one Point, and there are ten thousand times ten thousands of Angels about his Throne: The Supporters of this Throne are Iustice and Mercy. And in regard of his other Throne also in the Hearts of Men: The Power of outward Potentates reacheth but to the Bodies of Men; they can take cognizance of nothing, but of external Conformity to their Laws: But Christ gives Laws to the Thoughts, 2 Cor. 10. 5. So for his Royal Furniture: Other Princes, they have their Chariots, and Coaches, and Horses, &c. but He makes the Clouds his Chariot, and walketh upon the Wings of the Wind, Psal. 104. 3. Riding up and down in the World, dispensing Mercies and Judgments. So for Troops and Armies to support his Dignity, all the Hosts of Heaven are obedient to him; one Angel in one Night destroyed in Sennacherib's Army, an Hundred Fourscore and Five Thousand. Hostility against him must needs be deadly. He is above in Heaven, and can rain down Fire and Brimstone upon us, and cannot be resisted. He is higher than the Kings of the Earth too, because none hath so good a Right and Title to rule, as this King hath, whom God hath set upon his holy Hill of Sion. God's Dominion over the Creatures is founded in Creation: Other Kings find their Subjects; he makes them. He hath the first and chief Right; there is nothing we have, but he made. We depend upon him every moment for his providential Assistance; therefore he hath the highest Right and Title: No Creature can be sui juris, at his own dispose. And he hath a Right by Conquest, and by Purchase; he hath bought us, and given his Life a Ransom for many. Mat. 20. 28. Christ is opposed there to worldly Potentates; they must be served, but he came to minister: Subjects, their Blood and Lives must go to preserve the Rights of the Prince; but he gave his Life. And he hath a Right too by Contract and Covenant. All that are Subjects of his Kingdom, have sworn Allegiance. He hath such an absolute Right, that thou canst call nothing thy own. We think indeed, our Lips are our own, Psal. 12. 4. and our Estates our own: as Nabal, 1 Sam. 25. 11. Shall I take my Bread, and my Water, and my Flesh? &c. All you have, it belongeth to this King, by Right of Creation, and Providence. Therefore in all these respects he is higher than the Kings of the Earth. 2. The Gospel-State is set forth as a Kingdom, in regard of the Subjects, and their Privileges: The Gospel doth not only reveal a King, but maketh all Kings: He hath made us to be Kings and Priests, &c. Rev. 1. 5. All those that submit to him. So that indeed Christ may properly be stiled, Rex Regum, King of Kings. As the King of Assyria made his Boast, Isa. 10. 8. Are not my Princes altogether Kings? A vaunting Speech of his, that his Princes and Favourites were for Power and Authority as good as Kings. But Christ may say so; Are not my Subjects altogether Kings? not only Kings in regard of their spiritual Power and Command they have over themselves, ruling their own Spirits in the Fear of God, while others are Slaves to their base Affections; but in point of their Privileges: They have Kingly Privileges, they are made Kings; they are royally attended by Angels, they are sent forth to be as Guardians to the Heirs of Promise, Heb. 1. 14. They have Royal Immunities, from the Curse of the Law, from the damnable Influence of Sin; they may as well pluck Christ from the Throne, as pluck the Elect out of that State wherein they are. As David said, Is it a small thing to be the King's Son in Law? So, is it a small thing to be the Sons of God, Coheirs with Christ? This Honour and Glory doth God put upon his Saints. And there's the greatest Pleasure and Contentment in this State; for this Kingdom, which all the Saints are interested in, it consisteth in Righteousness, Peace, and Ioy in the Holy-Ghost. Rom. 14. 17. And surely these Consolations of God should not be small to us. It is a State of most absolute Freedom and Sovereignty; Iohn 8. 36. If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed. Many a Monarch which ruleth over Men, may be a Captive to his own Lusts; but these are free. There are the richest Revenues and Increase, which belong to Christ's Subjects: All Things are yours, (1 Cor. 3. 21.) whether Paul, or Apollos, &c. They are ours by Covenant, and when they come into our possession, (by the fair Allowance of God's Providence) we have them with a Blessing, and may use them with a great deal of Comfort. 3. In regard of the Laws, and Manner of Administration. I shall not speak of the External, Political Government of the Church, (which questionless is Monarchical, I mean in regard of Christ the Head; tho it be Aristocratical, in regard of Officers, and (in some respect) Democratical, with reference to the Consent of the People in all Church-Acts) but there are Laws and Sanctions, by which this Body of Men, and this Kingdom is governed. Iames 2. 8. If ye fulfill the Royal Law. It is called the Royal Law, not only as it requires noble Work, but in regard of the Dignity of the Author, and Firmness of the Obligation: All the Precepts of Faith, Repentance, and Gospel-walking, are as so many Royal Edicts, which Christ hath set forth, to signify his Pleasure to his People. How slightly soever we think of these Gospel-Injunctions, they are the Laws and Instructions of the great King. 4. In regard of Punishments and Rewards. Christ, who is a King by nature, might rule us with a Rod of Iron; yet he is pleased to govern us as a Father, and Prince, that he might cast the Bands of a Man upon us. Christ, as a King, punisheth; and as a King, rewardeth. Prov. 16. 14. The Wrath of a King is as Messengers of Death. When a King is angry, 'tis as if a Messenger should come and tell us, we must die. How great is the Wrath of the King of Kings! He cannot endure to be slighted in his Regal Power. Luke 19. 27. But those mine Enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me. Christ himself will see Execution done in his own sight and presence, upon those Rebels that will not submit to his Rule and Government. How should the Hearts of wicked Men tremble, which have violated the Laws of Christ, and affronted his Authority, when they consider how odious this is, how certainly Christ will see Execution done upon them! When Adonijah and his Guests heard of Solomon's sitting upon his Throne, and the Shouts and Acclamations of Joy and Applause, they were stricken with Fear, and fled every one several ways. 1 Kings 1. 49. You that cherish your Lusts, which stand out against the Sovereignty of Christ, that will not let him rule over you, whose Hearts say, (tho their Tongues dare not) We will not have this Man to reign over us; you that seem to put him by his Kingdom, he is furnished with absolute and irresistible Power to destroy you, and will one day come and say, Bring forth these Drunkards, Worldlings, Voluptuous, that would not I should reign over them; those that durst venture upon known Sin, against the Checks of their own Conscience: how will their Hearts tremble in the last Day, at the Shouts and Acclamations of the Saints, when they shall welcome this great King, when he shall come forth in all his Royalty and Sovereignty? And as for Punishment Christ will shew himself as a King, so for Rewards. Kings do not give Trifles. Araunah gave like a King to a King, 2 Sam. 24. 23. He was of the Blood-Royal of the Iebusites, and he gave worthy of his Extraction: And so Christ will give like a King. God propounds nothing that was cheap and unworthy, but He gives you a Kingdom, Luke 12. 32. The Poor of this World are Heirs of a Kingdom, the fairest Kingdom that ever was, or ever will be; as poor and as despicable as now they are, yet they shall have a Kingdom. What can you wish for and desire, more than a Kingdom? All shall reign with Christ for evermore. Which shews the Folly of carnal Men, that will hazard so great, and so blessed Hopes. Thus I have shewn you, why the Gospel-State is compared to a Kingdom. Now let me tell you, it is a spiritual Kingdom, not such as comes with Observation. Jesus Christ, when he was inaugurated into the Throne, when he was to sit down at God's right-hand, how doth he manifest it? He gives Gifts, as Princes use to do at their Coronation, but they are spiritual Gifts, Eph. 4. 8. And he sent abroad Embassadors, poor Fishermen, they and their Successors, to go and treat with the World, 2 Cor. 5. 19. Indeed they had a mighty Power with them, as becoming such a great King, as was under the Vail of Meanness and Weakness, it was carried on in a spiritual manner. And still he doth administer his Kingdom, not by Force; he rules not by the Power of the Sword, but by his Word and Spirit, so he governeth his People. The Publication of the Gospel is a sending forth the Rod of his Strength, Psal. 110. 2. And the Holy-Ghost, as Christ's Viceroy, he governeth them, and administreth all things that are necessary to his Kingdom; he doth it by the Holy-Ghost, as his Deputy. The Father chuseth a sort of Men, gives them to Christ; the Son dieth for them, that they may be Subjects of his Kingdom, and he commits them to be governed and ruled by the Holy-Ghost: He useth the Ministry of Men, and so unites them to Christ; and Christ brings them to the Father, by his Intercession committing them to his Care and Love; and by a final Tradition at last, which is the last Act of Christ's Mediatorial Kingdom, 1 Cor. 15. 24. he shall deliver them up to the Father. The Spirit, blessing the Ministry of Men, works Faith, by which we are united to Christ; and Christ intercedes for us, and will bring us to God again. And in this spiritual manner is this Kingdom carried on. So that if we would enter into this Kingdom, we must go to God the Father, and confess we are Rebels and Traitors, but desire he would not enter into Judgment with us, but seek to be reconciled to God the Father. Now as God bade the Friends of Iob to go to Iob, chap. 42. 8. So God sends us to Christ, in whom alone he is well-pleased with the Creature: If we go to the Son, he refers us to the Spirit, to be reclaimed from our Impurity and Rebellion. If we go to the Spirit, he refers us to Moses and the Prophets, Pastors and Teachers; there we shall hear of him in Christ's way, and there we feel the Rod of Christ's Strength, the Efficacy of his Grace put into our Hearts. Thus are we brought into his Kingdom, and made to be a mystical Body, and spiritual Society, in whom Christ rules; and there we come to enjoy those Freedoms I spake of; and our Obedience to this Kingdom is carried on in a spiritual manner. In Worship, we give our Homage to God; in the Word, we come to learn his Laws; in the Sacraments, we renew our Oath of Allegiance to this King; in Alms and Charity, we pay him Tribute; in Prayer, we ask his Leave, acknowledging his Dominion; and Praise, it is our Rent to the great Lord, from whom we hold all things. And thus is Christ's Kingdom carried on in a spiritual manner. Vse 1. The Use is, to press you to come under this Kingdom. Consider what God hath proffered, to draw you off from your carnal Delights, and sinful Pleasures: No less than a Kingdom to bear you out, to call you off from your Sins. O do not answer, as the Olive-Tree and the Vine in Iotham's Parable, Iudg. 9. 9. Shall I leave my Fatness, and go to be promoted over the Trees? God comes to a Worldling, and makes him a Proffer of this blessed State, which is represented by a Kingdom, Shall I leave all my Sports, and worldly Hopes? (according as the Man is affected) Shall I renounce my Pleasures? live a strict and austere Life? Must I leave off Projects, saith a Worldling, and depend upon the Reversion of Heaven? O consider it is for a glorious Kingdom. Men will do much for an Earthly Crown, tho lin'd with Cares, for this Golden Ball, which all hunt after, and doth occasion so many Stirs in the World. Turn your Ambition this way, you may aspire to a Crown, to the Kingdom of Heaven, without the Crime of Treason; this is a faithful Ambition: It is indeed Treason against the Kingdom of Heaven, not to look after this Crown, and plot, contrive, and act, and offer violence for the obtaining of it. And therefore come under this Kingdom; if you do not, you will be left under the Power of a worse. 2 Chron. 12. 8. God saith, he would give them up to the King of Egypt; why? They shall be his Servants, that they may know my Service, and the Service of the Kingdoms of the Countries: That they might see what difference there is between serving God, and serving others. If you refuse God's Government, you are under a worse, under Sin, and the Power of Darkness; you are under your own Lusts; nay, (and by a just Judgment) God may give you over to live in Bondage to unmerciful Men. How many Kings and Lords doth he serve, that will not serve one Lord? O therefore renounce those other Lords that have Dominion over you, and come under this Kingdom which God hath set up. Vse 2. To press the Children of God, 1. To walk worthy of the Gospel; it is a Kingdom. The Apostle hath an Exhortation and Charge to this purpose, 1 Thess. 2. 11, 12. That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his Kingdom and Glory. Walk in obedience to Christ, that's one thing. Christ is a King by a natural Right; God hath chosen him, God hath set him upon his holy Hill: The Lord hath made him to be Head over all Things. Ephes. 1. 22. Nay, the Church chuseth Christ: They shall appoint to themselves one Head. Hos. 1. 11. And therefore for you that are called to his Kingdom and Glory, that have entred into Covenant with Christ, that have subscribed to him as Head and King; for you to be disobedient, give way to Sin, it is worse in you. Will ye go away also? saith Christ to his Disciples. Christ hath a Right to reign over wicked Men; but you have actually chosen him. Treason is less culpable in those which have not submitted to a Power and Prince, and owned him for their King, than in those that have sworn Faith and Allegiance. You have passed under the Bond of the holy Oath; God hath called you to his Kingdom and Glory; therefore you should be more obedient, than to allow a disloyal Thought, or rebellious Lust against Christ. 2. As you should be more holy, wary, watchful, that you do not break the Laws of Christ, for you have consented to him; so live as Kings, exercising all Acts of Regality within your own Souls, ruling your own Spirits, exercising Judgment over your own Hearts, and over every Affection that will not be bridled. It is a Disgrace to the Regal Estate of the Gospel, for you to be over-mastered by a Lust, to lie under the Power of any Sin; yet thus it is, God's Children are conflicting with one Sin or other more than the rest. So far you have not experience of that Truth, Iohn 8. 32. And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free. A Man that liveth in Bondage to his Lusts, how can he chuse but doubt of those glorious Privileges? Have you found the State of the Gospel to be a Kingdom? do you walk worthy of the Gospel? 3. It teacheth us Contempt of the World, and earthly Things. Phil. 3. 14. I press toward the Mark, for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Iesus Christ. It is not for Princes to embrace a Dunghil, nor for Eagles to catch Flies. Remember, thou wilt one day be a King with God in Glory, and therefore shouldst not be as low and base as the Men of the World are, but walk worthy of God, who hath called you to a Royal State. 4. A generous Confidence in the midst of the Troubles and Abasements of the World. What tho you be accounted as the Scurf and Off-scouring of all Things? tho your outward Condition be low and mean, know the Worth of your high Calling in Christ. How poor and despicable soever you are in this World, yet you are Heirs of a Crown and Kingdom. Therefore remember you are Princes, that walk up and down in disguise in a foreign Country. If you are kept in a mean Condition, it is but a Disguise God hath put upon you. We are the Sons of God, tho for the present it doth not appear what we shall be. God's Heirs make little shew in the World. But there is a high Dignity, a mighty Privilege put upon you; you are called to be Heirs of this Kingdom, and this blessed and Royal Estate, which God hath provided for them that love him. Vse 3. Are we translated into this Kingdom? Col. 1. 13. He hath delivered us out of the Power of Darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. Every Man naturally is under other Lords, the Devil hath Dominion over him, and he is under the Government of his own Lusts; but now, are we translated into the Kingdom of Christ? The Second Point is, Doct. 2. All those that are affected with God's Glory, should desire the coming of this Kingdom, and seriously deal with God about it. None else can rescue and pluck them out of the Power of Darkness, and deliver them from the Thraldom of those other Lords that hold them; and none else can defend and preserve them. I shall handle the Point, 1. In a private, 2. In a publick Respect. First; In a private respect. Every Man should desire, that the Kingdom of God should come down, and be set up in his own Heart. Here I must repeat and apply the Distinctions of Christ's Kingdom: He is to desire the Kingdom of Grace, and the Kingdom of Glory may come to himself, and others. I. The Kingdom of Grace, that it may be begun, continued, and encreased. First; That this Kingdom may be begun, and a Throne erected for Christ in our Hearts. The great Necessity of this Request will be evidenced in these Considerations. 1. That every Man by Nature is under another King, under the Kingdom of Sin and Satan. Satan is the Monarch, and Sin is the Scepter. Christ and the Devil divide the World; either we belong to the one, or the other. Now the Devil, by reason of the Fall of Adam, he hath the Start of Christ; and the Lord Jesus coming to possess the Heart, doth not seize upon it as a Waste which belongeth to the next Occupier, but he seizeth upon it as already possessed by Satan. The Devil quietly ruleth in the Hearts of the Unregenerate, he keeps House, and all the Goods are in Peace. Luke. 11. 21. And therefore wicked Spirits are called, The Rulers of the Darkness of this World, Eph. 6. 12. All the ignorant and carnal part of the World falls to his share, and he doth not easily quit possession. Christ indeed employeth Men to wrestle with Principalities and Powers. The Work of the Ministry is to shake and batter the Empire of the Devil. You must be turned, you must be rescued. You must be turned: Acts 26. 18. To turn them from the Power of Satan unto God. You must be rescued, and plucked out of this Captivity by strong hand. Col. 1. 13. Who hath delivered us from the Power of Satan; who hath taken us out of Darkness by a powerful Rescue. Even as the Israelites were brought out of Egypt by a strong Hand, and stretched-out Arm; so are we brought out of the Power of Darkness. By such an irresistible Power of Grace must God recover you, otherwise Men yield themselves up to his Scepter. Look as the Spirit of God works holy Motions, and gracious Desires in the Hearts of God's Children: So the Devil is at work in the Children of Disobedience, Eph. 2. 2. framing wicked Devices, carnal Desires, evil Thoughts against God. Man is such a perfect Slave to the Devil, that he can do nothing but sin. 2. This Kingdom which Satan exerciseth, is an invisible Kingdom. The Devil doth not sensibly appear to his Vassals and Slaves. When Christ's Kingdom and Regiment was more external, so was the Devil's also: As when God was served by Sacrifices, and delivered his Mind by Oracles; so Men did then more professedly own the Devil, by observing his prescribed Rites of Worship, and by being deluded by lying Oracles, and Answers to their Prayers and Ques[illegible: 1 letter]ions. But now since the Kingdom of Christ is more spiritual, and managed by the Holy-Ghost in the Hearts of his Saints; so is Satan's Kingdom invisible. So that Men may be Christ's Subjects by external Profession, and the Devil's by internal Obedience, and Constitution of Mind, tho they worship not by Pagan Rites, as he ruleth in their Hearts, and takes them off from obeying the Gospel they profess. The God of this World hath blinded their Eyes, 2 Cor. 4. 4. All carnal Men, however they defy Satan, and abominate the thoughts of serving him, yet while they remain in their Sin and Ignorance, they still hold the Crown upon the Devil's Head. Look as God's Subjects may own him in verbal pretence, yet their Hearts may be far from him, Mat. 15. 8. So that wicked Men may defy the Devil in pretence and words, and cannot endure to hear of him; but they are under the God of this World, he hath blinded their Hearts. So that this Kingdom is to be sought for in the Heart. Christ made a great Inroad upon the Devil, beat him out of his Quarters: Yet, as the Sea gets in one place what it loseth in another; so, tho the Devil hath lost Ground in the Christian World, as to external Profession, whilst People renounce the Superstitions of the Gentiles, yet still he gets Ground in the Hearts of wicked Men by their carnal Dispositions; his Empire is upheld still, tho professedly they are Subjects of Christ. 3. Until Satan be cast out of the Throne, Christ can have no Entertainment in the Heart. The Ark and Dagon cannot sink and stand together; either the Ark must be removed, or Dagon will down upon his Face. So 2 Cor. 6. 14. What Communion hath Christ with Belial, and Light with Darkness? It is impossible both Kingdoms can stand together, or both Kings be set up in the same Heart. The Marriage-Bed will admit no Partner, nor Rival. A Man must be under Christ or Satan. Until he be cast out, Christ hath no room to be entertained. Mat. 6. 24. No Man can serve two Masters: Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Look upon the Devil under that Notion, as he is Mammon, as he doth entice to Worldliness, it is impossible to serve him and Christ. Both Masters have Work enough for their Servants, and their Commands are contrary. If two Masters consent to employ one Man in the self-same Business, tho they are two Men, yet they are but one Master. But now to execute the Wills of Men which differ in their Design, and which have a several and full Interest in our Labours and Actions, it is as impossible, as to move two contrary ways at once. Well then, Mammon and Christ, Belial and Christ divide the World. It is impossible to be under Belial and Christ; both have full Work for us to do, and their Designs are contrary: So that either it must appear we have changed Masters, or we are under the Power of the Devil still. We must come out of the Power of Darkness, else we cannot be brought into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, that we may obtain Remission of Sins. 4. Satan may be cast out in part, and yet still retain a supreme Interest in the Heart. I prove it out of that Parable, Mat. 12. 43, 44, 45. When the unclean Spirit is gone out of a Man, he walketh through dry Places, seeking Rest, but findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my House, from whence I came out, &c. Out of that Parable we may plainly conclude, there may be a shaking of Satan's Empire, Satan may be cast out of a Man in some sort, yet the Man not plainly renewed. Well, how may he be cast out, and yet his Empire remain unbroken? He may be cast out, partly, by Conviction and Illumination; yet as long as any Lust remaineth there unmortified and unsubdued, he still keeps his Sovereignty in the Heart. Many begin to be troubled, and to be thoughtful about Eternity, that see better, yet they do that which is worse in the Issue. When there's a Conflict between Corruption and Conviction, Corruption carrieth it away. As Iron oft heated, and oft quenched, is so much the harder: So, when they had some Wamblings of Conscience, and the Heart begins to boggle, and after this, Sin breaks out the more. This is the Scope of that place: They were convinced of a better Estate, and had some thoughts of the Messiah, but did not give him entertainment. Again, the Devil may be cast out, in regard of some external Reformation. A Man may a little wash his polluted Life, and abstain from gross Sins, yet Satan[illegible: 1 letter] have full possession of the inner Man. A Man may abjure his former ill Life, and for a while carry it fair, but afterwards retain his former Filthiness, and keep a secret League with his Lusts, and so he is entangled again, and then his latter End is worse than his Beginning; and as it is in 2 Pet. 2. 22. The Dog is turned to his own Vomit again, and the Sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the Mire. A Prisoner which hath made some Escape, if ever the Goaler get him into his Clutches, is sure to be loaden with Irons: So one that hath had some partial Reformation, O when the Devil gets such a Man into his power again, he is ten times worse than he was before. 5. The Difficulty of casting off the Sovereignty of Satan, lieth partly in our selves, and partly in the Devil. Partly, in our selves. As in the Israelites going out of Egypt, the difficulty lay, not only in gaining the Consent of Pharaoh, (for he pursues after them when they were gone) but also in persuading the People to give their Consent; it was long ere Israel desired to be gone: So in our natural Condition, the Mind of Man is so depraved, that he thinks his Bondage to be his Freedom, and that there is no such merry Life, as to wallow in carnal Satisfactions; and our Affections are so far engaged to this sinful Estate, that we dote upon our Shackles, and are unwilling to hear of a Change. The first Step of coming out of this Kingdom of Darkness, is, when we find it to be a heavy Burthen, and grow weary of the Devil's Government, tho it be but out of a Principle of Self-love. Isa. 26. 13. O Lord, other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy Name. Yea, but as soon as we begin to have any serious thoughts of that miserable State in which we are, Satan interposeth, dealing with us, as Pharaoh did with the Israelites. The Israelites complain their Bondage was very sore; what doth Pharaoh? He doubles the Burthen. Exod. 5. 17. You are idle, &c. So that out of Bondage of Soul, they would not hearken to Moses. Just so Satan deals with us: When Souls begin to be serious, and to leave off fleshly and worldly Lusts, and to give up themselves to God, that they may be directed in the way of Holiness, and obtain eternal Life, then he doubles our Burthens. Corruptions are never more stirring, than after some Conviction. Rom. 7. 9. When the Commandment came, Sin revived, and I died; not only as to a deeper sense of the Guilt of it, but as to its strugling for Life. The Bullock at the first yoaking is most unruly; so we which are unaccustomed to the Yoke, when we begin once to take it upon us, there's a mighty backwardness. Fire at first kindling makes abundance of Smoke; so when Conviction is stirring, Corruption is more exa[illegible: 1 letter]perated. The Devil is very jealous of the first Beam of Light which breaks into the Heart, and of every Ordinance which conveys it; therefore sets Corruptions at work, that it may appear to be a vain hope of ever escaping his Clutches: So Men are tired, and give over, and think it is to no purpose. But if Light increases to more Trouble, the Devil seeks to elude the Importunity of it by delay; as Pharaoh put off Moses and Aaron still by delay: Or else by compromising and compounding the Business; as Pharaoh, when he saw the People would go, God would have them go, then they shall not go far, Exod. 8. 28. So if Men will be thinking of Christ's Service, and coming under his Government, they shall go, but not far; they shall come and pray, and come and hear now and then, and make a general Profession, but not too far in Christ's Quarters; he is afraid of that: Just as Pharaoh stood hucking still; They must go a good way into the Wilderness, otherwise it should be an Abomination to the Egyptians, yet their little Ones must stay. If People will not only hear and pray, but begin to reform and cleanse their Lives, yet he must have a Pledg, some Lust, as a Nest-Egg, left in the Heart, some darling Sin, that must keep up the Devil's Empire. Then they must leave their Herds, then leave their Flocks; no, not a Hoof. Ah! how long is it, when we are under this Power of Darkness, ere we are free, and get rid of the Government of Satan! 6. We can never be sure that Satan is wholly cast out, until Christ be seriously received and entertained as Lord and King, until he dwell and rule in the Heart by Faith. Alas! there may be some Brabble now and then between us and our Sins, and some partial Dislikes; but until you heartily consent to take another King, that you will be governed and ordered by, you are not his subjects, but remain in the same State. Iohn 1. 12. As many as received him, to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe in his Name. We are Children of the Devil before, under his Standard and Government; but when we receive him, then we are under another King, another Power: When we receive what God offered, receive Christ as Lord and King; when the whole Soul opens the Door to Christ, that the King of Glory may come in, and dwell with us, and reign over us; then is his Kingdom set up. The first Offer of the Gospel, is Christ as Prince and Saviour, Acts 5. 31. And the main thing the Business sticks at, is Christ's Regal Power. Luke 19. 14. We will not have this Man to reign over us. Now when we receive him with all our Hearts, and tho before we had but mean thoughts of him, now he begins to be welcome to us, and with the dearest Embraces of our Souls we entertain him; and with a willing Resignation we give up our selves, not only by a Consent of Dependance, to rest upon him for Reconciliation with God, but by a willing Subjection to obey him, and give up the Keys of the Heart, and lay them at Christ's Feet; as Paul, Acts 9. 16. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? When you desire nothing more, but that his Kingdom might come, the King of Glory himself, than that he might bring Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy-Ghost; until then, you are not entred into his Kingdom. 7. Christ is not received and entertained as Lord and King, but where his Laws are obeyed. Col. 2. 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Iesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. If you receive him as Lord and King, so also obey him. And, Heb. 12. 28. We receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have Grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with Reverence and godly Fear. In this Prayer, first, we say, Thy Kingdom come; and then presently we add, Thy Will be done. We do but prattle over the Lord's Prayer, and say it with our Lips only, until we are resolved to do what God would have us to do; love and hate, fear and rejoice, as God directs. Until we are brought to this Frame, we do not in good earnest say, Thy Kingdom come. An earthly King will do according to his Will, Dan. 11. 3. So Christ stands upon his Will in his Law. If you have taken God for your God, and Jesus Christ for your King, then say, with David, Psal. 143. 10. Teach me to do thy Will, for thou art my God. It is an universal Maxime, His Servants you are, whom you do obey. Where is your Obedience? If Subjects of Grace, Every Thought is brought in subjection, 2 Cor. 10. 5. You will watch not only against your irregular Actions, but every Thought which lifts up it self against the Obedience of Christ. There will be a greater Tenderness upon us, not to break any of the holy Laws which belong to Christ's Government. Hereby you may know whether you come under another King, Do you fear a Commandment? That is the Description of a good Man, Prov. 13. 13. It is not he that feareth a Punishment, but he that feareth a Commandment, when the Heart is brought under an Awe of Christ's Laws: So that when a Man is tempted to Sin, O I dare not, the Lord hath commanded me the contrary; this is more than if a flaming Sword stood in his way. When we have such workings of Heart, when we are tempted to this and that Sin; so when we are doing any Duty, tho irksom to Flesh and Blood, yet it is the Will of my Lord, to whom I have entirely given up my self in a way of Subjection. This is a Sign you are brought under his Government. 8. None can obey his Laws, but by the virtue and power of his Spirit. The new Covenant, it is not only a Law, but the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ; so it is called by the Apostle, Rom. 8. 2. It is not a bare literal Command that shall urge us to Duty, but it giveth strength and efficacy to the Heart. Other Kings, they give Laws, that Men may keep them by their own Strength: But now Christ, he would be owned as a King, not only in a way of Subjection, but establish a constant Dependance: He is a King, not only to require, but to give Repentance, Acts 5. 31. not only to make a Law, but to write and work a sense of this new Govenant-Gift upon the Heart. Heb. 8. 10. He doth not only set up his Ordinances, Laws, Constitutions; but there is Power goeth along with the Dispensation of this Kingdom, and thereby we are fitted and enabled to love, serve, and please God; and then are we under the Kingdom of God, when we are under the spiritual Power of it. It is not only necessary to obey his Laws, but that we do it by virtue of his Power and Spirit: The Kingdom of God stands not in Word, but in Power. 1 Cor. 4. 20. That we may both acknowledg his Authority, and wait for his Strength. This is a true Submission, when we look for all from him, and serve him in the strength of his own Grace. 9. All those that act through the virtue and power of his Spirit, they do unfeignedly seek his Glory, and make Christ to be not only their Principle, but their End: for having a new Principle, they have a new Tendency; acting in the Power of the Spirit, their Hearts are carried out to seek Christ's Interest, and Christ's Glory; when they can say with the Apostle, Phil. 1. 21. To me to live, is Christ; when their whole Business is to set up Christ. We set up our selves in the room of Christ, if he be not at the end of all. 2 Thess. 1. 11, 12. That God might fulfill all the good Pleasure of his Goodness, and the Work of Faith with Power, and that Christ may be glorified in you. If you have the Power of Christ's Kingdom, this will be the immediate Result and Issue of it, that Christ may be honoured and set up, not only as a Law-giver, and Fountain of Grace, but as the last End. If to us to live is Christ, then is the Kingdom of God come into our Heart. For this we pray, that the Lord would so break the Yoke and Government of Satan, that we may receive the Lord Iesus into our Heart; that we may come under the Awe of his Laws, and in the Power of his Grace, may seek his Kingdom and Glory. To conclude: All this Grace is offered to you; if you refuse the Offer, your Condition is worse than if it had never been tendred to you. The Lord hath sent his Son to help you out of the Power of the Devil, and bring you in Heart and Life again to himself; if you refuse this, then, This is the Condemnation, that Light is come into the World, and Men love Darkness rather than Light. John 3. 19. The Lord Jesus, when he comes in flaming Fire to render Vengeance, it shall be upon them that do not obey his Government, 2 Thess. 1. 8. that did not acknowledg God to be their Sovereign. There will be a sore Vengeance on them which had the Gospel tendred, and this wonderful Provision brought home to them, and left to their Choice, and yet have turned their Backs upon it. Secondly; We beg the Continuance of it, that he would maintain this Kingdom in our Heart, and preserve us in this State; for those which can call God Father, are still to say, Thy Kingdom come. It is not enough to go to Christ to begin it, but to carry it on, and to keep and preserve us unto his heavenly Kingdom, 2 Tim. 4. 18. That we may not revolt to the Devil's Side, after we have chosen God for our God, and so our latter End be worse than our Beginning. Thirdly; We pray for the Increase of it, that it may get ground more and more. There are some Reliques of the Kingdom of Darkness yet left, and there is something wanting to the Kingdom of Grace; we are troubled and molested still. Tho Sin doth not get the Throne, tho the Regency of it is cast down, yet it is not cast out, in regard of Inherence. Sin shall not have Dominion over you; that is all we can hope for. Rom. 6. 14. We cannot hope for an Extinction of Sin, but only that it shall not have Dominion. As the Beasts in Dan. 7. 12, tho their Dominion was taken away, yet their Lives were prolonged for a season and time. The Reign, Power, and Dominion of Sin is taken down, yet it continues, for our Exercise and Molestation. Now we desire he might rule in us by his Grace, and that of the Increase of his Government there may be no End. II. For the Kingdom of Glory, which in this private Consideration, (as it concerns each Person) is to begin at Death. And when we desire the coming of the Kingdom of Glory, we do two things; we express our Readiness for it, or our Desire after it. 1. Our Readiness for it; at least, the Kingdom of God is ready for us, if we were ready for it; as the Apostle saith, 1 Pet. 4. 5. God is ready to judg, but we are not ready to be judged. And therefore we read of the Kingdom of Heaven prepared for us, and of Men prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven. It is prepared for the Saints, Mat. 25. 34. A Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World. And the Saints prepared for it, Rom. 9. 23. Vessels of Mercy, which he had afore prepared unto Glory. And this is that which the Apostle gives thanks for unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. Col. 1. 12. Before we come to Heaven, there is a Right to Heaven; we are made meet, more mortified and weaned from present Things, often in Communion with God here, and so for ever with the Lord hereafter. We are still to have our Eyes to our Rest, and happy State, that we may be made ready for it. We express our Readiness, or we beg it. 2. That we may express our Desires after the Enjoyment of it. A Christian is to desire the Company of Christ. Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ: And he is to hasten the coming of the Day of God. 2 Pet. 3. 12. Now because this cannot be but by our Death, therefore here we may examine a Case or two. Case 1. First, about longing for Death: Is it lawful to desire Death? The Law doth not only forbid Acts, but Thoughts and Desires; therefore is it lawful to long for Death? Answer. Yes; but yet we are not anxiously to long after it, till the time come; not to grow weary of Life, our of Desperation and Tiresomness of the Cross, as Ionah did, chap. 4. 3. but in order to God's Glory, and Accomplishment of our Happiness. See more at large, Psal. 119. vers. 17. pag. 104. Case 2. Secondly, Do all that have an Interest in Christ desire to die? Is not Death terrible? Certainly Death is terrible, both as a natural and a penal Evil. As in it self, it is the Curse of the Covenant; and as it depriveth us of Life, the chiefest Blessing. Yet we should train up our selves in an expectation of Death, we should look and long for it, that when the time is come, we might be willing to give up our selves into the hands of God. It is required of a Christian, that he should not only be passive in his own Death, to die in Peace; but active: How? to hasten his Death? No; but to resign up himself willingly into the hands of God; that his Soul might not be taken away, but given up, and commended to God. We should be willing to be in the Arms of Christ, to be there where he is, to behold his Glory. If Christ had such a good-will to Men, as that he longed to be with us, solacing his Heart with the thought of it, before all Worlds, Prov. 8. 31. He was thinking of us, how he should come down, and converse with Men: Surely we should not be so backward to go to Christ. And therefore as Iacob's Spirit revived, when he saw the Chariots Ioseph sent to carry him into Egypt; so our Hearts should be more chearful and comfortable, when Death approacheth: Especially since Death is ours, it is changed, therefore we should be framing our selves to such a temper of Heart by degrees, that we might be ready. Vse 1. For Reproof to those, that would be glad in their Hearts if Christ's Kingdom would never come. As to the Kingdom of Grace, in the external Administration, they hate the Light, and will not come to the Light, lest their Deeds should be reproved, Iohn 3. 20. A wicked Man is loth to be troubled. God's Witnesses are the Worlds Torment: Rev. 11. 10. They tormented them that dwelt on the Earth. A Man that is bodily blind, would have a sit Guide; but these wretchedly blind Sinners, nothing so troublesom and hateful to them, as one that would lead them to the Kingdom of God. And then as to Internal Grace, when this Kingdom of Heaven breaks in upon their Hearts, when any Light and Power darts in, they seek to put it out, they resist the Holy-Ghost, Acts 7. 51. and refuse his Call. And for the Kingdom of Glory, they say, It is good to be here; and would not change their Portion here, for their Portion in Paradise. Vse 2. To exhort us to desire the Coming of Christ's Kingdom to our selves. If you have any Love to the Lord's Glory, or your own Good, you should do it. Rev. 3. 20. Behold, I stand at the Door, and knock: If any Man hear my Voice, and open the Door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me. Will you not open to God, that hath the best Right? Will you not set open the doors to the King of Glory? When Christ comes to bring entertainment to you, to sup with you. Again, all Men (will they, nill they) are subject to Christ; either they must come, and touch his Golden Scepter, or feel the Bruises of his Iron Mace; they must own him as King. Every Knee shall bow, Phil. 2. 10. Therefore be more willing to have the Kingdom of Glory come. Again, if God be not your King, you will have a worse Master, every Sin, every Lust: Tit. 3. 3. Serving divers Lusts and Pleasures. You will be at the Beck of every Lust and carnal Motion, and the Devil will be your Master to purpose; for upon the refusal of Christ's Government, there's a Judicial Tradition, you are given up to your own Hearts Lusts. Psal. 81. 12. Israel would none of me; so I gave them up to their own Hearts Lusts, and they walked in their own Counsels. And to Satan, to be insnared by him; 2 Tim. 2. 26. Taken captive by him at his Will and Pleasure. Not to buffet them, as Paul was, but to ensnare and harden their Hearts. Again, if you be not subject to God, you go about to make God subject to you in effect. You would have the Kingdom of Glory, and yet continue in your Lusts. Isa. 43. 24. Thou hast made me to serve with thy Sins, thou hast wearied me with thine Iniquities. When you would have God patient, hold his hand, and be merciful to you, and yet would continue in your Lusts, then you make God serve with your Sins. Again, many temporal Inconveniencies will follow, if we do not give way to the Kingdom of Christ to seize upon us; when we make no difference between God's Service, and the Service of other Lords, then he gives us up to the Service of Men, to a foreign Enemy, to an oppressive Magistrate, or breaks the Staff of Government among Men, that we might know what it is to be under his Service and Government. Therefore give willing Entertainment to the Kingdom of Christ. So much for the private Consideration of this Request, Thy Kingdom come; that is, to us and our Persons, both the Kingdom of Grace, and the Kingdom of Glory. Secondly; Having spoken of the Kingdom of Christ in a private, now I come to speak of it in a publick Consideration: And that is twofold: 1. The publick visible Administration of the Kingdom of Grace. 2. The publick and solemn Administration of the Kingdom of Glory, at the Day of Judgment, when Enemies shall have their final Doom, and Saints have their Crowns set upon their Heads, in the sight of all the World. I shall speak of both, but (because the Discourse may be more fresh and lively) upon other Texts. 1. The publick visible Administration of the Kingdom of Grace, on Psal. 51. 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion; build thou the Walls of thy Jerusalem. 2. The Kingdom of Glory, on Rev. 22. 20. Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, Come Lord Iesus. For the first. Tho the Church be never so afflicted, Psal. 102. 14. when all is defaced, as to external appearance, lying in a ruinous Heap, yet it is beloved and pitied by God's Servants: Thy Servants take Pleasure in her Stones, and favour the Dust thereof. There is nothing God's People desire so much as Zion's Welfare. Psal. 106. 54. That I may see the Good of thy Chosen, that I may rejoyce in the Gladness of thy Nation, that I may glory with thine Inheritance. And David in this Psalm, Psal. 51. 18. having prayed for himself, prayeth for Mercy to the Church and State: Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion, build thou the Walls of thy Jerusalem. But how cometh David, who was in the depth of private Humiliation, so suddenly to fall upon the Case of the Church? There was a special Reason for annexing this Request to his own private Complaints and Confessions. The Reasons will occasion so many Observations. 1. Because of the Offence, Scandal, and Mischief done to the Church by his Fall; and to make amends, he prayeth the more earnestly, Let not Zion fare the worse for my sake. From thence observe, That the Sins of particular Persons oft bring a Mischief upon the whole Community. David had made a Breach in the Walls of God's Protection, and left them naked, and more in danger of Judgment: Therefore do good, &c. 2. David was not only a private Member, but a Prince, and their Sins have a more universal Influence. The Sins of Magistrates draw down Judgments on their People, all smart for their Miscarriages. Hezckia[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 letter]s Pride cost Israel dear▪ 2 Chron. 32. 25. Wrath was upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem: It did not stay upon his Person: As a great Oak cannnot fall, but all the Shrubs about it suffer Loss. But, 3. David having some comfortable Assurance of the Pardon of his Sins, doth now seek Mercy for the Church. From thence observe, That we are never fit to pray for the Publick, till we have made our Peace with God. As the Priests under the Law offered Sacrifice, first, for their own Sins, and then for the Peoples. Heb. 7. 27. 4. Because being brought by such a solemn but sad occasion into God's presence, he could not but have some thoughts of Zion. And from thence observe, That we should never come to God upon any private occasion, but we should remember the Publick. We are to pray in Love, as well as Faith. Christ hath not taught us to say, My Father, but Our Father; to shew that we should take in the Interests and Concernments of the whole Body, that there may be a Spirit of Communion breathing in our Prayers. David doth not only say, Have mercy upon me according to thy Loving-kindness, but, Do good unto Zion in thy good pleasure. Every living Member will be careful for the Body. Members should be careful one for another, much more for the whole. Is any Member pained or grieved? all suffer: If the Toe be trod upon, the Tongue complaineth, you have hurt me; but now much more when all is concerned. Therefore we should not altogether seek our own Things, but wrestle with God for the Publick. 1. This reproveth divers sorts of People. Some are Enemies to the Publick Welfare, as Vipers eat out the Dam's Belly, especially Enemies to Zion; Down with it, down with it, even to the Ground. What Monsters hath this Age brought forth! Others are indifferent and careless which goeth up, Christ or Antichrist; they only mind the Matters of their own Interest and Concernment: All seek their own Things. As to the Publick Interest of the Church, let all go how it will. Let me tell you, To be selfish, is a sort of Self-Excommunication; you cast your selves out of the Bundle of Life: And to be sensless, 'tis an implicit renouncing the Body. Others there are that are gracious, but full of discontent at some Passages of Providence, and these seem to have lost their publick Affections. 'Tis a sad Symptom, when a praying People are discouraged from praying for Publick Welfare. God is very tender of the Prayers of his People; he is loth they should be lost, and sorry they cannot be granted. We may sin in ceasing to pray. 'Tis a sad Judgment, when the Hearts of God's People are taken off from praying. Again, Those that pray too coldly for the Publick, not as those that would do their Work. There is a great Decay of the Spirit of Prayer, which is also a sad Presage. But now to shew you, II. What we should pray for, for Zion. 1. The Dilatation or Enlargement of it throughout the World. The more ample God's Heritage is, the more is his Glory known. Prov. 14. 28. In the Multitude of the People is the King's Honour; and the Glory of a Shepherd lieth in the Number of his Flock: So Christ's Kingdom, the more it is enlarged, the more Honour God hath. Psal. 67. 2. That thy Way may be known among the Heathen, and thy Saving-Health among all Nations. Especially when the Fulness of the Gentiles is brought in, Psal. 54. 2. and when the Jews are brought in, Hos. 3. 5. To be instrumental to enlarge Christ's Kingdom, 'tis an Honour to us, to draw on Christ's triumphant Chariot, let us be sure to have an hand in it. These Prayers, if sincere, are never in vain; if they profit not others, they promote the Kingdom of God in our selves. 2. The Preservation and Defence of the Churches already planted, frustrating the Plots and Power of the Enemies: That God would be a Wall of Fire round about them, Zech. 2. 5. Qui comminus arccat, & eminus terreat: When at the weakest God can protect them, bridling by his secret Power the Rage of Adversaries, or defeating their Attempts. 3. For Comfort and Deliverance in Afflictions. We should pity the distressed Church, (as before.) That God would redeem them out of all their Troubles. Every true Member of the Church hath Life Christ; and that Life giveth Feeling; and that Feeling, Affection, and Sympathy to rejoice and mourn. They that mourn for Zion, rejoice with her. Isa. 66. 10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for Ioy with her, all ye that mourn for her. 4. For the Furniture of the Church; a Supply of all Good, internal and external. (1.) Internal: That God would bless them with Ordinances, enrich them with Graces, preserve Truth and Unity, and continue his Presence with them: his Ordinances, that they may enjoy them in Purity; that the Word, Seals, and Censures may be rightly administred till the Lord come. These are Things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, concerning which Christ spake to the Disciples, Acts 1. 3. These are to be kept till Christ's appearing, [illegible: 1 letter] Tim. 6. 14. 'Tis an Honour to God, and of great Profit to the Church, and a rejoycing to God's People, to see them pure and unmixed. Tho absent in the Flesh, yet I am with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding your Order. Col. 2. 5. And then that God would enrich them with his Presence: Mat. 28. 20. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the World. 'Tis God that giveth the Increase: Paul may plant, and Apollos water; but God giveth the Increase, 1 Cor. 3. 6. for Conviction, Conversion, Confirmation. 'Twas not the Ark, nor Mercy-Seat covered with Cherubims, but the Answer from between the Cherubims, given immediately by God, that manifested his Presence. It is not the Sound of the Gospel, or outward Ministry, but the Work of his Spirit. Psal. 84. 2. My Soul yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord; my Heart and my Flesh crieth out for the Living God. And, Acts 10. 44. it is said, The Holy-Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word. And then for Unity: Christ hath callëd us into a Body, not only into a Family, but into a Body. It was Christ's own Prayer, Iohn 17. Let them be one. Disputes will not heal, but Prayers may. (2.) For External Helps; we should pray, that God would give us Pastors after his own Heart. Mat. 9. ult. Pray ye the Lord of the Harvest, that he would send forth Labourers into his Harvest: Men that will discharge their Duty with all Faithfulness, Men whose Hearts are set to the Building up of Christ's Kingdom, Labourers. And then for Schools of Learning. A Man that hath many Orchards, will also have Seminaries of young Plants to maintain them. Schools are Seminaries, without which the Church falleth to decay. And then for good Magistrates, to patronize and protect Gods People, and promote his Work with them. Isa. 49. 23. there is a Promise, Kings shall be thy Nursing-Fathers, and their Queens thy Nursing-Mothers, &c. Rest from Persecution is a great Blessing: Acts 9. 31. Then had the Churches Rest, and were edified, walking in the Fear of God, and the Comforts of the Holy-Ghost, were multiplied. It is a great Mercy that the Church hath any Breathings. These are the Things that we should pray for, sor Zion. Thus much shall suffice to be spoken of the Kingdom of Christ in a publick Consideration, with respect, first, to the publick visible Administration of the Kingdom of Grace. I come now to speak of the second, viz. The publick and solemn Administration of the Kingdom of Glory; and for that I shall insist on that Portion of Scripture, Rev. 22. 20. Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, Come, Lord Iesus. Here you have, 1. Christ's Proclamation. 2. The Churches Acclamation, in Answer thereunto. I. Christ's Proclamation, Surely I come quickly. Where take notice of two Things: 1. His Asseveration, Surely. 2. His Assertion, I come quickly. 1. His Asseveration, [Surely.] It is a certain Truth, tho we do not so easily receive it. All notable Truths, about which there is the greatest Suspicion in the Heart of the Creature, you will find them thus averred in Scripture; as, Isa. 53. 4. Surely he hath born our Griefs, and carried our Sorrows. The dying of the Son of God is so mysterious, that the Holy-Ghost propounds it with a Note of Averment, Surely; that is, how unlikely soever it seems, yet this is a certain Truth. So here, the Coming of Christ is a thing so future, so little regarded by Epicures and Atheists, that it is propounded with a like Note of Averment, Surely I come quickly. Herein secretly is our Unbelief taxed, and also our Confidence engaged. 2. You have his Assertion, I come quickly. Let me explain what is meant by the Coming of Christ. There is a twofold Coming of Christ, a personal, and a virtual. Some think that the virtual Coming is here meant, his Coming in the Efficacy of his Spirit, or in the Power of his Providence, to accomplish those Predictions. Here are many things prophesied of, and behold, I come quickly, you shall find these things presently produced upon the Stage of the World. So some carry it. I think rather it is to be meant of his personal Coming. There are two mystical Scriptures, which do express all the Intercourse which passeth between God and the Church in the World, and they are both closed up with a Desire of Chirst's coming. The Canticles is one, which declareth the Communion and Intercourse which is between Christ and his Church; and you will find it thus closed up, Cant. 8. 14. Make haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a Roe, or to a young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices. And so here, in this Book of the Revelations, where are the like Intercourses recorded, it is closed up with this, Even so, Lord Iesus, come quickly. The personal Coming, I suppose, is here meant. Now Christ's personal Coming, it is but twofold, the first, and the second; the Scripture knows of no other Coming. Heb. 9. 28. He shall appear the second time without Sin, unto Salvation. It is but a fond Dream, to think of a personal Reign before Christ's coming to Judgment; they reckon without-book, that look for any other. There was his first Coming, which was to suffer; his second Coming is to reign; the first, his gracious, and this his glorious Coming: The former is past, and the latter is yet expected. [I come quickly;] How shall we make good that? 1. In general, Christ's Absence from the Church, it is not long; tho you reflect upon the whole Flux of Time, from his Ascension to his second Coming, it is but a Moment to Eternity; some Hundreds of Years, that may be easily counted. 2. It is no longer than Need requires. The High-Priest, when he was gotten within the Vail, was to tarry there until his Ministration was ended, until he had appeared before God, and represented himself for all the Tribes, then he was to come out to bless the People. Jesus Christ tarrieth within the Vail, but until all the Elect be gathered. He is not slack, 2 Pet. 3. 9. but we are hasty. Our Times are present with us, but we must leave him to his own Time, to go and come. 3. Christ speaks this of the latter End of the World, and then it will not be long. When once he begins to set forth, the old Prophecies are accomplishing apace; and how little preparation soever there seems to be for this Work, it comes apace. It is said of the Antichristian State, Her Plagues shall come upon her in one day. Rev. 18. 8. And of the Jews it is said, A Nation shall be born at once. Isa. 66. 8. So much for the first part. II. Here is the Churches Acclamation, Amen. So, Lord Iesus, come quickly. This Acclamation is double: 1. Implicite, and infolded in the Word, [Amen.] 2. Explicite, and unfolded; Even so, Lord Iesus, come quickly. 1. For the Implicite Acclamation of the Church, in the Word Amen. The Word sometimes is taken nominally, Rev. 3. 14. Thus saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness; He that is Amen, as it is explained there, true and faithful, that will certainly give a Being to his Promises. Sometimes it is used adverbially, and translated, Verily: It is either an affectionate Desire, Let it be; or a great Asseveration, It shall be. It hath in it an affectionate Desire: Ier. 28. 6. the Prophet said, Amen, the Lord do so, the Lord perform thy Words, &c. When he had prophesied Peace to the People, Amen, the Lord perform thy Words; not to confirm the truth of his Prophecy, but to express his own Wish, and hearty Desire, if it might stand with the Will of God. Then it expresseth a firm Belief that it shall be done. Thus Christ often saith, Amen, verily, verily I say unto you, by way of strong Asseveration. Well then, the Church expresseth her Faith and Desire implicitely: Amen; Lord, that it were so; and surely, Lord, it shall be so; we believe it, and we desire it with all our Hearts. 2. Explicitely; Even so, Lord Iesus, Come quickly. From this latter Clause I might observe many things. (1.) The sweet and blessed Harmony that [illegible: 1 letter]is between Christ and the Church. Christ's Voice, and the Churches Voice, are Unisons. Christ saith, I come; and the Church, like a quick Eccho, takes the Word out of Christ's Mouth, Even so, come. There is the same Spirit in Christ, and in the Church; for it is his Spirit that resides with us. Christ, he speaks in a way proper to him, by way of Promise, I come; and the Church in a way proper to her, by way of Prayer, Even so, come. 2. I might observe, That in the Close of the World we should most earnestly desire Christ's Coming. We have the Advantage of former Times; to us Christ saith, I come quickly. Now the set time almost is come, therefore our Pulses should beat more strongly in putting up this Request to Christ. Tertullian shews, that the Primitive Christians did pray, pr[illegible: 1 letter] mora finis, that the End might not come too soon, Christ having [illegible: 1 letter]s yet but a small Interest in the World, they expecting Enlargement upon Earth; but we have more cause to look for the Accomplishment of his Kingdom in Heaven. Th[illegible: 1 letter]ey expected the Revelation of Antichrist; and we expect the Destruction of Antichrist: They, that God might be known in the World; we, that he might be no longer dishonoured in the World. When great Promises are near their Accomplishment, there is a more lively Spirit stirring in the Hearts of the Saints. Dan. 9. 2, 3. I understood by Books the Number of the Years, whereof the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet, that he would accomcomplish seventy Years in the Desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my Face to the Lord God, to seek by Prayer and Supplication. But quitting these Notes, I shall mainly insist upon this Point, Viz. Doct. That the Church, and all the faithful Members of it, do really and heartily desire Christ's second Coming. They look for it, they long for it, they wait for it. They look for it: Phil. 3. 20. Our Conversation is in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Iesus Christ. They reckon upon it, as Rebekah espied Isaac afar off. He is gone within the Vail, he is appearing before God, but he will come out again. When they see the Clouds, upon these one day will our Saviour come. Then they long for it. It is their Description, 2 Tim. 4. 8. They love his Appearing. Wicked Men, and guilty Sinners hate and abhor it, he being to come to them as a terrible Judg. Malefactors do not long for the Assizes. But now the Saints, who are absolv'd, and washed in the Blood of Christ, it doth them good to the Heart to think of it, that one day Christ will appear in all his Glory. And then they wait for it; 1 Thess. 1. 10. They wait for his Son from Heaven, even Iesus, who hath delivered us from Wrath to come. It is Wrath to come, something behind the Coming of Christ, which makes it so terrible. Hell makes the Day of Judgment terrible. The Devil could not endure to hear of Christ's coming, Mat. 8. 29. Art thou come to torment us? &c. So wicked Men have the Spirit of the Devil; it is a Torment and Bondage to them, to think of the Judges Coming. But those which have their Discharge, they wait for it; it supports and bears up their Hearts in the midst of their present Afflictions, and they go on chearfully in their Work, notwithstanding Lets and Troubles. To give some Reasons, why the faithful Members of Christ so really and heartily desire Christ's second Coming: They are of three Sorts: 1. Some in respect of the Person who is to come. 2. Some in respect of the Persons which desire his Coming. 3. Some in respect of the Coming it self. I. In respect of him who is to come. 1. His Person, that we may see him: The Children of God have delighted to look upon him through a Vail, and have had a king of Heaven upon Earth, from beholding his Face in the Glass of an Ordinance: Looking upon him in the Vail of Ordinances, hath been a mighty Comfort and Refreshing to them; now they would desire to see his Person face to face. They know by Hear-say, this great Redeemer and Saviour of theirs; he wooeth them by Proxy. As Eleazar, Abraham's Servant, was to go abroad, and seek for a Match for his Master's Son: So the great Business of the Ministers of God, is to set forth our Master's Son. Now the Saints would fain see him. Nay, they have not only heard of him, but believed in him, and received him into their Hearts; nay, not only believed in him, but they have loved him greatly: 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, tho now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with Ioy unspeakable, and full of Glory. It hath been a ravishing thought to them, to think of Christ. And they have tasted: 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. And they have felt him in the drawings of the Spirit, they live by his Life, they have found a Virtue going out from him. Now all that they desire is, that they may see this great Person, who hath been their Redeemer and Saviour. 2. Consider him, as in his Person, so in his Relations to them. Here are two Titles, Even so, Lord Iesus: He is Lord, and he is Iesus. He is Lord, as a Master and Husband; as Sarah called Abraham, Lord. As a Master: Good Servants will look for their Master's coming, Mat. 24. 46. And surely such a Master should be longed for, and looked for; for when he comes, he will not come empty-handed: Behold, I come quickly, and my Reward is with me. Rev. 22. 12. Here Christ's Servants have their Vales, but not their Wages: Here they have present Maintenance, that is all they have now; but then they shall have their Reward and Wages; here they have their Earnest, but then they shall have the full Sum. Under the Law, Masters were charged severely not to defraud their Servants of their Hire; why? He hath lift up his Soul to him; (that is) in the middle of his hard Labours, this was his Comfort, when the Work of the Day was over, he should have his Wages and his Hire at Night. So you have lift up your Souls to him, the great Pay-Day will come, and this hath born you up in all your Labours, and Travel of your Soul. Therefore as he is our Lord, so we should look for him. And then as our Husband; this is a sweeter Relation. The Bride saith, Come, Rev. 22. 17. We are here contracted and betrothed to Christ; I will betroth thee to me, Hos. 2. 19. But the Day of solemn Espousals is hereafter. Here we are betrothed to Christ in the Covenant of Grace; Christ hath taken a Token from us, and left a Token with us: He hath taken humane Flesh, carried our Nature to Heaven, that he might be mindful of us; and hath left the Spirit with us. Now there will be a longing, looking, and waiting for this Day of Solemn Espousals. And as he is Lord, so he is Jesus, a Saviour. With what melting Wishes doth the Captive long for a Saviour and Redeemer! Now we look for a Saviour from Heaven. Christ is a Saviour now, but not a perfect Saviour to the uttermost, never till then: Therefore the Day of Judgment is called the Day of Redemption, Eph. 4. 30. There is something left, that every Coming of Christ might bring some Benefit; something of Misery left upon us to the last Day. Here we have Enemies within and without. Within, mighty Lusts; and therefore his Coming is like a Refiner's Fire, Mal. 3. 2. and Fullers Sope. His first and second Coming we find oft in the Old Testament put together. His Coming is, to present us holy, without spot and blemish. Eph. 5. 27. Our present State is but a Convalescency, a Recovery out of Sickness by degrees; there is some Fruit of Sin left upon the Body, until the Day of the general Resurrection, that we may have new Matter of glorifying God, just as we are entring into Heaven. Therefore that every Coming of Christ might bring us a new Benefit, the Body is to die; the old Adam is not quite abolished, until God be All in All. And so for Enemies without us: Here we dwell among wicked Men, whose Sins are a Grievance to us, and whose Injuries are a very great Molestation and Trouble: We live here, like Lot in Sodom; His righteous Soul was vexed with their ungodly Deeds, their filthy Conversation. But then there will be a perfect Separation between the Sheep and the Goats. Here we are exposed to many Persecutions; here Antichrist is but consuming, there he shall totally and utterly be abolished. II. If we respect the Persons desiring this Coming, there is something in them to move them to it. There is, 1. The Spirit of Christ. 2. Certain Graces, which do necessarily issue themselves into this Work. 3. Certain Experiences they have, which put th[illegible: 1 letter]m upon this longing. 1. There's the Spirit of Christ: The Spirit and the Bride saith, Come. Rev. 22. 17. The Holy-Ghost breedeth this Desire in the Church. Nature saith, It is good to be here; but this is a Disposition above Nature, the Spirit in the Bride. The Flesh and corrupt Nature saith, Depart; but the Spirit saith, Come. The great Work of the Spirit is, to bring us and Christ together; he comes from the Father, and the Son, to bring us to the Father by the Son. All he doth, is to bring Christ and the Spouse together; therefore he enkindleth in the Hearts of God's People, a strong and earnest desire of his Coming. 2. There are Graces planted in us; Faith, Hope, Love, Zeal. Faith, that is the ground of this Desire. Christ saith, he comes quickly; and this provokes and draws up the Desire, to believe Christ will be as good as his Word. Iohn 14. 2, 3. I go to my Father, and will come again to receive you to my self. Christ hath ever been plain-hearted with us: he saith, I come; and the Church saith, Amen, in a way of Faith, Even so, come. If Christ had gone away in discontent, and with a Threatning in his Mouth, that we should never have seen his Face more, then we could have had but cold Hopes, and faint Desires; but he parted in Love, and left a Promise with us. The Church, and the believing Soul saith, I have his Word for it: He hath ever been punctual hitherto, and kept his Word to a tittle, and hath said, I will come again. This upholdeth the Hearts of Believers during his Absence: For they reason thus; What need had Christ to flatter or deceive us, or promise more than he will perform? Would we flatter a Worm, that we can easily crush? He can strike us dead, if we do not please him; He hath been true in all things, and we have ever found him plain-hearted. Then there is Hope planted in the Saints. Hope is Faith's Handmaid, it looks for that which we believe: Faith determines the Certainty of the Thing, then Hope looks for it. This Grace was made on purpose that we might reach out to Heaven, and see if our Beloved be coming, that we might expect our full and future Happiness. God not only provides a glorious Estate for us, but Grace to expect it; he works this Hope in us, that we might look after it: 1 Pet. 1. 3. He hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope. Then there is Love in the Saints to Christ. This is an Affection of Union, it desires to be with the Party beloved; he desireth to be with us, and we with him. Love awakeneth earnest Longings: O come, come! why is his Chariot so long a coming? As a loving Wife stands upon the Shore, as ready to welcome her expected Husband: So doth Love in the Saints, they desire to be with Christ, therefore they long for the Kingdom of God coming to themselves, out of Love. Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. And upon the same ground they desire the general Resurrection of the Church. Especially is this inflamed with the thoughts of Christ's Love to us. He hath removed his bodily Presence from us, yet he cannot be satisfied until he and we meet again. John 14. 3. I will come again, and receive you to my self, that where I am, there ye may be also. And, John 17. 24. And that you may be there with me, to behold my Glory. Christ is not satisfied in his glorious Estate, until we be with him, till he hath our Company, and we be beatified with the sight of him. Before his coming in the Flesh, he delighted to be with the Saints, before the World was, Prov. 8. 31. And when the World was made, before his Incarnation, he took pleasure to come and appear in the fashion of a Man, and converse with his People in humane Shape. In the Days of his Flesh, he delighted to spend his Time, and busy himself among them that are faithful. And when he was to go from us, he did assure us of returning, and cannot be quiet until we be with him. So, reciprocally (and according to our measure) doth Love work in us; we cannot be without Christ, therefore we long to be with him. Then Zeal is planted in the Saints, and a Tenderness for his Glory. It is not their Interest only, which makes them desire his Coming, but that the King may sit upon the Throne, that Christ may reign in the most perfect manner, that the Day of Manifestation may come, that all Mists and Clouds which are upon his Person, may vanish. The Saints, that love the Glory of God as well as their own Salvation, nay, above their own Salvation, are longing for that time when Christ shall be seen in all his Glory, that he may be dishonoured no more, that Sin and Opposition may have an end. Here, God ha[illegible: 1 letter]h not his perfect Glory, neither from us, nor from the Wicked, neither from Angels, nor Devils. Not his perfect Glory from us, and therefore the Saints long for that time, when Christ may be more admired in them; it is the Comfort of their Souls, that God is glorified in their Glory, that there will a Time come when he shall be admired and glorified in their Glory, and when they they shall praise him for evermore, without weakness and distraction. And then the Wicked, that they may oppose and dishonour him no more, that the whole Course of Justice may be seen in the History of the World, which shall be produced at the Day of Judgment; that his Power may be seen, when Devils and all ungodly Men are trodden under foot, and all Offences taken away, and all opposite Powers are abolished. First, Christ would zealously affect us to the Glory of God, Hallowed be thy Name; then he would have us pray, Thy Kingdom come: That our Zeal for God's Glory, might make us earnest and instant for his Kingdom. Then, 3. There are certain Experiences that we have here, which set us a longing and groaning for this time. Rom. 8. 23. We which have the First-fruits of the Spirit, groan within our selves, waiting for the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of our Body. When they have tasted of the Clusters of Canaan, O they long to see the Land; they long that Jesus, the Captain of their Salvation, the spiritual Ioshua, may lead them into the good Land. The Church hath here enjoyed Christ in her House: I brought him into my Mother's House, Cant. 3. 4. Now they would enjoy him in his own House, have a more plentiful enjoyment of him. Wherefore have we a taste, but to long for a fuller Banquet? Why doth God give out such a Pittance, but to awaken our Desires to look for more? Indeed these Beginnings are sweet, and are a wonderful Mercy; to hear Christ say in a Promise, Come to me, that you may have Life. But when once they have embraced this, they will be longing for another Call, for the great Voice to say, Come ye blessed of my Father, &c. When Christ biddeth them welcome into the Kingdom of Heaven, to the Crown of Glory. When we can get any Joy in the Holy-Ghost, a little Peace of Conscience, any sweet Experience of our being cleansed from Sin, this is reviving and comfortable. But why is this given, but to set us a longing for the whole Harvest? for this is but the First-fruits. It is sweet now to find Pardon of Sin, and any comfortable feeling of God's Love in the Conscience; to have any Doubt resolved, any Fear silenced and supprest; to have a glimpse of the Light of God's Countenance, a little Elevation of the Heart in Duty. Now this draws on the Soul to long for more; for we begin then to think, what a sweet reviving will it be, when we enjoy the Full of all these things! If there be but one Promise now set home upon our Hearts, tho here we ha[illegible: 1 letter]e only the Right, not Enjoiment; if we have but our Right cleared up to a Promise, it is very reviving. God gives us this Experience, that we may long to enjoy the thing promised, the full Possession of it. When you have gone away feasted with Loves at the Lord's Table, thou hast said, One Hours Communion with God is better than all the World. If thy Heart was melted a little in Duty, if it was affected with godly Sorrow for Sin, it hath yielded thee more Comfort, than all the Mirth and Musick which fond Worldlings chear themselves withal, than all their Jollity. Now this is but given as a Foretaste, as a Prelibation, and to awaken our Desires after more. In the Lord's Supper many times we come and drink of that Cup which God hath tempered for us; this is but a dark Presignification of the new Wine we shall drink in our Father's Kingdom. Mat. 26. 29. and of those eternal Comforts we shall have there, and those unmixed Joys in the presence of Christ. Therefore because of the Tastes they have had, and those Beginnings of Glory, their Hearts will be more enlarged, and drawn out to look for more, and long for that happy time, when all this shall be accomplished. III. There may be Arguments taken and drawn from the Coming it self, that they long for his Coming. Wherefore doth Christ come? what are the Ends of it? It is to manifest his Love to the Saints mainly, as to punish his Enemies, and glorify his Justice. 1. I'll mention the first, to gather the Saints together, to draw all his scattered People into one holy Body and Communion. Psal. 50. 5. Gather my Saints together unto me, those that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice. Now they are scattered up and down, as God hath Service for them to do; one here, another there; they are spread in several Places, where they are like two or three Berries in the uppermost top of the Bough. That Psalm is generally acknowledged to be spoken of the Day of Judgment, then they are gathered to meet in one great Assembly; the Psalmist speaks of the great Congregation of the Righteous, where the Sinners shall not stand. Psal. 1. 5. At that great Day when Christ comes, all the Saints shall make but one Assembly, and one Congregation. As the Wicked shall be bundled together, and the Tares cast into unquenchable Fire; so all the Saints shall be gathered together into one great Assembly, and this glads their Hearts. Therefore we are not feasted to the full, because we have not all our Company; all the Guests do not meet together, until the Day the Son of God comes to bless the Elect. 2. He comes to proclaim our Pardon, and to pronounce the Sentence of our Acquittance juridically in Court, as Judg upon the Throne. Our Pardon is past, and seal'd as to Conscience, then he will blot out all our Sins; therefore it is said, Acts 3. 19. That your Iniquities may be blotted out, when the Times of refreshing shall come from the Presence of the Lord. He comes then to comfort and refresh the Souls of the Saints, by proclaiming their Pardon in the Ears of all the World. To whomsoever the Throne of Christ is terrible, it should not be terrible to the Saints: If he comes as a Judg to them, he comes to acquit them upon the Throne, he means no trouble to them. 3. He comes to crown us. Certainly there is a longing for this Day and Coming; for what is his Work? He comes to crown the Saints. 2 Tim. 4. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Iudg, shall give me at that Day. Then he comes to put the Crown of Righteousness upon our Heads, and invest us with all the Fruits of his Purchase; then the godly Christian comes to have his Crown. 1 Pet. 5. 4. When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a Crown of Glory, that fadeth not away. He that hath been careful to honour God in his Relation, then the great Shepherd comes to put the Crown of Glory which fades not away, upon his Head. Are the Children of God always in this Frame, as to desire his Coming? Many tremble at the thoughts of it, and can have no comfort, for want of Assurance of God's Love; and many times the Saints do not feel such Inclinations, and such ardent and strong Desires. I answer: 1. The meanest Saint hath some Inclination this way; he cannot but desire Christ should come into his Heart, and bless him, in turning him from his Sins; and that he should come to Judgment, since Comfort and Reward is more naturally embraced than Duty. Whoever is begotten to God, is begotten to a lively Hope, 1 Pet. 1. 3. his Heart is carried this way, tho not with so much Strength and lively Motions as others are. Yet I grant, 2. Sometimes there may be a Drowsiness and Indisposition, when their Lamps are not burning, when they are grown careless, and fallen asleep; as the wise Virgins slept, as well as the foolish, by a sluggish Security. And the Saints may find themselves indisposed; possibly by the remission of their Watchfulness; they may contract an Indisposition, yet there is a Spirit stirring this way, which begins with the new Birth, and still continues, tho it doth not always alike put forth it self. A Wife desires her Husband's coming home, yet it may be all is not in such good Order. Now all Christians desire the coming of Christ, but they are not so watchful, therefore are not so lively. Security brings Deadness, until God awakens them by some sharp Affliction. The Needle that is touched with the Loadstone, yet may a little be discomposed and turned aside, but it settles again. This is the right Posture and Frame of a gracious Soul, to be thus earnestly bent and carried out after the coming of Christ. 3. I answer again: The Church doth really and heartily desire this Coming, tho they may tremble at some Circumstances of it. When we think of this great Day, and of the Book that shall be opened, and the impartial Proceedings, there is some degree of Bondage still left in the Saints, that doth a little weaken their Confidence and Boldness. 1 Iohn 4. 18. we are told, Perfect Love casteth out Fear, because Fear hath Torment. Until our Graces are perfect, there is something of Fear. APPLICATION. Vse 1. To reprove those that do not desire the coming of Christ, but put off the thoughts of it; why? Because it casts a damp upon their fleshly rejoycing: Which put far away the Day of the Lord, the evil Day; it is so to them, Amos 6. 3. They wish it would never come, and would be glad in their Hearts to hear such News; why? For Christ's coming is their Torment and Burthen; they look upon it as a Vengeance, and an evil Day, therefore are loth to entertain the thought of it. Saith Austin, Canst thou pray that the Kingdom of God may come, when thou art afraid the Kingdom of God should come? A carnal Man cannot say the Lord's Prayer, without being afraid; they tremble at the remembrance of it; they are afraid it should be true, and afraid to be heard; if it might go by their Voice, Christ should never come. The Voice of corrupt Nature is, Depart from us: And what can the Almighty do for them? Job 22. 17. Or if they do desire it, it is but in a slight formal manner, as those in the Prophet, that would see the Day of the Lord, yet they could not bear it. Amos 5. 18. Wo unto you that desire the Day of the Lord; to what end is it for you? The Day of the Lord is Darkness, and not Light. They little consider what they are doing, and what is their Danger, when they are making such a Prayer to God, Thy Kingdom come. Vse 2. For Trial. How are you affected towards the Coming of Christ? Are you carried out with such an Inclination and Bent of Heart, as the Day of your Perfection, and the Day of your solemn Enjoyment of God? Is the Bent of your Heart carried out to things to come? If there be looking, then there would, 1. Be a preparing. A Man that expects and desires the coming of a great Person to his House, will make all things ready, is careful to furnish himself: When all is sluttish and nasty, and nothing of Provision, do you look for your Guest? What have you done, as to the Day of Christ's Coming? Have you judged your selves? 1 Cor. 11. 31. If we would judg our selves, we should not be judged. Have you ever seriously passed Sentence upon your selves, according to the Law, that you may be found in Christ. Rom. 8. 1. There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ. That you may have Christ's Righteousness to bear you out in that Day, against Christ's Judgment? Are you so as you would be found in him? Do you live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present World? Strict walking is a preparing and providing for this Day; you do but provide for Terror, when you give way to Sin. 2 Pet. 3. 10, 11. The Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night; therefore what manner of Persons should ye be in all holy Conversation and Godliness, looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God. We should be trimming up our Lamps. 2. What kind of Entertainment do you give to Christ now? Do you entertain him for the present into your Hearts, in his Ordinances? A Woman that never cares to hear from her Husband, doth she long for his Coming? O be careful now to get Christ into your Hearts. 3. What doth this Expectation produce? what revivings in the fore-thoughts of it? Iohn 8. 56. Abraham rejoyced to see my Day, and he saw it, and was glad. He means the Day of his Incarnation, the Day of his Abode in the World; Abraham foresaw, by the Eagle-Eye of his Faith, through all Mists, Clouds, Vails, and Ceremonies; he got a sight of Christ's Day, and it did him good at Heart. Do the Apprehensions of it make your Hearts spring and leap within you for joy? What Groanings, Longings, what dealing with God about it doth it produce? Rom. 8. 19. For the earnest Expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God. What Support and Strength doth it give you against the Burthens and Sorrows of this present Life, to remember Christ will come. Vse 3. To press us to this sweet Affection and Disposition of the Saints. I might mention the Profit of it; this longing, looking, and waiting for the coming of Christ, it will make us heavenly in our Conversation. Christ is there: where should we converse most, but where Christ is? And it makes us faithful in improving our Talents: Our Lord will come, and reckon with his Servants. Luke 19. 15. Thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. WE are come to the third Petition, which is fitly subjoined to the former. In the Preface we own our Relation to God, Our Father; in the first Petition we express our Care of his Glory; in the second, our Desires of his Kingdom; and now we beg Obedience to his Will. We may judg of our Respect to his Name and Kingdom, by our Obedience to his Will, without which we neither sanctify his Name, nor submit to his Kingdom. The Kingdom of God implieth two things; his Government over us, or the Privileges which we enjoy thereby. 1. As it is taken for his Government over us, so there is a fair Connection between these two Requests. Before, we pray that God would rule us; and now, for a soft and pliable Heart, that we may be ruled by him. Christ is not our King, when we do our own Will. These two are distinct; Government is one thing, and Obedience to it another: As, Mat. 6. 33. The Kingdom of God, and the Righteousness thereof; they are distinguished: The Kingdom of God we plead for in the second Petition, and here for the Righteousness thereof; that Christ may not be a Titular Prince and Sovereign, as certainly he is, when we do our own Will. Every Sovereign stands upon his own Will; and the more absolute, still the more his Will is to be looked upon as a Law and Rule. Now God being so absolute a Soveraign, it is but fit his Will should be done in the perfectest Manner: Thy Will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven. 2. If you take the Kingdom of God for the Privileges of his Government, especially if they be considered in their Consummation, and final Accomplishment, for that which the Scripture calls the Kingdom of God; by doing God's Will, we enter into his Kingdom. See Mat. 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. It is not the Blandishment of a spiritual Complement, but a true and hearty Subjection to the Will of God, that availeth in God's Kingdom, and is intended by this Petitionary Clause, Thy Will be done. Here consider, I. The Substance of the Petition. II. The Circumstances thereof. The Substance of the Petition, Thy Will be done. The Circumstances are two: The Place where, which indeed intimateth the Persons by whom, by Men here upon Earth: Then the Manner is set down, in a Comparison, Vpon Earth as it is in Heaven. Let me first open these Passages, then observe somewhat. I. The Substance of the Petition, Thy Will be done; and there, 1. The Matter about which it is conversant, the Will of God. 2. The Request about it, Thy Will be done. First; The Matter of the Request, Thy Will. God's Name was under consideration in the first Petition; his Kingdom, in the second; and now his Will. And then here's a Note of Appropriation, Thy Will, in contradistinction to all others. God's Will, it signifieth two things; either his Decree concerning future Events, or else that which God hath revealed concerning our Duty; his intended or commanded Will. The first is spoken of, Rom. 9. 19. Who hath resisted his Will? that is, his Decree, and his Purpose. And the second, his revealed Pleasure concerning our Duty, is spoken of, 1 Thess. 4. 3. This is the Will of God, even your Sanctification: The Will not of his Purpose, but it is his Law, his revealed Pleasure. Now it is not meant here of God's Decree, or secret Will. Why? God's secret Will, that is not known, therefore how can it be done upon Earth? To that all are subject, Reprobates, Devils. But here this Petition speaks of a Will, which is to be done in conformity to the good Angels. Again, we may (without Sin) will that, which God wills not by his secret Will; as the Life of a sick Parent, which God purposeth to take away. Nay, a Man may fulfill this secret Will, and yet perish for ever, as Iudas, and many which break his Commandments, and yet fulfil his Decrees; that do that which God had determined before to be done in his secret Purpose, as it is said, Acts 2[illegible: 1 letter]. 2[illegible: 1 letter]. To do that which his Hand and Counsel had determined before to be done. Therefore his secret Will is not here meant, but the Will of God revealed. Therefore let me here distinguish again: The Will of God is revealed two ways; in his Word, and in his Works; the one to be done by us, the other to be done upon us: the one is, Voluntas de nobis, God's Will concerning us; the other, Voluntas in nobis, God's Will in us, and to be done by us; the one maketh way for our Active, the other for our Passive Obedience. Our Active Obedience hath respect to his Laws and Commands, but our Passive to his Providence; we shew as much Obedience in the one, as in the other, in Patience, as in Holiness: For as in Holiness, we own God as the supream Law-giver; so in Patience, we own him as the supreme Lord, that hath a Dominion over all Events, and all things which fall out in the World. In the one we pray, Vt nihil Dei displiceat nobis, that nothing which comes from God may provoke us to unseemly Passion; in the other we pray, Vt nihi[illegible: 1 letter] nostrum displiceat Deo, that nothing which comes from us may provoke God by unseemly and und[illegible: 1 letter]tiful Carriage. We principally pray for the latter here, that we may fulfil his Will revealed in the Word; and yet the other cannot be excluded. Take but this Reason, because the Saints in Scripture express their Subjection to God's Providence, in Words very agreeable to this Request, to the Form of this Petition; as those Believers, when they saw God had determined Paul's Journey to Ierusalem, when he went bound in the Spirit, notwithstanding the Dangers of it, and their Loss by his Departure, they said, The Will of the Lord be done, Acts 21. 14. And Christ himself, speaking of his Passion, Mat. 26. 39. Not as I will, but as thou wilt: And not my Will, but thine be done, Luke 22. 42. So that we pray both for the one, and the other, tho with a plain difference; why? For our Active Obedience must be even without a conditional Desire, that the Commands of God should be repealed; we cannot so much as desire God should disannull his Law, and repeal those Statutes he hath enacted: Yet we may desire conditionally, if God see [illegible: 1 letter]it, the removal of our Affliction, and that Condition of Life, to which we are determined by his Providence. The Commandment is not grievous in it self, 1 Iohn 5. 3. yet the Affliction in its own Nature is grievous, Heb. 12. 11. We may desire more knowledg of God's Law, yet we may not desire more experience of Affliction; the one is more absolutely necessary than the other. We are not only to obey actively, but to love the Commandments of God, and to have our Hearts carried out in a greater esteem, and to prefer them before Liberty it self; but I doubt whether we are so concerning our Afflictions, to prefer them before Freedom and Exemp[illegible: 4 letters] [illegible: 1 letter]nd the Welfare of our Nature. Well then, you see what is meant by the Will of God, which is the Matter about which this is conversant. Then here's the Note of Appropriation, Thy Will, in opposition to our own Will, the Will of Satan, the Wills of Men. 1. To our own Will, which is the proudest Enemy Christ hath on this side Hell, and the cause of all the Mischief which doth befall us. The great Contest between us and God is, whose Will shall stand, God's Will, or ours. In every Sin we slight the Will of God, and set up our own. We despise the Commandment, 2 Sam. 12. 9. Not grosly and formally; David did not slight the Commandment, and say, Tush, it is a foolish Law; but by necessary Interpretation we slight the Law of God, and set up our own Will. Therefore when we pray, that God's Will may be done, we do in effect renounce our own Will, those Wills of the Flesh and Mind, Eph. 2. 3. which the Apostle speaks of; so it is in the Greek. The Soul is never renewed, until the Will be renewed, till the Will be broken. And therefore Self-denial is made one of the first Principles of Christianity, the denying of our own Will. The Will is the leading part of the Soul. Tho the New Creature begins with the Mind, yet it comes not to any Perfection, it is not formed, until the Will be subdued to God, until Grace be seated in the Heart. When a Man treadeth on a dry Hide, one part or other will be apt to rebound, and leap up against him, till he stands in the middle and Center: So, until Grace be seated in the Heart, Corruption will recoil. When a Bird's Wings are broken, it can flie no longer; so when the Will is subdued, then the work of Grace begins. The Mind is the Counsellor, but the Will is the Monarch and Prince, which sways and rules all in the Soul. Again, the Will is more corrupted than the Mind; the Understanding is much blinded, but the Will is more depraved. The Mind hath a little Light, and is apt to take God's part sometimes, by suggesting good Motions; but the VVill doth more abhorr and refuse Good, than the Understanding is ignorant of it. VVe are convinced often, when not converted. Therefore this is the main thing, that our corrupt VVill[illegible: 1 letter] may be subdued to God; Let thy VVill be done, not our own. 2. Thy VVill, in opposition to Satan's VVill. Our Lusts are called his Lusts; Iohn 8. 44. The Lusts of your Father the Devil ye will do. They are of his inspiring, of his cherishing; the grand Incubus of Hell is the Father of these Brats, and sinful Productions. So, 2 Tim. 2. 26. the Holy-Ghost speaks of carnal Men, that they are taken captive by Satan at his will and pleasure. VVicked Men are at Satan's beck, and they do his will. The Devil sets such a Lust at work, the Man obeys presently: The Devil stirs such Lusts by his Arts and Engines, and observes such a Lust will be most prevalent at such a time; the Man is taken by Satan's Will. Now, Thy Will, &c. we desire the Lord's Grace, that we may not comply with the Devil's Motions. 3. Thy Will, in opposition to the Wills of Men. 1 Pet. 4. 2. That he no longer should live to the Lusts of Men, but to the VVill of God; not according to the Wills of Men, but according to the Will of God. In our natural State we are apt to be swayed by the Lusts and Humors of others, according as the Posture of our interest is determined; and therefore it is a good piece of Self-denial to cease from the Lusts of Men, from the Humors and Customs of those whom we fear, and from whom we hope: And until we cease from Men, in vain do we expect to serve God. Thus for the Matter about which this Request is conversant, Thy Will. Secondly; Here is the Request it self, Be done; what doth this imply, when we say, Let thy Will be done? 1. We beg a Heart to do it. Deut. 5. 29. O that there were such an Heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my Commandments always! It is not enough to set our selves to do what God hath commanded; but we must get a renewed, sanctified Heart. 2. We beg Skill to do it. Psal. 143. 10. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. We beg that God would teach us, and lead us forth in the Obedience of his Will. 3. We beg Strength to do it. It is said, Heb. 13. 21. The God of Peace,—through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good Work, to do his Will. We beg Strength, that we may do what is pleasing in his Sight. In our Will there is a double Mischief; it is opposite to, and averse from God. Rom. 8. 7. The carnal Mind is Enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be. And it is strongly inclined to other things; and this both by Nature, and by evil Custom. There is an Aversation from God which is natural, and which is increased by Custom; therefore it is God must give us a Heart to do his Will, and Skill and Strength. Thus God, he must draw us off from other things, which is called the Circumcising of the Heart, Deut. 30. 6. He must draw us off, and he must draw us on too. As he pares away the Foreskin, the Fleshiness which cleaves to our Hearts, and inclineth us to seek our own Will, in hunting after Pleasures, Honours, Profits: So doth the Lord draw us to himself; Cant. 1. 4. Draw me, and we will run after thee. II. Let's come to the Circumstances of the Petition, [In Earth, as it is in Heaven.] First, The Place, wherein also the Persons are noted, in Earth, that is by the Men which live upon Earth. Why is this mentioned on Earth? 1. The Earth is a place of our Exercise and Trial, and now is the time to shew our Self-denial, and our Obedience to God, to deny our own Will, and do the Will of God; Iohn 17. 4. I have glorified thee upon Earth. This is a Work that must not be suspended until we come to Heaven: it will not be thank-worthy then, when there is no Interruption, no Trouble, no Molestation there: but here, I have glorified thee on Earth, where so few mind the Work, and where there are so many Distractions and Temptations to divert us. 2. The Earth is the only place where this Work is begun, or else it shall never be done hereafter. Instance in any thing that is the Will of God. Here we must believe, or there we shall never enjoy (Luke 2. 14.) Peace upon Earth. Now God offereth Grace, and now it is his Will we should come out of our Sins, and accept of Christ to the ends for which he hath appointed him. And here we must be sanctified, else we shall be filthy for evermore. Corn grows in the Field, but it is laid up in the Barn. Now is the time of minding this Work here upon Earth. 3. That while we are upon Earth, we might long for that happy Estate we shall have in Heaven, wherein we might serve God. Therefore Christ in his Prayer would have us think how God is glorified and obeyed there, that we might send up hearty Wishes after that perfect Estate, when we shall serve God without Weariness, and without Distraction. 4. Upon Earth, to shew, that we pray not for those in the other World, but for those upon Earth. We do not pray for the Saints departed, they are out of harms way, past our Prayers, being in their final Estate. We pray not for the Dead, but for the Living. Thus for the first Circumstance in this Petition, the place where. Secondly, There remains nothing but the last, and that's the manner how this is to be done; [As it is in Heaven.] Chrysostome observes, that this Clause may be referred to all the former Petitions; Hallowed be thy Name upon Earth, as it is in Heaven. Thy Kingdom come upon Earth, as it is in Heaven. But certainly most proper it is to the matter in hand. But what is the sense? How is God obeyed in Heaven? There are in Scripture three Heavens, the Airy Heaven, the Starry Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens. In all these Heavens God's Will is done. God is obeyed in the lower Heaven, you shall see in Psal. 148. 8. Fire, Hail, Snow, and Vapours, stormy Winds fullfilling his Word. Winds and Storms, and all those things which seem to be most tempestuous and unruly, to be the disorders of Nature, they are at God's beck. Then in the Starry Heaven, vers. 6. He hath made a Decree which shall not pass: They are under a Law and Statute, and are not exorbitant and excentrick, do not alter their Path; the Sun riseth, setts, and knows the just point of his Compass. But it is chiefly meant of the Heaven of Heavens, where Angels and blessed Spirits are, and they obey God perfectly. Psal. 103. 20, 21. Bless the Lord, ye his Angels, that excel in Strength, that do his Commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his Word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his Hosts, ye Ministers of his that do his Pleasure. The Angels do his Commandments, and are hearkening to the Voice of his Word, are at God's beck to be sent up and down, to ascend and descend as God will have them; so with respect to this doth Christ say, Thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. But here again, why is this added, As it is in Heaven? 1. To sweeten our Subjection to God's Will. We upon Earth are not held to a harder Law and Task, than they in Heaven. The Angels, they are not sui juris, at their own dispose: They have many Priviledges above Man, yet have no Exemption from Homage and Duty to God. They have an Exemption and Freedom from Trouble, and Sicknesses, and Diseases, and the necessities of Meat and Drink, and all the Molestations and Infirmities of the Flesh which we lie under; but are not freed from the Will of God, but they obey his Commandments, hearkning to the voice of his Word. These Courtiers of Heaven are Servants of God, and Fellows with us in the same Obedience; none is too great to obey God. The Angels which excel in Strength, they obey his Will, and so must we; nay, they obey his Will with a holy Awe and Fear, that they may not displease him in the least; for it is said of Michael the Arch-angel, Iude, vers. 9. That he durst not bring against the Devil a railing Accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. He had not boldness to speak one uncomely Word, or one unseemly Word, to do any thing that was displeasing to God. 2. As to sweeten our Obedience, so to shew us the Reasonableness of this Obedience. We would have the Happiness of the Angels, and therefore, certainly we should come into a Fellowship in their Duty; it is but equal we should imitate their Holiness. If we would have Communion with them in Glory, we should have Communion also with them in Grace. Mat. 22. 30. it is said, we shall be [non-Latin text not transcribed], like the Angels of God. We seek after the same Glory and Happiness which they have: to stand before the Lord, and to behold his Face, that's their Happiness. Surely if we would have the reward of Angels, which we upon Earth are aspiring and looking after; it is but equal we should do the Work of Angels, and write after their Copy. 3. Therefore doth Christ use this Comparison, that we might not miscarry by a low Example. How apt are we to follow the track, and to take up with an easy and low rate of Obedience, Luke 18. 11. that put great Confidence in that, God, I thank thee, I am not as other Men. Now because we have few Examples in the World, and those we have, have their Spots and Defects, and are very susceptible of Evils, and apt to miscarry by them; therefore Christ would carry us up to look after a Heavenly and Coelestial Patern; he propoundeth the Angelical Perfection as a Patern and Example. He that shoots at a Star, will shoot higher than he that aims at a Shrub: Surely the higher the Patern that we aim at, the greater will our Obedience be. Wicked Men they think that every thing is enough in Religion, though it be never so little; but the Godly cannot so easily satisfy themselves, they are pressing and hastening on more and more. 4. To teach us that we are not only to look to the Quid, but to the Quomodo; not only to what we do, but also in what manner we yield Obedience to God; therefore Christ would not teach us to pray only, Thy Will be done, but as it is in Heaven, in such a manner. God respects not only the doing of what he hath required, but also the manner of it; that we may not only do good, but well; it is the Adverb which crowns the Action. We are to consider with what Heart we go about it. Prov. 2. 16. The Lord weigheth the Spirits. That which he putteth into the Ballance of the Sanctuary is, with what Spirit, with what Heart we go about the Work, that's it he weigheth and regardeth. Now that we may look not only to the matter of Obedience, but also to the manner how we do it; therefore doth Christ give us this Patern. Object. But you will say, Our Obedience is accompanied with many Defects and Infirmities; therefore, how can we serve God as the Angels do in Heaven? How shall we take Comfort in our Obedience, if this be our Patern? I answer, 1. Though we cannot do it in the same measure, yet we should do it in the same manner; though there be not an exact Equality, yet there should be some answerable Resemblance: Our Obedience should not be wholly different in the kind and manner of it from theirs which serve God in Heaven, though for the degree and rate we cannot come up to their Patern. 2. Though we do not attain to this Perfection in this Life, yet we must aim after it, long for it, and pray for it. Aim after it, not sluggishly content our selves with any low degrees of Obedience, but aim at the highest. And to long for it; there is a time coming, when we shall be perfect; when we shall be not only as the Angels are, but as Christ is, We shall be like him, 1 John 3. 2. And we pray for that on Earth, what is expected in Heaven; we pray for what we do expect from the final and consummate Estate, when we shall be as the Angels of God, and perfectly do his Will. I come to the Points; they are three. 1. It concerns them very much that would in Prayer own God as a Father, and pretend a respect to his Glory and Kingdom, to see that his Will be done here upon Earth. 2. It is the Lord that giveth to will, and to do, those things which are pleasing in his sight. 3. God doth not only look to this, that his Will be done, but to the manner how it is done. 1. It concerneth them very much, that would in Prayer own God as a Father, and pretend a respect to his Glory and Kingdom, to see that his Will be done here upon Earth. I shall prove it: First, By the Arguments intimated in the Point. 1. As we pray to God, we should see his Will be done, upon a double account; as real and successful. (1.) As we would express a Reality and Sincerity in Prayer. They mock God, that pray they might do his Will, yet have no care to do it; that declaim against their Lusts, yet hug them, and keep them warm in their Bosoms. We oftner pray from our Memories, than our Consciences; and oftner from our Consciences, than our Affections: from our Memory, as we repeat Words by rote, without sence or feeling, or Consideration of the Importance of them. From our Consciences, rather than Affections. Austin observes of himself; while he was under the Power of his Lusts, he would pray against Concupiscence, but his Heart would say, at noli modo, timebam enim ne me exaudiret Deus; but, Lord, not yet, for I am afraid lest God should hear me. Conscience tells us that such things must be done, and asked; thus we put a little of our Conscience in Prayer, but nothing of Affection and serious Desire. Many would be loth God should take them at their words, when they seem to resign up themselves to his Will, and think of parting with their Lusts, it is bitter and irksome to them; as Phaltiel (Michal's Husband) went after her, going and weeping; 2 Sam. 3. 16. Now if we would manifest our Prayers to be real, we should labour to perform the same, otherwise we are but like those Souldiers which spate upon Christ, and buffeted him, yet cry'd, Hail, King of the Iews; so it is but a mockage to say, Thy Will be done, yet have no care to do it. Matth. 15. 8. This People draweth nigh unto me with their Mouth, and honoureth me with their Lips; but their Heart is far from me. There is no Reality in the Prayer, whatever be in it, if the Heart be not in it. Some Men's Prayers are but the Fruit of Wit and Memory, others but the result of their Iudgments, what is fit to be done, rather than of their Hearts, what they desire to be done; and they are only good so far as they do more solemnly express God's Right, not their inward Desires. (2.) If we would have our Prayers successful. Psal. 66. 18. If I [regard] Iniquity in my Heart, the Lord will not hear me. Clearly, if we will not do God[illegible: 1 letter]s Will, there is no reason he should regard our Will. If I regard Iniquity in my Heart: there may be Sin in the Heart, but if I regard it there, God will not hear me; if I entertain an Affection to it. When the Wind blows, some cold Air will get into the Chamber, though the Door be shut never so close; but to leave the Door open for it, doth not argue such a care of Health as is requisite: There will be Sin in the Children of God, but it is not allowed. Love to any known Sin, makes our Prayers to God to be without success. So Prov. 28. 9. He that turneth away his Ear from hearing the Law, even his Prayer shall be Abomination. God useth often the Law of Retaliation, will pay home Sinners in their own Coin; we will not hear him, therefore he will not hear us. The same Argument we have to urge to God in Prayer, that God hath to urge to us for Duty and Obedience. What Argument will you use to awaken your Confidence and Affection? By the Blood of Christ we have boldness to come to him; Heb. 10. 19. and Eph. 3. 12. This is not only an Argument to be urged in Expectation of Mercy, but also in the enforcement of Duty, when God beseecheth you by the Bowels of Christ to do his Will, and to mind his Work. If the Blood of Christ cannot prevail with us, to bring us up to the Will of God; how can we expect it should prevail with God to bring us in Returns of Blessing? When God speaks, we slight him; therefore when we speak, God may cast off our Prayers. God speaks more wisely to us than we can to him; we stammer, and lisp, and speak foolishly in our Prayers to God. There is far more reason why we should hear God, than God hear us: For there is more Equity in his Precepts, than there is Reason in our Prayers; and we are bound to obey God's Will, more than he is to grant our Request: and therefore if we would not have God turn away his Ear from our Prayers, we should not turn away our Ears from hearing his Law and Counsel. John 9. 31. Now we know that God heareth not Sinners: but if any Man be a Worshipper of God, and doth his Will, him he heareth. It is a general Maxime, Those which were ready to deprave Christ's Actions, were possest of the Truth of this; If any worship him, and do his Will, him he heareth: Joh. 9. 32. It is not enough to keep up a form of worshipping, but we must be tender of his Will, that's the way to get a gracious Answer. Thus as we pray, we are bound. 2. As God's Children, so we must do his Will. Mal. [illegible: 1 letter]. 6. If I be a Father, where is mine Honour? and if I be a Master, where is my Fear? Relations to God are not bare Titles, and grounds, whereby we may expect favour from God; but they carry in their Bosom Obligations to Duty on our part. Many will give God good Words, and fair Titles, but there is no care had of complying with his Will. Nay, your owning that Relation will aggravate your Sin, and be a Witness against you: You owned me your Father, and have not done my Will. So Matth. 12. 50. Whosoever shall do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my Brother, and Sister, and Mother. These may be sure of a comfortable Relation to God, and that God will own them in that Claim, when they make it their Business to do his Will; otherwise you reproach God, rather than worship him. When you do your own Will, and call God Father, you lay the Devil's Brats at his Door; you pretend to God, and take his Name upon you; therefore those that say, Our Father, must also say, Thy Will be done. 3. Those that would have respect to God's Glory, must do his Will. This is the Honour of God, when you are at his Command. God gloried in Abraham; rather Cyrus than Abraham is there meant, as the Context shews; see Isa. 46. 11. Isa. 41. 2. The Man from the East, whom I have called to my Foot. When you are at his beck, ready to go step by step with God; as God leads you, you are ready to follow. It was the Honour of the Centurion, that had his Souldiers at such a Command, that when he said to one, Go, he went; and to another, Come, and he came: Matth. 8. So it is God's Honour, when he can bid you do nothing but you are ready to obey, though with the greatest hazard and loss of all. 4. Our Subjection to his Kingdom. God stands upon his Authority. What's a King without Obedience? Christ is never received as King, but where his Will is obeyed; otherwise we mock [illegible: 1 letter]im with an empty Title. The High-Priest's Servants said, Hail, King of the Iews, in mockage; thus it is to own him as King, when we will not yield Obedience. Then do we desire that his Kingdom may come indeed and in power, when we resolve to do his Will; to love as God will have us; and hate, fear, and hope as God will: Psal. 143. 10. Thou art my God, teach me to do thy Will. If you own God as Soveraign, you must be in subjection to his Will. Thus this Prayer will yield us Arguments, as we own him as a Father, as we profess respect to his Glory and Kingdom. Secondly, I shall bring other Arguments to perswade this, to make Conscience of God's Will. 1. The Example of Christ Jesus, who wholly yielded up himself to the Will of God; and wilt thou stand upon thy terms? Io. 5. 30. I seek not mine own Will, but the Will of him that sent me. Christ did not seek to please his human, his own natural Will, but the Will of his Father. This is true Religion, to be like him whom we worship. Now we are never like Christ, until we make doing of God's Will to be the great business of our Lives: Wherefore doth he come into the World? He tells you, to do his Father's Will; Luke 2. 49. Wist ye not that I must be about my Fathers business? This was his sole Employment: so it should be ours, if we have the same Mind which Christ had. 2. Consider God's Right. We are not at our own dispose, but at the Lord's use. God hath a right in us as he created us. The Perfection of every thing lieth in fulfilling the Creator's Will, for that's the end wherefore they were made. The Creatures are all thy Servants, and continue this day according to thine Ordinances: Psal. 119. 91. We owe our Being, and all we have, from him. We see among Men, Dependance begets Observance; a Man that lives upon another, will be careful to please him. Thou holdest all by the Indulgence and Bounty of God, therefore it should be thy study to do his Will. Jesus Christ hath bought thee; 1 Cor. 6. 20. Glorify the Lord in your Souls and Bodies, which are Gods: That is God's which he hath bought. A Servant that was bought, when Men were sold for Slaves, he was his Master's Money; so his Strength, Time, Service, belonged to his Master. We are God's, because he hath bought us, therefore we cannot live as we will: for this is the property of a Servant, that he cannot live as he will. Again, as God hath begotten us anew, regenerated us: what's the aim of his Grace? That we should no longer live in the Flesh, to the Lust of Men, but to the VVill of God: 1 Pet. 4. 2. It is the aim of Grace to cure the Disorders of the Will, and to bring us to a stricter bond of Duty and Service to God. And indeed if Grace hath had its Fruit and Power upon you, you will give up your selves to God: Cant. 7. 10. I am my Beloved's: You are your Beloved's, to be used by him as he pleaseth. So that unless you will retract your Vows, you will make Conscience of doing the Will of God, for he hath a manifest right in you. 3. Consider our own Incapacity. There is great Reason why our Wills should be given up to the Will of God, because we are not able to manage them our selves. By the Law of Nations, Fools, and mad Men, must have a Guardian, they have lost the Dominion and Power over themselves, they are to be ruled by another, they are Slaves by Nature, that must be guided by another: Tit. 3. 3. We are all by Nature Fools, and it is the greatest Mischief that can be, to be left to our own Wills; and therefore when God requireth the Resignation of our Wills, it is but as the taking of a Sword out of a mad Man's hand, which will be the cause of his own Mischief and Ruine: Nemo laeditur nisi a seipso; no Man is hurt by any but by himself, tho he may be troubled by others. Now since we cannot manage our own Will, it is fit we should have a Guardian; and who is more wise than God to govern us? A Merchant, tho he owns the Ship, and hath stor'd it with Goods, yet because he hath no Skill in the Art of Navigation, he suffereth the Pilot to guide it. Certainly we shall but Shipwrack our selves, unless we give up our selves to be guided by the Spirit of God according to his Will. 4. The benefit that accrueth to us by doing his Will; we shall have his Favour here, and his Glory hereafter. His Favour here, which is that which endeareth us to God: Acts 13. 22. I have found a Man after mine own Heart, which shall fulfil all my Will: These are Men after God's own Heart that do his Will. And tho we have great Infirmities, yet because we are bent to do his Will, they will be passed over; as David had h[illegible: 1 letter]s Infirmities, yet because it was in his Heart to do the Will of God, therefore this is a Man after my own Heart. And you shall have the Glory of God hereafter: 1 John 2. 17. The VVorld passeth away, and the Lusts thereof: but he that doth the VVill of God, abideth for ever. Those things that our Wills carry us to, they perish. The Inclination of our Heart carrieth us to the World, Riches, Honours, Pleasures; but the Will of God carrieth us to an everlasting Estate. The World passeth away, and the Lusts thereof: There will a time come, when those things we will, and are so strongly addicted to, and lust for, will be gone; we shall have no Relish, no Savor in them, no Appetite to them. When Men are leaving the World, then they cry out how the World hath deceived them; but now he that doth the Will of God abideth for ever. Never any repented of doing the Will of God; this will stick by us to all Eternity, and bring us to everlasting Happiness. Vse 1. To shew how far they are from any sincere respect to God, that upon the least occasion transgress his Will, and break through Bonds and Restraints God hath set to them: The Heart is never right, but when it lieth under the awe of a Command. Many will fear a Punishment, but it is said, Prov. 13. 13. He that feareth the Commandment; if the Commandment stands in his way, he dares not break through, it is more than a Hedg of Thorns, or if Lions stood in the way. But on the other side, when Men make no bones of a Commandment, when they will transgress for a pair of Shoes, (as the Prophet saith) when every small Temptation is enough to draw them off from God, it sheweth how little sincere respect they have to God. Vse 2. It serves to press us to a more tender regard to the Will of God. To this end consider these Motives. Mot. 1. His absolute Authority to command. 1 Tim. 6. 15. Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: His Will is enough. I am the Lord, you shall do thus and thus. 2. Consider the Equity of what he hath commanded; Rom. 7. 12. The Commandment is holy, and just, and good. Nothing God commandeth, but what is agreeable to his own Nature, and what is suited to our Benefit. It is no burden to live justly, soberly, and holily in Communion with God. It is not a Burden, but a great Advantage: The Yoke of Christ is a bountiful Yoke. Our Service and Duty hath its own Reward in the very Mouth and Bosom of it. It is no great wrong to us to govern our Affections, to live soberly, chastly, and in the Exercise of holy Services; here is nothing but what raiseth and sublimates the Nature of Man. If the Commandment of God had been to offer our Children in Sacrifice, or any of those Barbarities which were practised among the Gentiles; yet this had been enough, I am the Lord: But when he hath given such holy and good Commands, which makes you live more like Men, like reasonable Creatures, you should be tender of the Lord's Will. 3. To be given up to our own Will, is a great Judgment. When the Lord hath a mind to destroy a People, he gives them up to their own Will; Psal. 81. 12. Israel would none of me; so I gave them up unto their own Heart's Lust: and they walked in their own Counsels. It is the greatest Judgment which can be laid upon any Creature, that he may have his own Will. A Man may be given up to Satan, yet recover; 1 Cor. 5. 5. Deliver such a one to Satan for the Destruction of the Flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Iesus. He may be given up to Satan for his Exercise and Trial; but when he is given up to himself, to the sway of his own Heart, to be besotted with his own Counsels, and to have his own Lusts, what a heavy Judgment is this? When Balaam would not be satisfied, God said to him, Go, Numb. 22. 35. He had his Answer before, again and again, but he would be inquiring still; Go, and that was his Punishment. 4. It is the truest Liberty to be subject to the Will of God. Then, when the Son of God shall make you free, you shall be free indeed: John 8. 36. How doth the Son of God make us free? not from Duty, but for Duty. He that lieth under the dominion and power of any Sin, is a very Slave. But then are we free indeed, when we are loosed, not from a due Subjection to God, but from the Power of the Devil. It is not Liberty to be free to do what we please, Good or Evil; but the more determined we are to Good, the more Freedom; for that's a Liberty which comes nearest to the Liberty of God, who is a most free Agent, and yet cannot sin: such a Liberty is in God, Christ, and the Angels in Heaven; surely they do not live a slavish Life, that are ever praising and lauding of God. It will be the greatest pleasure in the issue to deny our own Will, and do the Will of God. The more we are inlarged for this, the greater is our Happiness: then we have the Happiness of the Spirits of just Men. None among Men have greater Happiness than glorified Saints, yet none have less of their own Will. Why should we account that a Bondage, which is part of our Happiness? In Heaven, glorified Spirits there are not complaining of any Burthen, yet they have no Will of their own, but they will and nill as God doth. 5. He that hath a Heart bent to do the Will of God, he hath the clearest knowledg of the Mind of God. John 7. 17. He that will do the Will of God, he shall know of the Doctrine, whether it be of God. It is not the sharpness of Parts that pierceth into a Truth, especially into a controverted Truth, when the Dust of Contention is raised; but he that is most close in walking with God, it is he that knoweth his Mind. A blunt Iron, when hot, and in the Fire, will pierce deeper into an Inch-Board, than a sharper Tool that is cold: So a Man that hath pure Affections for God, a Heart to do the Will of God, pierceth deeper many times into controverted Truth, and sees more of the Mind of God in that Truth, than a Man of Parts doth. There are many Mistakes about the Will of God; now make Conscience of Obedience, do not consult with the Interest of your own private Passions, and then you shall know the Mind of God. It is just with God to with-hold the Light from them that consult with their Lusts and Interests, and carnal Humors, for these blind the Mind, and only like and dislike Things, as they shall relish with their Lusts. 6. God will surely punish the Violation of his Will. This implieth two things: (1.) That God takes notice of it; he observes whether his Will be done, yea, or no. The Rechabites were tender of the Commandment of their dead Father, which could not take cognizance of their Actions; but it was the Will of their Father, and they would keep to the Will of the Dead, Ier. 35. 14. But now the Lord seeth whether his Will be kept, yea, or no. Prov. 15. 3. The Eyes of the Lord are in every Place, beholding the Evil and the Good. Where ever you are, God is with you. As the Prophet said to Gehazi, Went not mine Heart with thee? 2 Kings 5. 26. meaning his prophetical Spirit. The Lord's Spirit goeth along with us where ever we go, he observes what we do. When Jesus Christ was in the Throng, he saith, Who is it that toucheth me? He was sensible Virtue passed out from him, when one touched him by Faith: So in the Throng of Creatures we depend upon God; he knows what Virtue goeth out to preserve thee and me in Being. These are fit Instances to ingenerate in our Minds a sense of God's Omniscience. (2.) He will severely punish. Iam. 4. 12. There is one Law-giver, who is able to save, and to destroy. There are many Law-givers in the World, that have Power of Life and Death, but that's only of Life Temporal: But there is one Law-giver, that can reward with eternal Life, and punish with eternal Death. So God truly and properly hath the Power of Life and Death. Therefore since he can punish so severely, we should not stand out against God's Will. Many times the doing God's Will is irksom to Flesh and Blood; but remember, Hell will be worse. When we press Men to Faith, Repentance, and new Obedience, and tell them, this is the Will of God concerning you, that you do believe in Christ, walk holily and humbly with God; what saith the Man? Shall I mope my self, and sit mourning in a Corner, and spend my Life in a dark melancholy manner, in going from one Duty to another? This is far better than to sit howling under the Wrath of God for evermore. For Directions. If you would do the Will of God, then, 1. There must be some solemn Time of resigning and giving up thy Will to him. Naturally we are averse: Now whosoever is brought unto God, he comes and lays down the Weapons of his Defiance at God's feet. God hath a Right to us, and he will have this Right confirmed by our Grant and Consent. Rom. 12. 1. I beseech you by the Mercies of God, that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. There cannot be a more acceptable Sacrifice to God, than the Resignation of our own Will to him. See how Paul comes, and layeth down the Buckler, when God had him under; Acts 9. 6. And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? There will be a time, when you will solemnly give up the Keys of your own Hearts to God, and bid him come and enter. Paul, that now did nothing but threaten, and breath out Terror to the Children of God, when God had humbled him, then he lies at God's Feet. When you are truly humbled, you will desire God to come and take possession of your Hearts, and resolve to come under his Yoke. Mat. 11. 28. Take my Yoke upon you, and you shall find Rest for your Souls. Christ will force it upon none. In the Matrimonial Contract, Consent is not to be forced. Take my Yo[illegible: 1 letter]e▪ 2. When you give up your selves to God, it must be without Bounds and Reservations: That ye may stand perfect and compleat in the VVill of God, Col. 4. 12. That was his Prayer for them. And, Acts 13. 22. I have found David, the Son of Jesse, a Man after my own Heart; he shall fulfill all my VVill. We should so perfectly obey, as if we had no Will of our own, not reserving a Property in any thing. Our Thoughts are not our own to dispose, nor our Desires, nor Delights, but as God will. The least Sin reserved, is a Pledg of the Devils Interest and Right in us. And therefore give up all to God, resign up your selves wholly to him, as remembring that every Motion, every Thought, every Affection is under a Rule; and in every Action we should say, Will God have this to be done, yea, or no? 3. There are some special Things, concerning which God hath more expresly signified his Will, and given special Charge; and these we should make greatest Conscience of, how distasteful soever they be to Flesh and Blood, or prejudicial to our own Interest. For Instance; Concerning Repentance, and turning from Sin, Ezek. 33. 11. you have God's Oath, that he delights in it: As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no Pleasure in the Death of the VVicked, but that the VVicked turn from his way, and live. And, God would not have any to perish, but that all should come to Repentance. 2 Pet. 3. 9. This is the Will of God; he hath told you what a great deal of Pleasure he takes in Repentance, that you should come and mourn over your Sins, and bewail your Straglings. When a prophane Esau knew what his Father desired, he takes his Bow, to go and kill Venison: When we know any thing more pleasing to God' we should do it. And then he takes pleasure also in the Work of Faith, believing in Christ. Iohn 6. 29. This is the VVork of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. And, 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment, that we should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ. Therefore we should be much in the Work of Faith, and in receiving Christ, that we may accomplish the good pleasure of God in us. It is very pleasing to God, we should thus repent, believe, and return to him. The very first Motion, how welcome is it to the Lord! Psal. 32. 5. I said, I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin. So, Luk. 15. 20. the Father ran to meet him, when the Prodigal thought of returning. So, that you should live a sanctified Life. 1 Thess. 4. 3. This is the VVill of God, even your Sanctification. That you should walk holily, God hath expresly declared his Will. Then for Duties of Relations: God takes a great deal of pleasure in Obedience to Magistrates, Parents, Masters: 1 Pet. 2. 15. For so is the VVill of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the Ignorance of foolish Men. Then, that we should observe Providences, ever be in a thankful frame: 1 Thess. 5. 18. In every thing give thanks; for this is the VVill of God, in Christ Iesus, concerning you. It is a great Rebellion and Disobedience, not to obey God's solemn Charge. 4. We should be willing to obey God, whatever it cost us. The least Sin is not to be committed, to avoid the greatest Trouble. You would think it were a small Sin, for Moses to tarry in Pharaoh's Court, where he might be helpful to the People of God; yet he chose rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God, than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season. Heb. 11. 25. 5. For the greatest Good that possibly can come of it, we should not cross God's revealed Will. Many times this is a Snare. Men think to be justified by their good Intentions. We must not do Evil, that Good may come thereof. Rom. 3. 1. If one Lie could save the World, we were not to do it; for the least Evil is not to be done, contrary to God's Will, tho the greatest Good come of it. Vse 3. Examine how you stand affected to God's Will. This is very needful: Because, 1. There be many Mistakes about it. 2. Hereby we may discern whether we are thus entirely affected with the Lord's Will. Men flatter themselves with a pretence of Obedience, and cry, Lord, Lord, but do not do his Will. They give God good Words, but do not break out into an actual Contest; as those Wretches, Ier. 18. 12. VVe will every one do the Imagination of his evil Heart. And, Ier. 44. 17. VVe will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own Mouth. There are many things wherein we are apt to mistake: As, 1. We pretend to do God's Will in general, but when it comes to Particulars, we stick at it. Usually when we take up Duty by the Lump, it doth not exasperate opposite Propensions and Inclinations. This is our great Fault, we please and flatter our selves with Notions, and abstract Conceits. What say you to this Will of God concerning you in particular? How forward were the Israelites! O they would do the whole VVill of God, they run away with the general Notion: Yea, but saith Ioshua, chap. 24. 19. Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God, he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your Transgressions, nor your Sins. We vvill do the Will of God in general; but when it comes to cross our Lusts, and private Inclinations, these make us grudg at it, and shrink back again. 2. Some commend and approve the Will of God, and talk of it, but do not practise it. It is here, Thy VVill be done; it is not, Let it be talked of, spoken and conferred of by me, but done. And it is not giving good words. You know the Parable of the two Sons: One said, I will not, and did; the other, I go, Sir, and went not. Mat. 21. 29, 30. Where Christ prefers the open Sinner before the Hypocrite, that is talking of God's Will, and seems at a distance to be like the Carbuncle, all of a Fire, but touch him, he is Keycold. When we are approving much of the VVill of God in our Judgments, and commending of it, and do it not, this is in effect to say, I know what my Father commands me, but I will do as I list. 3. Another Deceit about the VVill of God is this: For the present, vvhile vve are in a good Humour, vvhen our Lusts lie lovv, vvhen the Heart is vvarm under the Impulsions of a present Conviction or Persuasion, Men have high thoughts of doing the VVill of God. Deut. 5. 27. Speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; we will hear it, and do it. There are several Acts of our VVills; there is Consent, Choice, Intention, and Prosecution. It is not enough to consent; these things may be extorted from us by moral Persuasion: but there must be a serious Choice, an invincible Resolution, such an Intention, as is prosecuted with all manner of Industry and serious Endeavours, whatever Disappointments we meet with from God and Men. Then this Intention, or invincible Resolution is such, as will not be broken by Difficulties, weakned by Loss of Interest, not discouraged by the many Disappointments we meet with, even in our waiting upon God. 4. We have many times a seeming Awe upon the Conscience, and so are urged to do God's Will, yet the Heart is averse from God all the while; therefore they strive to bring God's Will and theirs together, to compromise the Difference. A notable Instance of this you have in Balaam: He had a Message sent to him, and a great Bribe; now he had a carnal Heart, which ran out upon the Wages of Unrighteousness, and therefore tho he knew the People of Israel were blessed of the Lord, yet first he will go to God. Numb. 22. 8. Lodge here this Night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak into me. He is very tender, he durst not go with them, unless the Lord say, Go. But God denies him; v. 12. Thou shalt not go with them. What then? The Lord refuseth to give him leave. Then Balak sends more honourable Messengers, and propounds Rewards again; then his carnal Will is for God; v. 18. Balaam answered, If Balak would give me his House full of Silver and Gold, I cannot go beyond the Word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Was not this spoken with an honest Mind, think you? This was the Dictate of his Conscience; not for a House-full of Gold durst he go against God the Lord: Yet you shall find 'twas a sore Temptation to him, for he goes again to God, v. 19. Tarry here this Night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more. Then saith God, Go, when he saw his Heart was set for the Wages of Unrighteousness. There was a Reluctancy in his Conscience, he durst not go, therefore he would fain bring the Will of God to his Will. In many Cases we are thus divided, between our own Affections, and God's Will; between our Interests, and the Will of God. It is a Case often falls out, when there is a Quarrel between Conviction and Corruption. When Light is active and strong in Conscience, Men dare not go against the apparent Will of God, yet their Hearts hang another way. We have one carnal Affection or other, and then all our Business is, to bring God's Will and ours together; and how to disguise and palliate the Matter, that with greatest leave to Conscience we may seem to contradict the Will of God. 5. A fifth Deceit about the Will of God, and that is, a Wish that we were brought under the Power of it, as he that stretcht himself upon his Bed, and said, O that this were to labour! Many Men have a Velliety, a languid and incompleat Will; they have a Wish, but not a Volition, not a serious Desire; and sometimes they may draw it out to a cold Prayer, that God would make them better. It is just like a Man, that should lie down and complain, O that I were at such a place, and never travel! Would I had performed such a Task! yet puts not his hand to the Work. Men would, but they will not set themselves in good earnest to get the Grace they wish for, there is not striving to accomplish their Will. A Chapman no doubt would have the Wares, it is like he hath a cold Wish, but will not come to the Price; I will buy it, whatever it cost me. They have not those active and industrious Resolutions, such a strong and serious Bent of Heart towards God, but only a few Wishes. 6. Hal[illegible: 1 letter]ing the Will of God; as in many Cases, many will do part of the Will of God, but not all; they come not fully up to the Mind of God. For Instance; They will take notice of some great Commandment, but not of the least; we cannot dispense with our selves in the least. Mat. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of the least Commandments, and shall teach Men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. We are apt to say, It is but a little one, and my Soul shall live. No Sin is little, which is committed against a great God. It argueth more Wickedness, to break with God for a Trifle, and a very small Matter; it argueth more Corruption: As a little Force will make a heavy Body move downward. Again, in another Case; The Ceremonialist stands upon some lesser things; as the Jews, Iohn 18. 28. would not go into the Iudgment-Hall, lest they should be defiled, yet they could seek the Life of the Lord of Glory. They are not brought under the Dominion of the Lord's Grace, Faith, Repentance, Holiness, and the weightier things of the Law; these are things they regard not. This is Hypocrisy. Like one that comes into a Shop to buy a Penny-worth, and steals a Pound's worth; so they are punctual in lesser things, that they may make bold with God in greater. Again, some will do the Will of God in publick, where they may be observed, but not in private, and when alone. They make a fair shew in the World, but in their Families their Converse is more loose and careless. Psal. 101. 2. I will walk within my House with a perfect Heart. A Man that is truly holy, will shew it at home and abroad, in his Closet, and secret Retirements, every where he makes Conscience of the Will of God. Many times we strain our selves, and put forth our Gifts in publick; God will be served with our utmost in secret also; and the Will of God is exprest concerning the inward, as well as the outward Man; and we must make Conscience of both. Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked Man forsake his Way, and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts, &c. Not only make Conscience of our Way, our outward Course, but of our Thoughts, as well as our Actions; for the Thoughts fall under a Law. So some will make Conscience of the First-Table Duties, and neglect the Second; and some of the Second, and neglect the first. Some are very punctual in dealing with Men, but neglectful of God. Rom. 1. 18. The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven, against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men. Both Tables are owned from Heaven. Some will not wrong their Neighbour of a Farthing, but stick not to rob God of all that Faith, Fear, Love, Trust, Worship, that is due to him. Many that will not defile their Bodies with promiscuous Copulation, yet are Adulterers and Adulteresses to God, their Hearts stragling from God, doting upon the Creature, to the Wrong of God. Many condemn the Rebellion of Absalom, and rise up against their heavenly Father, and are Murtherers, that strike at the Being of God. They are tender of wronging the Reputation of Men, yet dishonour God, and are never troubled. So (on the other side) others fear and worship, but in their Dealings are very unconscionable; they will not swear an Oath, but are very uncharitable, censuring their Brethren without pity and remorse. This is the fashion of the World, to be in with one Duty, and out with another. 7. A Loathness to know the Will of God, to search and enquire into it, argueth Deceit, and that we are loth to come under the Power of it. Some Men shrewdly suspect it is true, but are loth to enquire into it. Iohn 3. 20. Every one that doth Evil, hateth the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his Deeds should be reproved. They have a shrewd Guess about the Ways of God, but will not search to be satisfied. 2 Pet. 3. 5. They are willingly ignorant. As Tertullian saith of the Heathens, they would not search into the Christian Religion, because they had a mind to hate it: So these are loth to enquire further into the Will of God. There's a great deal of Deceit in it; it shews we are afraid to come too near a suspected Truth. Again, now and then when Lusts are under some restraint, Men seem to lie much under the Will of God. A Horse that is kept low, is easily ruled by the Rider; but when fed high, he grows head-strong. Many times in a mean Condition a Man seems to make Conscience of doing the Will of God; but when prosperous, he waxeth wanton and disobedient. Ier. 5. 5. I will get me to the great Men, but these have altogether broken the Yoke, and burst the Bonds. So that there are a great many Mistakes about doing the Will of God, therefore you had need search. Secondly; How shall we know we are rightly affected with the Will of God? 1. When God's Will is Reason enough for what he hath required of us; when a Man is so sensible of God's will, that this is instead of all Reasons. Obedience is never right, but when it is done upon the meer sight of God's Will. This is enough to a gracious Heart, that this is the Will of God, 1 Pet. 2. 15. 1 Thess. 5. 18. tho the Duty be never so cross to our own Desires and Interests. This is to obey the Commandment for the Commandment's sake, without any other Reason or Inducement. There is indeed Ratio formalis, & Ratio motiva; the formal Reasons of Obedience, and the Motives of Obedience: The formal Reason of Obedience, is the sight of God's Will, the Motives to Obedience are Rewards, and a Dread of Punishment. The formal Reason is God's Will; and this is pure Obedience, to do vvhat God vvills, because God vvills it. 2. When a Man is very inquisitive to know what is the Will of his heavenly Father. When he doth not only practise what he knows, but searcheth that he may know more. Rom. 12. 2. That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect Will of God. And, Ephes. 5. 17. Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the Will of the Lord is. When a Man is desirous to know the whole Will of God, not for Curiosity, but for Practice, that he might do it. When the Understanding hath a confused Notion of a thing, they will not know it distinctly; but when Men search, and are willing to find out the Counsel of God in all things, that they may come up to it; this is a Sign the Heart is rightly affected to the Will of God. 3. Hereby may you know your Affection to God's Will, by keeping your selves from your Sins. Psal. 18. 23. I was upright before him, and kept my self from mine Iniquity. There is an Iniquity that we may call ours, upon which the Will is most passionately addicted; be it Worldliness, Sensuality, inordinate Desire of Reputation and Respect with Men. Now when we are plucking out our right Eye, and cutting off our right Hand, Mat. 5. 29. When we are mortifying and subduing our Lusts, when we can deny our selves in those things to which the Heart is most wedded; that's a Sign of Compliance with the Will of God. The second Point. Doct. 2. That it is the Lord which giveth to will and to do those Things which are pleasing in his sight. Therefore we ask it of him, Thy Will be done; that is, (as I explain'd it) we ask of him a Heart, Skill, and Strength, to do his holy Will. Here I shall tell you, 1. What I mean by the Point. 2. Give you the Proof of it. I. What I mean by the Point. 1. I mean thus, That in the Work of Conversion God doth all. Ezek. 11. 19. I will give them one Heart, and I will put a new Spirit within you; and I will take the stony Heart out of their Flesh, and I will give them an Heart of Flesh. The Benefit of a tender sanctified Heart is God's Gift. Ezek. 36. 26, 27. A new Heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony Heart out of your Flesh, and I will give you an Heart of Flesh, and I will cause you to walk in my Statutes. Mark, a new Heart, that is, another Heart, a Heart to understand, a Heart to love, a Heart to do the Will of God, he gives it: He doth not only remove it, or prepare it, make way for it, but I will give you a Heart of Flesh. 2. This is that I mean, That after Conversion God still concurreth; He doth not only give Grace, but actual Help in the Work of Obedience: He worketh all our Works in us. Isa. 26. 12. His actual Help is necessary to direct, quicken, strengthen, protect and defend us. To direct us: Psal. 73. 24. Thou shalt guide me by thy Counsel, and bring me to thy Glory. In our way to Heaven, we need not only a Rule and Path, but a Guide. The Rule is the Law of God, but the Guide is the Spirit of God. To quicken and excite us by effectual Motions. A Drousiness and a Deadness is apt to creep upon our Hearts, and we see in the same Duty, it is a hard matter to keep up the same Frame of Spirit, the same Vigor of Affection, Life, and Warmth; and therefore vve had need go to God often, as David, Psal. 119. 37. Quicken thou me in thy Way. It is God vvhich doth renew the Vigor of the Life of Grace upon all occasions, when it begins to languish and droop. To corroborate and strengthen vvhat vve have received. Ephes. 3. 16. the Apostle prays there, that he would strengthen with might by his Spirit in the inner Man; and, 1 Pet. 5. 10. Make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. There are many Words heaped up there, to shew, how God is interested in maintaining and keeping afoot that which he hath planted in the Soul. In protecting and defending them against the Incursions and Assaults of the Devil, who always lieth in wait to surprize the Soul, to withdraw us from God. The Regenerate are not only escaped out of his Clutches, but are advanced and appointed to be Satan's Judges, which an envious and proud Spirit cannot endure, therefore he maligns, assaults, and besiegeth them with Temptations daily. Now it is God that defends; Iohn 17. 11. Keep through thine own Name, those whom thou hast given me: By thy Name, that is, by thy Power. 3. God must not only help us in the general, and upon weighty occasions, but in every Act, from the beginning of the Spiritual Life, to the end. It is not enough to say, that the first Principles and Motions are of God, but the flowing forth of all Motions and Actions, according to those Principles. Phil. 2. 13. It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. God not only gives the Desire and Purpose, but he gives Grace to do the Good which we will and purpose to do. These two are distinct; and we may have Assistance in one kind, and not in another: Willing and Doing, I mean, are different. Paul saith, Rom. 7. 18. To will, is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. To will, is more than to think; and to exert and put forth our Will into Action, it is more than both: and in all we need God's help. We cannot think a good Thought, nor conceive a holy Purpose, much less perform a good Action, without God; so that every moment we need renewed Strength. As long as the Work of Grace is powerful and renewed in us, so long we are kept in a warm and healthful Frame; but we grow vain, loose, earthly, carnal again, and off from God, when this Heat and Warmth of Grace is withdrawn. And therefore God still concurreth, in the whole Business of our Obedience to him. II. Having shewed what I mean, and how far God is interested in this Work, what need we have to desire we may do his Will; let us prove it: And because it is a weighty Point, I shall prove it by parts. 1. As to the first Grace, that it is God alone, which frames our Hearts to the Obedience of his Will. 2. That vvhen vve are thus framed by Grace, after Conversion, it is God still concurs, and must help us to do his Will. First; As to the first-Grace, I shall prove that it is God alone, by the Power of his own Spirit, vvhich frames our Hearts to the Obedience of his Will. This vvill appear, by considering, 1. What Man is by Nature. 2. The Words by which our Cure is expressed, and the Way God takes to put us into a Course of Obedience. 3. What the Scripture speaks, as to the utter Impotency of Man, to the framing of his [illegible: 1 letter]eart to the Obedience of God's Will. First; This will appear by those Motions or emphatical Terms, by which the Scripture doth set forth Man's Condition before God works upon him. He is one that is born in Sin: Psal. 51. 5. Behold I was shapen in Iniquity, and in Sin did my Mother conceive me; and things natural, are not easily altered. And as he is born in Sin, so he is greedy of Sin; Iob 15. 16. He drinketh in Iniquity like Water; it noteth a vehement Propension; as greedy to Sin, as a thirsty Man to Drink. Thirst is the most implacable Appetite, Hunger is far better born: It is the constant frame of his Heart; Gen. 6. 5. Every Imagination of the thoughts of his Heart is only evil continually. O how many aggravating and increasing Circumstances are there named, &c. There is a Mint that is always at work; the Mind is coining evil Thoughts; and the Heart, evil Desires and carnal Motions; and the Memory is the Closet and Store-house where they are lodged and kept. This is the case of Man, born in Sin, greedy and thirsty of Sin, and one whose Thoughts are evil continually. But may not a Man be reclaimed? Oh no, for he hath a Heart of Stone; Ezek. 36. 26. I will take away the Heart of Stone. Every Man that comes to be converted, hath a Heart of Stone, and what's that? insensible, inflexible: Insensible, he hath no feeling of his Condition: Inflexible, he will not be moved and wrought upon by the Word, and the Spirit, and Providence: How many means are wasted upon him, and to no purpose? And Ier. 17. 9. The Heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? It invents all kinds of Shifts and Excuses to elude God, or rather to cheat it self: When God comes to work upon Man, it slides away from under his hand, as if Salvation it self should not save them. Yea, but is not the New-Testament more favourable to Man than the Old? Or, is not Man grown better, now there is so much of God's Grace discovered? I answer, there's a perfect Harmony between the Testaments: there he is stiled a Child of Wrath by Nature; Eph. 2. 3. the Elect as well as others were so. There you will find him to be a Servant of Sin; Rom. 6. 17. Never such an imperious Master as Sin is, never such a willing Servant as Man is: Sin never leaves commanding, and we love to work, and therefore are at its beck. There you will find him to be represented to a Man that hath a blind Vnderstanding, and a hard Heart, and one that is averse from the Life of God; Eph. 4. 18. There you will find one that is an Enemy to the Law of God, Enmity it self; Rom. 8. 7. one that neither will nor can please God: One that is blind, and knows not what to do; 2 Pet. 1. 9. He that lacketh these things, is blind, and with such a Blindness as is far worse than bodily. A Man that is blind in his bodily Eyes, would think it to be a great Happiness to have a fit Guide; as in Acts 13. 11. when Elymas was smitten blind, he sought about for some body to lead him by the hand: But he that is spiritually blind, cannot endure to have a Guide; or if one would lead him, and direct him in the right way he is angry. And as the Scripture represents him as blind, so without Strength; Rom. 5. 9. Dead in Trespasses and Sins: Eph. 2. 5. yea worse then dead; a dead Man doth no more hurt, his Evil dyeth with him; but there's a Life of Resistance and Rebellion against God, that goeth along. I have spoken but little, yet put all together, and then it shews what a miserable wretched Creature Man is. The Scripture doth not speak this by chance, it is not an Hyperbole used once or twice; but every where, where it speaks of this matter, it sets out Man to be blind, hard, dead, obstinate and averse from God. Certainly Man contributes little to his own Conversion, if the Word of God sets him out every where to be such a one; he cannot hunger and thirst after Christ, that drinks in Iniquity like Water; nothing in his Nature to carry him to Grace, who is altogether sinful. If the Scripture had only said, that Man had accustomed himself to Sin, and were not born in Sin: If it had said that Man is very prone, and not greedy and thirsty in Iniquity: If it had only said that Man did often think Evil, but not continually: If the Scripture had said, that Man were somewhat obstinate, but not a Stone, an Adamant, and like the nether Milstone: That he had been indifferent to God and the World, God and the Flesh, and not a professed Enemy: That he had been a Captive of Sin, and not a Servant of Sin: That Man had been weak, and not dead: only a Neuter, and not a Rebel: Then there might have been something in Man; and the work of Conversion and reducing to God had not been so great: But the Scripture saith the quite contrary, that Man is all this and much more; therefore this clears it up, that his Conversion is not in himself, but it is God must work this good Work upon him, or else he can never be renewed. Secondly; Let us consider the Terms how the Cure is wrought: Certainly to remedy so great an Evil, requireth an Omnipotent, an Almighty Power. Therefore see how Conversion is described in Scripture; sometimes by enlightning the Mind; Ephes. 1. 18. The Eyes of your Vnderstanding being enlightned; that ye may know what is the hope of his Calling, &c. Man, the best Creature on this side Heaven, is stark blind in the things of God: If he should go to see with the Light of Nature, how would he grope at Noon-day? If he should put on the Spectacles of Art, he will be but little better. Nay, let him take further, the Glass of the Word, yet how blind in a spiritual sence. Something there must be done upon the Faculty; the Object must not only be revealed, but the Eye must be enlightned: There are thick Scales upon his Eye, as Paul had in his Blindness, that must be taken off, before he can see into the things of God. But is this all, enlightning the Eye? No, the Scripture describeth this Work of God by opening of the Heart; Acts 16. 14. God opened the Heart of Lydia, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. God doth not only knock at the Heart, that he doth by his Word, and by the external means; but he openeth the Heart; he must open the Door, before he can come in, enter, and take Possession. As to the means, God trieth Key after Key, one Providence after another. As when a Man would open a Door, he knows not what Key will fit the Lock, he trieth Key after Key: So God trieth one Cross, one Affliction after another, one Sermon, one Message after another; but until he puts his Fingers upon the hole of the Lock, we shall not open. But these Words are not emphatical enough; therefore it is expressed by a Regeneration; John 3. 3. Except a Man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God: Mark, they must not only be reformed, but must be regenerated, and born again. Now because this is an ordinary Work which falleth out in the course of Causes, therefore there's a more solemn Notion used, it is exprest by a Resurrection; Eph. 2. 5. He hath raised you up together with Christ. Yea, but that which hath been may be again; therefore it is exprest not only by a Resurrection, but by a Creation; Ephes. 2. 10. We are his Workmanship, created in Christ Iesus unto good Works: 2 Cor. 4. 6. He that commandeth the Light to shine out of Darkness, hath shined in our Hearts: And we are called New-Creatures. And higher than this, it is expressed not only by a Creation, but by a Victory, and overcoming: It is resembled by beating and binding of the strong Man, and rescuing, and taking away his Prey from him; Luke 11. 21, 22. 1 Iohn 4. 4. By bringing into Captivity every proud thought to the Obedience of Christ: 2 Cor. 10. 5. These Expressions the Scripture useth to set out the Mystery of Grace, the Power of God that worketh in us. What is wanting in one, is supplied in another. The third thing I shall produce; That the Scripture doth expresly deny any Power in Man to convert himself to God; 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural Man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned; and as he cannot know, so he cannot obey; Rom. 8. 7. The carnal Mind is Enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be; and they cannot please God; ver. 8. And they cannot come to Christ; John 6. 44. No Man can come to me, except the Father draw him: and they cannot do any thing without Christ: John 15. 15. And they cannot think a good Thought; 2 Cor. 3. 5. And they cannot bring forth good Fruit; Mat. 7. 18. And they cannot speak a good Word; Mat. 12. 34. And they cannot believe; Iohn 12. 39. And they cannot do that which is good; Ier 13. 23. Ye that are accustomed to do Evil, cannot do Good. From whence doth all this Deficiency in them arise? partly from Nature, partly from Custom. Besides the natural, there's a customary and habitual Depravation. By Nature we are averse from God, and by Custom we are more confirmed in this evil Aversation from God. Man, by lying long in his Unregeneracy, hath his Aversness from God increased and strengthened upon him: Naturally we are in love with the World, and have declined God, and the things of God. Consider him in his Naturals, he cannot know the things of the Spirit; 1 Cor. 2. 14. And the carnal Mind cannot be subject to the Law of God, being at Enmity against him: Rom. 8. 7. There are other places express this cannot, which derive it from Custom; they are become Slaves to their Lusts, and their Sins have gotten such a hand over them that they know not how to break them off. Ier. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his Skin, or the Leopard his Spots? Then may ye also do Good, that are accustomed to do Evil. And so where it is said, Iohn. 12. 39. They could not believe. Naturally man is unable; but that place speaks of another degree of Impossibility through contracted Obstinacy, and judicial Obduration. Thus you see Man is wholly impotent, as to this Work, and it is the Lord alone must do it. Object. But here's an Objection. If it be so that Man hath such an utter Impotency to convert himself to God; how can it stand with the Mercy of God, as the Creator of Mankind, to require the debt of Obedience from him that is not able to pay? How can it stand with the Iustice of God, to punish him with eternal Death, for the neglect of that which he is not able to do? and how can it stand with the Wisdom of the Supream Law-giver, to exhort him by Promises and Threatnings, who hath no power to do what he is exhorted to do? I answer. 1. As to the first, How it can stand with the Mercy of God to require the debt of Obedience from him that is not able to pay? God hath not lost his Right, though Man hath lost his Power: their Impotency doth not dissolve their Obligation. A drunken Servant is a Servant still: It is against all reason, a Master should lose his Right by the Servant's default. A prodigal Debtor hath nothing to pay, yet he is liable to be sued for the Debt without any Injustice. God contracted with us in Adam, and gave us a Power, which we lost by his Fall: and therefore though our Power be gone, yet God may demand his due to obey and please him; especially since this Obedience God required of Adam, was not only due, by Covenant and positive Law, but by immutable Right, and natural Justice of Man. Men think it harsh to suffer for Adam's Fault, to which they were not conscious, and actually consenting. Yea, but consider, every Man will find an Adam in his own Heart, the Old-man is there, we are still sinning away those Reliques of natural Light in Conscience, and those few moral Inclinations which are left. There is a little Ability and Strength he hath as a Man, and shall not God challenge the Debt of Obedience from a proud prodigal Debtor, that is weakning and wasting himself more and more? We are proud, therefore God may exact it of us: we think we are able to obey, and do his Will, when we are weak: we are poor, yet think our selves rich; therefore God may admonish us of our Duty; demand his Right, to shew our Impotency and Beggary, and that we may not pretend we were not called upon for what we owe. But Man is not only a proud Debtor, but we are prodigal Debtors; those Reliques of Conscience, and moral and human Inclinations which escaped out of the Ruines of the Fall, we lose those things every day, and embe[illegible: 1 letter]el them away by the Service of Sin. Therefore it standeth fully with the Clemency of God, as Creator of Mankind, to require the Debt of him that wasts that little Stock he hath. 2. As to the other part, How it can stand with the Justice of God to punish him with eternal Death, for the neglect of that he cannot do? I answer: Besides natural Impotency, there's voluntary. We must not consider Man meerly as impotent to Good, but as delighting in Evil, as loving it with all his Heart. This cannot, indeed is a will not, it is a voluntary Impotence. You will not come to me, that ye might have Life: John 5. 40. Our Impotency lies in our Obstinacy: So Man is left without excuse, because we freely refuse the Grace offered, and by continuing in Sin we increase our Bondage, and draw an inveterate Custom upon our selves, and so grow every day more obstinate against God. 3. As to the last, How can it stand with the Wisdom of God, to exhort him with Promises and Threatnings, that hath no Power to do that vvhich he is exhorted to? I answer; These Exhortations, they carry their own Blessing with them, to those to vvhom God means them for good. As God's [illegible: 1 word]. Word carried vvith it its Povver; Be there Light, and it was Light: And as Christ's Word carried forth his Povver, it vvas not in vain to say, La[illegible: 2 letters] rus, come forth, tho he vvas dead, and could not hear it; there vvas a mighty Povver vvent vvith the Word. So there's Power goes along vvith the Exhortations of the Gospel, to vvork Grace in the Hearts of those to vvhom God intends it as a Blessing. Yea, but if this be for the Elects sake only, and to convey that Power to them, to what use doth it stand to others? If the Elect did dwell alone, and were a distinct Community among themselves, the Objection were plausible; but they are hidden among others: Therefore Reprobates are called obiter, by the by, as others are called according to purpose; and therefore they have the Benefit of the common Call, and the common Offer. The World stands for the Elects sake, yet others have the Benefit of the World, and worldly Things. So the Word is preached for the Elects sake, yet others have the Benefit of an external Call. The Sun shines, tho blind Men see it not. The Rain falls upon Rocks and Mountains, as well as fruitful Valleys: So God may suffer these Exhortations to light upon wicked Men. And again, as to them, it is for their Conviction, it is to bridle their Corruptions; it is at least a means to civilize them, and keep them from growing worse: Therefore such kind of Doctrines and Persuasions restrain their Wickedness. Therefore it stands well enough with the Wisdom of the Law-giver, to call upon Men, and invite them, with Promises and Threatnings, to Repentance. Therefore now let me shew, How doth God reduce and frame our Hearts to the Obedience of his Will? The Ways God useth are of two sorts, Moral and Real. 1. God works morally, so as to preserve Man's Nature, and the Principles thereof; therefore he works by sweet Inclination, not with Violence. So he comes with Blandishments, and comfortable Words; Hos. 2. 14. I will allure her, and bring her into the Wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. So, Gen. 9. 27. The Lord shall persuade Japhet, and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem. By fair and kindly Words, he draweth on Men to the liking of the Gospel. He offereth no violence to our natural Principles, but to our Corruptions. God doth not make the Will to be no Will, but to be a good Will; He restoreth the Faculties to their right Use and Exercise; He layeth forth the Beauty and Excellency of his Grace, and a glorious Estate he sets before our Eyes, and [illegible: 1 letter]o out-bids Temptation, and draweth our Hearts to himself. And God not only doth work suitably to our general Nature, as we are reasonable Creatures, but suitably to the particular Frame of the Heart. Some are of a stout and stubborn Temper, and will not be subdued by milder Means and Motives; therefore God breaks them with Fears and Terrors, and with a Spirit of Conviction: And others, he draws them on by Love, and by a gentle Application. That God hath respect to Mens particular Tempers, was figured in those extraordinary Ways of Appearance and Manifestation; they are fitted according to the State of Men. To Moses that was a Shepherd, and was acquainted with Bushes, God appears in a Bush of Fire: And to the Wise Men, that were skill'd in the Motions of the heavenly Bodies, he appears in a Star. And to Peter, that was a Fisherman, he appears to him, and shews his Power first in the Draught of Fishes. So still these are Pledges of this kind of Dispensation, that God will work suitably not only to our general Nature, as Men, but to our particular State and Temper. Yea, yet further, to set on this moral Way of working, there is a fit Subordination of the Circumstances of Providence. God takes the wild Asses in their Month; and he hath his Season wherein to surprize the He[illegible: 1 letter]rts of Sinners. Prov. 25. 11. A Word fitly spoken, is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver. God comes in in a fit Season; as when a Soul is humbled by some sudden Accident: As one was converted, by seeing a Man fall down dead suddenly by him. God ordereth some Providences to work, and awaken the Hearts of Men. Or else by some great Affliction. Hos. 2. 14. I will bring her into the Wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. God finds many a Sinner in the Briars, as Abraham found the Lamb. Stubborn Humors are then most broken. Metal in the Furnace is capable of any Form. God may suit and dispose us so, that he may come in in a fit season to the Soul. Or in Terrors of Conscience, when the Heart is scourged with remorse for great Sins. All this is God's moral Work. 2. There is a real Work, which goes along with this Persuasion; there is an Almighty Power: For bare Persuasion cannot make the Blind to see, the Dead to live, or open the Heart of Man, that is so desperately and obstinately wicked, until he puts his Fingers upon the Holes of the Lock, until he begins to open the Heart. Concerning this real Work, observe, it is secret, yet thorow and prevailing, so as the Effect doth follow, when God will convert. The exact Manner of God's drawing is unknown; Austin calls it an inward, hidden, and unspeakable Power, which God putteth forth together with the Word; it is marvellous in our Eyes; but he that knew how to creat Souls, knows how to work upon them. This Power, it is like the Influences of the Heavens, which so insinuate themselves with the Operation of second Causes, that they cannot be seen: so there is such a mighty Power working in us, tho we cannot tell how to express it. We cannot say there is no such Power, because we do not know what it is. And as this Power is secret, so when this Power is put forth, it is prevailing; he works prevailingly, so as the Effect must necessarily follow. The Grace God gives to Men, to convert them, it is not a Power to be converted, repent, and believe, if they will; no, but he gives Repentance, he gives Faith, and works so as the Effect shall succeed: He works efficaciously and determinately, so as to oppose all the Resistance of the Will, and accomplish his Work. That's the first Branch. Secondly; When we are thus framed by Grace, after Conversion God still concurreth, and must help us to do his Will. He doth not only give us the Habit of Grace, but actual Help in the Work of Obedience. Isa. 26. 12. Thou hast wrought all our Works in us. But why is it that still the Lord worketh in us, both to will and to do, unto the last; and not only begins with us, but still keeps Grace in his own hands, so as we shall have our Supplies from Heaven from day to day? There are several Reasons: 1. Because it endeareth God to a gracious Soul. The more Visits we have from God, and the more he is mindful of us at every turn, the more is God endeared to us. In such a Duty, there we met with Comfort and Enlargement, because God was there; that is noted and regarded, so that the Lord is rendred the more precious. The Experiment we have of God in every Duty, doth the more make us prize his Grace. As David, Psal. 119. 93. I will never forget thy Precepts; for with them thou hast quickned me. I shall never forget such a Sermon, and such a Prayer, because there I met with God. So in Affliction, Rom. 5. 3. Patience worketh Experience; or in such a Conflict, we had such a Support; this endeareth God to the Soul. As mutual Acts of Kindness do maintain a Friendship between Man and Man; so do these renewed Acts of Love, and of God's Care and Kindness over us, maintain a Friendship between God and us. 2. It engageth us to a constant Dependance upon God, and Communion with him. It is Dependance which maintains the Commerce between Heaven and Earth. Now if we did keep the Stock our selves, God and we should soon grow Strangers. When the Prodigal had his Portion in his own hands, he goes out of his Father's House, Luke 15. The Throne of Grace would lie neglected and unfrequented, if we did not stand in need of daily Receivings; when would the Lord hear from us? And therefore to oblige us to a constant Dependance, God will keep the Grace in his own hands, that ever we may have something to drive us to himself, some Necessities upon us, for the Throne of Grace is for a Time of Need, Heb. 4. 16. 3. This is that which keeps us humble; and that upon several Considerations. All we have, 'tis by Gift; and then what can we be proud of? Not only the Habits of Grace themselves, but also those actual Incitements, which are necessary to draw them forth into Act. So that of all our Excellencies we may say, Alas! 'tis but borrowed; and if we be proud of them, we are but proud we are more in Debt than others; when most enlarged, and most assisted, it is from God. We would laugh, if a Groom should be proud of his Master's Horse, and his Master's Cloak: Shall we usurp that Honour that is due to God? What hast thou that thou didst not receive? 1 Cor. 4. 7. And then we have it from Hand to Mouth. That which we have received, will not bear us out, unless God come in with new Influences of Grace. We should soon grow proud, if God did not direct us, and give out the renewed Evidences of his Love day after day. And we should not acknowledg our Benefactor, if God should do all at once; therefore he lesseneth and weakneth our Corruptions by degrees, and by the renewed Influences of his Grace. And by this means we are made sensible of the Mutability of our own Nature. God left Hezekiah, to try him, that he might know all that was in his Heart. 2 Chron. 32. 31. God hath so dispensed Grace, that he will be going and coming as to actual Influence; therefore sometimes he will leave us, that he may discover a Man to himself. Tho we have Grace planted in our Hearts, and are renewed, yet if God leave us, how weak and foolish are we! We are renewed, but not fully recovered of that Maim and Bruise we got by the Fall of Adam, and we cannot do as we will. If God withdraw his Quickning, his Strength, secret Corruption will break forth, and our Indisposition to holy Things will soon appear. 4. Then it is for the Honor of the Lord's Grace. It doth abundantly provide for the Glory of Grace, that from first to last we are indebted to God; not only for those permanent and fixed Habits, which constitute the New Creature; but for those daily Supplies, without which the Motions of the Spirit are at a stand. And this is that which makes the Saints still to put the Crown upon Grace's Head. When the Servants gave an Account of improving of their Talents, saith one of them, Luke 19. 16. Lord, thy Pound hath gained ten Pounds: He doth not say, My Industry, but, Thy Pound. So Paul, Gal. 2. 20. I live; yea, but he interposeth presently, Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. They are ever ascribing all to God, because they see they can do nothing without him. When we come to Heaven, 'tis a Question which we shall admire most, Grace, or Glory; the Glory of that Estate into which we are brought; or else Grace, which was the Foundation of it. O when we see all that was done and suffered for God, it was from God: Of thine own have we given thee. How will the Soul admire the Riches of his glorious Grace! We have not only traded with his Money, but by his Direction; and when our Stock was imbezell'd, he supplied us at every turn. For these Ends the Lord still keeps Grace in his own hands, that we can do nothing to any purpose, unless he be pleased to concur, by the Influences and Quicknings of his own Spirit. VSE. The Use shall only be in these two Branches. 1. In doing any good Work, let us do all things in him, as well as to him. Let us not only make this our Scope, that we may do it to God; but let us make his Grace our Principle: Otherwise, when we go to work for God, without God, it will befall us, as it did Sampson, that thought to go out and shake himself, as in former time, but his Locks were cut, and his Strength gone. Men that have had former Experiences, think to find a like Vigor of Affection, a like Raisedness of Spirit, a like Savoriness of Expression; but if they take not God along with them, they find their Strength is gone, their Affections dead, that all their Spirits are dry and sapless, and that they do not go forth with such Life and Power as formerly. Therefore when ever you go about a good Work, say, as David, I will go forth in the Strength of God. 2. It directs us in ascribing the Honour of what we have done. It is dangerous to assume Divine Honour to our selves, or accept it from others; but we must give the Lord the Glory, whose Concurrence doth all the Work. Remember, we have received all from God, and God must have all the Glory and Honour. If others should ascribe it to us, we are not to take it. To conceal and receive stollen Goods, brings us within the Compass of Theft, as well as to steal them our selves. So, when others would ascribe any thing to us, still let the Lord have the Glory of every Work and Business. The third Point. Doct. 3. We are not only to look to this, that his Will be done, but to the Manner how it is done. It is not for the Honour of his Majesty, to be put off with any thing; we must serve him with all our Mind and Strength. Mal. 1. 14. When ye brought that which was torn, and lame, and sick; should I accept this of your Hands? saith the Lord. I am a great King, saith the Lord of Hosts, and my Name is dreadful among the Heathen. We are to aim at the highest manner of serving God. There is an ardent Desire in the Saints to be perfect: If by any means they would attain to the Resurrection of the Dead. Phil. 3. 11. That is, that happy and sinless State they shall enjoy hereafter. The Manner is more considerable than the Work it self. A Man may sin in doing good, but he cannot sin in doing well; therefore the Manner is that which is mainly stood upon in Scripture. God doth not only look that we pray, but it must be [illegible: 1 letter]ervent effectual Prayer, not a drousy Devotion; not only that we hear, but take heed how we hear; not only that we serve him, but serve him instantly; not only run, but so run. The great thing that is put into the Ballance of the Sanctuary, when God comes to weigh the Actions of Men, what doth he consider? He weighs the Spirits; Prov. 16. 2. All the Ways of Man are right in his own Eyes; but the Lord weigheth the Spirits: That is, he considers vvith vvhat frame of Heart, and in vvhat manner vve go about any thing vve do for him. And therefore this is the main thing vve should look after, in what manner we serve him; even as the Angels do in Heaven; not in an ordinary, but perfect manner. But wherein doth the Resemblance hold? How should we be as the Angels? 1. In conformity to the Angels, we must serve God readily. The Angels are represented as with Wings, Isa. 6. 2. And the Angel Gabriel is said to flie swiftly upon God's Message. They are hearkning for God's Word, and go on God's Errand. So we should be ready and speedy in our Obedience. Psal. 119. 60. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy Commandments. It is not enough to keep God's Commandments, but vve must make haste, (that is) before the strength of the present Impulsion be lost, and those Fervors which are upon us be cool'd. 2. Willingly and chearfully, and without murmuring. Angels are ready at God's beck; they are ministring Spirits, even to the meanest Saints; God hath sent them abroad for the Heirs of Salvation; they are as Guardians to them, to look after them in all their Ways. The Devils, what Christ bids them do, do it murmuringly; the unclean Spirit would not come out without rending and tearing, Mark 9. Christ's presence was a Burthen to them, Mat. 8. When we do things with reluctancy, murmuringly, we are more like the Devil, than the Angels. When the Devils obey his Word, they are forced to it by the absolute Power of Christ; yet they do it not with Willingness and Freeness, as the good Angels do. But we are to do it freely: I delight to do thy Will, O my God. Psal. 40. 8. And, Iohn 4. 34. It is my Meat and Drink, to do the Will of him that sent me. That was the Dish Christ loved. 3. Constantly and unweariedly. Thus do the Angels in Heaven. The Devils, they abode not in the Truth; but Angels, they do it without weariness; they rest not Day nor Night, but are still lauding, praising, and serving God, and are never weary. God in Communion is ever new and fresh to them; the Face of their heavenly Father is as lovely as at first moment; no Weariness or Satiety creeps upon those good Spirits. Thus should we do it, without Weariness; and then we shall reap, if we faint not. 4. Faithfully, not picking and chusing: They hearken to the Voice of his Word, whatever it be, be it to ascend or descend: So we, if it be to go backward for God, tho it be against the Bent of our Hearts. David is said to be a Man after God's Heart, because he did all God's Will. Acts 13. 22. All which should be a Patern for us, and we should strive to come up to it. Give us this day our daily Bread. WE are now come to the second sort of Petitions, that concern our selves, as the former did more immediately concern God. Now you may observe the Stile in the Prayer is altered: It was before, Thy Name, Thy Kingdom, Thy Will; now it is, Give us, and forgive us, &c. Before, our Lord had taught us to speak in a third Person, Thy Will be done; and now in a second Person, Give us this day. Which is not so to be understood, as if we were not at all concern'd in the former part of the Lord's Prayer. In those Petitions, the Benefit is not God's, but ours. When his Name is sanctified, his Kingdom cometh, and his Will is done; these Things do not only concern the Glory of God, but also our Benefit. It is our Advantage, when God is honoured by the Coming of Christ's Kingdom, and the Subjection of our Hearts unto himself. But these latter Petitions do more immediatly concern us. Now among these, in the first place, we pray for the necessary Provisions of the present Life. Some make a scruple, why such a Prayer should be put in the first place? Surely, not to shew the Value of these Things above Pardon and Grace; but this is the last of the Supplications. The Lord's Prayer may be divided into Supplications and Deprecations. Among the Supplications, there we pray'd, first, for the Glory of God; next, for the Kingdom of God; next, for our Subjection to that Kingdom; and in the last place, we pray for daily Bread, or Sustentation of the present Life. But the other two are Deprecations; and that either of Evil already committed; and so we pray for Pardon of Sin, Forgive us our Trespasses: Or Deprecation of Evil that is likely to be admitted; and so we pray against Temptation, Lead us not into Temptation. So that this Request is put into a fit Order: First, we seek God's Glory, as the End; his Kingdom, as the primary Means; our Subjection to that Kingdom, as the next Means; and last of all, our comfortable Subsistence in the World, as a remote subservient Help, that we may be in a capacity to serve and glorify God. In this Petition there is, I. The Thing asked, and that is Bread, by which is meant all Things necessary for the maintenance of this Life. Now this is set forth, 1. By a Note of Propriety, Our Bread. 2. By an Adjunct of Time, Daily Brea[illegible: 1 letter]. II. The Manner of asking, Give; we ask it as a Gift of God. III. The Persons for whom we ask, Give us; as many as are supposed to be in a Family together. Those that can call God Father by the Spirit, they may come with most confidence to God about daily Supplies. IV. The renewing of our Request, [non-Latin text not transcribed], This day: There is very much in that; we ask but from Morning till Night. Give us this day our daily Bread. Before I come to explain these Circumstances, let me observe in general: Doct. I. That it is the Lord, which doth bestow upon us freely and graciously the good Things of this Life. It is Bread we ask, and we ask it of God, and to God we say, Give: All which Circumstances do fully make out the Point. This Point again must be made good by parts. 1. That God giveth it. 2. That he freely and graciously giveth it. First; I shall shew you how God is interested in the common Mercies we do enjoy; and how every one, high or low, rich or poor, full or in a mean Condition, of what rank soever they be, even those that have the greatest Store and Plenty of worldly Accommodations, they must come from Morning to Morning, and deal with God for daily Bread. Those common Mercies which we do enjoy, 1. God gives us the Possession of them; for he is the absolute Lord of all Things, both in Heaven and in Earth; and whatsoever is possessed by any Creature, it is by his Indulgence; for the primitive and original Right was in him. Psal. 24. 1. The Earth is the Lord's, and the Fulness thereof; the World, and they that dwell therein. It is all God's, we hold it in Fee from him; for he is the great Landlord, who hath leased out all these Blessings to the Sons of Men. The Earth is first the Lord's, and then by a Grant he hath given it to Men to enjoy. Psal. 115. 16. The Heaven, even the Heavens are the Lord's; but the Earth hath he given to the Children of Men. He hath given it to Men, partly, by a general Grant, and Leave given to enjoy and occupy it, as the Place of our Service: But that is not all; he doth not only give the Earth in general to Men, but he makes a particular Allotment; the particular Designation of every Man's Portion of what he shall enjoy in tho World, it is of God. And so it is said, Act[illegible: 1 letter] 17. 26. He hath determined the Bounds of their Habitation. God hath not only appointed in general, the Earth to be the Place of our Service for a while; but he hath determined how much every one shall possess, what shall fall to his Share. These Things come not by Chance, or by the Gift of others, or by our own Industry, but by the peculiar Designation of God's Providence. However they come to us, God must be owned in the Possession; whether they come to us by Donation, Purchase, Labour, or by Inheritance; yet they are originally by God, who (by these means) bestoweth them upon us. If they come by Donation, or the Gift of others; the Hearts of Men are in God's hands, and he it was that disposed them to be bountiful to us, that appoi[illegible: 1 letter] ted them to be Instruments of his Providence, to nourish us. He that sends a Present, he is the Giver, not the Servant which brings it: So, though others be imployed as Instruments, it is the Lord which made them able and willing to do us good. If they come to us by Inheritance, it is the Providence of God that a Man is born of rich Friends, and not of Beggars: Prov. 22. 2. The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all: He that hath cast the World first into Hills and Valleys, it was he that disposed of Men, some into a high, and some into a low Condition. If they come to us by our own Labour and Purchase, still God gave it to us: Deut. 8. 14, 18. Take heed that thine Heart be not lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God; for it is he that giveth thee Power to get Wealth. He doth not leave second Causes to their own Power and Force, as if he were only an idle Spectator in the World: No, he gives the Skill and Industry to manage Affairs, and success upon lawful Undertakings; the Faculty, and the use it is all from God: Tho a Man hath never so many outward Advantages, yet unless the Lord concur with his Blessing, all would be to no purpose. 2. As God gives us the Possession, so he gives us a Right and Title to them. There is a two-fold Right to these common Blessings; a Provid[illegible: 1 letter]ntial, and a Covenant-Right: Dominium Politicum fundatur in Providentia, our Civil Right to things is sounded upon God's Providence: But Dominium Evangelicum fundatur in Gratia; our Gospel-Right to things is founded upon God's Grace. (1.) He gives the Providential Right; and thus all wicked Men possess outward things, and the Plenty they enjoy is as the Fruits and Gifts of God's common Bounty, it is their Portion, he hath given it to them; Psal. 17. 14. Which have their Portion in this Life: whatever falleth to their share in a fair way, and in the course of God's Providence; they are not Usurpers meerly for possessing, but for abusing what they have. They have not only a Civil Right by the Laws of Men, to prevent the Incroachment of others; but a Providential Right before God; and are not simply responsible for Possession, but for their ill Use and Administration. (2.) There's a Covenant-Right to these Blessings: so only Believers have a Right to Creature-Comforts by God's special Love; and so, (That a little that a righteous Man hath, is better than the Treasures of many wicked: Psal. 37. 16.) as the mean Fare of a poor Subject, is better then the large Allowance of a condemned Traitor. Every wicked Man is a Traitor to God, and hath only an Allowance until he be destroyed. But that little which a Man hath, seasoned with God's Love, is better than all the mighty Increase of wicked Men. Now this Covenant- Right we have by Christ, who is Heir of all things; Heb. 1. 2. Christ hath the Original-Right: to them, and we by him come to have a Covenant-Right: So it is said, 1 Cor. 3. 23. Things present, and things to come, all are yours. As things to come, the Day of Judgment is theirs; so things present is theirs by a new Title from him: So it is said, 1 Tim. 4. 5. Marriage, Meats and Drinks, and all Creatures are made for them that believe. They that believe have only a Gospel-Right to them. To draw it to the present thing; we do not only beg a Possession of these things, but a Right; not only a Providential, but a Covenant-Right, that we may enjoy them as the Gifts of God's fatherly Love and Compassion to us; that we may take our Bread out of Christ's Hands, that we may look upon it as swimming to us in his Blood, and all our Mercies as wrapt up in his Bowels; and then they will be sweet, and relish much better with a gracious Soul, because he cannot only taste the Creature, but the Love of God in the Creature. 3. He gives the Continuance of our Blessings, that we may keep what we have; for unless the Lord do daily support us, we cannot keep our Comforts for one day. How soon can God blast them? It's at his pleasure to do what he will with you: He gave Satan Power over Iob [illegible: 1 letter]s Estate; Chap. 1. 12. Behold all that he hath is in thy Power. Our Life it is continued to us by the Indulgence of God, and by his providential Influence and Supportation. For as the Beams of the Sun are no longer continued in the Air than the Sun shineth; or, as the Wa[illegible: 1 letter]er retains the Impress and Stamp no longer than the Seal is kept on it; so when God takes off his providential Influence, all vanisheth into nothing. Thus he is said, Heb. 1. 3. To uphold all things by the Word of his Power: As a weighty thing is upheld in the Hand of a Man, when he looseneth his Hand all falls to the Ground: So it is said, Iob 12. 10. In whose Hand is the Soul of every living Thing, and the Breath of all Mankind. God by his Almighty Grasp holdeth all things in his own Hands, and if he should but let loose his Hand, all would fall to nothing, and disappear; Iob. 6. 9. For it is from the intimate Support and Influence of his Providence that we have our Lives. So our Comforts, they are continued to us by God; alas, in themselves they are poor fugacious things! Haman was to day high in Honour, and to morrow high upon the Gallows. Riches make themselves Wings, and flie away as an Eagle towards Heaven: Prov. 23. 5. The Holy-Ghost seems there to compare Riches to a Flock of Birds, which pitcheth in a Man's Field to Night, but to Morrow they are gone: Who is the richer for a Flock of wild Fowls, because they pitch in his Field now? So all these outward things are so flying, that they are soon gone by many Accidents, unless he preserves them, and continues our Possession of them. For God he can give a Charge and Commission to the Fire, to the Fury of Men, one way or other to deprive us of these things. Behold, all he hath is in thy Hands: Job 1. 12. When a Man hath gotten abundance of worldly Comforts about him, and seemeth to be intrenched and provided against all Hazards; the Man is taken away, and cannot enjoy what he had heaped together with a great deal of Care and Sollicitude. 4. We beg leave to use them. It is good Manners in Religion, to ask God's leave in all things. It is Robbery to make use of a Man's Goods, and to waste and consume them without his leave. We must ask God leave upon this account, because, tho God gives these good things to Men, yet he still reserves the Property in himself; for by distributing Blessings to the Creature, he never intended to devest himself of the Right. As a Husbandman, by scattering his Corn in the Field did not dispossess himself, but still keeps a Right, and means to have the Increase. So when the Lord scattereth his Blessings, we only receive them as Stewards, not as Owners and Proprietors; God still is the Supream Lord, and only hath the Property and Dominion. In Life it is clear, Man is not Dominus Vits, but Custos, not Lord of his Life, but only the Steward and Guardian of it; he cannot live or die at his own Pleasure: if a Man kills himself, he runs the danger of God's Law. What is said of Life, is true also of his Estate, he is not an Owner so much as a Steward, that's the Notion of our Possession; we are Stewards, and must render an account to God: Hosea 2. 9. I will return and take away my Corn in the time thereof, and my Wine in the season thereof, and will recover my Wooll and my Flax. Though God hath communicated these things to the Children of Men, yet he hath reserved the Dominion in his own Hands: So Hag. 2. 8. The Silver is mine, and the Gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts. He never disposed any thing so into the Creatures Hands, but still he hath reserved a Right and Interest in it; and therefore it is, Gen. 14. 19. that the Lord is not only called the Creator of Heaven and Earth, but Possessor of Heaven and Earth. He is not only the Possessor of Heaven where he dwells, which he hath reserved to his own use; but he is Possessor of Earth, which he hath committed to the use of Men. And God will have his Right acknowledged from day to day. 5. It is he that giveth us Ability to use them: We beg, that we may not only have the Comforts, but Life and Strength to use them; for God can blast us in the very midst of our Enjoyments. It is the case of many, when they have hunted after a worldly Portion, and begin to think, now I will sit down and enjoy it; when the Gain is come into his Hands, and he thinks to waste that which he hath got in hunting, Death takes him away, and he hath not power to use them. Thus it was with the rich Fool, when he began to sing Lullabies to his Soul, and enjoy what he had got, he is taken away by Death; Luke 12. 20. Thou Fool, this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? And it is said, Numb. 11. 33. when those People had gotten Quails: That while the Flesh was yet between their Teeth, ere it was chewed; the Wrath of the Lord was kindled against the People, and the Lord smote them with a very great Plague. And that Noble Man which saw Plenty in Samaria, but could not taste of it; 2 Kings 7. 19. So Iob 21. 23. One dieth in his full Strength, being wholly at ease and quiet: When he has gotten abundance of worldly Comforts about him, Death seizes on him of a sudden. 6. God yet is further interested in these Mercies, so as to give us a sanctified use of them, that we may take our Bread out of God's Hands with Prayer, and Thanksgiving, and due Acknowledgments of God: In 1 Tim. 4. 5. Every Creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with Thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer. Then are the Creatures sanctified to us, when we enjoy God in them; when our Hearts are raised to think of the Donor, and can love him the more for every Gift. Carnal Men, like Swine, raven upon the Acorns, but look not up to the Oak from whence they drop. In the Canticles, the Spouses Eyes are compared to Doves Eyes. They which make the Allusion, say this is the meaning; look as a Dove pecks, and looks upward; so upon every grain of Mercy, we should look up to the God of Mercies: It is not enough to taste the sweet of the Creatures, but also to own God, his Love and Bounty in them, so to have them sanctified to us. This is the Priviledg we have as Men, that we can know the first Cause, and who is the Benefactor: All Creatures subsist upon the first Cause, but are not capable of knowing it. And this is our Priviledg, as Christians, to have this Capacity reduced into Act. It is of the Lord's Grace to give us a sanctified use of these things. 7. We beg of God the natural Blessing upon the holy Use of outward Comforts, so as they may continue us in Health and Vigor for the Service of God; for nothing will prosper with us but by his Blessing: Psal. 106. 15. He gave them their Request, but sent Leanness into their Souls: that is, they had no natural Comfort by that which they had obtained. God may give a Man Meat, yet not an Appetite; he may not give him the comfortable use of it, a Blessing with it. And therefore the Apostle makes it to be an Argument of God's Bounty to the Heathen, that as he gave them Food, so he gave them Gladness of Heart: Acts 14. 17. He gave them Rain from Heaven, and fruitful Seasons, filling their Hearts with Food and Gladness: that is, gave them a comfortable use, a Blessing upon the use of outward things. And Levit. 26. you will find a Distinction between Bread, and the Staff of Bread: we may have Bread, yet not the Staff of Bread. Many have worldly Comforts, but not with a natural Blessing: Eccles. 3. 13. That every Man should eat and drink, and enjoy the Good of all his Labour, it is the Gift of God: not only that he should have Increase by his Labour, but enjoy Good; to have the comfortable use of that Increase. 8. Contentation is one of God's Blessings that we ask in this Prayer [Give us this day our daily Bread.] That is, such Provisions as are necessary for us, Contentment and quiet of Mind in the Enjoyment; Ioel 2. 19. Behold, I will send you Corn, and Wine, and Oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith. It is not only a Blessing we should look after, but Contentment, that our Minds may be suited to our Condition, for then the Creature is more sweet and comfortable to us. The Happiness of Man doth not lie in his Abundance, but in the Suitableness of his Mind to his Estate. Luk. 12. 15. A Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth. There's a twofold War within a Man, both which must be taken up before a Man can have Comfort; there's a War between a Man and his Conscience, and this breeds trouble of Mind; and there's a War between his Affections and his Condition, and this breeds murmuring and envious repining: Say, Yea, Lord, and let us be contented with thy Gift. This for the first thing, how God is concerned in these outward Comforts. Secondly; That the Lord doth freely and graciously give these good things to us, (that is) meerly out of his Bounty and Goodness. It is not from his strict remunerative Iustice, but out of his Grace. The very Air we breath in, the Bread we eat, our common Blessings, be they never so mean, we have them all from Grace, and all from the tender Mercy of the Lord. Psal. 136. 25. you have there the Story of the notable Effects of God's Mercy, and he concludes it thus: Who giveth Food to all Flesh: for his Mercy endureth for ever. Mark, the Psalmist doth not only ascribe those mighty Victories, those glorious Instances of his Love and Power, to his unchangeable Mercy, but our daily Bread. In eminent Deliverances of the Church we will acknowledg Mercy; Yea, but we should do it in every bit of Meat we eat, for the same Reason is rendred all along. What's the reason his People smote Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, and rescued his People so often out of danger? (For his Mercy endureth for ever.) And what's the reason he giveth Food to all Flesh? (For his Mercy endureth for ever.) It's not only Mercy which gives us Christ, and Salvation by Christ, and all those glorious Deliverances and Triumphs over the Enemies of the Church; but it's Mercy which furnisheth our Tables, it is Mercy that we taste with our Mouths, and wear at our Backs. It is notable, our Lord Jesus, when there were but five Barley Loaves, and two Fishes, Iohn 6. 11. He lift up his Eyes and gave Thanks. Though our Provision be never so homely and slender, yet God's Grace and Mercy must be acknowledged. But to evidence this by some Considerations; that certainly it is of the Mercy of the Lord, that he giveth Bread to the Creature: God giveth these Mercies. 1. To those that cannot return any Service to him. 2. To those that will not return any Service to him. 3. When we are at our best, we cannot deserve them. 4. We deserve the quite contrary. 1. He giveth these Mercies to those that cannot return any Service to him. The Beasts, and Fowls of the Air, the young Ravens: Psal. 145. 16. Thou openest thy Hand, and satisfiest the Desire of every living thing. What can the Beasts, or Fishes, or Fowls of the Air deserve at God's Hand? what Honour and Service can they bring to him? only they have a bountiful Creator, from whom they receive their Allowance. So as to Infants, alas, what can they deserve at his Hand? when God rocks their Cradles, and nourisheth them from the Dug; what Service can they do to God? Isa. 46. 3, 4. By me, saith the Lord, You are born from the Belly, and carried from the Womb, and even to your old Age, I am he, and even to hoare Hairs will I carry you: Mark, not only in Old Age, when we have done God Service, doth he maintain us; but from the Womb, the Belly, before we could do any thing for him, we were tenderly handled by him. He alludeth to Parents and Nurses, which carry their Younglings in their Arms. In Infancy we are not in a Capacity to know the God of our Mercies, and look after him; yet he looked after us then, when we could not perform one act of Love and Kindness to him. The Psalmist takes notice of this; Psal. 22. 9. 10. Thou art he that took me out of the Womb; thou didst make me hope, when I was upon my Mother's Breast. I was cast upon thee from the Womb, thou art my God from my Mother's Belly. Christians, before ever you could do any thing for him, or your selves, before you could improve his Mercy, when you could not know who was your Benefactor, who it was that nourished and cherished you, yet then God rocked your Cradles, kept you from many Dangers, nursed you, and brought you up, and carried you in the tender Arms of his Providence. 2. God gives these Mercies to those that will not serve him when they can: Isa. 1. 2. I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have rebelled against me. There are many in the World whom God protects, supplies, and provides them of all Necessaries, yet they return nothing but Disobedience, Contempt, Rebellion, and Unthankfulness. The Sun doth not shine by chance, but at God's disposal: Mat. 5. 45. He makes his Sun to rise on the Evil, and on the Good; and sendeth Rain on the Iust, and on the Vnjust. Most of those which are fed at God's Table, and maintained at his Expence and Care, they are his Enemies: and many times the more Men receive from him, the worse they are. Look as Beasts towards Man, when they are in good plight they grow fierce, and are ready to destroy those which nourish them: so, when [illegible: 1 word] are plentifully supplied, we kick with the Heel, wax wanton, and forgetful of God. Or, as a froward Child scratcheth the Breast which suckles it; so we rebel against God that nourished us, and brought us up, and dishonour our heavenly Father that provides these Blessings for us. Parisiensis hath a saying, They which hold the greatest Farms, many times pay the least Rent: so the great ones of the World, they which have most of God's Bounty, give him the least Acknowledgment. 3. When we do our best, we cannot deserve these Mercies, or merit ought at God's Hands; for all we do is already due to God, as we are his Creatures; and the paying new Debts will not quit old Scores. The Question is propounded, Iob 22. 2. Can a Man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? See the Answer, Chap. 35. 7. If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine Hand? and wherein is God profited, if a Man's ways be perfect? And therefore what ever God doth for Creatures, he doth it freely, because he cannot be obliged by any Act of ours, and pre-ingaged. Thus Adam in Innocency could not obtain the Blessing, but by virtue of the Covenant, nor merit ought at God's Hands; (that is) put any Obligation upon God; and therefore certainly now we cannot. And partly too, not because whatever we do, it will carry a Proportion with these common Mercies. We are proud Creatures, and think of a Condignity of Works, and to merit from Heaven these Mercies: But alas! there's no Comparison; and if God would deal with us upon Merit, and strict Commutative Justice, we cannot give him a valuable Compensation for temporal Mercies. Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant. Though none of God's Mercies can simply be said to be little; for whatsoever comes from a great God should be great in our Value and Esteem, as a small Remembrance from a great Person is much prized; therefore no Mercy is simply little, but comparatively; now the least Mercies some have, and others the greatest temporal Things: When we are put into the Ballance, We, and all our Worth and Deservings, cannot counterpoize the least Mercy, or merit the daily Bread we have from God. And then the little Good we do, it is meerly by the Grace that we have received. If one Man differs from another, who made him differ? It is but a new Gift, he is the more indebted to God. 4. We deserve the contrary. We have forfeited our Lives, and all our Comforts; we have put our selves out of God's Protection by Sin. Death way-laid us, when we were in our Mothers Womb; and as soon as we were born, there was a Sentence in force against us. Rom. 5. 12. Death came upon all, for that all have sinned. And still we continue the Forfeiture. We provoke God to cut us off. It is a kind of pardoning Mercy, by which we subsist every moment. This is sensible in case of Sickness, when our Lives and Comforts slide from us, when there is but a Step between us and Death, when the Old Covenant comes to be put in Suit, and God seems to be executing the Sentence of the Law. And that is the Reason why the temporal Deliverance of the Wicked and Impenitent, is called a Remission; as, Psal. 78. 38. But he being full of Compassion, forgave their Iniquity, and destroyed them not. And, Mat. 18. 26, 27, 28. Have Patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the Lord of that Servant was moved with Compassion, and forgave him the Debt. Why is it call'd a Remission? Improperly, because it was a Reprieve from the temporal Judgment for a time; it was, not an executing the Sentence which was in force against us: And it was not from any thing in the Sinner, but from God's pity over his Creatures. And a godly Man, every time his Life and Comforts are in danger, hath a Pardon renewed at that time. Isa. 38. 17. Thou hast in love to my Soul delivered it from the Pit of Corruption; for thou hast cast all my Sins behind thy Back. They are loved out of Danger, and loved out of Sickness; the pardoning Mercy of God is indeed renewed to them. APPLICATION. Vse 1. For Information, in two Branches. First; That God will give his People temporal Things: Not only Pardon, and Grace, and Glory; but no good Thing will he with-hold. Psal. 81. 11. Many say, they can trust God for eternal Life, but cannot trust him for daily Bread. This is an utter Mistake. Certainly, it is far more easy to trust God for daily Bread, than for eternal Life; because there are more Difficulties, more natural Prejudices against these greater Mercies of Pardon, and Eternal Life, than there can be against the daily Effects of God's Bounty. It is a harder matter to work through our natural Prejudices, which lie against Eternal Life; than to work through that Distrust, which lies against God's Care over us, and Provision for us: Why? For God's common Bounty, it reacheth to all his Creatures, even to the smallest Worm; his Mercy is over all his Works: And surely it is more easy to believe his common Bounty, than his special Love, which runs in a distinct Channel to such a sort of Men. But because many have too weak a Faith about temporal Things, let us consider how willing God is to distribute and give out these Supplies. Several Things I might mention. 1. God's Respect to the Bodies of his People, is a mighty Ground and Encouragement. God is in Covenant with the Body, as well as the Soul. Jesus Christ proves the Resurrection from thence, that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob, Mat. 22. 32. This Argument can never be made good, but upon this Supposition, that God is in Covenant with Abraham's Body, with the whole Believer; and therefore the Mark of Circumcision was in their Flesh, as the Water of Baptism is sprinkled upon our Bodies. Well then, if the Bodies of the Saints be in Covenant with God, certainly some of the Promises of the Covenant do concern the Body, and Sustentation of the present Life. But that is not all, but Jesus Christ hath purchased both Body and Soul 1 Cor. 6. 20. Ye are bought with a Price; therefore glorify God in your Body, and in your Spirit, which are God's. Not only the Soul is Christ's, but the Body. You will say, That is ground of Service; but what! can it be inferr'd, that therefore God will provide for us? It is not only a ground of our Service, but of Christ's Care of us. If Christ had only purchased our Service, yet it were a ground of Hope: If you expect Work and Service from a Body, you will give maintenance to that Body. But Christ's Purchase implieth his Care over that he hath purchased; for the Interest God hath in us in Redemption, is a gracious Interest. God had an Interest in us before we were redeemed; we could not make void his Right, by any Rebellion of ours: But then God hath such an Interest in us, as engaged and sollicited him to destroy us. Look as a Prince hath an Interest in his Subjects; if they rebell, and revolt from their Obedience, they cannot disannul his Right; but it is such a Right, as binds him to pursue and chastise them, until they return to their Duty: So God hath a Right to the fallen Creature, but it was such a Right as sollicited Vengeance. But the Right Christ purchased, was a gracious Right, that God might protect and preserve us. Well then, if Christ purchased Body and Soul, he hath obtained, not only that God should be gracious to our Souls, but gracious to our Bodies; then the Argument runs clearly for confirming the Faith of the Saints, in expectation of temporal Benefits. 2. God hath given us greater things, therefore he will not stand upon the less; when a Man hath been at great Cost, he will not lose it. The Lord hath given us his Christ; Rom. 8. 32. He that spared not his own his Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not with him also freely give us all Things? Can any Man be so illogical, so ill-skilled in Consequences, as not to conclude from thence, if God give us Christ, with him he will give us all things? So, Mat. 6. 33. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all other Things shall be added to you. 3. These things are dispensed to inferior, yea, to the worst of his Creatures; Psal. 147. 9. He giveth to the Beast his Food, and to the young Ravens which cry. Will God maintain the Beasts of the Field? and will he not maintain his Children? It is monstrous and unnatural to think thus, that God will not support you, and bear you out in your Work. This is Christ's own Argument, Mat. 6. 34. Take therefore no thought for the Morrow; for the Morrow shall take thought for the Things of it self: Sufficient unto the Day is the Evil thereof. Daily Bread is in your Father's Power, and he gives it graciously to all his Creatures, and therefore certainly he will give it to you. Thus you may see with what Confidence you may expect daily Supplies. Secondly; It informs us, that we may ask temporal Things, if we ask them lawfully. It is true, Prayers to God for spiritual Things are more acceptable. As your Child pleaseth you better, when it comes to you to be taught its Book, rather than when it comes for an Apple: So it is more pleasing to God, when you come for the Mediator's Blessing, and spiritual Things. Acts 3. 26. God hath sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities. But yet we may ask other Things; why? For they are good and useful to us in the Course of our Service, and without them we are exposed to many Temptations. And Prayer easeth you of a deal of carking about them. Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing; but in every Thing, by Prayer and Supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your Requests be made known unto God. We may ask them, but it must be lawfully; and that for Order, not in the first place. That is howling, when we come to God meerly for Corn, Wine and Oil; when we prefer these Things before his Favour, and the Graces of his Spirit. Then it must be lawful too as to the Manner; a moderate Proportion, not to set God a Task to maintain you at such a rate, but to ask a moderate Allowance. Christ teacheth us here to pray for Bread, which is a necessary Allowance. Prov. 30. 8. Feed me with Food convenient for me. And, 1 Tim. 6. 8. If we have Food and Raiment, let us therewith be content. And then ask them with Humility, and Submission to the Will of God. We ought to say, as in Iam. 4. 15. If the Lord will, we will go to such a Place, and get Gain. And then lawfully too, as to the End; not for an unlawful End, for Ostentation and Riot, that we may live at large, and at ease. Jam. 4. 3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your Lusts. But we must ask it for a good End: Psal. 115. 1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give Glory, for thy Mercy, and for thy Truths sake. Lord, not for our Ease, or our Plenty, but that thy Name may be glorified, that we may be supported in Service. And then again, lawfully as to the Plea; We must not come and challenge it, as if it were our Due; we must not use the Plea of Merit, but of Mercy. Our Saviour doth not say, Let this Bread come to us any how, as he saith, Let thy Will be done; our Subjection to God is due; but, Give us this day our daily Bread, acknowledging the Lord's Mercy. Vse 2. Let us not place our Confidence in second Causes, but in God, by whose Goodness and Providence over us, all temporal Things do come unto us; for without him, all our Carking and Labour is nothing; and if we have our Wishes without Labour, yet we shall not have our Comfort and Blessing without God. Mat. 6. 27. Which of you by taking thought, can add one Cubit unto his Stature? By taking thought, he meaneth anxious Care about Success. We cannot change the Colour of a Hair by all our anxious Thoughts. We cannot make our selves stronger, or taller. Many a Man is pierced through with worldly Cares, and still the World frowns upon him, so all his Care comes to nothing. Prov. 10. 4. it is said, The Hand of the Diligent maketh rich; compare it with vers. 22. and it is said, The Blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no Sorrow with it. Most commonly they that are diligent, they thrive with their Diligence; yea, but if that be all, if they have not the Lord's Blessing, they have not that Sweetness and Peace, when they have gotten Abundance. O therefore let us place our Confidence, not in second Causes, but in God. Vse 3. Let us be thankful to God for these vvorldly Things that vve enjoy. I urge this: First; Because of the Danger of Ingratitude. Usually we never forget God more, than when he remembreth us most. When Men have what they would have, then God is neglected; they grow careless in Prayer, or flat and cold in the performance of it. There is a great deal of difference between Men poor and rich: When poor, they will seem to put a natural Fervency into their Prayers; but when rich, they grow cold and careless. Mark what the Lord saith, Hosea 13. 6. They were [illegible: 1 letter]illed, and their Heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. O how frequent is this, that many having been kept under a great Sense of God in a low Condition, but when they have been well at ease, then they bear it up, as if they could live without God. the Bucket comes to the River with an empty Mouth, gaping to receive its Fulness, as it were; but when it is full, the Bottom is turned towards it: So it is very usual with Men, to turn their Backs upon the Mercy-Seat; and when the Lord hath given them great Increase in worldly Things, and leased out a great Estate to them, he hath very little Rent from them. Now because this is usual, therefore those whom God hath blessed with the Supplies of the present Life, how should they study Thankfulness! Secondly; Because of the Equity of it. Consider what an Equity there is, that we should be thankful for outward Blessings. 1. They are good in themselves. 2. They come from God. 3. They come from the Lord's Grace and Mercy. 1. They are good in themselves. Food and Raiment is good, and every Creature of God is good. 1 Tim. 4. 4. They are good things, tho not the best things. They are good for our selves, that we may serve God more chearfully. The Lord would have the Levites and Priests have their Portion, that they might be encouraged in the Law of the Lord. 2 Chron. 31. 4. Now these things are good to encourage us, and support us in our Work. Man consists of two parts, of a Body, and of a Soul. Now whether we look to the one, or the other, you will have many Arguments to love and praise God, not only for what he hath done for our Souls, but likewise for our Bodies. And they are good, because they prevent many Snares and Temptations. Prov. 30. 9. Lest I be poor, and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain. Diseases which arise from Fulness, are more common; but Diseases which arise from Indigence and Emptiness, they are more dangerous: So Diseases of Prosperity, they are more common; it is a rank Soil, and yields more Weeds: but Diseases which arise from Poverty, breed Atheism, Irreligion, and Rebellion against God. They are good, as they make us more useful for God and Man. For God, as having more Advantages for the honouring of God: Prov. 3. 9. Honour the Lord with thy Substance, and with the First-Fruits of all thine Increase. And of doing good to others: That we may have to distribute to them that need. Eph. 4. 28. O we should all covet and affect mightily, to have wherewith to relieve the Necessities of others. 2. As they are Blessings, so they are Blessings which do not come by Chance, or by Man's Providence. 1 Tim. 6. 17. The living God, who giveth us richly all Things to enjoy. The People of God are plentifully provided for. Your Tables are well furnished, Backs well cloathed, it is God which gives you richly to enjoy them, and he must be acknowledged; as David doth, 1 Chron. 29. 14. For all Things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. Then, ver. 16. O Lord, our God, all this Store that we have prepared, to build thee an House for thine holy Name, cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. Tho you your selves have been Purchasers of your own Estate, and Carvers of your own Fortune, (as Man is most apt to forget God there) yea, but tho you have prepared and brought together a great deal of Store, yet, Lord, all comes from thee. It sweetneth the Mercy. When you are at the Table, to be carved to by a great Person, their Remembrance is counted a greater Favour than the Meal it self: So it is not barely the Comfort we have by the Creature, which sweetneth it; but when we think of the Donor, that the great God should think of us, that it is God which spreads our Table for us, that doth put this Meat and Drink before us. It was he that gave Seed to the Sower, and Bread for Food. 2 Cor. 9. 10. When we take it immediately out of God's Hands, it is much sweeter. And not only so, but also it is the more sanctified. When we look to second Causes, we shall surely abuse the Mercy: Hos. 2. 8. For she did not know that I gave her Corn, and Wine, and Oil, and multiplied her Silver and Gold; what then? Therefore she prepared it for Baal. When God's Kindness is not taken notice of, when we do not see God in our Mercies, we shall not use them for God. That Man will surely improve his Comforts ill, that doth not see God in them. Now that which comes from God, leads the Heart to God again; then the Creature is sanctified. Therefore acknowledg God in these outward Things. We should say of every Morsel of Bread, this is God's Gift to me; of every Nights Sleep, this is the Lord's Goodness. When God is acknowledged in these outward Things, he takes it the more kindly, and we are the better for it; the Mercy is the sweeter, and the more sanctified. 3. They not only come from God, but from the Lord's free Grace and Mercy. These are two distinct Notions, by which God's Goodness is set out, and they are both significant and expressive in the present Case: Grace, that doth all freely; Mercy, that pitieth the Miserable. (1.) Then we have them from Grace; Grace is at liberty to give them to whom it will. Well, there is Grace in these outward Things; for God gives them to whom he will, to some, not to others. O when we consider the Distinction between us and others, every one hath not such liberal Supplies, nay, many of those of whom the World is not worthy; surely this is meerly the Lord's Goodness. Prov. 22. 2. The Rich and the Poor meet together, the Lord is the Maker of them all. They had the same Maker that you had, (others which are destitute) therefore why is it you have more than they? It is meerly from Grace. Why is one Vessel framed for an honourable Use, and another for a baser Use? So it pleased the Potter. God, as the great Master of the Scenes, appointeth to every Man what part he shall act, meerly out of his own Grace, he is bound to none. It was a good Speech of Tamberlain, the great Conqueror of the East, to Ba [illegible: 1 letter]azet; What did God see in thee, that art blind in one Eye, and me, that am lame of one Leg, that he should make us, passing by many others, the Lords of so many opulent and mighty Kingdoms? A savoury Speech from an Infidel! What did God see in any of us, to exalt, cherish, and supply us, and let pass many others, who for moral Excellencies, and vertuous Endowments, do far exceed us? When we consider this Distinction, then, Even so, Father, because it pleased thee. There is a kind of Election and Reprobation in these common Mercies, (that is) God will dispense them to one, and not to another; he will be glorified in their Poverty, and glorified in thy Wealth, and therefore there's Grace in it. (2.) There is Mercy in it that pitieth the miserable. How doth it appear these good things come from Mercy? because of our Want, and because of our Forfeiture. 1. Our Want, and our Indigence. O when we think what shiftless creatures we should have been, if he had not provided for us: Psal. 40. 17. I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. If we were but sensible of our own Weakness and Emptiness, and manifold Necessities, we would admire that God should think of us, such forlorn and wretched Creatures; or that our Baseness and Poverty doth not make us contemptible to God. Psal. 34. 6. This poor Man cried, and the Lord heard him; and saved him out of all his Troubles. He doth not say, this wise Man, this eminent Saint, but this poor Man. This was the Doctrine of the Gentiles, That the Divine Powers did only care for the great and weighty Concernments of the World, but other things he left to their own Event, and their own Chance; as if God in the great throng of Business were not at leisure to attend every private Man's Request. These were the fond Surmises the Gentiles had of God: But we are taught better. This poor Man cried unto the Lord, and be heard him. Poor Men in the World, when they have any thing to do with great Persons, they must look long, wait, pray, and pay, to seek their Face and Favour, & at length meet with a rough Answer, and sour Look. But God will not shut the Door, the Throne of Grace lies open for every Comer. You will say, this would sweeten Mercies to the Poor: Nay, it concerns not only those that are actually poor, but the great ones of the World; (for they are poor and shiftless in themselves, if God did not provide for them) others are but Glasses where they might see their own Misery. If they did well weigh the Wants and Necessities of others, they might see what would have been their own Case, if the Lord had not been merciful to them. As Austin, when he saw a Beggar frisking and leaping after his Belly was fill'd, the Spectacle wrought much upon him, that he had not such rejoycing in God, who tasted so much of his Abundance. Saith Chrysostome, If you are not thankful for Health, go to the Spittles and Lazar-houses, and see what might have been your own Case. Thus if you are not thankful for abundance, go to the Families where there are Children that want Bread. It is the Lord's Mercy to the richest, for they were miserable and indigent. It is a great Mercy to relieve those from Hand to Mouth: But you that have abundance, it is a double Mercy to you, for he prevents the Necessity before it was felt; as Psal. 21. 3. Thou preventest him with the Blessings of Goodness: David takes notice of the Goodness of God to him. Before the need is felt and observed, you are stored; and this should be a great Indearment of the Lord's Mercy to you. 2. It is Mercy if we consider not only our Want, but our Forfeiture. It is not only Mercy, but pardoning Mercy, at least a reprieving from Trouble, for we deserved the contrary. There is a kind of Temporary-Pardon, which continueth all these Blessings. It is as great a Curse as possibly David could thunder out against obstinate Sinners, and God's implacable Enemies: Psal. 28. 4. Give them according to their Deeds, and according to the wickedness of their Endeavours. Do we think this would be matter of Mischief only to David's Enemies? No, every one of us, if we had our Deserts, we should soon be shiftless, harbourless, begging from Door to Door, yea howling for one drop of Mercy to cool our Tongues. O then surely the Lord is to be praised and acknowledged in bestowing the good things of this present Life. Well then, As these Blessings come from God, let them carry up your Heart to God again. As all Rivers they run from the Sea, and they discharge themselves into the Sea again; so let all be returned to God with Thankfulness, with acknowledgments that you have received them from God. I shall urge it with one Example; Jesus Christ, though he were Heir, Lord of all things, Who thought it no Robbery to be equal with God; yet you find him ever giving Thanks when he used the Creatures; Mat. 15. 36. And it is the main thing Iohn taketh notice of, and passeth by the Miracle, Iohn 6. 23. Where they did eat Bread, after that the Lord had given Thanks. Nigh to Tiberias there was the place where our Lord fed many with five Loaves and two Fishes; but he only saith this, where they did eat Bread, after that the Lord had given Thanks: he saw this was a notable Circumstance, so he doth but cursorily mention the Miracle, only calls it eating Bread, but expresly mentioneth Christ's blessing the Creature. He would teach us, that the blessing of all Injoyments is in God's Hand. VSE 4. If the Lord be the Donor, and Giver of all these outward things, let us beware we do not abuse these Gifts of God, as Occasions of sinning against the Giver, that we fight not against him with his own Weapons. Jesus Christ speaking to his own Disciples, though they were trained up with him, a Company chosen out, and select Family, who were to be his Heraulds and Ambassadors to the World, yet he gives them this Caution; Luke 21. 34. Take heed to your selves, lest at any time your Hearts be over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness, and Cares of this Life, and so that day come upon you unawares. He saw it needful to warn his own Disciples. We had two common Parents, Ad[illegible: 1 letter]m and Noah, and one miscarried by eating, and the other by drinking; these Sins are natural to us. The Throat is a slippery place, and had need well be looked unto. Mark, Christ there doth not mean Surfeiting and Drunkenness meerly in a gross Notion. When we hear of Surfeiting and Drunkenness, we think of spuing, staggering, reeling, vomiting, and the like; but we are to consider it in a stricter Notion; Take heed lest the Heart be over-charged. The Heart may be over-charged, when the Stomach is not; (that is) when we are less apt to praise God, grow more lumpish and heavy; or rather when we settle into a sensual frame of Spirit, and by an inordinate delight in our present Portion, are taken off from minding better things. Look as the Heart is over-charged with the Cares of the World; so likewise with Creature-Delights, and Comforts of this World, when it is set for Ease and Vanity. Many that would be loathers of the other Drunkenness, yet are guilty of this kind of Surfeiting and Drunkenness; the Heart is over-charged with an inordinate Affection to present things. There cannot be a more heavy Judgment, than when our Table is made our Snare: Psal. 69. 22. A Snare, it is God's spiritual Judgment; when the Comforts of this Life serve not so much to lengthen and strengthen Life; but when their Hearts are hardned in Sin, and they grow neglectful of God, and heavenly things. Raining Snares is an Argument of God's Hatred. First, The Lord shall rain Snares; and then, Brimstone and an horrible Tempest shall be their Portion: Psal. 11. 6. So it makes way for his eternal Anger. VSE 5. Let us be contented with that Portion which God hath given us of worldly things, if the Lord be the Donor. Why? 1. Because God stands upon his Sovereignty; you must stand to God's Allowance, though he gives to others more, and to you less; for God is supream, and will not be controll'd in the disposal of what is his own. The good Man of the House pleaded, Mat. 20. 13, 14, 15. Friend, I do thee no wrong; is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? The fulness of the Earth, and all, is his: and therefore though others have better trading, and finer Apparel, and be more amply provided for than we are, God is Soveraign, and will give according to his Pleasure, and you must be content. 2. Nothing is deserved, and therefore certainly every thing should be kindly taken. If a Man be kept at free-cost, and maintain'd at your Expence, you take it very ill, if he murmur and dislike his Diet. Certainly we are all maintain'd at free-cost, and therefore we should with all humble Contentation receive what ever God will put into our Hands. 3. God knows what Proportion is best for us, he is a God of Iudgment, and knows what is most convenient for us, for he is a wise God. It is the Shepherd must chuse the Pasture, not the Sheep. Leave it to God to give you that which is convenient, and suitable to your Condition of Life. A Shoe may be too big for the Foot, and a Garment too great for the Body, as Saul's Armour was too large for little David; 1 Sam. 17. God will give you that which is convenient, that which is agreeable to you. A Garment, when too long, proves a dirty Rag; we may have too much, and therefore God he carves out our Allowance with a wise Hand. 4. God doth not only give suitable to your Condition, but suitable to your Strength, such a Portion as you are able to bear. God layeth Affliction upon his People, and he gives them Mercies as they are able to bear; if they had more, they would have more Snares, more Temptations. You find it hard for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; Mat. 19. 24. A Man may take a larger Draught than he is able to bear: so God proportioneth every Man's Condition acc[illegible: 1 letter]rding to his spiritual Strength; every Man is not able to bear a very high prosperous Estate: Heb. 13. 5. Let your Conversation be without Covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor for sake thee: then you will live upon the Promise. But when Men set God a Task, and he must maintain them at such a rate; that ends in Mischief and Distrust. Psal. 78. 19. Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness? &c. 5. Contentation is one of God's Gifts that we ask in this Prayer, [Give us this day our daily Bread.] that is, we ask to be contented with our Portion. Contentment and quietness of Mind with what we do injoy, it's a great Blessing: Ioel 2. 19. See what the Lord saith there by his Prophet: I will send you Corn, and Wine, and Oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith. The bare and simple Blessing doth not speak so much of God's Love, as when we are satisfied, when we have Contentment in it; that's the greater Blessing. When our Minds are suited to our Condition, then the Creature is more sweet, more comfortable. Your Happiness lies not in Abundance, but in Contentment; Luke 12. 15. This doth not make a Man happy, that he hath much; but this, that he is contented; he hath what God will give him. All spiritual Miseries may be referred to these two things; a War between a Man and his Conscience, and a War between his Affections and his Condition. 6. There may be as much Love in a lesser Portion as in a greater. There's the same Affection to a small younger Child, though he hath not so large an Allowance, as the elder Brother; yet saith he, my Father loves me as well as him; not that I have a double Portion, but I have as much of my Father's Love: So a Child of God may say, God loves me though he hath given another more, and me less. Be content with what falls to your share, and with your Allowance by the wise Designation and Allotment of God's Providence. Thus much for the first Point. A Word of a second, viz. Doct. 2. In asking temporal things, Christ hath stinted us to a day, [Give us, [non-Latin text not transcribed], this day our daily Bread.] God in an extraordinary manner fed his People in the Wilderness; the Mannah stank if they had kept it another day; they had it from day to day. What's the Reason Christ saith, Give us this day? 1. That every day we may pray to God: Therefore it is not, give us this Month, or Year, but Day; because every day God will hear from us: 1 Thess. 5. 17. Pray without ceasing: God would not have us too long out of his Company, but by a frequent Commerce he would have us acquainted and familiar with him. This is required, that you should not let a day pass over your Head, but God must hear from you, for your Patent lasts but for a day; you have a Lease from God of your Comforts and Mercies, but it is expired unless you renew it again by Prayer. How much do they differ from the Heart of God's Children, that could be contented (like the High-Priest of old) to come to the Mercy-seat but once a Year? now the Lord would have us come every day to the Throne of Grace. 2. Every day, because there should be Family-Prayer; for all that taketheir Meat together, are to come, and say to God; Give us this day our daily Bread. It is not said, Give me, but Give us: Therefore you see how little of Love and Fear of God is there, where Week after Week they call not upon God's Name. 3. To make way for our Gratitude and Thankfulness. Our Mercies they flow not from God all at once, but some to day, and some to morrow, for we take them day by day; alltogether, they are too heavy for us to weild and manage: Psal. 68. 19. Who daily loadeth us with Benefits. Our Mercies they come in greater Number, and a greater Measure, then we are able to acknowledg, make use of, or be thankful for. Therefore this is the burden of gracious Hearts, that Mercies come so thick and fast, they cannot be thankful enough for them: but to help us, God distributes them by Parcels; who loadeth us daily, some to day, some to morrow, and every day, that we may not forget God, but may have a new Argument to praise him. 4. To shew us every day we should renew our Dependance upon God for temporal things. There is no day but we stand in need of the Lord's Blessing, of Sanctification, of Comfort, that they may not be a Snare, that there is still need of new Strength; new Grace, and new Supplies. 5. Again, Give us this day, that we may not burden our selves with over-much Thoughtfulness, that we might not solicitously cark for to morrow: Mat. 6. 34. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Every day affords Business, Trouble, Care, and Burden enough; we need not anticipate and pre-occupy the Cares of the next day; God would not have us over-born with Sollicitude, but look no further than this day 6. Christ would teach us, that worldly things should be sought in a moderate Proportion; if we have sufficient for a day, for the present Want, we should not grasp at too much. Ships lightly loaden will pass through the Sea; but when we take too great a burden, the Ship will easily sink with every Storm. We have sore Troubles to pass through in the World; now when we are over-burdened with present things, we have more Snares and Temptations. 7. Christ would train us up with thoughts of our Lives Vncertainty; Iames 4. 13. say not, This and this I will do, to day or to morrow: What is your Life? it is but a Vapor. One being invited to Dinner the next day, said, for these many Years I have not had a to-morrow; meaning he was providing every day for his last day. We do not know whether we have another day, but are apt to sing Lullabies to our Souls, and say, Soul, take thine Ease, thou hast Goods laid up for many Years: Luke 12. 19. We are sottishly secure, and dream of many Years, whereas God tells us only of to day. 8. To awaken us after heavenly things. When we seek Bread for the present Life, then give us this day: but now come to me, saith Christ, and I will give you Bread that shall nourish you to eternal Life, Bread that endureth for ever: Iohn 6. 27. Labour not for the Meat which perisheth, but for that Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life. There is Meat that will endure for ever, but for the present, we beg only for this day. 1 Pet. 1. 4. To an Inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you. That's an eternal State, this is but of a short, and of a small continuance: You see what need you have to go to God, that he will most plentifully provide for you. And forgive us our Debts, as we forgive our Debto[illegible: 1 letter]s. WE have now done with the Supplication of this Prayer, and are come to the Deprecations. The Supplications, are those Petitions which we make to God for obtaining of that which is good. The Deprecations, are those Petitions we make to God for removing of that which is evil. Now of this latter sort, there are two: 1. We pray for the Remission of Evil that is already committed. 2. We pray for the prevention of the Evil which may be inflicted. The first of these is the Petition we have now in hand. Here, 1. The Petition is proposed: Forgive us our Debts. 2. 'Tis confirmed by an Argument; As we forgive our Debtors. In the first take notice, 1. Of the Object, or Matter of this Petition, and that is, Debts. 2. The Subject, or Persons praying, Vs. 3. The Person to whom we pray, our Heavenly Father, who alone can forgive our Sins. 4. The Act of God about this Object, Forgive. Then the Petition is confirmed by an Argument, which is taken from our forgiving of others. In which there's an Argument. 1. A Simili, from a like Disposition in us. Thus, what is good in us, was first in God; for he is the Patern of all Perfection. If we have such a Disposition planted in our Hearts; and if it be a Vertue in us, surely the same Disposition is in God; for the first being wanteth no Perfection. 2. The Argument may be taken à dispari, or à minori ad majus, from the less to the greater. If we that have but a drop of Mercy, can forgive the Offences done to us; surely the infinite God, that is Mercy it self, he hath more Bowels, and more Pity; For his ways are above our ways, as high as the Heaven is above the Earth: Isa. 55. 9. So it seems the Argument is propounded; Luke 11. 4. Forgive us our Sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. 3. The Argument may be taken from the Condition, or the Qualification of those that are to expect Pardon. They are such that out of a sense of God's Mercy to them, and the Love of God shed abroad in their Hearts, are inclined and disposed to shew Mercy to others. So Christ explains it, vers. 14. making it a Condition or Qualification on our part: If ye forgive Men their Trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But this will be more abundantly clear when I come to examine that Clause. Before we come to the Petition it self, the Connection is to be considered; for the Particle [And] links it to the former Petition. After Hallowed be thy Name, he doth not say, And thy Kingdom come; they are propounded as distinct Sentences: but Give us this day our daily Bread, And forgive us our Debts; for three Reasons. 1. Without Pardon, all the good Things of this Life will do us no good: They are but as a full Diet, or as a rich Suit to a condemned Person; they will not comfort him, and allay his present Fears. Until we are pardoned, we are under a Sentence, ready for Execution, and therefore we cannot have that Comfort in outward Things, until we have some Interest in God's fatherly Mercy. A Man that is condemned, hath the King's Allowance until Execution: So it is the Indulgence of God to a wicked Man, to give him many outward Things, tho he is condemned already. We should not satisfy our selves with daily Bread, without a sense of some Interest in pardoning Mercy. 2. To shew us our Unworthiness. Our Sins are so many and grievous, that we are not worthy of one Morsel of Bread to put in our Mouths. When we say, Give us this day, &c. we need presently to say, Forgive us our Sins. There is a Forfeiture even of these common Blessings. Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies, and of all the Truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant. All that we have, we have from Mercy, and it is Mercy undeserved. As we are Creatures, there can be no common Right between God and us, to engage him to give temporal Blessings; for we owe our selves wholly to him, as being created out of nothing; Children cannot oblige their Parents. But much more as we are guilty Creatures, it is meerly of the Mercy of the Lord. 3. These are join'd together, because Sin is the great Obstacle and Hindrance of all the Blessings which we expect from God. Ier. 5. 25. Your Sins have with-held good Things from you. When Mercy comes to us, Sin stands in the way, and turns it back again, so that it cannot have so clear a Passage to us. Therefore God must forgive, before he can give, (that is) bestow these outward Things as a Blessing on us. Having spoken of this Connexion, let me observe something from the Petition it self. The first Thing I shall observe is, the Notion by which Sin is set out, Forgive us our Debts. The Point is: Doct. I. That Sins come under the Notion of Debts. In Luke 11. 4. it is, Forgive us our Sins. There is a twofold Debt which Man oweth to God. 1. A Debt of Duty. 2. A Debt of Punishment. 1. A Debt of Duty, Worship, and Obedience; this is a Debt we owe to God. In this sence it is said, Rom. 8. 12. We are Debtors, not to; the Flesh, to live after the Flesh: In which Negative, the Affirmative is clearly implied, that we are Debtors to God, to live to God; Debtors to the Spirit, to live after the Spirit. By the Law of Creation, we were not appointed to serve and please the Flesh, but to serve God. Luke 17. 10. When you have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable Servants, we have done that which was our Debt or Duty to do. Obedience, Worship, and Service is a Debt we owe to God, by virtue of that Interest which he hath in us, and Command he hath over us. And so you have that Speech, Gal. 5. 3. that we are Debtors to the whole Law, as we come under the Obedience of it. 2. A Debt of Punishment, which we are fallen into through the neglect of our Duty. Punishment is due to us as Wages: Rom. 6. 23. The Wages of Sin is Death. God hath as it were made a Contract with us, that if we will sin, we must take our Wages; we must take what it comes to. Now in this Petition, when we say, Forgive us our Debts, we do not desire to be discharged of the Duty we owe to God, but to be acquitted of the Guilt and Punishment. The Faults or Sins that we are guilty of, oblige us, and bind us to the Punishment; and therefore Sins are called Debts. The original Debt we owe, is Obedience; and in case of Default, the next Debt we owe is Punishment. Look as in a Contract and Bond, if the Party observe not the Condition, then he is liable to the Forfeiture: So God dealt with Man by way of Covenant, and the Tenor of it was exact Obedience; and this Covenant had a Sanction or an Obligation annexed, in case Obedience was not exactly performed, we should be accursed, and suffer all manner of Misery in this Life, and the next. Now by the Fall we incurr'd this Penalty, and therefore as lost and undone Creatures, we run to God's Mercy, and beg him to forgive the Debt, or the Forfeiture of that Bond of Obedience, wherein Man standeth bound to God by the Law. A little to make it good, (before I come to the Body of the Petition) let me shew how Sin is a Debt, wherein it agrees. That will appear, if you can consider, 1. Our Danger by Sin. 2. Our Remedy from Sin. In both the Parts you will find Sin is considered as a Debt. First; If you consider our Danger by Sin. 1. There is a Creditor to whom the Debt is due, and that is God. Luke 7. 41. when he would set out God's Mercy, he saith, There was a certain Creditor, which had two Debtors, &c. God is there set forth under the Notion and Similitude of a Creditor. God is a Creditor, partly as our Creator, and partly as a Lawgiver, and partly as a Judg. As our Creator and Benefactor, from whom we have received all that we have. It was the Lord that gave to every Man his Talents to trade withal, to some more, to some less, Mat. 25. Thus God hath trusted us with Life, and all other Blessings. But then as a Law-giver: If God had given us Life, Strength, Parts, Wealth, that we should do with them what we would; tho the Gift would oblige us, in point of Gratitude, to serve our Benefactor, yet we had not been so responsible for our Defaults: But we are under a Law to serve him, and honour him that made us, and gave us what we have. God did not dispossess himself of an Interest in them: He did not give them to us as Owners and Proprietors, to do with them what we would; but he gave them to us as Stewards; our Life and Employment here is a Stewardship. Nay, God is not only a Law-giver, but also a Judg; he will call us to an Account. He doth oblige us, as a Creator; but imposeth a Necessity upon us of obeying and serving him, as a Law-giver; and not only makes a Law, but will take an Account of Men, how they observe the Law of their Creation. There will a Time come, when the Lord of those Servants will come and reckon with them, and require his own with Usury. Luke 19. 23. He will require this Debt and Service at our Hands, else we must endure the Penalty. Well, this is the Connection: He that abuseth God's Mercy, as a Creator, offends him, as as Law-giver; and is justly punished by him, as a Judg. There are many never think of this, therefore are not sensible of these great Relations, nor that they shall answer for all their Talents, Strength, and Time, and Advantages they have in the World. Thus there's a Creditor. 2. As a Debtor is bound to make Satisfaction to the Creditor, or else is liable to the Process of the Law, which may be commenced against him: So are we all to God, Bodies and Souls, we are become [non-Latin text not transcribed], guilty before the Lord, Rom. 3. 19. So we translate it. We are under the Sentence of the Law, liable to the Process of his revenging Justice, and one day God will pursue his righteous Law against us. All the fallen Creatures are quite become Bankrupt; we can never pay the original Debt of Obedience, therefore must be left to lie under the Debt of Punishment. 3. Look as Debts stand upon Record, and are charged upon some Book of Account, that they may not be forgot: So God hath his Book of Account, a Book of Remembrance, as it is called, Mal. 3. 16. All our Words, Speeches, Actions, they are all upon Record; what Means we have enjoyed, what Mercies, what Opportunities, what Calls, and what Messages of his Love and Grace. Iob 14. 17. My Iniquity is sealed up in a Bag. As Mens Writings or Bonds, which they have to shew for their Debts owing to them, are sealed up in a Bag; so Iob useth that Similitude. Thus is Sin represented as a Thing that is upon Record, and cannot be forgotten. Many times we lose the Memory of what we have done in Childhood and Infancy; but all is upon Record, and your Iniquities vvill one day find you out, tho you have forgotten, and think never to hear of them more. 4. A Day of Reckoning will come, when God will put the Bond in Suit, and all shall be called to an Account. Sometimes God reckoneth with Sinners (in part) in this World, but surely in the next. Death is but the Summons to come to an Account with God: Luke 16. 2. Give an Account of thy Stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer Steward. That Passage of the Parable is applicable to Death;—That when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting Habitations, ver. 9. When the Soul is turned out of Doors, when it is cited to appear before the Tribunal of God, then vve give up our Account. But especially at the great Day: Rev. 20. 12. And I saw the Dead, small and great, stand before God; and the Books were opened; that is, the Book of Conscience, and the Book of God's Remembrance. There are two Books that are written within and without, upon which all our Actions are stamped; they are now closed, in a great measure we know not what is in these great Books. One of the Books, that of Conscience, is in our own keeping, yet we cannot deface and blot it out. These Books at that Day will be opened; Conscience, by the Power of God, shall be extended to the Recognition of all our Ways. Conscience writes, when it speaks not: Many times it doth not smite for Sins we are guilty of; but there stands the Debt charged, upon which we shall be responsible. 5. After this Reckoning there is Execution. A Bankrupt, that cannot satisfy his Creditor, is cast into Prison: So God hath his Prison for impenitent, disobedient, and obstinate Sinners: 1 Pet. 3. 19. He went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison. It is a dismal Prison, where poor captive Prisoners are held in Chains of Darkness, that is, under the Horrors of their own despairing Fears, looking for the Judgment of the Lord, when they shall be cast into this Prison, and no getting out again, until they have paid the utmost Farthing, Luke 12. 50. And that will never be, as to the Sinner; He is (as it were) always satisfying, and can never be said to have satisfied the Justice of God. Thus you see how Sin is a Debt, and what correspondence there is between them; the Obligation of Punishment that ariseth from Sin. But now it differeth from all other Debts. 1. No Debt to Man can be so great as our Debt to God, both for number and weight. Mat. 18. 24. compar'd with Vers. 28. You shall see there the Parable of the Lord, forgiving ten thousand Talents; and the Servant goes and takes his Brother by the Throat, and requireth from him a Debt of an hundred Pence. Mark, Offences done to God are greater than Offences done to us; for there's as much Difference and Disproportion, as between an hundred and ten thousand. And then the Debt of the Fellow-Servant was but Pence, an hundred Pence; but the Debt due to the Lord, that was Talents; and a Talent is reckoned to be one hundred eighty seven Pounds, ten Shillings. Our Sins against God are more and more heavy, than any which our Brethren can commit against us. Pence, Talents; one hundred, and ten thousand: there's the Difference and Disproportion. O that we had a due sense of what it is to sin against God, against an Infinite Majesty! To strike a private Person, is not so much as to strike an Officer of Justice; and that's not so much as to strike the supream Magistrate. What is it to sin against God? and how often do we? All our Imaginations are only evil, and that continually; and therefore all our Sins against God, will arise to a vast and heavy Debt, because of the Infiniteness of the Object against whom Sin is committed. 2. In other Debts there's a Day of Payment set them; in this Debt there's none: God doth not tell us when he will put the Bond in suit against us; he may surprize us ere we are aware. Luke 12. 20. when he dream'd of many Years; Thou Fool, this Night. The Spirits now in Prison, did as little think of that doleful place, as those Sinners which are alive. It may be to day, to morrow, the next hour; Gen. 4. 7. Sin lyeth at the Door: There's a Sentence, and Curse that waylays him: Sin, for the Punishment of Sin, it's ready to seize upon him, and pluck him by the Throat, and bring him into God's Presence. Still the Curse hovers over the Head of obstinate and impenitent Sinners. 3. In other Debts, if the Goods are taken by way of Execution, and suffice, the Person is free: But here God aims at the Person, and the whole Person. Body and Soul are cast into Hell Fire: Mat. 10. 28. 4. Here there can be no shifting, no avoiding the Danger. If you fly from God, you do but fly to God; from God, as willing to be a Friend; to God, who is sure to be revenged. Whither shall I fly from thy Spirit? If I go into the Depths, thou art there: Psal. 139. God is here, there, and every where. 5. All other Debts cease at Death; when a Man dyeth, we say his Debts are paid: but here Execution begins, then the Law takes the Sinner by the Throat, and drags him to everlasting Punishment, and doth in effect say, pay me what thou owest. Death is God's Arrest. Assoon as the Soul steps out of the World, presently 'tis attached and seized, and forfeited into the Hands of God's Justice. How many are there that lie under this Danger and never think of it! Spiritual Debts they are not so sensible of, as literal. A Man that's deeply in debt, and in danger of an Arrest, cannot sleep, eat, walk abroad, but his Fears are upon him. Augustus bought his Quilt, or Bed, that could sleep soundly when he owed so many thousand Sestercies. But poor sensless Sinners never think of danger until they are plunged into it, and then there's no escape. Secondly; The Metaphor will also hold good, as to our Remedy and Recovery, how we come out of this Debt. A Debtor that is insolvent, is undone, unless there be some means found out to satisfy the Creditor: So we must altogether lie under the Wrath of God, unless Satisfaction be made. Therefore Jesus Christ, in the 1. Place comes under the Notion of a Surety. Because he took the Debt of Man upon himself, therefore, Heb. 7. 22. he is called, The Surety of a better Testament. When Christ undertook the Business of our Salvation, he did in effect say, as Paul to Philemon; Vers. 18. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine Account: So did Jesus Christ, in effect say to God; Let me be made a Sin, and made a Curse for them. He that was a Judg, was willing to become a Party, and to pay what we owed. David in the Type of Christ, saith, Psal. 69. 4. I restored that which I took not away. He did not take away any Honour from God: It was we that robbed God of the Glory of his Justice, Authority, and Truth; that trampled them under our Feet: but Christ made restitution and amends to God. 2. Having condescended to become our Surety, he made full Satisfaction, by suffering the Punishment which was due to us; Isa. 53. 4. Surely he hath born our Griefs, and carried our Sorrows. That which we should have born upon our own Backs, and would have crusht us for ever, that he hath born, and he hath carried. Christ was to be the Sinner in Law, and was to suffer in our stead. Solomon hath a Passage concerning Suretyship; Prov. 11. 15. He that is Surety for a Stranger, shall smart for it: or, (as the Hebrew will bear it) sore-bruised, or, (as it is in the Margin) shall be bruised and sore-broken. And the same word is used concerning Christ, that was our Surety; Isa. 53. 10. It pleased the Father to bruise him. Christ is our Surety, therefore he was bruised and broken, he suffered what we should have suffered. It is true, there are some Circumstances of our Punishment, which Christ suffered not, (as a great part of our Punishment in Hell, there's the Worm of Conscience, and Dispair, and the Eternity of Torments) but this was not essential to the Punishment, but did only arise from the Guilt, and from the Weakness of the Party that is punished, because we cannot work through it otherwise. Christ paid the full Price which Divine Justice demanded, and so made Satisfaction for us. 3. Christ satisfying as our Surety, all those which had an Interest in his Death, they are set free from the Wrath of God, they have a Release from this great Debt owed. As when the Ram was taken, Isaac was let go; so when Christ was taken, the Sinner is released and discharged. Iob 33. 24. Deliver him from going down to the Pit, I have found a Ransom. Certainly God will not exact the Debt twice, of the Surety, and of the Principal Person; our Surety having paid the Debt for us, therefore we go free. And therefore if our Consciences should pursue us at Law, we may answer, Christ was taken for us, He was bruised for our Iniquities, and he bore the Chastisement of our Peace. 4. Christ hath not only satisfied for the Punishment, but he hath procured Favour for us; wherein he differeth from an ordinary and common Surety. Christ does not only free us from Bonds, but also hath brought us into Grace and Favour with the Creator, Law-giver, and Judg. There's a double Notion of Christ's Death; that of a Ransom for the delivery of a Captive, and as a Merit and Price which was given for eternal Life. The Death of Christ did not only dissolve the Obligation which lay upon us, to suffer the Penalty for the Breach of the Law, and so deliver us from the Wrath to come; but it was a Price that was given to purchase Grace, Favour, and Heaven for us, which is called, Ephes. 1. 14. The purchased Possession. Now why must our Surety instate us thus into Favour? because Christ was such a Surety, as did not only pay the Forfeiture, but also the Principal, (that is) he did not only make Satisfaction for the Trespass and Offence (which is the Payment of the Forfeiture) but also he established a Righteousness answerable to the Law (which is the Payment of the Principal) and of that original Debt which God first required of the Creature; for there's a Debt of Duty and Service, which Christ performeth and establisheth, as a Righteousness for us. 5. From hence in his Name there is proclaimed Redemption to the Captives, Freedom to poor Prisoners that were in Debt, and weak, and could not acquit themselves. And therefore the Publication of the Gospel is compared to the Year of Iubilee; Luke 4. 19. Christ came to preach the acceptable Year of the Lord. It relates to the Year of Iubilee, wherein all Debts were cancelled; it was a Year of general Releasement, proclaimed by sound of Trumpet, that every Man should return to his Inheritance, and all Debts dissolved and done away; Lev. 25. 9, 10. So Jesus Christ saith, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to preach the acceptable Year of the Lord: (that is) to proclaim to poor Captives a Release of all Debts, and all Bonds which are upon them. 6. All those that come to God by Christ, are interested in the Comfort of this Offer and Proclamation of Grace, and may plead with God about their Discharge from this great and heavy Debt. I put it mainly in that Notion, (those that come to God by Christ) because you will find that's the Description of those whom Christ means to save; Heb. 7. 25. He is able to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him. Who are those that come unto God by him? Those that in Christ's Name, do seriously, and with Brokenness of Heart, deal with him about a Release and a Discharge. To come to God by him, it is to come in his Name, to plead his Propitiation, or his Satifaction, as the only meritorious Cause; and the Promise of God in Christ to blot out our Offences, as the only ground of Hope; and as to our selves, acknowledging the Debt; that is, in confessing our Sins, and our desert of Punishment, with a purpose to forsake them. 1. There is required an Acknowledgment of the Debt. God stands upon it, that his Justice may be owned with a due sense, according to the Tenor of the first Covenant: For though the Satisfaction be made by another, and that by a Surety of God's providing; yet God will have the Creature know they are under so heavy a Debt, that he will have them feel it in Brokenness of Heart; not know it only in a general Conviction, but confess our Sins; 1 Iohn 1. 9. If we confess our Sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins. When we come with true Remorse, and confess we have offended so just, so holy, so merciful a Father, it must be grievous to us in the remembrance of it. You must not only confess Sin as a Wrong, but as a Debt: Sin hath wronged God, and it is also a Debt binding you over to a Punishment we could never indure, nor make God any Satifaction for. Therefore David when he would have God's Bond crossed and cancell'd, see how he pleads; Psal. 51. 2, 3. O Lord, blot out mine Offences, for I acknowledg my Transgressions; and my Sin is ever before me. Blot it out, for I acknowledg it; (that is) I submit to thy instituted Course; I submit to the Justice of the first Covenant. 2. The Satisfaction of Christ must be pleaded also by a Sinner in the Court of Heaven, in a believing manner, that there may be an owning of the Surety. All Parties that are interested in this Business must consent. Now God and Christ they are agreed about the business of Salvation: God hath agreed to take Satisfaction from Christ, and Christ hath agreed to make this Satisfaction to God: All the business now is about the Sinner's Consent, or about his ready Acceptation of Jesus Christ; and we never heartily indeed consent to this, that Christ shall be our Surety, and he the Person that must release and discharge this Debt, until we look upon him by an Eye of Faith, as one that tore the Bond and Hand-writing that was against us. The Law is called the Hand-writing that was against us; there's the Bond which was to be put in suit: now, Col. 2. 14. He hath (torn, or) blotted out the Hand-writing of Ordinances, that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, na[illegible: 1 letter]l[illegible: 1 letter]ng it to his Cross. He hath disannull'd the Law, which binds to suffer the Wrath of God. The Law was the Bond by which our Death was ratified. 3. There is requir'd an unfeigned purpose to forsake Sin. He that hath been released of his Debt, must not still run into new Arrears. Christ never blotted out our Debts, that we might renew them, and go on upon a new Score of offending God again; this is to dally with God, to run into the Snare, when he hath broken it for us, and given us an escape, to plunge our selves into new Debts again. In this Prayer, Forgive us our Debts, then presently, Lead us not into Temptation. Therefore we must purpose to forsake Sin, otherwise we do not draw nigh to God with a true Heart; Heb. 10. 22. We do but deal falsely with God in all the Confessions we make, and in all the Pleas of Faith, unless there be an unfeigned purpose to renounce all Sin, and cast it off, as a thing that will undo our Souls. Thus, Christians, must you sue out your Release and Discharge in your Surety's Name. Vse 1. The Use is, first, to shew us the Misery of an impenitent unpardoned Sinner, he hath a vast Debt upon him that will surely undo him, unless he doth in time get a Discharge. He is bound over to suffer the Wrath of God for evermore, and no Hand can loose him but God's. Many times they think of no such matter, and cry, Peace, Peace, to themselves; but it is not the Debtor which must cancel the Book, but the Creditor. Have you a discharge from God? where's your legal Qualification? poor Creatures, what will you do? Many take care that they may owe nothing to any Man; Oh! but what do you owe to God? To live in doubt, and in fear of an Arrest, O what Misery is that! But when Sin lieth at the Door, ready to attach you every moment, and hale you to the Prison of Hell, that's most dreadful. Therefore think of it seriously; how do Accounts stand between God and you? Sinners are loth to think of it. When the Lord came to reckon with his Servants, Mat. 18. 24. it is said, One was brought to him which ow'd him ten thousand Talents: He was loth to come to an account, he would fain keep out of the way, but he was brought to him. So we are unwilling to be call'd to account, we shift and delay, and will not think of our Misery: but the putting off Sin, will not put it away; our not thinking of our Misery, will not help us out, and will not be a Release and Discharge. 2. If Sins be Debts, and an increasing Debt, so that Man is ever treasuring up Wrath against the day of Wrath; it presseth us to be more careful to get out of this Condition. Saith Solomon, Prov. 6. 3, 4, 5. If thou beest in debt, flee as a swift Roe from the hand of the Hunter, and as a Bird from the hand of the Fowler. O it's a sad thing to lie in our Sins! If you be under this Debt, Give not Sleep to thine Eyes, nor Slumber to thine Eye-lids; get away like the swift Roe from the hand of the Hunter, &c. And what I say concerning a State of Sin, I say concerning daily Failings; make your Peace with God betimes; if you have contracted a new Debt, make all even between God and your Souls, that you may not sleep in your Sins. 3. This should make us more cautious that we do not commit Sin: Why? it is a Debt that will render you obnoxious to the Wrath of God; in it self it merits eternal Death: O therefore sin no more, do not run again into the Snare! When you give way to Sin, you hazard the Comfort of your Acquittance by Christ; Psal. 85. 8. The Lord will speak Peace unto his People, and to his Saints; but let them not turn again to Folly. If the Lord hath given you your Peace, and some hope of your being discharged of this heavy Debt, take heed of medling with forbidden Fruit, and running into debt again. 2. From the Subject, or Persons which make this Prayer, Forgive us, Observe, Doct. Even those that call God Father, ought to beg, daily and humbly, Pardon of their Sins. Forgive Vs; who is that Vs that can say in Faith, Our Father, daily. For this is a Patern for daily Prayer, as the word [non-Latin text not transcribed] in the former Petition noteth. We need beg, for Christ hath taught us here to sue out our Discharge. In which begging there is an Exercise of Faith eying Christ; Rom. 3. 25. God hath set forth him to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood. And there is an Exercise also of Repentance, as to mourning for Sin; 1 Iohn 1. 9. and Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and forsaketh his Sin, shall have Mercy: and as to loathing of Sin; Acts 3. 19. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your Sins may be blotted out. And certainly it must be humbly begged; for if we seek Pardon, we must seek it in God's way. We do not beg God to rescind and make void his Laws, and those wise Constitutions he hath appointed, whereby the Creature shall receive this Grace; and the manner wherein he will deal and transact this business with the offending Creature: But we seek it, as exercising our renewed Repentance; (that is) mourning for Sin, and loathing of Sin. But of this more hereafter. Now, that the best of God's Children should be dealing with God about a Pardon of their Sins; I shall argue it, 1. From the Necessity. 2. The Utility and Profit of such a Course. First; The Necessity of this will appear two ways. 1. From the Condition of God's Children here in the World. 2. From the way wherein God will give out a Pardon. 1. From the Condition of God's Children here in this World. The best are not so fully sanctified in this Life, but there is some Sin found in them: Not only they who walk with no Care, but even they that set the most narrow watch over their Ways, they are not so sanctified, but they need daily to go to God. (1.) They have Original Sin which remaineth with them to the last, they have the sinning Sin which the Apostle speaks of. Paul complains of the body of Death; Rom. 7. 23, 24. Who shall deliver me from it? The Hebrews were wont to propound their Wishes by way of Question; as, O that Salvation were come out of Sion! It is in the Hebrew, Who shall bring Salvation out of Zion? So, Who will lead me into Edom? That is, O that I were led into Edom, that I might display the Banner there, because of God's Truth. So, who shall deliver me from the body of this Death? that is, O that I were delivered! Where the Reign of Sin is broken, yet there it remains; though it be cast down in regard of Regency, yet it is not cast out in regard of Inheritance. As the Ivy that is gotten into the Wall, cut away the Boughs, Branches, Stubs, yet still there will be some sproutings out again, until the Wall be pulled down: So, until these earthly Tabernacles of ours be tumbled in the Dust, though we are mortifying and subduing of Sin, yet there will be a budding and sprouting out again. (2.) There are many Actual Sins. Iames 3. 2. In many things we offend all. And, Eccles. 7. 20. There is not a just Man upon Earth, that doth good, and sinneth not: That is, that sins not either in omitting of Good, or committing of Evil. Our Offences are either total or partial. Partial Offences; though a Child of God, loves God, fears God, trusts in God, yet not in that Purity and Perfection that he hath required of him: though he serves God, and obeys him, yet not with that Liberty, Delight, Reverence, which he hath required. There is an Omission in part in every Act: There is not that Perfection which God deserveth, who is to be served with all our Might, with all our Strength. Our Principles are divided; there is Flesh and Spirit: there is a mixture in all our Actions. Sometimes there's a total Omission, the spiritual Life is at a stand, many times all Acts of respect are intermitted. Then for Commissions; Sometimes out of Ignorance, they do not see what is to be done. Though they have a general Resolution to do the whole Will of God, yet many times they mistake. Our Light is but in part: And who can understand his Errors? Psal. 19. 12. Cleanse me from secret Sins: We sin out of Ignorance, as a Man in the dark may justle against his Friend. Sometimes by Imprudence and Inconsideration, as a Man that is not heedful though he knows it, he may mistake his way. Many are overtaken in a Fault; Gal. 6. 1. (that is) unawares, and besides their Intention. Sometimes out of Incogitancy and sudden Incursion, they may not only be overtaken, but over-born, drawn away by their own Lusts; James 1. 14. overcome by the Prevalency of Passion and corrupt Affection; so Sin gets the upper hand. Thus it is with the Children of God. Look as it was said of the Romans, that in Battel they were overcome, but never in War. Though a Child of God hath the best of it at last, yet in many particular Conflicts he is over-born by the Violence of Temptation, and his own corrupt Lusts. Thus there's a necessity of begging daily Pardon if we consider the Condition of the Saints while they are here in the World, who carry a sinning Nature about them, a corrupt Issue that will never be dried up while they are in the World; and also they are guilty of many actual Sins, both of Omission and Commission. Secondly; The necessity of it will appear from the way wherein God gives a Pardon, which is upon the Creatures humble Submission, and seeking of Terms of Grace; so that whatsoever Right we have to Remission in Christ, though we have a general Right to remission and pardon of Sin; yet we must seek to apply that Right, and beg the use of it for our daily Pardon, and Acceptance with God. This will appear by considering, 1. The nature of this Request. 2. The Right that a justified Person hath to the Pardon of his daily Sins. 1. What we beg for, when we say, Forgive us our Sins: Five things we ask of God. 1. The Grant of a Pardon. 2. The Continuance of this Priviledg. 3. The Sense and Comfort of it. 4. The Increase of that Sense. 5. The Effects of Pardon, or a Freedom from those penal Evils, that are fruits of Sin. 1. The Grant of a Pardon, That God would accept the Satisfaction of Christ for our Sins, and look upon us as righteous in him. Jesus Christ himself was to sue out the Fruits of his Purchase; Psal. 2. 8. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy Possession. Though he had a Right to be received into Heaven, to sit down at the Right-hand of God, and administer the Kingdom for the Comfort of his Elect Ones; yet, ask of me. And so we are to sue out our Right; Psal. 32. 5. I said, I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin: What then? For this cause shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. Though God be so ready to forgive; assoon as we conceive a purpose, he gives out a Pardon, yet we are to call upon God. God will have us to sue out the Grant of a Pardon; why? because he would deal with us as a Soveraign, therefore doth he require the Submission of our Faith. It was of Grace that he would appoint a Satisfaction for us, which he did not for the fallen Angels; and it was much more Grace that he would give that Satisfaction, give that Price out of his own Treasury. Christ was not a Mediator of our choosing, but God's; and therefore though Justice be fully satisfied, yet the Debt is humbly to be acknowledged by the Creature, and we are to sue out Terms of Grace. And again, the Application to us is meerly Grace, when so many thousands perish in their Sins; therefore we are to beg, to sue out this Grace, that we may have the benefit of Christ's Death. God doth it, that in begging we may acknowledg our own Misery, and how unable we are to make Satisfaction; Psal. 143. 2. In thy sight no Flesh can be justified: And, Psal. 130. 3, 4. If thou shouldst mark Iniquities; O Lord, who shall stand? But there is Forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Before God will give us an Interest in this Forgiveness, we are to come and confess our selves utterly to be insolvent, and also to own Jesus Christ as the means, that we may solemnly and explicitly own our Redeemer, who was appointed by God, and procured this benefit for us; 1 Ioh. 2. 1. And if any Man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Iesus Christ the righteous. God hath required we should sue it out, and own our Advocate, as well as confess our selves unable to satisfy, that we might know who is our Advocate. In the Type of the Brazen Serpent, Numb. 21. 8. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery Serpent, and set it upon a Pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Mark, tho God set up a sign of Salvation, (as it is called elsewhere) yet when you shall look upon him, you shall live. So God would have us sue out the Grant by looking to Christ, that so our Interest may be established; Iohn 3. 14. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness; even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal Life. That whosoever believeth in him, that was the intent of looking upon it; that we might fix our Faith on Christ, and come under the shelter of his Wing. We beg, upon a sense of our own unworthiness, the Acceptance of Christ's Satisfaction for us. 2. We pray for the Continuance of Pardon; though we are already justified, yet Forgive us our Sins. As in daily Bread, though we have it by us, and God hath stored us with Blessings in our Houses, yet we beg the continuance and use of it: so what ever Right we have to pardoning Mercy, yet we beg the continuance of it, for two reasons; Partly, because Justification is not compleat until the day of Judgment; but Mercy is still in fieri (that is) God is still a doing; Acts 3. 19. That your Sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the Presence of the Lord. Then are our Sins blotted out, then is this Priviledg compleat. We read of Forgiveness in this World, and Forgiveness in the World to come Matth. 12. 32. Forgiven in this World, when accepted to Grace and Favour with God; and forgiven in the World to come, when this Priviledg is compleat, and fully made up to the Elect. Some Effects of Sin remain till then; as Death, which came into the World by Sin, remains upon the Body till then; then our Sin is blotted out, when all the Fruits of it are vanished and done away: so that whilst any penal Evils that are introduced by Sin, remain, we ought to pray for Pardon; that God would not repent of his Mercy. Look as when we are in a state of Sanctification, we pray for the continuance of Sanctification, as well as the increase of it, because of the Reliques of Sin; though our perseverance in Grace and Sanctification be as much secured by God's Promise, as our perseverance in God's Favour, and the Gift of Justification: So we pray for the continuance of Pardon, because the Evils of Sin yet remain in part. And partly, because God for our Exercise will make us feel the smart of old Sins, which are already pardoned; As an old Bruise, though it be healed, yet ever and anon we may feel it upon change of Weather. Accusations of Conscience may return, for Sins already pardoned; as Iob 13. 26. Thou makest me possess the Iniquities of my Youth. Though a Man be reconciled to God, and in favour with him, yet the Sins of his Youth will trouble him, after he hath obtained the Pardon of them. God may make these return with a horrible and frightful appearance upon the Conscience, their Visage may be terrible to look upon. Tho these Sins are blotted out, Satan may make the Remembrance of them very frightful; and God in his holy, wise Dispensation may permit it for our Humiliation. Though this be no intrenching of the Pardon already past, yet it may exceedingly terrify the Soul, and over-cloud our Comfort, and therefore we must beg the continuance of this Benefit. Go to God, as David did, Psal. 25. 6, 7. Remember, O Lord, thy tender Mercies, and thy loving Kindness, for they have been ever of old: Remember not the Sins of my Youth, nor my Transgressions. He begs God's ancient Mercies would continue with him: He acknowledged he had received Mercy of old, he could run up to Eternity, that had been for ever of old; yet Lord, remember not against me the Sins of my Youth. When the sense of old Sins are renewed, we must renew Petitions for the pardon of them. It is usual with God, when we are negligent, to permit the Devil to make use of Affliction, to revive old Sins, that they may stare afresh in the view of the Eye of Conscience; therefore we had need to beg the continuance of this Priviledg, for it is not compleat. Though the Pardon it self be not abrogated, yet the Comfort of it may be much intrenched upon, and old Sins may come, and terrify the Soul with a very hideous Aspect. 3. We beg here the Sense and Manifestation of Pardon, though it be not the only thing we pray for. Forgive us our Sins, (that is) let us know it: God may blot Sins out of his Book, when he doth not blot them out of our Consciences. There's the Book of Conscience, and the Book of God's Remembrance. The Book of God's Remembrance may be cancell'd (to speak after the manner of Men); as soon as we believe and repent, then the Hand-writing which was against us is torn; but he blots it out of our Consciences, when the Worm of Conscience is kill'd, by the Application of the Blood of Christ through the Spirit; when we are sprinkled from an evil Conscience, as the Expression is, Heb. 10. 22. And David is earnest with God for this Benefit, the sense of his Pardon; Psal. 51. 8, 12. Make me to hear Ioy and Gladness; that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce; and restore unto me the Ioy of thy Salvation. Nathan had told him his Sins were pardoned, yet he wanted the Joy of God's Salvation, that ancient free Spirit, that comforting inlarging Spirit he was wont to have. God may forgive in Heaven, when he doth not forgive in our sense and feeling; therefore we beg the Manifestation of it by the Comforts of the Gospel 4. We beg the Increase of that Sense, for this Sense is given out in a different Latitude. Spiritual Sense is not in all alike quick and lively: many have only a probable Certainty, but have many Doubts: Some have Comfort, but never arrive to Peace. Comfort, you know, is that thing which holds up it self against Encounters, when we are confronted; so there may be many doubts, when the preponderating part of the Soul inclineth to Comfort. Some have Peace for the present, rest from Trouble of Conscience; others have Ioy, which is a degree above Peace and Comfort. 5. We beg the Effects of Pardon, or Freedom from those penal Evils, which are continued upon God's Children, and are the Fruits of Sin. Clearly this is intended, for we beg of God to pardon us as we pardon others; (that is) fully, intirely to forgive, forget. We beg of God to forgive us our Sins; (that is) to mitigate those Troubles, Evils, and Afflictions, which are the Fruits of Sin. It is true, when a Man is justified, the State of his Person is altered; yet Sin is the same in it self, it deserves all manner of Evils; therefore we beg not only a Release from Wrath to come, but from those other temporal Evils that dog us at the Heels: Sin is the same still, though the Person is not the same. It is still the Violation of a holy Law, an Affront done to an holy God, an Inconvenience upon the precious Soul; it brings a Blot upon us, an Inclination to sin again; nay, it brings eternal Death. Though it do not bring eternal Death upon pardoned Persons, yet it may occasion temporal Trouble. God hath still reserved this Liberty in the Covenant. That he will visit their Trangression with the Rod, and their Iniquity with Stripes; nevertheless, my loving Kindness will I not utterly take from him; nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail; Psal. 89. 32, 33. And Prov. 11. 31. The Righteous shall be recompensed in the Earth: That is, he shall smart for his Evil-doings. A Child of God, when he sinneth against him, tho he be not executed, yet he may be branded, he may have a Mark of Shame put upon him, his Pilgrimage may be made uncomfortable; and these may be fully consistent with God's Grace and Love. Therefore we beg a Release from these penal Evils; that as the Guilt, so the Punishment also my be abolished. 2. The Right that a justified Person hath to the Pardon of his daily Sins. Pardon of Sin is to be considered, 1. In the Impetration of it. 2. The Offer. 3. The Judicial Application, or legal Absolution of the Sinner. 1. In the Impetration and Purchase of it: So when, Heb. 10. 14. By one Offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, there needed no more to expiate them, to satify Justice. 2. In the offer of it. So God hath proclaimed Pardon, upon the Condition of Repentance: Ezek. 33. 11. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no Pleasure in the Death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil Ways, for why will ye die, O House of Israel? 3. In the Judicial Application, or legal Absolution of a Sinner. God in Word hath pronounced the legal Absolution of every one that believeth in Christ. Assoon as we repent and believe, a threefold Benefit we have. 1. The state of the Person is altered: He is a Child of God; Iohn 1. 12. To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name. He hath full leave to call God Father, a kind of fatherly dealing from him: Translated from a state of Wrath, to the state of Grace; from a Child of the Devil, he is made a Child of God, never to be cast out of his Family. 2. The actual Remission of all past Sins; Rom. 3. 25. To declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past, through the Forbearance of God. 'T would be a Licence to sin, if his Sins were remitted before committed. 3. A Right to the Remission of daily Sins, or free leave to make use of the Fountain of Mercy, that is always running, and is opened in the House of God for the Comfort of Believers; Zech. 13. 1. In that day there shall be a Fountain opened to the House of David, and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, for Sin, and for Vncleanness. 2. The Utility and Profit of such a Course. See Serm. on Psal. 32. 1. Serm. 20. Vse. The Use is to press us to be often dealing with God about the pardon of our Sins, by a general and daily Humiliation: none are exempted from bewailing the Evil of Sin. The Death of Christ doth not put less Evil into Sin; it is still damning in its own Nature; 'tis still the Violation of an holy Law, an Affront to an holy God, an Inconvenience to thy precious Soul. When Christ paid the Price for our Sins, it was upon this Condition, That we should renew our Faith and Repentance; that we should sue out our Discharge in his Name, that when we sin, we may come and humble our selves before the Lord. Under the Law, if a Man were unclean, he was to wash his Cloaths before Evening: He was not to sleep in his Uncleanness. So if you have desiled your selves, you should go wash in the Laver that God hath appointed. The Lord taught his People under the Law, of repeating a daily Sacrifice, Morning and Evening. If one be fallen out with another, God hath advised us, before the Sun be set, to go and be reconciled to our Brother: and wilt thou lie under the Wrath of God for one Night? If we would oftner use this Course, the Work of Repentance would not be so hard. Wounds are best cured at first, before they are suffered to fester and rankle into a Sore: So are Sins before they grow longer upon us. And if we did oftner thus reckon with our selves, we should have less to do when we come to die. Therefore do as wise Merchants, at the Foot of every Page, draw up the Account, so help it forward: So it will not be hard to sum up a long Account, and reckon up our whole Lives, and beg a Release of all our Debts; therefore daily come and humble your selves before the Lord. The oftner you do this, the sooner you will have the Comfort of Pardon; but when you keep off from God, and delay, you suffer the loss of Peace, and the loss of God's Favour; and Hardness of Heart, and Atheism, and carnal Security increase upon you. As we forgive our Debtors. I come to the last Branch. Hence observe; Doct. 3. Those that would rightly pray to be forgiven of God, they must forgive others. First, I shall give you the Explication. 2. The Reasons. For Explication, I shall speak to three things. 1. Who are Debtors. 2. What respect our forgiving of others, hath to God's forgiving of us. 3. In what manner we must forgive others. First; Who are our Debtors. It is not meant in a vulgar Sence, of those only which stand ingaged for a Sum of Mony due to us; but of all such as have offended us in Word or Deed. There is a Duty we owe to one another, which when we omit, or act contrary unto it, we are not only Debtors to God, but to one another: and the Doers of the Injury are bound to repair the Wrong, and to make Restitution. In this large sence is the word Debtors here taken, with respect to the Person that hath done the Injury: He becomes a Debtor, is to make Satisfaction, and suffer the Punishment which the Wrong deserves. Secondly; What Respect hath our forgiving of others to God's forgiving us. I shall speak to it Negatively, and Positvely. (1.) Negatively. 1. It is not a meritorious Cause, or a Merit and Price given to God why he should pardon us, for that's only the Blood of Christ. Every Act of ours is due, it is imperfect, and no way proportionate to the Mercies we expect; and therefore it cannot be meritorious before God. It is due, it is a Duty we are bound to do, and paying of new Debts doth not quit old Scores. God hath laid such a Law upon us, that we are to forgive others; that cannot expiate former Offences. And it is imperfect too: The Remembrance of Injuries sticks too close to us. When we do most heartily and intirely forgive others, even then we have too great a sense of the Injury and Wrong that is offered to us. Now that which needs Pardon, cannot deserve Pardon. And it is disproportionate to the Mercy which we expect. What a vast Disparity and Difference is there between God's pardoning of us, and our pardoning of others? whether we respect the Persons that are interrested in this Action; or the S[illegible: 1 letter]bject Matter, or Manner and way of doing; or the Fruit and Issue of the Action. First, In the Persons pardoning: what Proportion can there be between God and Men? the Creator and the Creature? God he is most free, and bound to none, of infinite Dignity and Perfection, which can neither be increased or lessened by any Act of ours, for him or against him: but we live in perfect Dependance upon God's Pleasure, are subject to his Command, and bound to do his Will: and therefore, what is our forgiving our fellow Creatures, made out of the same Dust, animated by the same Soul, and every way equal with us by Nature, when they wrong us in our petty Interests? what Proportion is there between this forgiving and God's forgiving? he that is of so infinite a Majesty, his forgiving the Violations of his holy Law? And 2ly, To the subject Matter, that which is forgiven, there is no Proportion. When we compare the Multitude or Magnitude, the Greatness and the Number of Offences forgiven of the one side and the other, we see there's a mighty Disproportion; we forgive Pence, and God Talents; we an hundred Pence, he ten thousand Talents; Mat. 18. So 3dly, the manner of forgiving: on God's part, by discharging us freely, and exacting a full Satisfaction from Christ; therefore our forgiving can hold no Comparison with it, which is an Act of Duty, and Conformity to God's Law. And 4thly, As to the Fruit and Issue of the Action; our Good and Evil doth not reach to God. Though our forgiving of others be an Action of Profit to our selves, yet no Fruit redounds to God. And therefore there being no Proportion between finite and infinite, there can be no such proportion between our forgiving and God's forgiving, as that this Act may be meritorious before God. Thus it is not brought here as Merit, as that which doth oblige and bind God meritoriously to forgive us. 2. It is not a Patern or Rule. We do not mean, our forgiving should be a Patern of forgiving to God. So [as] is taken indeed, ver. 10 Thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven; there it implies a Conformity to the Patern. But when we say, Forgive us, as we forgive; it doth not mean here a Patern or Rule. We imitate God, but God doth not imitate us, in forgiving Offences. And it would be ill with us, if God should forgive us no better than we forgive one another. God is matchless in all his Perfections; there is no Work like his. Psal. 86. 8. As God is matchless in other Things, so in pardoning Mercy. As the Heavens are above the Earth, so are his Ways above our Ways, and his Thoughts above our Thoughts. Isa. 55. 9. And upon this very occasion the Lord will multiply to pardon. As far as the Heavens, &c. This is the greatest Distance we can conceive. The Heavens, they are at such a vast distance from the Earth, that the Stars, tho they be great and glorious Luminaries, yet they seem to be but like so many Spangles and Sparks: This is the distance and disproportion which is made between God's Mercy and ours. Hos. 11. 9. I will not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am God, and not Man. If God should forgive but only as Man doth, it would be ill for Ephraim, if he had to do with revengeful Man. God acteth according to the Infiniteness of his own Nature, far above the Law, and manner of all created Beings. Therefore it is not put here as a Patern and Rule. 3. It doth not import Priority of Order, as if our Act had the precedency of God's; or as if we did or could heartily forgive others, before God hath shewed any Mercy to us. No, in all Acts of Love God is first; his Mercy to us, is the Cause of our Mercy to others. As the Wall reflects and casts back the Heat upon the Stander-by, when first warmed with the Beams of the Sun: So, when our Hearts are melted with a sense of God's Mercy, his Love to us is the Cause of our Love and Kindness to others. 1 Iohn 4. 19. We love him, because he first loved us; that is, we love him, and others for his sake: For Love to God implies that; why? because he hath been first with us. And then it is the Motive and Patern of it. In that Parable, Mat. 18. 32, 33. God's forgiving is the Motive to our forgiving: I forgave thee all thy Debt; and shouldest not thou have compassion on thy Fellow-Servant? In those that have true Pardon, it causeth them to forgive others, out of a sense of God's Mercy (that is) they are disposed and inclined to shew Mercy to others. But in others, that think themselves pardoned, and have only a temporary Pardon and Reprieve, (such as is there spoken of) it is a Motive which should prevail with them, tho it doth not. Nay, it is the Patern of our Love to others: Eph. 4. 32. Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you; in that manner, and according to that Example. 4. It doth not import an exact Equality, but some kind of Resemblance. As, it is a Note of Similitude, not Equality, either of Measure or Manner; it only implieth, that there is some correspondent Action, something like done on our part. So, Luke 6. 36. Be merciful, [as] your heavenly Father is merciful. As, notes the certainty of the Truth, tho not the exact proportion; there will be something answerable to God. (2.) But positively, to shew what respect it hath. 1. It is a Condition or moral Qualification which is found in Persons pardoned. Mat. 6. 14. For if ye forgive Men their Trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But, ver. 15. If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses. These two are inseparably conjoin'd, God's pardoning of us, and our pardoning of others. The Grant of a Pardon, that's given out at the same time when this Disposition is wrought in us; but the Sense of a Pardon, that's a thing subsequent to this Disposition: And when we find this Disposition in us, we come to understand how we are pardoned of God. 2. It is an Evidence, a Sign or Note of a pardoned Sinner; when a Man's Heart is entender'd by the Lord's Grace, and inclined to shew Mercy; here's his Evidence: Mat. 5. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy. The Stamp or Impression shews that the Seal hath been there; so this is an Evidence to us, whereby we may make out our Title to the Lord's Mercy, that we have received Mercy from the Lord. 3. It is a necessary Effect of God's pardoning Mercy shed abroad in our Hearts; for Mercy begets Mercy, as Heat doth Heat. Titus 3. 2, 3. Shew meekness to all Men; for we our selves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, &c. There's none so tender to others, as they which have received Mercy themselves; that know how gently God hath dealt with them, and did not take the advantage of their Iniquity. 4. It is put here, to shew that it is a Duty incumbent upon them that are pardoned. God hath laid this Necessity upon Men. And that may be one reason why this Clause is inserted, that every time we come to pray, and beg Pardon, we may bind our selves to this Practice, and warn our selves more solemnly of our Duty, and undertake it in the sight of God. So that when we say, Forgive us our Debts, as we forgive our Debtors, it is a certain Undertaking, or solemn Promise we make to God, if he will shew mercy to us, this will incline us to shew mercy to others. In earnest Requests, we are wont to bind our selves to necessary Duties. 5. It is an Argument breeding Confidence in God's pardoning Mercy. When we that have so much of the old Leaven, that soure revengeful Nature in us, yet when we have received but a Spark of Grace, it makes us ready to forgive others; then what may we imagine in God! What is our Drop, to that infinite Sea of Fulness that is in him! Clearly thus it is urged in that Clause, Luke 11. 4. And forgive us our Sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. There is a special Emphasis upon that [For we also]; that is, we that have so little Grace, we that are so revengeful and passionate by Nature, we also forgive those that are indebted to us. Therefore the gracious God, in all Goodness, and in all moral Perfections, doth far exceed the Creature; and if this be in us, what is there in God? This kind of Reasoning is often used in Scripture; as, Mat. 7. 11. If ye then being evil, know how to give good Gifts unto your Children; how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven, give good Things to them that ask him? If evil Men have such Bowels and Affections towards their Children, certainly there's more of this Goodness and Kindness in God. Thirdly; Wherein this forgiving of others doth consist? 1. In forbearing others. 2. In acquitting others. 3. In doing good to them. 1. In forbearing one another, and with-holding our selves from Revenge. This is a thing that is distant from forgiving, and accordingly we shall find it so propounded by the Apostle, Col. 3. 13. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any Man have a Quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Mark, there's first forbearing, and then forgiving. What is forbearing? a ceasing from Acts of Revenge, which tho they be sweet to Nature, yet they are contrary to Grace. Some Men will say, we will do to him, as he hath done to us. Prov. 24. 29. Say not, I will do so to him, as he hath done to me; I will render to the Man according to his Work. Corrupt Nature thirsteth for Revenge, and hath a strong Inclination this way; but Grace should give check to it: Say not, &c. Men think it's a base thing, and argueth a low pusillanimous Spirit, to put up Wrongs and Injuries; O it argueth a stupid Baseness. But this is that which giveth a Man a Victory over himself; nay, it gives a Man the truest Victory over his Enemy, when he forbears to revenge. It gives a Man a Victory over himself, which is better than the most noble Actions amongst the Sons of Men. Prov. 16. 32. He that overcometh his own Spirit, is more than he that taketh a City. There is a Spirit in us, that is boisterous, turbulent, and revengeful, apt to retaliate, and return Injury for Injury; now when we can bridle this, this is an overcoming of our own Spirits. But that's the true weakness of Spirit, when a Man is easily overcome by his own Passion: And then hath our Enemy a true Victory over us, when his Injuries overcome us so far, as we can break God's Laws to be quit with him. Therefore the Apostle saith, Rom. 12. 21. Be not overcome of Evil, but overcome Evil with Good. Then is Grace victorious, and then hath a Man a noble and brave Spirit, not when he is overcome by Evil, (for that argueth Weakness) but when he can overcome Evil. And it is God's way to shame the Party that did the wrong, and to overcome him too; it is the best way to get the Victory over him. When David had Saul at an advantage in the Cave, and cut off the Lap of his Garment, and did forbear any Act of Revenge against him, Saul was melted, and said to David, Thou art more righteous than I. 1 Sam. 24. 17. Tho he had such a hostile Mind against him, and chased and pursued him up and down; yet when David forbore Revenge, when it was in his Power, it overcame him, and he falls a weeping. So the Captains of the Syrians, when the Prophet had blinded them, and led them from Dothan to Samaria, what saith the King of Israel? he is ready to kill them presently: No, 2 Kings 6. 22. Set Bread and Water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their Master. He was kind to them; and what followeth? They did no more annoy Israel. This wrought upon the Hearts of the Syrians, so that they would not come and trouble them any more. 2. In Forgiving, it is not only required of Christians to forbear the avenging of themselves, but also actually to forgive and pardon those that have done them Wrongs. They must not only forbear Acts of Revenge, but all Desires of Revenge must be rooted out of their Hearts. Men may tolerate or forbear others, for want of a handsom Opportunity of executing their Purposes: But the Scripture saith, Forbearing one another, forgiving one another. This Forgiving implieth the laying down of all Anger, and Hatred, and all Desire of Revenge. Now this should be done, not only in word, but sincerely and universally. (1.) Sincerely, and with the Heart. In the Conclusion of that Parable, Christ doth not say, If you do not forgive, thus it shall be done to you; but, If ye from your Hearts forgive not every one his Brother their Trespasses; so also shall my Heavenly Father do to you. We must not only do this, but do it from the Heart. Ioseph, when his Brethren came to him, and submitted themselves, did not only remit the Offence, but his Bowels yearned towards them, and his Heart was towards them. Gen. 50. 17. Then, (2.) It must be done universally, whatever the Wrong be, be it to our Persons, Names, or Estates. To our Persons: Acts 7. 60. Stephen, when they stoned him, he said, Lord, lay not this Sin to their Charge: Tho they had done him so great an Injury, as to deprive him of his Life and Service; yet, Lord, lay not this Sin to their charge. So to our Names: When Shimei came barking against David; the poor Man was driven out of Ierusalem by a rebellious Son, and this wicked Wretch takes advantage against David, and rails at him; yet David forgives him, when restored to his Crown: He shall not die, 2 Sam. 19. 23. Nay, he sware to him. So his Estate: When a Debtor is not able to pay, and yet submits. So Paul bids Philemon to forgive the Wrongs of Onesimus; Put it on my Score, Philem. Vers. 18. that is, for my sake forgive this Wrong. 3. We must be ready to perform all Offices of Love to them. Luke 6. 27. Love your Enemies, do good to them which hate you. Mark, do not only forbear to execute your Wrath and Revenge upon them, but do good to them, yea, tho they be Enemies upon a religious ground; tho Religion be made a Party in the Quarrel, and so engage us to the greater Fury; when that which should bridle our Passions, is the Fuel of them: Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Mat. 5. 44. Miriam, when she had wronged Moses, yet he falls a praying for her, Numb. 12. 13. that the Lord would forgive the Sin, and heal her. For the Reasons, why those that would rightly pray to be forgiven of God, must forgive others. It should be so, it will be so; there is a Congruency, and a Necessity. 1. The Congruency, it should be so. It is fit that he that beggeth Mercy, should shew Mercy; it is exceedingly congruous: For this is a general Rule, That we should do as we would be done unto; and therefore if we need Mercy from God, we should shew Mercy to others; and without it we can never pray in Faith. He that doth not exercise Love, can never pray in Faith; why? His own revengeful Disposition will still prejudice his Mind, and make him conclude against the Audience of his Prayers; for certainly we muse on others, as we use our selves. And that's one reason of our Unbelief, why we are so hardly brought to believe all that tender Mercy which is in God, because 'tis so irksom to us to forgive seven times a day; we are apt to frame our Conclusions according to the Dispositions of our own Heart. Can we think God will forgive, when we our selves will not forgive? A Man's own Prayers will be confuted. What is more equal, than to do as we would be done unto? And therefore it is but equal, if he entreat Mercy for himself, he should shew it unto others. Look as the Centurion reasoned of God's Power, from the Command that he had over his Souldiers: Mat. 8. 9. I am a Man under Authority, and I say to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh. Those things we are accustomed to, they are apt to run in our Minds, when we come to think of God. Now he that kept his Souldiers under Discipline, that if he said, Go, they go; he reasons thus of God: Surely God hath Power to chase away Diseases. So accordingly should we reason of God's Mercy, according to the Mercy that we find in our selves. Therefore it is very notable, that when Christ had spoken of forgiving our Brethren, not only seven times, but seventy times seven, the Disciples said unto the Lord, Increase our Faith, Luke 17. 5. How dot[illegible: 1 letter] this come in? In the 4th Verse Christ had spoken, that they should forgive not only seven times, but seventy times seven; and they do not say, Lord, increase our Charity, but our Faith; implying, that we cannot have such large thoughts of God, when our own Hearts are so straitned by Revenge, and our private Passions. 2. In point of Necessity; as it should be so, so it will be so; for God's Mercy will have an Influence upon us, to make us merciful. All God's Actions to us imprint their stamp in us; his Election of us, makes us to choose him, and his ways; his Love to us, makes us love him again, who hath loved us first; so his forgiving of us, makes us to forgive our Brethren. There is an answerable Impression left upon the Soul to every act of God (why?) for a true Believer is God's Image: The new Man is created after God, Eph. 4. 24. and therefore he acts as God. Certainly, if there be such a Disposition in our Heavenly Father, it will be in us if we have an Interest in him. Look, as a Child hath Part for Part, and Limb for Limb answerable to his Father, tho not so big in Stature and Bulk; so hath a Child of God, which is created after God, he hath all the Divine Perfections in some measure in his Soul. And this Consideration is of more force, because the New-Creature cannot be maimed and defective in every Part, but is entire, lacking nothing. And therefore if God forgive others, certainly the Godly will be inclinable to forgive too. Vse. 1. Here's a ground of Tryal whether we are pardoned or no. Is our revengeful Disposition (that is so natural, and so pleasing to us) mortified? That's one Trial or Evidence whether we are forgiven of God; can we freely from the Heart forgive others? Object. But it may be objected against this. Do you place so much in this property of forgiving others? It doth not agree only to pardoned Sinners, because we see some Carnal Men are of a weak and stupid Spirit, not sensible of Injuries: And (on the other side) many of God's Children find it hard to obtain to the perfect Oblivion of Injuries that is required of them. Answ. As to the first part, I answer: We do not speak of this Disposition as proceeding from an easy Temper, but as it proceedeth from Grace; when in Conscience towards God, and out of a Sense of his Love to us in Christ, our Hearts being tendered and melted towards others, to shew them such Mercy as we our selves have received from the Lord; that's the Evidence. And again, we do not press to judg by this Evidence single and alone, but in Conjunction with others; when they are humbly Penitent, and confessing their Sins, and turn to the Lord, which is the great Evangelical Condition. Job. 33. 27. If any, say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not: Then will he restore light to him. When a Man is soundly touched with remorse, and seeth the folly of his former Courses, and asketh Pardon of God, then is God gracious to him. But this is that we say, that this Disposition of Pardon, in Conjunction with the great Evangelical Condition of Faith and Repentance, it helpeth to make the Evidence more clear. 2. As to the other part of the Objection, which was this, it will be a great weakening of the Confidence of God's Children, who cannot get such a perfect Oblivion of Injuries they have received, but find their Minds working too much this way. I answer; As long as we live in the World, there will be Flesh and Spirit, Corruption as well as Grace; there will be an intermixture of the Operations of each: Carnal Nature is prone to Revenge; but Grace prevaileth, and inclineth to a Pardon. Well then, if this be the prevalent Inclination of the Soul, and that which we strive by all good Means to cherish in us, this meek Disposition, passing by of Wrongs we receive by others, then we may take Comfort by this Evidence, tho there be some reluctancies and regrudgings of the old-Nature. Vse. 2. To press us to this ready Inclination to forgive Wrongs and Injuries. We are not so perfect, but we all need it from one another. There will be mutual Offences while we are in the World, especially in a time when Religious Differences are on Foot; therefore it concerns us to look after this Disposition of forgiving others, as we would be forgiven of God. Human Society cannot well be upheld without this mutual Forbearance and Forgiving. Now imitate your Heavenly Father. No Man can wrong us so much as we daily trespass against him, and yet God pardoneth us. He doth not only pardon the lesser Failings, some Venial Errors, and Sins of Incogitancy and sudden Surreption, which creep upon us we know not how; but he pardons the greatest Sins, tho they be as Scarlet, Isa. 1. 18. Those that are of a Crimson hue, God can wash them out in the Blood of Christ. And mark, what is it then that you will stand upon? Is it the greatness of the Offence? God pardons great Sins. Or is it the baseness of those that injure you? (this is the Circumstance) When we have received wrong from those which are our Inferiors, that owe us more Reverence and Respect? What are we to God? Notwithstanding the baseness of those which affront him daily, all Men to him are but as the drop of the Bucket, and the small Dust of the Ballance, Isa. 40. 15. yet God pardons them. And then again, cast in the consideration of God's Omnipotency: He is able to right himself of the wrongs done to him, and no Man can call him to an account: Many times it is not in our Power. He can cast Body and Soul into Hell, Mat. 10. 28. God is thus offended, and by sawcy Dust that is ready to fly in his Face, inconsiderable Man; and yet the Lord pardons, and this he doth freely, Luke 7. 42. He frankly forgave them both. And he pardons fully, as if it were never committed, Mich. 7. 19. He casts all our Sins into the Depths of the Sea. Then he pardons frequently, His Free Gift is of many Offences unto Iustification, Rom. 5. 16. And he multiplies to pardon, Isa. 55. 7. And mark, he pardons too (in some sence) before they Repent, there's a Purpose; he provided Christ before we were born. And he gives us Grace to repent, or else we could never humble our selves at his Feet, the offended God; he gives them the Grace whereby they shall acknowledg the Offence. Christ prayed for his Persecutors, when they had no sense of the Injury they had done him, they were converted by that Prayer afterwards, Luke 23. 34. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; therefore certainly much more when they repent and submit. Oh therefore, let us not be drawn hardly to this Duty; or at least we should not upon every petty Offence cherish Hatred and Rancor against our Brethren. But here are certain Cases that would come into debate. First Case, Whether it be consistent with this Temper, forgiving of others; to seek reparation of wrongs in a way of Justice, and pursue Men at Law for Offences they have committed against us? Answer, Yes. For, 1. Certainly one Law doth not cross another. By the Law of Charity, the Law of Iustice is not made void. A Magistrate (tho he be a Christian, and bound to forgive others) is not bound up from executing his Office against publick Offenders. Nor yet are private Men tyed from having recourse to the Magistrate for restoration to their Right, or reparation of their Wrong. For to demand ones Right, is not contrary to Love; nor to seek to amend and humble the Party Nocent by the Magistrates Authority, who is the Minister of God for Good, Rom. 13. 4. And that others may hear and fear, Deut. 19. 20. And the Party damnified may for the future live in Peace. Forgiving is an Act of private Jurisdiction. The Offence, as far as it is private to us, it may be forgiven; but there are many such Offences as are not only an Offence to us, but to the Publick Order, and that must be left to the Process of the Law. 2. Whosoever useth this Remedy, must look to his own Heart, that he be not acted with private Revenge, nor with a Spirit of Rigor, or Rankor against the Party offending; but that he be carried out with Zeal to Justice, with pity to the Person, that he and others may not be hardned in Sin. For this is the general Law of Christ, That all things should be done in Love, 1 Cor. 16. 14. Therefore when we are acted by our private Passion, and secret desires of Revenge, we abuse God's Ordinance of Magistracy, and make it to Lacquey upon our Lusts. And therefore there must be a taking heed to the frame of our own Hearts, that they be upright in these things. Tho it seem hard to Flesh and Blood, yet remember Flesh and Blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Grace must frame your Hearts to the Obedience of God's Will. 3. These Remedies from Authority must be in weighty Cases, and in matters of moment and importance. Their contending in Law one with another about the smallest matters, is that which the Apostle taxeth, 1 Cor. 6. 7. Not upon every trifling occasion. It must be after other means are tryed and used; as the help of Friends to compound the matter, for Charity tryeth all things, 1 Cor. 13. 4. And the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 6. 5. Is there none to judg between you? that is, none to decide and arbitrate the difference; for the refuge to Authority should be our last Remedy. And it must be too when the Party wronging is able to make Satisfaction; otherwise it is Rigor and Inhumanity: 2 Kings 4 1. As When the Creditors came to take the Sons of the Widow for Bondmen. When you are rigorous with those that come to Poverty not by their own Default, but by the discharge of their Duty brought Poverty upon themselves, 'tis contrary to Christianity. Look, as Physicians deal with Quick-Silver, after many Distillations they make it useful in Medicines: So, after many preparations is this Course to be taken. 2. Another Case; Whether in forgiving Injuries we are bound to tarry for the Repentance of the Party? The ground of doubting is, because Christ saith, Luke 17. 3. If thy Brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and, if he repent, forgive him; and because of God's Example, who doth not forgive an obstinate Sinner, but him that repents. Certainly, even before Repentance, we are bound to lay aside Revenge, and in many cases to go and reconcile our selves with others. Saith our Saviour, If thou hast ought against any one, go reconcile thy self to him, and then come and offer thy Gift. It is not said, if any have ought against thee; but, if thou hast ought against any one. I confess, in some Cases it is enough to lay it aside before the Lord. But at other times, we are to seek reconciliation with the Party which hath wronged us. But this Case is mightily to be guided by Spiritual Prudence. As for God's Example, God is Superior, bound to none, he acts freely, it is his Mercy that pardons any; and yet God gives us a Heart to repent, of his good Pleasure, he begins with a Sinner. But this is nothing to our Case who are under Law, who are bound to forgive others. III. The Person to whom we Pray. Our Heavenly Father. The Note is, That God doth alone forgive Sin. There is a double forgiveness of Sin: In Heaven, and in a Mans own Conscience; and therefore sometimes compared to the blotting out of something out of a Book, sometimes to the blotting out of a Cloud. To the blotting out of a Book. Isa. 43. 25. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember thy Sins; That it may be no more remembred, or charged upon us. To the blotting out of a Cloud: Isa. 44. 22. I have blotted out as a thick Cloud thy Transgressions, and as a Cloud, thy Sins. As the Sun when it breaketh forth in its Strength, dispelleth the Mists and Clouds. Sin interposeth as a Cloud, hindring the Light of God's Countenance from shining forth upon us. Both these are God's Work; to blot the Book, and to blot out the Cloud. 1. Pardoning of Sin in the Court of Heaven, it belongeth to God peculiarly. Dan. 9. 9. To the Lord our God belong Mercies and Forgivenesses, &c. 'Tis God alone can do it, for two Reasons. 1. He is the wronged Party. 2. He is the Supream Judg. 1. He is the wronged Party, against whom the Offence is committed. Psal. 51. 4. Against thee, against thee only have I sinned. He had sinned against Bathsheba, against Vriah, whose Death he projected; How is it said, against thee only? There may be wrong and hurt done to a Creature, but the Sin is against God, as 'tis a breach of his Law, and a despising of his Sovereign Authority; the Injury done to the Creature is nothing in Comparison of the Offence done to God, against so many Obligations wherein we stand bound to him. Amongst Men, we distinguish between the Crime and the Wrong. And a Criminal Action is one thing, and an Action of Wrong and Trespass is another. If a Man steal from another, 'tis not enough to make him Restitution, but he must satisfy the Law. 2. He is the Supream Judg. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as one God, are the Judg of all the Earth, to whom they must be accountable for the Offence. Gen. 18. 25. Shall not the Iudg of all the Earth do right? But in the Mystery of Redemption, the Father, as first in order of the Persons, is represented as the Judg, to whom the Satisfaction is tendred, and who doth Authoritatively pass a Sentence of Absolution. And therefore 'tis said, 1 Joh. 2. 1. We have an Advocate with the Father, Iesus Christ the Righteous: He is to deal with him as the Supream Judg; and 'Tis God that justifieth, Rom. 8. 33. The whole Business of our Acquitment is carried on by the Father, who is to receive the Satisfaction, and our humble Addresses for Pardon. But to answer some Objections that may arise. Object. 1. 'Tis said, Mat. 9. 6. The Son of Man hath power on Earth to forgive Sins. I answer; That is brought there, as an Argument of his God-Head. He that was the Son of Man, was also very God: And therefore, upon Earth in the time of his Humiliation, he had power to forgive Sins: for he ceased not to be God when Incarnate; And it became him to discover himself, as by his Divine Power in the work of Miracles; so his Divine Authority in the Forgiveness of Sins. Object. 2. Is taken from the Text, Forgive us our Debts, as we forgive those that trespass against us. I answer: In Sin, there is the Obliquity or Fault in it, and the Hurt or Detriment that redounds to Man by it. As it is a Breach of the Law of God, or an Offence to his Infinite Majesty, God can only pardon it, or dispense with it: As it is an hurt to us, so restitution is to be made to Man, and Man can pardon or forgive it. Object. 3. 'Tis said, Joh. 20. 23. Whosesoever Sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever Sins ye retain, they are retained. So that it seemeth Man hath a power to remit Sins. I answer; They do it Declaratively, and by Commission from God. The Officers of the Church have the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven committed to them; the Key of Knowledg or Doctrine, and the Key of Order and Discipline. Accordingly this Power is called, The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, Mat. 16. 19. And the use of them is to open or shut the Doors of God's House, and to bind or loose, as the Expression is, Mat. 18. 18. That is, to pronounce Guilty and liable to Judgment, or to absolve and set free declaratively and in God's Name; or, as it is litterally expressed in the place alledged, To remit or retain. The Key of Doctrine is exercised about all Sin as Sin, were it never so secret and inward: and the Key of Order and Discipline about Sin only as 'tis Scandalous and Infectious. Now what they act Ministerially according to their Commission, 'tis ratified in Heaven; for it is a Declaration or Intimation of the Sentence already passed there. So that a Declarative and Ministerial Power is given to the Church; but the Authoritative Power of forgiving Sins, that God hath reserved to himself: Man can remit doctrinally, and by way of Judicial Procedure; but that is only by way of Commission and Ministerial Deputation. Such as are Penitent, and feel the Bonds of their Sins, they do declaratively absolve and loose them, or take off the Censure Judicially inflicted for their scandalous Carriage. This Ministerial forgiving, however Carnal Hearts may slight it, both in Doctrine and Discipline, yet being according to the Rules of the Word, is owned by God, and the Penitent shall feel it to their Encouragement, and the Obstinate to their Terror. 2. As he pardoneth Sin in the Conscience; and there God alone can forgive Sin, or speak Peace to the Soul upon a double Account. 1. Because of his Authority. 2. Because of his Power. 1. Because of his Authority. Conscience is God's Deputy, and till God be pacified, Conscience is not pacified, upon sound and solid Terms. Therefore 'tis said, where Conscience doth its Office, 1 Joh. 3. 20, 21. If our Hearts condemn us, God is greater than our Hearts, and knoweth all things; if our Hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. God is greater than our Consciences. His Authority is greater, for God is Supream, whose Sentence is decisive: Now, tho Conscience should not do its Office, 1 Cor. 4. 4. For I know nothing by my self, yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me, is the Lord. All depends upon God's Testimony. 2. Because of his Power, who only can still the Conscience; Isa. 57. 19. I create the Fruit of the Lips to be Peace, Peace: That is, the Lips of his Ministers or Messengers, who bring the glad tydings of Peace, or the reconcilement of God to his People. And therefore 'tis called the Peace of God, Phil. 4. 7. as wrought by him. The Gospel is a sovereign Plaister, but 'tis God's Hand that must make it stick upon the Soul, otherwise we hear Words and return Words; 'tis by the lively Operation of his Spirit that our Hearts are setled. God cometh in with a sovereign powerful Act upon the Soul. Otherwise one Grief or sad Thought doth but awaken another: Till he command Loving Kindness, Psal. 42. 8. We are still followed with Temptations. As the Rain swells the Rivers, and Rivers the Sea, and in the Sea one Wave impelleth another; so doth one Temptation raise another. Vse. 1. It reproveth those that do not deal with God, about the Pardon of their Sins. If God alone pardon Sins, then God must be sought to about it. For tho there be none in Earth to call us to an Account, yet God may call us to an Account; and then what shall we do? Many, if they escape the Judgment of Man, think they are safe: But Alas! your Iniquities will find you out. You think they are past, and never more to be remembred; but they will find you out in this World, or the next: our Business lieth not with Man so much as with God. Therefore this should be the question of your Souls, Job 31. 14. What then shall I do, when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Which way shall I turn my self, when God calleth me to an Account? He will come and enquire into our ways; are you provided of an Answer? David's Sin was secret; his Plot for the Destruction of Vriah closely carried: Nathan tells him, 2 Sam. 12. 12. Thou didst it secretly.—But, against thee have I sinned. Many escape blame with Men, but God's Wrath maketh Inquisition for Sinners. You cannot escape his Search and Vengeance, if you do not treat with him about a Pardon. Vse. 2. It shews the Folly of those that have nothing to shew for the pardon of their Sins, but their own secure Presumptions; 'Tis God's Act to pardon Sin. Man may forget his Sin; But if God remember it, he is miserable: Man may hide his Sin, but if God bring it to Light; Man may put off the Thoughts, but if God doth not put away; Man may excuse his Sin, but if God aggravate it; the Debtor may deny the Debt, but if the Book be not crossed, he is responsible. Psal. 32. 1, 2. Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven, whose Sin is covered; Blessed is the Man to whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity, &c. We must have God's Act to shew for our Discharge; then we may triumph, 'Tis God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? &c. Rom. 8. 33, 34. God is the offended Party, and the Supream Judg. Then Conscience hath nothing to do with us, nor Satan, neither as Accuser, or Executioner. Not as an Accuser, for then he is but a Slanderer; not as an Executioner, for he is turned out of Office; Heb. 2. 14. That he might destroy him that had the power of Death, even the Devil. Have you your Pardon from God? Is your Discharge from him? When have it we from God? 1. Have it you from his Mouth, in the Word, or Prayer, upon suing to him in Christ's Name, and earnest waiting upon him? If Men would consider how they come by their Peace, they would sooner be undeceived. You were praying and wrestling with God, and so your Comfort came. God speaketh Peace. But when it groweth upon you, you know not how; it was a thing you never laboured for; like Ionah's Gourd, it grew up in a Night; 'tis but a fond Dream. 2. Have it you under his Hand? Is it a Peace upon Scripture terms? of Faith? Rom. 5. 1. Therefore being justified by Faith, we have Peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ. Repentance, Luke 24. 47. That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations, &c. And the Exercise of Holiness: Then have you God's word to shew for it. But if it be not a Peace consistent with Scripture-Rules; nay you are afraid of the Word, Ioh. 3. 20. You are loth to be tried, 'tis a naughty Heart. 3. Have it you under his Seal? 2 Cor. 1. 22. Who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our Hearts: Have you the Impress of God upon you, God's Seal, his Image? Doth the Spirit of Promise assure your Hearts before God, that you can live in the Strength of this Comfort, and go about Duties chearfully? Then 'tis God's Pardon, otherwise 'tis but your own Absolution which is worth nothing. Vse. 3. It sheweth that we need not fear the Censures of Men, nor the Hatred of the Ungodly; for 'tis God pardoneth, and who can condemn? God will not ask their Vote and Suffrage who shall be accepted to Life, and who not, 1 Cor. 4. 3. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of Mans Iudgment, &c. A Man must expect Censure that will be faithful to God; but if he acquit us, it is no matter what our guilty Fellow-Creatures say. Vse. 4[illegible: 1 letter] Is Comfort to broken-hearted Sinners; to those that need and desire Pardon. 'Tis well for them that God doth not put them off to others, but reserveth this power of pardoning Sins to himself. 1. 'Tis his Glory to forgive Sins. Exod. 33. 18. And he said, I beseech thee shew me thy Glory; compared with Exod. 34. 6, 7. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful, and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in Goodness and Truth. Keeping Mercy for thousands, forgiving Iniquity, Transgression, and Sin, &c. 'Tis not only the Glory of a Man, who is so offensive himself, and so passionate, that this Passion will draw him to what is unseemly, but of God. 2. 'Tis his Glory not only above the Creatures, but above all that is called God in the World. Mic. 7. 18. 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. The Heathen Gods were known by their Terrors rather than their Benefits, and feared rather for their Revenges than their Mercies. We may boast of him above all Idol Gods upon this Account: He is known among his People, not so much by acts of Power, as acts of Grace, and the greatness of his Mercy, in pardoning Sins for Christ's sake. 3. He is willing to dispence a Pardon; Mi[illegible: 1 letter]. 7. 18. He delighteth in Mercy. God delighteth in himself, and all his Attributes, and the Manifestation of them in the World; but above all in his Mercy. Justice is his strange act, Isa. 28. 21. There is not any thing more pleasing to him. 'Tis the Mercy of God that he hath drawn up a Petition for us; he would never have taught us to have asked Mercy by Prayer, if he had not been willing to shew us Mercy. 4. God will do it for his own sake, and not for any forreign Reasons. Isa. 43. 25. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake, and out of a respect to his own Honour. See how God casts up his Accounts. It is Mercy, Jer. 3. 12. I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep Anger for ever. So his Truth, Psal. 106. 45. He remembred for them his Covenant, and repented according to the Multitude of his Mercies. Not from any desert of theirs, who do so neglect him, and wrong him; God will do it upon his own Reasons. 5. He will do it in such a way as Man doth not; in a way of infinite Mercy. Hos. 11. 9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine Anger, for I am God, and not Man. 'Tis the great Advantage of us Sinners, that we have to do with God, and not Man, in our Miscarriages: For Man's Pity and Mercy may be exhausted be it never so great. What, seven times a Day? But God is Infinite. Man may think it dishonourable to agree with an Inferior when he stoops not to him; but God is so far above the Creature, that we are below his Indignation. Man is soon wearied, but not God. Isa. 55. 8, 9. For my Thoughts are not your Thoughts, neither are your Ways my Ways, saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth; so are my Ways higher than your Ways, and my Thoughts than your Thoughts. I now come to the fourth and last Consideration. IV. That Forgiveness of Sins is one great Benefit that we must ask of God in Prayer. Here it will be needful to shew, First, The Necessity of treating with God about Forgiveness. Secondly, The Nature of this Benefit. Thirdly, The Terms how God dispenseth it. First; The Necessity will appear in these Propositions. 1. Man hath a Conscience, Rom. 2. 15. Thoughts accusing or excusing, &c. A Beast cannot reflect. 2. A Conscience inferreth a Law. 3. A Law inferreth a Sanction. 4. A Sanction inferreth a Judgment. 5. A Judgment—a Condemnation to the fall'n Creature. 6. There is no avoiding this Condemnation, unless God set up a Chancery, or another Court of Grace. 7. If God set up another Court, our Plea must be Grace. Of this see more at large 20. Serm. 1 Serm. on Psal. 32. 1, 2. Secondly; The Nature of this Benefit, or manner how God forgiveth. 1. Freely. 2. Fully. 1. Freely, and meerly upon the Impulsions of his own Grace. Isa. 43. 25. I, even I am he that forgiveth your Iniquities for my Name sake. Nothing else could move him to it, but his own Mercy; and he could have chosen whether he would have done so yea or no: For he spared not the Angels; but offereth Pardon to Man, and all Men are not actually pardoned. And therefore, the only reason why he sheweth us Mercy and not others, is meerly his own Grace. The Intervention of Christ's Merit doth not hinder the Freedom of it; Tho dearly purchased by Christ, yet freely bestowed on us. For 'tis said, Rom. 3. 24. Iustified freely by his Grace, through the Redemption that is in Christ. Why? partly because it was Mercy that he would not prosecute his Right against us. Partly, because he found out the way how to recompense the wrong done by Sin unto his Majesty, and out of his Love, sent his Son to make this Recompence for us. Ioh. 3. 16. 'Twas Love set all a-work. And lastly, not excited hereunto by any worth on our parts, but the external moving cause was only our Misery, and the internal moving cause his own Grace. Nor is the Freedom of this Act infringed by requiring Faith and Repentance on our part: because that only sheweth the way and order wherein this Grace is dispensed, not the cause why. 'Tis not for the worth of our Repentance, or as if there were any Merit in it. A Malefactor that beggeth his Pardon on his Knees, doth not deserve a Pardon; only the Majesty of the Prince requireth that it should be submissively asked. These are not Conditions of Merit, but Order; not the Cause, but the way of Grace's working: And these Conditions are wrought in us by Grace, Acts 5. 31. not required only, but given. In all other Covenants, the Party contracting, is bound to perform what he promiseth by his own strength: But in the Covenant of Grace, God doth not only require that we should Believe and Repent, but causeth it in us. Conditions of the Covenant, are Conditions in the Covenant. God requireth Faith and Repentance, and giveth Faith and Repentance; compare Isa. 59. 20. with Rom. 11. 26. 'Tis Christ's Gift as well as his Precept. So that when we come about pardon of Sin, we have only to do with Grace: We beg Pardon, and a Heart to receive it. 'Tis a Free Pardon. 2. 'Tis a Full Pardon. 'Tis Full in several respects. 1. Because, where the Party is forgiven, he is accepted with God as if he had never sinned; Psal. 103. 12. As far as the East is from the VVest; so far hath he removed our Transgressions from us. And Mich. 7. 19. Thou wilt cast all their Sins into the depth of the Sea. Isa. 38. 17. Thou hast cast all my Sins behind thy Back. It shall not be remembred, nor laid to their charge any more. 'Tis true, for a while after they may trouble the Conscience; as when the Storm ceaseth, the Waves rowl for a while afterwards: So may Sin in the Consciences of God's Children work trouble, after the fiducial Application of the Blood of Christ; But the Storm ceaseth by degrees. And 'tis possible, that the commitment of new Sins, may revive old Guilt, as a new Strain may make us sensible of an old Bruise. Yet we must distinguish between the full Grant of a Pardon: From the full sense of it, when we are not Thankful, Humble, Fruitful, former Sins may come into remembrance; and God may permit it, as matter of Humiliation to us, and to quicken us to seek after new Confirmation of our Right and Interest. Yet God's Pardon is never reversed, nor will the Sin be charged again, or put in suit against him, to the final condemnation of the Person so pardoned. Once more, though the Sins of the Justified should be remembred at the Day of Judgment, it will not be to the confusion of their Faces, but the exaltation and praise of the Lord's Grace. Then is this Acquittance in all respects full. 2. 'Tis full, because where God forgiveth one Sin, he will forgive all: Psal. 103. 3. Who pardoneth all thy Sins: And Mich. 7. 19. Thou wilt cast all their Sins into the depth of the Sea; Sins Original, Actual; of Omission, Commission; Small, Great, Secret, Open; Lust that boileth in the Heart, and breaketh out in the Life; Sins of Worship, of ordinary Conversation. Look in the Bill; What owest thou? A Christian is amazed when he cometh to a serious account with God; but the self-judging Sinner needeth not be discouraged when he cometh to God. For where God pardoneth all that is past, the Fountain stands daily open for him to flee unto, with all his Faults, as they are committed; and upon the renewing of his Faith and Repentance, he shall obtain his Pardon. All Sins are Mortal, all of them Damnable; Therefore if all Sins be not pardoned, he remaineth in danger of the Curse; and one Sin let alone, is sufficient to exclude us out of Heaven. Therefore all is pardoned, first or last, Justice hath no more to seek of Christ: And we have all leave to sue out our Pardon in Christ's Name; He is under that Covenant that will pardon all. 3. 'Tis Full; Because, where God forgiveth the Sin, he also forgiveth the Punishment. 'Twill not stand with God's Mercy, to forgive the Debt, and yet to require the Paiment. 'Tis a mo[illegible: 1 letter]king to say, I forgive you the Debt, and yet cast the Man into Prison; and to pardon the Malefactor, and yet leave him liable to Execution. Here, in the Text, God forgiveth us, as we are bound to forgive our Brother; not in part, but in whole. Guilt is nothing but an Obligation to Punishment. 1. As to Eternal Punishment, 'tis clear, Rom. 5. 9. The Eternal Promises and Threatnings, being of Things absolutely Good and Evil, are therefore absolute and peremptory, that is certain. 2. But now, as to Temporal Afflictions, there is some difficulty; for where the whole Punishment is done away, such Grace, and payment of any part of the Debt, cannot stand together. That Pardon which is given upon valuable and sufficient Price, is full and perfect. Jesus Christ satisfied the Justice of God for all our Sins. How is it then that the Saints are subject to so many Afflictions? 1. So far as Sin remains, so far some penal Evil remains; when the Dominion of it is broken, there remains no Condemnation, but yet some Affliction; and when 'tis wholly gone, there is no Evil at all. We are not yet purged from all Sin. And therefore, 2. These Afflictions are not satisfactory Punishments, and need not, as to the compleating of our Justification, but are helps to us, as the furtherance of our Sanctification. And so are of great use, 1. To make us hate Sin more. If we only knew the sweetness of it, and not the bitterness, we would not be so shy of it. Now the bitterness of it is seen by the effects; Ier. 2. 19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy back-slidings shall reprove thee; Know therefore, and see, that it is an evil thing, and bitter; that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my Fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of Hosts. 2. 'Twill cause us to prize our deliverance by Christ. If Affliction be so grievous, what would Hell be? 1 Cor. 11. 32. But when we are judged, we are chastned of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the World. 'Tis a gentle remembrance of Hellpains, or a fair warning to avoid them, when scorched or sindged a little. 3. To make us walk more humbly. We forget our selves, and are apt to be puffed up. Paul saith, 2 Cor. 12. 7. Lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the Revelations, there was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh, the Messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 4. 'Tis Full; Because, where God forgiveth Sin, there are many consequent Benefits. (1.) God is reconciled. Rom. 5. 1. Therefore being justified by Faith, we have peace with God▪ through our Lord Iesus Christ. This is the great Blessing, and our great Work is, to make and keep peace with God; to have no Cloud between us and his Face. Light is pleasant; What then is the Light of his Countenance, that filleth us with a Peace that passes understanding? We would have a powerful Friend, especially if we need him. Acts 12. 20. They sought Peace with Herod, because their Country was nourished by the King's Country; so should we do, we cannot live without God. If Sin be pardoned, then we are at peace with God, and may have free access to him, with a free use of all that is his. (2.) A Heart sanctified, is a connexed Benefit; 1 Cor. 6. 11. And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Iesus. And 1 Iohn 1. 9. Sin is considerable in the guilt and filth of it; as it rendreth us obnoxious to God's Justice; or as it tainteth our Faculties and Actions: According to this double respect, Christ destroyeth Sin, and no Man hath benefit by him, that is not freed from the guilt and filth thereof. Christ was sent into the World to restore God's Image in us: But the Image of God, consisteth in the participation of Holiness, as well as the participation of Blessedness; for God, that is Happy and Blessed, is also Holy and Good; the filthiness of Sin is opposite to Holiness, and the guilt of it to blessedness: So that either Christ must restore but half the Image of God, or he must give us this double Benefit; if he should give us one without the other, many Inconveniences would follow. Therefore both are given; he justifieth that he may sanctify, and he sanctifieth that he may glorify. (3.) Providence is blessed. The Curse is taken out of our Blessings, and the Sting out of our Afflictions. As long as Sin remains unpardoned, our Blessings are cursed; Mal. 2. 2. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory to my Name, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a Curse upon you, and I will curse your Blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart: There will be a Worm in our Manna, our Table will become a Snare, Psal. 69. 22. But when once Sin is pardoned, the Sting of Misery is taken away: 1 Cor. 15. 56. The Sting of Death is Sin, and the strength of Sin is the Law: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Iesus Christ. Crosses are not Curses. (4.) We have a right to Heaven, which is the great ground of Hope; Rom. 5. 10. For if when we were Enemies, we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son; much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his Life. Thirdly; The Terms upon which 'tis dispensed, are Faith and Repentance. 1. Faith. Acts 10. 43. To him give all the Prophets witness, that through his Name whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of Sins. Faith is necessary to honour the Mercy of God, to own the Surety, to consent to his Undertaking, to encourage the Creature to look after this Benefit. 2. Repentance. Which implieth a sorrow for Sin, with a serious purpose of forsaking it. Sorrow for Sin; no Man can seriously desire a Pardon, but he that is touched with a sense of his Sin, moved and troubled at it. And then, for purpose of forsaking; Ezek. 33. 12. As for the wickedness of the Wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his Wickedness. Sin pardoned, must be left; otherwise, a Pardon given to a wicked Man, would be a confirmation of his Sin, or a concession of leave to sin. Well then, let us seek Pardon of God in this way. And lead us not into Temptation. WE are now come to the sixth Petition: which is doubly exprest. I. Negatively; Lead us not into Temptation. II. Affirmatively; But deliver us from Evil. The first part doth more concern preventing Grace, that we may not fall into Evil: and the second, recovering Grace, that if we fall into Evil, we may not be overcome of it, nor overwhelmed by it, but may find deliverance from the Lord. Here we pray, (1.) that we may not be tempted. Or (2.) if the Lord see it fit we should be tempted, that we may not yield. Or (3.) if we yield, that we may not totally be overcome. As the former Petition concerned the guilt of Sin, so this concerns the Reign and Power of it. In this first Part, take notice; First; Of the Evil deprecated, or that which we pray against, and that is, Temptation. Secondly; The manner of Deprecation, Lead us not. In which there is something implied, and something formally asked. [illegible: 1 letter]. Something implied; and that is, 1. God's Providence, when we say to God, Lead us not; we do acknowledg he hath the disposal of Temptation. 2. God's Iustice, and our Desert; that for former Sins, God may suffer this Evil to befal us. We have so often provoked the Lord, that in a judicial manner he may suffer us to be tempted. 3. Our weakness; that we are unable to stand under such a condition by our own strength; therefore we go to God. 2. Something formally asked; that is, either that God would prevent the Temptation: or if he should use such a Dispensation towards us, give us Grace to overcome it. Of these things I shall speak in their Order. First; Of the Evil deprecated; and from thence observe, Doct. 1. That Temptations are a usual Evil, wherewith we encounter in the present World. Here I shall, I. Open the Nature of Temptations. II. I shall give you some Observations concerning them. III. The Reasons of it. I. For the Nature of Temptations. Temptation, is a proving or making tryal of a Thing, or Person, what he is, and what he will do. And thus sometimes we are said to tempt God, and at other times God is said to tempt us. 1. We are said to tempt God, when we put it to the proof, whether he will be as good as his word, either in the Cominatory or Promissory part thereof; Psalm 95. 9. When your Fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my Works: they tempted God, as they put him often upon the trial. To note that (by the way) there's a two-fold tempting or proving of God; either in a way of Duty, or Sin. In a way of Duty, when we wait to see his Promise fulfill'd: And so, Mal. 3. 10. Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will not open you the Windows of Heaven, and pour you out a Blessing; come pay your Tithes and Offerings: He would have the Portion which belonged to himself; and prove me now herewith, &c. God submits to a Trial from Experience, when we wait for the Good promised. Thus we try God, and try his Word. Psal. 18. 30. The Word of the Lord is a tried Word: He is a Buckler to all those that trust in him. All those which build upon it, that wait to see what God will do, they will find it, upon experience, to be accomplished to a tittle: Never did any build upon it, or wait for the accomplishment of it in vain. 2. In a way of Sin. Many ways we are said to tempt God: When we set God a task, in satisfying our Conceits, and Carnal Affections; Psal. 78. 18. They tempted God in their Hearts, by asking Meat for their Lusts: And when we will not believe in him, but upon Conditions of our own making: or when we consine him to our Means, or Time, or manner of working: or would have some extraordinary proof of his Being, and Power, and Goodness: or see whether God will punish us though we sin against him. All these ways we are said to tempt God in a way of Sin. But that's not my business now. Therefore, 2. As Man tempts God, so is Man himself tempted. Now Man is either tempted, First, By God. Secondly, By Satan. Thirdly, By his own Heart. First, Man is tempted by God. Gen. 22. 1. And it came to pass, after these things, that God did tempt Abraham. How is God said to tempt Man? When he trieth what is in us; Deut. 8. 2. To humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine Heart: either what of Grace, or what of Sin, is in our Heart. (1.) What of Grace. Thus the Lord tries us by Afflictions, by delays of Promises, and other means becoming his Holy Nature. By Afflictions, for they are called a Trial, 1 Pet. 1. 6. Now for a Season, (if need be) ye are in heaviness through manifold Temptations. The Afflictions of the Gospel are called Temptations. And so, by delay of Promises; God trieth us, sometimes by delaying the accomplishment of his Promise; as in Psalm 105. 19. Vntil the Time that his Word came, the Word of the Lord tried him; that is, until the Promise was fulfilled and accomplished. A Man is put to trial of all the Grace that is in his Heart. (2.) God tries what Corruption there is in us: He trieth this, either by offering Occasions, or withdrawing his Grace; or by permitting Satan to tempt us. 1. By offering Occasions in the course of his Providence; God puts us upon trial there, sometimes by want, sometimes by fulness. By Want. John 6. 5, 6. Whence shall we buy Bread that these may eat? saith Christ to Philip. And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do. Christ will have the weakness of his Followers tried, as well as their strength. And he trieth his People often by this kind of trial, when there are many Mouths, and no Meat; and a Man cannot see which way his visible Supplies shall come in, this he doth to prove them, to see whether they will look only to outward likelyhood and probabilities, or rest themselves upon God's Promise and Alsufficiency: or else by Fulness, and outward Prosperity, to see if they will forget him. I confess, I do not remember where this is called a trial in Scripture, unless there be somewhat in that place, Deut. 8. 16. He fed thee with Manna in the Wilderness, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter End. Possibly the trial there might lie in this, because they had but from hand to mouth; or, because it was not that Meat which their Lusts craved, but that which God saw fit for them. But however, though Prosperity be not called so, yet certainly it is in it self a trial. Prov. 30. 9. Give me not Riches, lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Lust in us makes it to be a Temptation; and the Godly have been often foiled by it; and they need learn how to abound, as well as how to be abased, Phil. 4. 12. They need learn how to avoid the Snares of a prosperous Condition. David, it was a trial to him; while he was wandring in the Wilderness, he had such tenderness, that his Heart smote him, when he cut off the Lap of Saul's Garment; while he was chased like a Partridg upon the Mountains, wandring up and down, from Forrest to Forrest: But when he was walking at ease, upon the Tarras of his Pallace in Ierusalem, then he falls into Blood and Uncleanness; And therefore his Estate was a trial, and he lieth in it, notwithstanding all his former tenderness of Heart, until he was roused up by Nathan the Prophet. And certainly, as to the Wicked, it is a very great Temptation, judicially inflicted, disposed of to them by God's Judgment, they are plagued by worldly Felicity; and it is part of their Curse, that they shall be written in the Earth, Jer. 17. 13. And suitable to this purpose, God saith, Ier. 6. 21. Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this People, and the Fathers, and the Sons, together shall fall upon them. How doth God lay stumbling-blocks? If Men will find the Sin, God may with justice enough find the Occasion; he will give them some outward Condition that is a Snare to them. As we may try a Servant whom we have just cause to suspect, by laying something in the way, that his filching Humor may be discovered, without any breach of Justice; so the Wicked, that harden their Hearts against God, God may give them their Hearts desire, and worldly Happiness, and so it may cause them to stumble. 2. God trieth us also, by withdrawing his Grace, as in 2 Chron. 32. 31. God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his Heart. It is needful sometimes that we should see our Weakness as well as our Strength, and how unable we are to stand without Grace, that we may be sensible whence we stand, and which without Temptation could not so well be. 3. God trys us, by permitting the Temptations of Satan, and his Instruments; for surely these Things do not befal us without a Providence. Job 12. 16. The Deceived, and the Deceiver, are his, his Creatures; and nothing can be done or suffered in this kind, without God's Providence. See it in Christ's Instance, Mat. 4. 1. It is said, He was led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness, to be tempted of the Devil; that is, led by the Good and Holy Spirit, to be tempted by the Evil Spirit. So, 2 Sam. 24. 1. compared with 1 Chron. 21. 1. God moved David, and Satan provoked David to number the People; that is, God did let loose Satan upon David, to accomplish the Righteous Ends of his Providence. And many of those Arrows which are shot at us, though they come immediatly from Satan's Bow, yet they are taken out of God's Quiver. God, as a just Judg, may give us up to Satan, as his Minister and Executioner. Well then, this is one way of God's tempting, permitting of Satan to tempt. And as Satan, so his Instruments, God trys us by them. Deut. 13. 1, 2, 3. If there arise among you a Prophet, or a Dreamer of Dreams, thou shalt not hearken unto him. Why? For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your Soul. God proveth. When there are delusions abroad, and Errors broached, it is, that the approved may be made manifest, 1 Cor. 11. 19. God letteth loose these Winds of Error and Delusion, that the solid Grain may be distinguished from the light Chaff: And that he may discover his own People, and whether we have received Truths upon Evidence, or taken them up only upon Hearsay. All these ways may God be said to tempt. Now concerning this, take these Rules. 1. God's tempting is not to inform himself, but to discover his Creatures to themselves and others. Not to inform himself, for he knows our Thoughts afar off, Psal. 139. 2. that is, he knows not only the Conclusion and Event, and management of things near; but he knows the very remote preparation aforehand: he knows what kind of Thoughts we will have, and workings of Spirit. As a Man that is up in the Air, may see a River in its Rise and Fountain, and Course, and Fall of it, seeth it all at once; whereas another which stands by the Banks, can only see the Water as it passeth by. God seeth all things in their Fountain and Cause, as well as in their Issue and Event, he seeth all things together; therefore it's not for his own Information. But the meaning is, therefore doth God try us, that what is known to him, and yet unknown to our selves, that that which lodgeth and lyeth hid in our Heart, may be discovered to us. That we may not be conceited of more than we have, and that the evil which before lay hid and was unseen, may be cured when it is discovered. And (on the other side) that Grace may not lye sleeping in a dead and unactive Habit, but be drawn out into act and view, for his Glory and Praise. 2. God's tempting is always good, and for good; his tempting is either in Mercy or in Judgment. In Mercy; and so, when he tryeth the Graces of his People; or when he means more especially to discover the failings of his People, it is all Good. When he tries the Graces of his People, there is no doubt of that. When God hath furnished a Man with Grace, that he may (without any Impeachment of his Goodness) put him upon Trial, and use Creatures for that end for which he hath fitted them; as a Man which hath made and bought a thing, may prove it, and try the strength of it. Or when the intent of the Dispensation is to try their Weakness, that's good also, and for good; as when a Man tries a leaky-Vessel, with an intent to make it stanch. So when God tempts us by sharp Afflictions, or any other Course, it's for good; Heb. 12. 10. He, verily, for our profit, that we might be partakers of his Holiness. A Man that hath a Disease upon him, it may be walking or stirring the Humours the Disease may appear, it is for good; 'tis better it should be discovered, that he may in time look after a Remedy, than lurk and lye hid in the Body to his utter undoing: So it is for good our Corruptions and Weaknesses should be discovered, that they may be made sound. Ay but when God brings' it in Judgment, yet that's for good, that is, for his own Glory and his Churches good, tho not for the good of the Party. For the Churches good, that naughtiness where it is might in time be discovered; Prov. 26. 26. Whose Hatred is covered by Deceit, his Wickedness shall be shewed before the whole Congregation; lest Men get a Name that they might do Religion a Mischief: And it is for the Glory of God, that Men may appear what they are. Here's no stain upon God's Iustice for all this. He that pierceth a Vessel, if it run dreggy with musty or poisonous Liquor, the fault is not in him that pierceth it, but in the Liquor it self; he that pierceth or broacheth it, doth only discover what is within, that if it be unsavory he may cast it into the Kennel: So, it is not the fault of God which pierceth, discovereth, and letteth out our Corruption, the fault is in our selves; we have those things within, which are discovered as soon as God puts us upon a trial. 3. God tempts no Man, as Temptation is taken properly for a sollicitation to Sin; Jam. 1. 13. Let no Man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with Evil, neither tempteth he any Man. Mark, the Apostle proves it, that in this sence God cannot tempt, because of the unchangeable Holiness of his Nature. In Temptation we must distinguish between the meer trial, and the sollicitation to Sin; the meer trial that's from God, but the sollicitation to Sin, that's from Satan and our selves. God sollicites no Man to Sin. It is true, God may try us, trouble us, toss us, exercise our Faith, Hope, and Patience. God is the Author of our Trouble; but the Devil is the Author of our Sin, who sinneth himself, and solliciteth others to Sin. 4. When we say, Lead us not into Temptation, we do not beg a total exemption from God's Trials, but only a removal of the Iudgment of them: Not a total exemption, for then we must go out of the World, for while we are here, every Condition is a trial to us, and every Enjoyment. Afflictions and Trouble more or less put to trial, and therefore Temptation in this sence is a necessary part of that Warfare we must encounter and grapple withal while we are in the World. Prosperity tries us, to see if we be then mindful of God when all things succeed well: And Adversity tries us, to see if we can patiently depend upon God. But it is the Iudgment of trials that we deprecate, that they may not come upon us as a Judgment, or that our trial may be so moderate that we may stand our Ground. When doth a trial come as a Judgment? When it is immoderate and beyond our Strength, either in a way of Prosperity or Adversity, but chiefly in a way of Adversity; for that's most commonly set out in a way of trial in Scripture. When it is immoderate and beyond our Strength, 1 Cor. 10. 13. God hath promised to his People, that they shall not be tempted above that they are able to bear; but will with the Temptation, also make a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it. God's Conduct is very gently. As Iacob drove on as the little ones were able to bear: So doth God proportion his Dispensations to his People's Strength, not to their deservings, but he considers what they are able to bear. Either God keeps off greater Trials, or gives in greater Strength; a sweeter sence of his Love, or a greater measure of gracious Support. A Child would sink under that Load that a strong Back bears without any grudging. Now this is that we ask of God (according to his Promise) that our Temptation may not be immoderate, and too hard for us. Or else it is a Judgment, when it proves a provocation to Sin; and so God's Temptation which was meant for our good, we may abuse it, and take occasion thence to Sin; as when we murmur under the Cross, or turn our worldly Comforts into an occasion to the Flesh. Now to prevent the Judgment which may be in these Temptations, in all the Trials which befal us, we should fear more the Offence against God, than our own Smart, or the power of the Devil, or any Inconvenience that may accrue to us in natural Evils which we feel. When we are under Afflictions, we should be more sollicitous that we do not offend God, that he would keep us from murmuring and dishonouring his Name, then we should be about our ease and safety; for this is to prevent the Judgment of the Temptation. This was Paul's Comfort when he was drawing to the Conclusion of his Life, 2 Tim. 4. 18. The Lord hath delivered me out of the Mouth of the Lion, and he shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom. And so, in good things that we enjoy, we should fear more offending God with them, than the losing of them; for the loss of his Favour, is more than the loss of our Comforts. A Man that loseth his worldly Portion, this loss may be recompensed; but he that loseth the Favour of God, that breach cannot be made up by any worldly Comforts whatsoever. 5. In Passive Evils (which are the usual Trials of God's People) we are not to seek them, but to submit to them when they come upon us. We are not to seek them, Mat. 16. 24. If any Man will be my Disciple, let him take up his Cross. When clearly it is our Cross (that is) when it lies in our way, and we cannot decline it, then take it up and fit his Back to it. So Jam. 1. 2. My Brethren, count it all Ioy when ye fall into divers Temptations: He doth not say when ye run into them, but fall into them. We are not to draw them upon our selves. Afflictions are not to be sought, and desired, but improved. Christians, we never know when 'tis well with us: sometimes we question God's Love, because we have no Afflictions and Trials: anon we are questioning his Love, because we have nothing but Afflictions. In all these things we should refer our selves to God; not desire Troubles, but bear them patiently and quietly when he lays them upon our Backs. 6. Again, For those Trials which come from God. When God tempts us, or trieth his People in Mercy, he hath a great deal of care of them under their Trials. As a Gold-Smith, when he casts his Metal into the Furnace, he doth not lose it there, and look after it no more; but sits, and prys, and looks to see if it be not too hot, that nothing be split, nothing lost. So it is said, Mal. 3. 3. And he shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver: and he shall purify the Sons of Levi, and purge them as Gold and Silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an Offering in Righteousness. The Lord will observe his People when they are under Trial, how to moderate Affliction, how to refresh them with seasonable Comfort, that all this might better them, and bring them to good. 7. Tho in our Trials we manifest Weakness as well as Grace, yet that weakness is to be done away. You must remember Weakness is manifested that it may be removed, and Grace manifested that it may be strengthned. When Gold and Silver is try'd in the Furnace, there is not only pure Metal discovered, but also the drossy part mingled with it; but it is so discovered, that it may be severed from the Gold: Such is our Trial, it may discover a great deal of Dross and Sin in us. But this is our Comfort, that as it doth discover Sin; so it conduceth to mortify Sin. Therefore saith Iob, Chap. 23. 10. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as Gold; that is, purified and refined, and having the drossy part eaten out. 8. God permits us to be tempted of Satan and his Instruments for his Glory and our Good. For his Glory; that his Power may be discovered in our Preservation, in upholding that Grace he hath put into us; 2 Cor. 12. 10. Therefore I take pleasure in Infirmities, in Reproaches, in Necessities, in Persecutions, in Distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong: We should be glad that God be glorified, tho with our great Inconvenience. And it is for our Good; to correct our Pride, and Vain-Glory. When Peter presumed of his Strength, then God left him to be tempted of the Damsel, Mat. 26. 33, 34, 35, 70. 9. When God permitteth Satan to exercise us, tho he suspends the Victory, yet if he give us Grace to fight and to maintain the Combate, it is a great Mercy. For so he dealt with Paul, when he had to do with the Messenger of Satan, (Satan was in that trouble, be it what it will) he had only this Answer, 2 Cor. 12. 9. My Grace is sufficient for thee: for my Strength is made perfect in Weakness. Three times he had been with God, and then he gets his answer, and it was only this, My Grace, &c. Jesus Christ in his Conflict and Combate, was answered as to Support, and so was heard in the Things he feared. So if God give Strength to the Soul, it is an answer tho he do not take off the Trial. Secondly, There are Temptations from Satan, as well as from God; who is called the Tempter, Mat. 4. 3. Now the Devil's Temptations they are Evil, and for Evil. How doth the Devil tempt? 1. By propounding Objects; As Luke 4. 5. He shewed unto him all the Kingdoms of the World in a moment of time. He had nothing to work upon within, therefore he propounds outward Objects. So still the Devil tempts us with a curious Eye to take in the Object, that it may be a Bait and Snare to the Soul. Achan takes notice of it himself, Josh. 7. 21. When I saw among the Spoils a goodly Babylonish Garment, and a Wedg of Gold, then I coveted them, and took them. I saw, I coveted, and I took: The Eye awakens Desire, and Desire that inclines to Practise. So Prov. 23. 31. Look not thou upon the Wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the Cup, when it moveth it self aright. Unless we shut the Windows of the Soul, this pestilent Plague gets in by the Senses. The Heart is corrupted by Objects that we take in by the Senses, as it corrupted Eve, dealt with her first by the Sense; the forbidden Fruit was full in her way, then the Devil sets upon her. 2. He tempts by the persuasion of Instruments, who are the Devil's Spokes-men: Thus was Ioseph tempted by the Inticements and Blandishments of his Mistress, Gen. 39. 7. And many times the Devil sets nearest Friends and Relations to weaken their Zeal, and withdraw their Hearts from God. Mat. 16. 23. Saith Christ to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. It was Peter said it, yet Christ rebuked Satan, for the Devil had a hand in it; he makes one of Christ's Disciples his Instrument. 3. He doth it by internal suggestion, 1 Chron. 21. 1. And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel; that is, by internal suggestion. John 13. 2. The Devil put it into the Heart of Judas to betray him. He haunts and pesters the Hearts of Men, by vain Thoughts, and carnal Imaginations. So the God of this World is said to blind their Minds, 2 Cor. 4. 4. 4. By stirring up the Humors of our Body. When he seeth Men inclined to Wrath, and angry Motions, or Lust, the Devil joins, and makes the Tempest the more violent. He knows what use to make of an angry Look, a wanton Glance; he knows how to tempt, by awakening the Humors of our own Body against us. Take some Observations here. 1. In all Sins Satan joineth, he is not idle, but makes use of every Inclination of ours; as he sees the Tree leaning, he joins issue. But some Sins are purely of his suggestion; horrid Sins, and such as are so very Evil, that they could come from no other but from the Devil: such Sins as could not be acted by Man in an ordinary course of sinning. As Iudas his Treason, though he were Devil enough to plot such a thing, yet it is said, Satan put it into his Heart. And such singular Diabolical Suggestions may be darted into the Bosom of Believers sometimes; Thoughts of Atheism, Blasphemy, unnatural Sins, Self-murder, suspicion of the Gospel; these things the Devil throws in. Therefore, Ephes. 6. 16. Believers are warned to quench these fiery Darts, that the Devil hurls into the Souls of Men. 2. Every Man is haunted with special Temptations, from Temper, Sex, Age, Custom, Calling, Company, Course of Aflairs; these things are often spoken of in Scripture. From Temper, God makes use of Temper. For though he plants all Grace in the Hearts of the Regenerate, yet there are certain Graces wherein they are eminent; as Timothy for Temperance, Moses for Meekness, &c. Thus Paul speaks of the Law in his Members, Rom. 7. 23. The Devil may find Forces from the Temper of the Body to destroy the Soul. So also from Sex, as he beguiled Eve, 2 Cor. 11. 3. And from Age, we read of youthful Lusts, 2 Tim. 2. 22. And how strong the Devil is about young Ones, 1 Iohn 2. 13. I have written unto you young Men, because ye have overcome the wicked One. They are most assaulted with Pride, with youthful Lusts suitable to their Age. So from Custom and Education; Psal. 18. 23. I kept my self from mine Iniquity. Every Man hath his Iniquity; that is, such as his Education, and Custom hath wrought upon him, which makes the Sin prevail over other Sins. A Child of God hath a predominant Sin, not over Grace, (for that's inconsistent with sincerity) but some Master-Sin which prevails over the rest: according as the Channel is cut, so corrupt Nature runs, but some in this Channel, and some in that: Every Man hath his special Sin, and accordingly the Devil plies him. Then our Calling is a special Temptation; 1 Tim. 3. 6. the Apostle speaks, that a Bishop should not be a Novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the Devil. Pride, and Ostentation of Gifts, and vain-Glory in such publick Service. Many other Sins follow every Calling: Therefore if you would be skill'd in Satan's Enterprises, you must mind Temper, Age, Calling. So Company: As a Man's Company is, his Soul is insensibly tainted. As a Man that walks in the Sun is tann'd before he is aware: so are the Souls of Men sullied and defiled by Carnal Company, before they be aware. A Man would think of all Sins, Passion is so uncomely, that it should not tempt another Man: Yet it is said, Prov. 22. 24, 25. Make no friendship with an angry Man; and with a furious Man thou shalt not go; lest thou learn his ways, and get a Snare to thy Soul: for the more accustomed to them, the less odious they seem; so by little and little, our Spirits are shaped and fitted for such a Sin. There are certain Sins that are more special Temptations. Look, as every Disease hath a Diet which suits with it, so all Sins in the Soul, Satan knows what Baits we will catch at. It may be, a Man that is addicted to the Pleasures of the Flesh, may despise Profit, and therefore the Devil will not ply him that way. So a Man that is addicted to Gain, despiseth pleasure. The Devil suits him with a Bait, that suits the Disease of his Soul. It is an Opinion the Devils have their several Wards and Quarters; some for such a sort of Sinners, others for another sort. Look, as the Heathens had several Gods, (which were indeed Devils) as Baccus, the God of Riot, or Patron of Good-fellowship; and Venus of Wantonness and Love; and Mars, the Devil of revengeful and angry Spirits: And we read of Mammon for Wealth, Mat. 6. 24. I know it is a fictio personae, to make the Matter more sensible, there is a Person feigned. But there may be something of this Truth in it, that the Devils have several Quarters; some to humour the Covetous; others inticing the Wanton; others lie Leigers in Taverns, and Drinking-Houses, to draw Men to beastly Excess; and others about the Revengeful, to awaken their Rage. But all this, however it be, ('tis the Opinion of some) should make us watchful over our own Desires and Inclinations, for that's it the Devil makes use of to set upon us. 3. The Sin of the Devil tempting, must be distinguished from our Sin in consenting. If the Devil tempt, and we consent not, it is his Sin. The envious Man may throw Weeds over the Garden-wall; but if we do not suffer them to root there, it is not the Gardiner's fault, but the fault of the envious Man: so the Devil may fling in Temptations, Fiery Darts, Atheistical or Blasphemous Thoughts; yet if we throw them out with indignation, and give no harbour and entertainment to them there, it is our misery, but the Devil's sin; and therefore if our Hearts abhor them at the very first rising, though they be Man's Cross, they will be put upon Satan's account. 4. Satan, if he cannot prevail by the first Temptation to draw us to Sin, he will seek to prevail by a second or subsequent Temptation, to draw us to trouble and discomfort. If he cannot weaken Grace, he may molest and disturb our Comfort, by flinging in a blasphemous Thought, which is abhorr'd by a Christian. If he cannot draw you to deny God, then he will seek to cloud things, that you may suspect your own estate; and thus our way is made wearisom to us: Look, as a Candle which sticks to a Stone-Wall, though it cannot burn the Wall, yet it smutcheth, and defileth it: So the Children of God, when the Devil seeks to make their Temptations stick, though he doth not burn their Hearts with these fiery Darts of Blasphemy and Atheism, they catch not there, yet they weaken our Comfort; and then his second Temptation, is to bring us to doubt of God's Love, to doubt of our own Faith, and to draw us to impatiency and murmuring at God's Hand. Therefore it should be our care, not only to withstand the Devil's first Temptation, but his second also. 5. Certainly they cannot stand long, that seem to give up themselves to Satan's Snares. How may this be done? Any Carnal Affection unmortified, layeth us open to the Devil; 1 Tim. 6. 9. They that will be rich, fall into Temptation, and a Snare, and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts, which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition. If a Man cherish his Worldliness, and do not mortify it, he lieth ready to be seized upon as a ready Prey for Satan. Iudas, he had the Bag, and he lay open to the Devil; his Worldliness increased upon him, so the Devil entreth into him. Again, when we ride into the Devil's Quarters, and will parly with Temptation; when we freely open the Windows of the Senses unto alluring Objects, and can dally with the Snare, and play about the Temptation, then we do but tempt God to leave us, and tempt the Devil to surprise us: And therefore be sober, be watchful, for your Adversary, the Devil, walketh about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may devour, 1 Pet. 5. 8. Be sober; What is sobriety? A holy Moderation in the use of Worldy Things; be sure not to leave any Carnal Affection unmortified. And then be watchful, take heed not to play about the Temptation, nor put your selves upon occasions of Sin, for then we lie open to the Devil, and give him an advantage against us. Thus much for the second sort of Temptations, such as come from Satan. The Third sort of Temptations, are those which arise from our own Hearts; so we call these Urgings and Solicitations to sin, which we feel in our Bosoms. Concerning this also, I shall give some Observations. 1. If there were no Devil to tempt us, yet the Heart of Man is fruitful enough of all that is evil. Mat. 15. 19. Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts, Murders, Adulteries, Fornications, Thefts, false Witnesses, Blasphemies. There's a black Catalogue, and all comes out of the Heart of Man. And among the rest, observe, there's Murder which strikes at the Life of Man; and Blasphemy, which strikes at the Honour and Being of God. Though the Devil should stand by, and say nothing to us, we have enough within us to put us upon all kind of evil. Jerem. 17. 9. The Heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? As to Actual Sins, there is a difference; but as to Original Sin, it is the same in all. All the Sins that ever have been, or shall be committed in the World, they are vertually in our Natures, they are but Original Sin acted and drawn out this way, and that way, as all numbers are but one multiplied: Cain's Murder, Iudas's Treason, Iulian's Apostacy and Enmity to Christ, the Seed and Root of all is in our Nature; and if we were but left to our selves, and had the same Temptations and Occasions, we should be as bad as others; such as we would not imagine that ever we should commit, is in our heart; 2 King. 8. 13. Is thy Servant a Dog, that he should do this great thing? when he had been told of those horrid Cruelties he should act upon the Women and Children of Israel. No Man knows the depth of his own Wickedness, if loosned of his Chain, and the Restraints are taken off. At first Nature abhors them in the conceit of them; but when God permits us to lie under the Temptation, and fair Occasion, Man is not to be trusted. We see, in this respect, what need there is to pray that God would not leave us under the Power of Temptation, because the Heart of Man is prone, naturally inclinable to all evil. There are new Actual Sins; but there is no new Original Sin, that is but one and the same in all Persons, and at all Times; the Root of all the Mischief which hath been in the World, is within us. 2. That without the Flesh, the World and the Devil can have no power over us. A Man cannot be compell'd to sin, against his own consent; he may be compell'd to suffer Temptation, but he is a Sinner by his own choice. The World would not hurt us, were it not for Lust in the Heart; 2 Pet. 1. 4. Escaping the Corruption of the World through Lust. I say, it is not the beauty or sweetness of the Creature, but Lust, which is our Ruin and Undoing, and that makes the World so dangerous unto us. A Spider sucketh Poison from the same Flower from which a Bee would suck Hony; the fault is not in the Flower, but in the Spider. The Devil can do nothing, unless we give him leave. The Fire is kindled in our own Bosoms, Satan only doth blow it up into a Flame, saith Nazianzen: We have the Coals in our own Hearts, the Devil doth but come and blow them up. Suggestion doth nothing without consent. In vain doth one knock at the Door, and none within to look out and make answer: So, all other Temptations would be in vain, if there were not somewhat within that would close with what is suggested from Satan; James 1. 14. Every Man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own Lust, and enticed, by his own Concupiscence. If your Hearts did not yield, if you did resist, the Devil and the World could not force you. When Satan came to Christ, he might molest him, but he found nothing in him, Iohn 14. 30. As a Glass of pure Water may be shaken, but there is no Filth, no Mud there discovered: But now, the best of Men, they have somewhat within them, Naughtiness and Corruption enough in their own Hearts, upon which Satan may work, and inflame them with his fiery Darts. In short; We may commit Sin without Satan, but Satan cannot betray us to sin without our selves; cannot have his desire upon us, without us. 3. The Flesh doth not only make us flexible and yielding to Temptations, but is active and stirring in our Hearts, to force and impel us thereunto. There's a Law in our Members, Rom. 7. 23. a powerful active Principle within us, that is always urging us to sin. We think, and speak too gently of our own corrupt Hearts, when we think the Corruption is sleepy, and works not untill it be irritated by outward Objects, and Satan's Suggestions: No, there's an active stirring Principle within us, that poureth out Sin as a Fountain doth Waters, though no Body comes to drink of them; as Gen. 6. 5. Every imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart, is only evil continually. There is a Mint in Man's Heart that is always at work, coining evil Thoughts, evil Desires, evil Motions; and the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, Gal. 5. 17. And Sin wrought in me all manner of Concupiscence, Rom. 7. 8. Though there were no other occasion to irritate, but God's Law, and the Motions of his Spirit, yet there's a continual Fermentation wrought by these corrupt Humors in our Hearts. Natural Concupiscence doth not lie idle in them, but is active, and warring; and the Objects that are in the World, and the Solicitations of the Devil make it more violent. 4. The Temptations of the Flesh and the World go in conjunction, and do mutually help one another. And therefore it is said, 1 Joh. 2. 16. For all that is in the World, the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, &c. Mark, (whatever is in the World) he doth not mention the Object, but the Lusts, because these are complicated and folded up together in the Temptation. The Bait is the World; but the Appetite and Desire we have from the Flesh. And this is intimated in that Passage, Jam. 1. 14. Every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lust, and enticed. There's two Words there, (drawn away, and enticed): the drawing away, notes the vehemency of desire, or Inclination of our own Hearts; and the enticement that's from the Object. Both ways doth Corruption work, by Force and Flattery. The great Bait is Pleasure, the contentment that we take in outward Enjoyments. And we are carried out to it by the vehement propension of corrupt Nature. 5. This vehement propension of Corrupt Nature to outward things is set at work by a hope of gaining them, or a fear to lose them; and so we are assaulted on every hand, by right-hand, and left-hand Temptations. By right-hand Temptations from the Flatteries, and Comforts of the World; which are the more dangerous, because of their easy Insinuation into, and strong Operation upon our Hearts, and so our Comforts prove a Snare to us, and an occasion to the Flesh, as the Apostle saith, Gal. 5. 13. And then there are left-hand Temptations, which arise from shame or fear of worldly Evils, as the other did arise from a desire or hope of good. So the Apostle, Gal. 6. 12. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the Flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ. That was their temporizing then to comply with the Iews, who had some National Priviledges under the Roman Government, and had better security to their worldly Interests, than possibly thorow Christians could have. Now to avoid both these, the Apostle when he presseth Christians to all those Graces which are necessary, he presseth them to Temperance and Patience, 2 Pet. 1. 5, 6. Add to Knowledg Temperance, and to Temperance Patience. Both these are Armor of Proof against worldly Temptations; Temperance against the Delights, and Patience against the Evils and Troubles of the World. It was never yet so well with the World, but that Christians (those that are so in good earnest, that mean to go to Heaven and keep a good Conscience) will be assaulted on both sides. 6. That there is no avoiding either of these Snares and Temptations as long as any Carnal Affection remaineth unmortified. For until a Man be dead to worldly Comforts, and hardned against worldly Sorrows, he doth but lye naked and open to Satan, 1 Tim. 6. 9. He that will be rich, falls into Temptation, and a Snare. And what is said of Riches, the same is true of Pleasure; he that is vehemently addicted that way, will soon come to put God out of the Throne, and make his Belly, and his Pleasure, his God; 2 Tim. 3. 4. Lovers of Pleasures, more than Lovers of God: Any Lust that is cherished and indulged, will betray us. As for Honour; John 5. 44. How can ye believe, which receive Honour one of another, and seek not the Honour that cometh from God only? True Faith cannot be planted in that Heart that is not purified, until there be a prevailing Interest established for Christ, over all Carnal Affections. Grace bears no sway in us, and hath no power over us. The ambition and love of respect from Men, will necessarily make us unsound in the profession of Godliness. Well then, it stands us upon, to allow and cherish no secret Sin, but to observe what are the tender parts of our Hearts, or which way our Corruptions lie, where subjection to God is most apt to stick with us: Psal. 119. 133. Order my Steps in thy Word: and let not any Iniquity have dominion over me. Though we seem to have a Zeal in other things, yet if one Lust be indulged, we shall soon swerve from our Duty. True Obedience to God, is inconsistent with the Dominion of any one Lust, or corrupt Affection. I say, though a Man, out of some slender and insufficient touch of Religion upon his Heart, may go right for a while, and do many things gladly; yet that corruption which is indulged, and under the power of which a Man lieth, will at length draw him off from God; and therefore no one Sin should have dominion over us. When doth Sin reign, or have dominion over us? When we do not endeavour to mortify it, and to cut off the Provisions that may feed that Lust. Chrysostom's Observation is, The Apostle doth not say, Let it not tyrannize over you, but let it not reign over you; that is, when you suffer it to have a quiet Reign in your Hearts. 7. The more we sin, upon the meer impulsion of the Flesh, and without an external Temptation, the more hainous is our Offence, for then the Heart is carried of its own accord to sin. Ezek. 16. 33, 34. They give Gifts to all Whores: but thou givest thy Gifts to all thy Lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee for thy Whoredoms. And the contrary is in thee from [other] Women in thy Whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit Whoredoms: and in that thou givest a Reward, and no Reward is given unto thee; therefore thou art contrary. These are Expressions to set forth their Idolatry. But that which is intended there, is this, That they were not desired or solicited, but meerly carried to sin by their own proper Motion, which exceedingly aggravateth Sin; Why? for then it is a sign the Heart is carried of its own accord, by its own weight, as a heavy Body is moved downward, not by the impression of outward Force, but by its own natural propension. Now when do Men thus meerly sin, upon the impulsions of the Flesh? I'le instance in three Cases. 1. When the Temptation is so small and inconsiderable, that it should not sway with any reasonable Man. It is said, in Amos 2. 6. They sold the Poor for a pair of Shoes. And for a piece of Bread will that Man transgress, Prov. 28. 21. When Pleasure and Profit is so inconsiderable, as that it could not rationally make up a Temptation, then Men sin meerly upon the Corruptions of their own Flesh. When the Devil hath to do with great Souls, such as Christ was, he propounds the Glory of all the World, Mat. 4. O! but a lesser price will serve the turn, with those that are deeply engaged already, that are byassed with their own propension; (for instance) a little ease, and carnal satisfaction, a slothful Humour, is enough to take them off from the sweetness of Communion with God, and the pleasure and contentment that they might enjoy with him in holy Exercises. Look as in general, it is a great aggravation of all Sin, that for such paltry Trifles, we turn the back upon God and his Grace: all Sinners do so, they part with all their Hopes by Christ, for a Mess of Pottage, for a little present Pleasure; that's prophaneness indeed, Heb. 12. 16. So in particular things, when the smallest Temptation seems to be strong enough to draw off our Hearts from our Duty, to bring us to a Sin of Omission, when it is needful to go and converse with God in secret; a little ease, and sloth, hangs upon us, and we cannot shake it off: or when we are drawn to a Sin of Commission, by an inconsiderable Matter, by the smallest worldly Interest as can be mentioned, for a piece of Bread, and a pair of Shoes. 2. When Men tempt themselves, or provoke Satan to tempt them. As those which make provision for the Flesh, to fulfil the Lusts thereof, Rom. 13. 14. that cater for their Lusts, and contrive how to feed them, and how to cherish those inordinate Affections in their Hearts; that run into the Devil's Quarters, that bespeak a Temptation; or, as it is Iames 5. 5. That nourish their Hearts, as in a day of slaughter. To nourish our Hearts, is to feed our Lusts, to put strength into the Enemy's Hand. When a Commander sent to his Prince, to know how he should keep such a rebellious Town in order: He sent him this Answer, That he should starve the Dog, and strengthen the Clog; that he should weaken the City, and strengthen the Garison; that was his meaning. Truly, what was his advice in that outward Case, that's the Duty of a Christian, to weaken his Lusts, and still to be strengthning Grace. He should be increasing the better Part, and putting the Spirit in heart, by godly Exercises; by treasuring up Promises, getting Arguments and fresh Encouragements against Sin; and by weakning the Flesh, starving and cutting off Provisions for the Flesh. But on the contrary, when Men cater for the Flesh, provide for it, indulge carnal Distempers, and feed them with that Diet which they affect: These tempt themselves, and seem willing to lie under their Bondage, and to be glad of it. 3. When a Man is a Sinner to his loss; and hath Reasons of Nature to disswade him, as well as Reasons of Grace; not only Religion, but his civil Interests, would counsel him to do otherwise; as he that brings a Blot upon his Name, or Ruin upon his Estate, by evil Courses; when Men draw on Iniquity with a Cart-rope, as the Expression is, Isa. 5. 18. that is, when it is not Pleasure, but a very Toil and Burden, and temporal Inconvenience to them to be sinful; that industriously make it their business; those that are holden with the Cords of their own Sins, Prov. 5. 22. He speaks of such as did bring temporal Inconveniencies upon themselves; as did consume their Flesh, and their own Bodies; these certainly are those that have cause to complain of their own Hearts, not to put it on Satan, but themselves. II. Having opened the Nature of Temptations, I come now to give the Reasons why this is so usual an Evil we encounter with in the World, Temptation. 1. God permits it for his own Glory, to discover the Power, the Freeness and Riches of his Grace, that Men may be driven the more earnestly to sue out their Peace in the Name of Jesus Christ. Luther propounds this Reason; Tho Man be prone to sin of himself, of his own accord, yet God suffers the Tempter to be in the World, because Man is backward to seek Mercy and Grace by Christ; and therefore God urgeth him with sore Temptations. Certainly this Reason was given by him not amiss. You know, when Paul felt those Paroxisms, and sad Counter-buffs in his own Spirit, this makes him bless God for Jesus Christ. Rom. 7. 25. But thanks be to God, through Iesus Christ our Lord: It makes him reflect upon the Grace of God in Christ. We keep off from the Throne of Grace, till Temptations drive us thither. As when the Sheep wander, the Shepherd lets loose his Dog upon them; not to worry them, but to bring them back to the Fold again: so God lets loose Satan to drive us to himself. 2. For the trial of that Grace which he hath wrought in us. Grace doth better appear in Temptation, than out of it. The greatness of the Woman of Canaan's Faith would never have been discovered, had it not been for Christ's Answer and Denial, Mat. 15. 25, 28. Then, O Woman, great is thy Faith. The Glory of that Grace which God hath wrought in his People, would not be discovered so much, were it not for the great Trials he puts them upon: Heb. 11. 17. By Faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. Before we go to Heaven, we shall have our Trials, and shall be tried in our dearest Comforts, and choicest worldly Contentments; and all, to see what Faith we have, and what Loyalty to God in the midst of these Trials. A great Tempest discovereth the goodness of a Ship, and skill of the Pilot; and so these great Trials, they discover the soundness of our Hearts, and the fruit of that Grace which God hath wrought in us. Gold is most tried in the Fire, and discovered to be pure and perfect. Stars that lie hid in the Day, shine in the Night. We have but dry Notions of the Comforts of Christianity[illegible: 1 letter] and make them matter of talk, until we are put upon great Trials, then is our belief and sense of them proved. A gilded Potsherd may shine, until it comes to scouring; but then the Varnish and Paint is worn off. The Valour and Worth of a Souldier, is not known in times of Peace, and when he is out of Action. When we are put to some difficulty and straits, then is Faith seen. Now this is a very pleasing Spectacle to God, to see them approve their Faith and Loyalty to his Majesty. 3. Temptations, as they serve to prove, so also to humble us, that we may never be proud of what we have, or conceited of what we have not. As Paul, that he might not be exalted above measure, he was buffeted with a Messenger of Satan, 2 Cor. 12. 7. Poor Bladders we are, soon blown up and swoln into Vanity, and vain Conceits of our selves; therefore had need be pricked, that we may let out those swelling Winds. A Ship that is loaden with precious Ware, needs to be ballasted with Wood, Stones, or contemptible Stuff. But why will God humble us by Temptations, and such kind of Temptations as are solicitatious to Evil? Answer, Spiritual Evils need a Spiritual Cure. Outward Afflictions they humble, but not so much as Temptations do; they are not so conducible to humble a gracious Heart, as Temptations to Sin. Why? For then the Breach is made upon our Souls, and the Assault is given to that which a gracious Man counts to be dear; and therefore these are suffered to come upon us. If any thing will humble a Child of God, this will do it. It may be he may bear up under losses tollerably; but when his Peace comes to be assaulted, and his Grace, this will humble him to purpose. Worldly Men, they value their Estate by their outward Interest; But a Child of God, by his Peace of Conscience, and his thriving in Grace; O this wounds him to the Heart, when in either of these he suffers loss: This sets him a praying and groaning to God, as Paul groans bitterly when he felt those gripes of Sin, and those reluctances in his Heart, (O wretched Man! &c.) Afflictions, they conduce to humble and prove us, Deut. 8. 16. And besides too, the Lord loves to make the Cause of our Mischief, to be the Means of our Cure. This giveth us the sight of some Corruption we saw not before. 4. God permits this Exercise to his People, to conform us to Christ. We must pledg him in his own Cup, it must go round; He himself was tempted, Heb. 2. 7. Christ hath felt the weight, burden, and trouble of Temptations, and knows the danger of them. Now the Disciple is not above his Lord, nor the Scholar above his Master. The Devil that did set upon Christ, will not be afraid of us. 5. By Temptations to Sin, God morti[illegible: 2 letters]eth Sin; not only that Sin to which we are tempted, but others, that we may not be so heedless: When we have smarted under Temptation, we are not so indulgent to Corruption as before; we do not let our Senses nor Affections run loose; as David speaks, that he got this by his Fall, Psal. 51. 6. In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know Wisdom: O, I shall be wiser and more circumspect for this all my Life. When Men have smarted, they grow more cautious; and so, by the over-ruling and good Hand of God, our Sins do us service in our passage to Heaven, as well as our Graces: And God's Children may say, they had sinned more, if they had sinned less: They are more acquainted with the Wiles and Depths of Satan, and Naughtiness of their own Hearts, and so are more solicitous. 6. To make us more meek to others; Gal. 6. 1. If any Man be fallen, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the Spirit of Meekness, considering thy self, lest thou also be tempted. We are very apt to be severe and fierce upon the failings of others. But now, when we are tempted our selves, we learn more pity and compassion towards them. Severe Censurers are left to some great Temptation, that they may be acquainted with their own Frailties: they are tempted to some Sins, to which their Hearts were not so inclinable before. Well then, that we may pity others, mourn over them, and have a fellow-feeling of their Condition, God will make us know the Heart of a tempted Man, that we may have more compassion over poor tempted Souls. Possibly that may be a part of the Apostle's sense, 2 Cor. 1. 6. Whether we be afflicted, it is for your Consolation and Salvation: or whether we be comforted, it is for your Consolation and Salvation. Persons in Office in the Church, they are afflicted and tempted; and it may be, have a greater measure of Afflictions and Temptations, that they may shew more pity to other Souls. Therefore Luther was wont to say, Three things made a Minister, (viz.) Prayer, Meditation, and Temptation. When he is much in communion with God, much in the study of the Word, and hath been exercised in Temptation, then he will be of a tender and compassionate Heart over others; and that he may help them out of the Snares of the Devil, he is more fitted to his Work by Temptation. 7. It occasions much Experience of the Care and Providence of God, and the Comforts of his Promises. A Man doth not know what the Comforts of Faith mean, till he be exercised by Temptation. And Spiritual Experiences, will countervail all other Troubles. This is an Hour of Temptation, Rev. 3. 10. What should we do in this Hour of Temptation? Be not over-confident, nor over-diffident, in an hour when God casts us upon trying Times. Not over-confident, in casting your selves upon needless Troubles without cause: Mat. 14. 28. Peter said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the Water. Peter thought he could do any thing in the strength of Christ's Word; Peter seeks a Call before it be given him. Nor yet be over-backward and diffident to own God, and the Truths of God. As Paul taxed Peter for dissembling, Gal. 2. 12. when those false Brethren were likely to bring great trouble, Peter dissembled and runs with them, and separates himself from the purer sort of Christians, he is taxed there for it. We should not run into them without cause, nor yet be ashamed to own the ways of God, those which are most agreeable to his Holy Word. Not be solicitous so much about Events, as Duties; for God is far more concerned than we, and hath a greater Interest than we can have. What's our Interest, and the Interest of our Families, and our Children, to the great Interest of God, the Safety of his Children, the Safety of his Glory, and Cause of his Church? Be not troubled about Events, for all our Business is to understand our Duty, that we may not sin, but keep blameless in the Hour of Temptation. Vse. If Temptations be an usual Evil, wherewith we encounter in the present World. Then, First, We should not be dismayed at them. Secondly, We should be prepared for them. First, We should not be dismay'd at them, as if some strange thing did befal us. When we enter into the Lists with Satan, resist the Devil: Why? 1 Pet. 5. 9. For all those things are accomplished in your Brethren, that are in the Flesh. They are all troubled with a busy Devil, a naughty World, and a corrupt Heart! And why should we look for a total Exemption, and to go to Heaven in an unusual way? That we may not be dismay'd by Temptation, I shall give you several Considerations. 1. We took an Oath to fight under Christ's Banner. Baptism it is, Sacramentum Militare, our Military Oath, which we took to fight in Christ's Cause, against all the Oppositions and Difficulties we meet with in the World. 1 Pet. 3. 21. The Apostle calls Baptism, The Answer of a good Conscience towards God. An Answer supposeth a Question. It is an Allusion to the Questions, propounded by the Catechist to the Catechumen. When they came to desire Baptism, they asked them, Abrenuncias? dost thou renounce the World, the Flesh, and the Devil? And they answered, Abrenuncio? I do renounce them. So, Credis? Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ with all thy Heart? as Philip propounds the Question to the Eunuch; and they answered, Credo, I do believe. Wilt thou undertake to walk in all Holy Obedience? and the Answer is, I do undertake before God. Conscience, which is God's Deputy, puts the Question, in God's Name, to those which take the Seals of his Covenant; Are you willing to renounce the Flesh, and worldly Vanities? Will you cleave to God, and his Ways, what-ever they cost you? Whosoever makes this Answer, is supposed that he makes it knowingly, that he doth understand the Difficulties of Salvation, and what he must meet with in his way to Heaven. So the Apostle saith, You are not Debtors to the Fl[illegible: 1 letter]sh, Rom. 8. 12. A Man is a Debtor to another, either by the Obligation of some received Benefit, or by his solemn Promise and Engagement; both are of use in that place. They that would seek the wellbeing of their Souls, need not gratify the Flesh. They that are engaged to walk after the Spirit, and come under the Bond of an Holy Oath, and that are thus solemnly engaged, cannot expect to carry on the Profession of Godliness without Conflicts, and multiplied Difficulties. 2. That is not the happiest Condition, which is most quiet and free from the Temptations of Satan; for, Luke 11. 21. When the strong Man armed keepeth his Palace, his Goods are in peace. When the Devil hath-quiet possession, he doth not trouble Men. The Sea must needs be smooth and calm, when Wind and Tide go one way. There are some which suspect their Condition, because of continual Temptation; and others, because they have no Temptation. Neither is a safe Rule; for the time of our Conflict may not yet become. But if any have cause to suspect themselves, it is the last sort; for they that are least troubled, may be most hurt; they are quiet and secure, because Satan hath got them into his Snare, and hath a quiet Dominion in their Souls. 3. Jesus Christ himself was tempted; and therefore we should not be dismayed with Temptations. Upon several Accounts is this a Comfort to us; partly, as it shews that we cannot look for an Exemption, for the Captain of our Salvation was thus exercised, Heb. 2. 10. Be not disconsolate, it becomes good Souldiers to follow their Captain. We are to pledg him in this Cup. He was tempted, therefore we shall be tempted. Partly and chiefly, because now he is more likely to pity us. It is said, Heb. 2. 18. Wherefore he is able to succour those that are tempted. Jesus Christ hath felt the weight and trouble of Temptations, therefore sure he will pity us, if we lie under Griefs and Dangers; as a Man that hath been Shipwrack'd himself, is the more likely to pity others in their distress, when they have lost all. One that knows Evils by guess and imagination, knows them only at a distance, and doth not know how evil they are; but he that knows them by Experience, he knows them at hand, and by such a smart sense, as must needs leave a deep stroke and impression upon the Soul. So Jesus Christ, that hath had an experimental Knowledg, that knows the Heart of a tempted Man, can more feelingly succour those that are tempted; his Heart becomes tender by Experience; he knows the Danger and Troubles we are subject unto; therefore be not dismayed. And partly too, because by suffering this Evil in his own Person, he hath pull'd out the Sting of Temptation. Christ sanctified every Condition that he passed through; his being poor, hath pull'd out the Sting of Poverty. It is the more comportable now to a godly poor Man, one that hath an Interest in Christ; his dying hath pull'd out the Sting of Death; so that what is to him a Prison, (Isa. 53. 8. He shall be taken from Prison, and from Iudgment) is to us a Bed of ease; Isa. 57. 2. They shall r[illegible: 1 letter]st in their Beds: so his being tempted, hath unstung Temptations, and hath made them not so grievous. And partly too, as he hath directed us how to stand out, and with what kind of Weapons to foil Satan. Christ, that is a Pattern of doing, and suffering, is also a Pattern of resisting. He that left us an Example of doing the Will of God, and by suffering with Meekness; and when he was reviled, reviled not again: So in resisting Temptations, hath he left us an Example, hath taught us how to grapple with the Devil, and in what manner to repress his Temptation; therefore we should not be altogether dismay'd. 4. Consider the Comforts of the Tempted. Abundantly hath God provided for his Servants in their Conflicts. (1.) Jesus Christ, our General, the Captain of our Salvation, in whose Quarrel we are engaged, hath overcome all our Enemies, we are interested in his Victory, Iohn 16. 33. In the World ye shall have tribulation: but be of good chear, I have overcome the World. We may have many pressing and searching Troubles, but the Sting of them is gone. Non pugna sublata est, sed Victoria, Christ hath not taken away the Combat, we must fight; but the Victory is sure, He hath overcome the World. This is our Comfort, when we are full of Faintings and Fears, that all things are vanquished and overcome by Christ; that though they terrify us, yet they shall not hurt us. Though Christ will not exempt us from Battel, yet we have to do with the Devil, the World, and Death, which are all vanquished Enemies. (2.) He hath a tender sense and a knowledg of our Estate. Christ saith to Peter, Satan hath a desire to have you, that he may sift you as Wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy Faith fail not. Luke 22. 32. Christ's Love and Mercy is never more at work for his People, than when they are most assaulted by Satan; then is he interceding for them. John 13. 1. Iesus having loved his own which were in the World, he loved them unto the end. When Christ was about to go to Heaven, he thought, my own are to be left in the World, they are exposed to great Temptation; and that set his heart a-work, as if he had said, Poor Creatures, they are undone if I help them not. So, Zech. 3. 1, 2. And he shewed me Joshua the High Priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee: Is not this a Brand pluckt out of the Fire? And he shewed me! our whole Case and Danger, it is clearly known to Christ. He knows how Satan molests and troubles you in your approaches to God; how he seeks to divert your Thoughts, to weaken your Confidence. We have a Friend and Advocate, that puts forth the strength of his Mediation and Intercession, and is zealous and affectionate for the welfare of his People. The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. (3.) He is engaged in the Battel, and fights with us, by renewing the strength of his own Grace. Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me. He gives relief and help, according to the nature of the Conflict. If there be Duty to be done, Burden to be born, or Battel to be fought, Christ is giving in supply. As the Olive Trees (Zech. 4. 11, 12.) were always dropping into the Lamps; so is he dropping in strength and Grace into the Heart. Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. When a Man hath an able Second, he doth, with the more courage, go to the Conflict: God is on our right Hand, he is our Second, his Grace comes into the Combat, and then the Field cannot be lost. If we would exercise Faith in God, we might be the more confident. (4.) He will reward us when we have done. Hold fast to the end, and I'le give thee a Crown of Life, a Garland of Immortality, that shall never wither. If you will but hold out, continue to fight the good Fight of Faith, there will a time of triumph come. He that's now a Souldier, shall be a Conqueror, when the Crown of Righteousness shall be put upon his Head, 2 Tim. 4. 8. And mark that, Rom. 16. 20. And the God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. 'Tis troublesome to be in the World, but shortly God shall bruise Satan: Mark, he doth not only say, God shall tread Satan, but tread him under your feet, triumph over him. As Ioshua call'd upon his Companions, come set your feet upon the Necks of these Kings, when they were hid in the Cave; so the God of Peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly. Then your Comfort will be greater, the more Dangers you have gone through. As Travellers, when they are come to their Inn, and to their Home, they sweetly remember the Trouble and Danger of the Road: So, when we are come to Heaven, these Temptations will increase our rejoicing, and our triumph in God. (5.) Even before the Battel, a Believer may be sure of Victory. In other Fights, the Event is uncertain. Non aequè glorietur accinctus, ac discinctus. Let not him that girdeth on his Harness, boast himself, as he that putteth it off, 1 Kings 20. 11. When a Field is won, then they will rejoice: But a Believer, when he goes to fight, is sure to have the best of it before-hand, in Bello, the War, though not in Praelio, the particular Conflict: Why? Because the Father and Jesus Christ are stronger than all his Enemies, they cannot pluck the Believer out of his Hands; John 10. 28, 29. I give to them Eternal Life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my Father's Hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all: and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's Hand. This is the Priviledg which Christ conferreth upon his Sheep, upon those which have an Interest in him; tho they have many shakings and tossings in their Condition, yet their final perseverance is certain. Christ is so unchangeable in the purposes of his Love, I will give to them Eternal Life; and so invincible in the Power of his Grace, None shall pull them out of my Father's Hand; nothing shall be able to hinder their perseverance. Now though the Fight be long and troublesom, yet this is one of God's Encouragements, you are sure of Victory at last. Therefore how much doth it concern us to get an Interest in Christ, that we may keep on in this Way, and in this Hope. Secondly; Let us be provided and prepared against Temptations. And to this end I shall, First, Give some Directions how to resist Temptations in General. Secondly, What to do in a special Hour of Temptation which comes upon the World; When there are Terrors without, and we know not what Evil may be a coming, and our Hearts are full of Doubt, how we may support and bear up our selves? First, To direct you as to Temptations in General. 1. You must be compleatly armed. Ephes. 6. 11. Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the Wiles of the Devil: Not a piece only, but the whole Armor of God, otherwise you will never come off with Honour and Safety, from the Spiritual Conflict. The Poets feign of their Achilles, that he was vulnerable only in the Heel, and there he got his Death's Wound. A Christian; though he be never so well furnished in other parts, yet if any part be left naked, you are in danger. Our first Parents were wounded in their Heel. Who would have thought, that they which had such vast knowledg of God, and his Creatures, that they should be inticed by Appetite? And Solomon, who had the upper part of his Soul so well guarded, that he should be enticed by Women? To see Men of great knowledg to be unmortified, and miscarry by their sensual Appetite, is sad. A Christian must have no saving-Grace wanting; 2 Pet. 1. 5. Add to your Faith, Vertue; and to Vertue, Knowledg, &c. There's all the Graces, and they must come out in their turn. We need Faith and Vertue, Zeal and Holiness; and Knowledg to guide it, and Patience to arm it against the Troubles of the present Life; and we need Temperance to moderate our Affections to our worldly Enjoyments; and Godliness, that we may be frequent in communion with God; and Brotherly-kindness, that we may preserve Peace among our Brethren, and may not make Fractions and Ruptures in the Church; and we need Charity, that we may be useful to all that are about us. There is use and work for all Graces, one time or other: Sometimes we shall be tempted to a neglect of God; at other times we shall be tempted to make a breach upon Brotherly-kindness; at other times there will be a breach of Charity. Sometimes the Devil seeks to tempt us to fleshly wickedness, therefore we need Temperance; sometimes to spiritual Wickedness, to Error, therefore we need Knowledg; sometimes to raging with despair, then we need Faith. We need the whole Armour of God, for Satan hath his various ways of Battery and Assault; sometimes, through Ignorance, we miscarry and run into Error; sometimes, for want of Faith, we run into Despair and Discomfort; sometimes, for want of Temperance, violent corrupt Lusts over-set the Soul. 2. We must often pray to God for renewed Influences; we must not only get habits of Grace, but pray for a renewed Influence. It is notable, next to the Spiritual Armour, the Apostle mentioneth Prayer, Ephes. 6. 18. Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all Perseverance. We never receive so much from God upon Earth, as to stand in need of no more: And therefore though you put on the whole Armour of God, yet praying always with all supplication in the Spirit: Why? Because without the Lord's special Assistance, whereby he actuates those Graces, we can never defend our selves, nor offend the Adversaries, or do any thing to purpose in the Spiritual Life. Strength of Grace inherent, will not bear us out against new Assaults. Habitual Grace, it needs Actual Influence; partly, that these Graces may be applied, and excited to work. Phil. 2. 13. He giveth, to will and to do: God giveth to do; that is, excites that strength you have, and carrieth it out to work; and then that it may be directed in work, 2 Thess. 3. 5. And the Lord direct your Hearts into the Love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. Every time we would make use of the Helmet of Salvation, when we would lift up the Head, and wait for the Mercy of God, (the Lord direct you) we must be directed. And not only so, but that it may be supplied with new strength; for it is said, Isa. 40. 29. He giveth Power to the faint, and to them that have no Power he increaseth strength. And he doth continue it; Luke 22. 32. I have prayed for thee, that thy Faith fail not. Thus will God keep us in dependance, for those liberal Aids, and constant Supplies of his Grace, without which we cannot use the Grace that we have. 3. You must resist: 1 Pet. 5. 9. Whom resist stedfast in the Faith. James 4. 7. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Stand your Ground, and then Satan falls. In all those Assaults, Satan hath only Weapons Offensive, as fiery Darts; none Defensive. We have not only the Sword of the Spirit, which is an Offensive Weapon, but the Shield of Faith, that's a Defensive piece of Armour. Therefore your Safety lieth in resisting. Now this Resistance must be, (1.) Not faint and cold, but strong and vehement. (2.) Thorow and total. (3.) Constant and perpetual. (1.) Not faint and cold. Some kind of Resistance may be made by general and common Grace. The Light of Nature will rise up in defiance of many Sins, especially at first: but this must be earnest and vehement, it is against the Enemies of your Soul. Paul's Resistance was with serious Dislikes and deep Groans, Rom. 7. 15. 24. The Evil that I hate. And, O wretched Man, how shall I be delivered? In most cases, a detestation or peremptory denial is enough. When the Devil tempts Christ to worship him, Mat. 4. 10. Get thee behind me Satan. In other Cases there must be serious Disputes, and Repulses. When Eve speaks faintly and coldly, the Devil renews his Assaults with more violence. Gen. 3. 1, 2, 3. Hath God said, ye shall not eat of every Tree of the Garden? And the Woman said unto the Serpent, We may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden: But of the Fruit of the Tree, which is in the midst of the Garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye dye. She speaks there warmly, and with too impatient a Resentment of the Restraint: and too cold in the Commination and Threatning. Therefore the Devil works upon her, when he saw she amplisieth the Restraint, for she saith more indeed, We must neither eat nor touch it. A faint Denial is a kind of Grant, and therefore your repulse to Satan must be vehement and strong: In many Cases slight Satan, answer with Indignation; as tho a Dog barks, yet the Traveller goes by: Satan cannot endure Contempt. At other times argue for God strongly. Now the great Argument, that quickens you to this lively and vehement Resistance; is, to consider thy Soul is in Danger, and all thy Eternal Concernments. So some expound that, Eph. 6. 12. We fight not against Flesh and Blood, but against Spiritual Wickedness in high places; in Heavenly places it is in the Original: No Worldly Concernments must go so near, as that which concerns the eternal Good and Salvation of your Souls. What would the Devil have from thee, but thy Soul, and thy precious Enjoyments, thy Peace of Conscience, Communion with God, thy hopes of Eternal Life? And when Satan comes, and bids nothing but Worldly Vanities, we should repel them with Indignation. A Merchant that hath a precious Commodity, and a Chapman bids him a base price, he puts up his Wares with Indignation, and will not so much as regard him, or hear him: So when the Devil comes, and would cheat you of your precious Enjoyments, you should repel him with Indignation, when there's such base and unworthy Trifles to come in competition with your great Hopes: As Christ, Mat. 16. 26. What is a Man profited, if he shall gain the whole World, and lose his Soul? or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul? What, shall I lose my Soul, my Hopes, and Happiness, and all for such paltry things, for a little Temporal Advantage? (2.) It must be a thorow and total Resistance: When you yield, the Devil incroacheth upon you. We are bid (in the Canticles) to take the little Foxes; to dash Babylon's Brats in pieces: we should not yield to Satan a little. The Devil at first cannot hope to prevail for greater things, therefore he seems more modest in his Temptations: Ay, but lesser Sticks set the greater on Fire; when ye entertain lesser Temptations, this kindles in your Souls, and it is easily blown up into a great Flame in your Conscience. At first, when the Devil came to our first Parents, Hath God said? And then, You shall not surely dye. Hath God said you shall not eat of the Fruit of the Garden? The first Temptation was more modest. The Approaches of Satan to the Soul are gradual, he asks but a little; Ay, but it's a great matter if we grant it. Consider, the Evil of Temptation is better kept out, than got out. The Stone on the top of the Hill, when it begins to roul downward, it is a hard thing to stay it, we cannot say how far it will go. Saith the deceived Heart, I will yield but little, and never yield again; the Devil will carry thee further and further, until he hath left no tenderness in thy Conscience. As many that thought to venture but a Shilling or two, yet by the secret witchery of Gaming they play away their Estate, Clothes and all: So many that think they will sin but little at first, at last sin away all Principles of Conscience, and Profession of Godliness. (3.) It must not be temporary for a while, but perpetual. It concerns us not only to stand out against the first Assault of Satan; but a long Siege: Satan, what he cannot gain by Argument, seeks to procure by Importunity. But resist him, saith the Apostle, stedfastly, in the Faith, 1 Pet. 5. 9. As his Instrument spake to Ioseph, from day to day, she ceased not, Gen. 39. 10. Deformed Objects, when accustomed to them, seem not so odious; so the Devil hopes to prevail at last; at least Temptation will not seem so odious: But you must keep your Zeal to the last, as we rate away an importunate Beggar, that will not be answered: To yield at last is to loose the Glory of the Conflict. Grace must not only have its work, but its perfect work, Iam. 1. 4. So let all our Graces, Temperance, Godlines[illegible: 1 letter], and Brotherly-Kindness, have their perfect work. 4. There is required Watchfulness. 1 Pet, 5. 8. Be sober, be vigilant. You that are not ignorant of Satan's Devices should watch, that you give not him an advantage, 2 Cor. 2. 11. nor an occasion, 2 Cor. 11. 12. lest Satan tempt you; nor a pretence, Gal. 5. 13. to the Flesh. Certainly, he that would not be foiled, needs a great deal of holy Moderation, and constant Jealousy over his Heart; he had need to guard his Senses, Psal. 119. 37. Turn away mine Eyes from beholding Vanity; and to look to his Company, Psal. 119. 115. Depart from me, ye evil Doers; for I will keep the Commandments of my God. And to avoid all Occasions of Sin, not rush into them, but keep out of the way; Prov. 4. 14. Enter not into the Path of the Wicked, and go not in the way of evil Men; for this is to ride into the Devil's Quarters, to run into the Mouth of Danger. Heretofore these were wholsome Instructions, and why should they not be so now? The Devil is not less subtile, or Sin less odious and dangerous, only we are more Fool-hardy, therefore stand not at such a distance as we should from Occasions. It is easier to avoid the Occasion, than the Sin when Occasion is offered; as it is easier for a Bird to fly from the Snare, than when intangled to avoid Danger. Therefore when you run into harm's-way, you tempt Satan to tempt; and when you look not to your selves, it is just with God to let you fall into the Snare. Secondly, There are special times of Temptation, when Christians should look to themselves. There's an Evil-day, Eph. 6. 13. That ye may be able to stand in the Evil-day: And there's an Hour of Temptation upon the World, Rev. 3. 10. I will keep thee from the Hour of Temptation whi[illegible: 1 letter]h shall come upon all the World. There are certain times when God is proving what Men will do, and when the Devil is likely to make a great advantage of our Discontents and Afflictions, when things fall cross to our Desires, and we know not what Evil waits for us; how should we do to behave our selves? 1. Be not over-confident, or over-diffident. Not over-confident, in running beyond the bounds of our Calling, to cast our selves into Dangers and Hazards of Temptation: Nor over-diffid[illegible: 1 letter]nt, by base flying from, or giving way when God calls for valiant Resistance. Both ways is the Devil likely to assault us; either by making us fool-hardy. So Satan seeks to drive us beyond the bounds of our Calling, to put us out of our Place, that we may be a Prey to him: As Men use to trouble the Water, that they may rouse the Fish, and draw them into the Snare, and drive them out of places of Safety where they rest; so the Devil seeks to put us out of our Safety. Peter would needs come to Christ, Mat. 14. 28. Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the Water; and we see he sinks before he could accomplish his Purpose: So when we are over-confident, and run out of our Calling upon Hazards, then we are ever and anon ready to sink. But we should not turn back when God calls us to a valiant Resistance. Should such a Man as I flee? Neh. 6. 11. Observe Peter's dastardliness, when he ventures without a Call into the Priests-Hall; a Question of the Damsels overturns him. He that was so Cowardly when he was out of his Way, look upon his Boldness when he was in his Work, Acts 4. 7. unto vers. 13. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they marvelled. Iohn was the Disciple of Love, and Peter was the Fearful Disciple; yet how full of Boldness, Courage, and Zeal when they were called and singled out to give proof of the reality of God's Grace! And therefore we should never be over-forward, nor over-backward, but own God in his Truth when we are in our Calling. Let not Satan bring you out of your Place, to cast your selves as a prey to him. 2. In an Hour of Temptation, we should be more solicitous about Duties than Events; and about Sins than Dangers. As to Events; God is concerned as well as you, and he will order them for his own Glory. It should be your great care, that you may be kept blameless to his Heavenly Kingdom: 2 Tim. 4. 17, 18. The Lord that hath delivered me out of the Mouth of the Lion, shall deliver me from every evil Work, and will preserve me unto his Heavenly Kingdom. However God deal with you as to Events, and whatever Dangers attend you, this should be your care mainly, that you may not sin, but be kept blameless. David often begged direction, that he might be guided in his trouble, and not faulter, and do any thing unseemly. 3. Be more jealous of Satan's Wiles, than of his open Assaults. Natural Courage, and the bravery of a common and ordinary Resolution, together with deep engagement of Credit and Interest, may do much to make us stand out against Assaults, against open Force and Violence of Evil Men; but there needs a great deal of Judgment, to stand out against the Wiles and Crafts of the Devil. Flesh and Blood will not so easily bear us out against the secret Insnarings of the Heart. The young Prophet doth thunder out his Message against the King, 1 Kings 13. 3. yet was enticed by the Wiles of the old Prophet. So we may stand out against an open Assault, and apparent Violence, but take heed of the secret Wiles of Satan. 4. The Wiles of Satan, are to inforce and draw us into those Corruptions which are incident to the Season. Here's the great Point of Spiritual Wisdom, to be seasoned in our Mortification, and to withstand the Spiritual Evil that is apt to grow upon us in the time of our Fears; Psalm 56. 3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Then our great Business is, to cherish our dependance upon God, to prevent distrust and unbelieving Thoughts of God's Providence. As (on the other side) in a Time when we are likely to be corrupted with ease and prosperity, then our Business is, to watch against security and deadness of Heart, which is apt to grow upon us. As Nazianzen said, When things go prosperous with me, I read the Lamentations of Ieremiah, I remember the mournful Passages which befal the People of God, and that's my Cure. So to prevent despondency in a time of Fears, to encourage our Souls to dependance. Now when our Wills are crossed, Dangers attend us on every side, and we know not how far Evil will break out to the overturning of all. What are the Sins incident to such a time of trouble? and how do the Wiles of Satan come upon us? 1. Impatience. Gen. 30. 1. when the Will of Rachel was crossed, she said unto Iacob, Give me Children, or else I die. When we impatiently fret against the Lord, Psalm 37. 1. Fret not thy self because of evil Doers; neither be thou envious against the workers of Iniquity. 2. Murmuring and repining against the Lord, that's another Snare. Jonah 4. 9. I do well to be angry, even unto Death; when he was crossed. Discontent at God's Providence, gratifieth Satan exceedingly; when we will justify our selves, and think it a kind of Zeal to be angry, and pett against Providence. 3. A Spirit of Revenge against Instruments; when we do not sweetly calm the Heart with the remembrance of God's Hand. 2 Sam. 16. 9. Why should this dead Dog curse my Lord the King? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his Head. Thus when wicked Men disturb Order, the Heart is apt to rise in revenge, therefore we are to calm our Hearts. 4. There's fainting in Duty; when we begin to give over Prayer, and are discouraged, and are loth to wrestle with God in an Ordinance. Heb. 12. 12. Lift up the Hands which hang down, and the feeble Knees. When a Man's Hands begin to wax feeble, and he is discouraged in the Ways of the Lord; My Foot had well-nigh slipt, saith David, Psal. 73. 2. 5. There's closing with sinful means, and running to them for an escape: As Saul, when he was crossed, 1 Sam. 28. 7. Seek me a Woman that hath a Familiar Spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. When we go to carnal Shifts, and unworthy Means, these are very natural to us. 6. Despair, and distrustful Thoughts of God, though we have had much experience of his Goodness. David, 1 Sam. 27. 1. I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; after all his experience. 7. Questioning our Interest in God, by reason of Crosses, or the doubtful posture of our Affairs: Judges 6. 13. If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? These are the Wiles of Satan. Ride out the Storm upon Gospel-Encouragements. This will bear us up, it is but a moment to Eternity; It is but a light Affliction, and will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory, 2 Cor. 4. 17. The second Point is this; Doct. 2. That if we would not be overcome by the Evil of Temptations, we should earnestly deal with God about them. For so doth our Lord direct us here, (Lead us not into Temptation) to come to God himself. There are two Reasons I shall consider of in this Discourse. First, We cannot be tempted without the Will of God. Secondly, Nor resist without the Power of God. Therefore we should deal with God earnestly in all our Temptations. First, We cannot be tempted without the Will of God. That God hath a Providence in and about Temptations, is clear from the Scripture. Mat. 4. 1. Then was Iesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness, to be tempted of the Devil. The Holy Spirit had a hand in it, as well as the Evil Spirit. So, 2 Sam. 24. 1. God moved David to number Israel and Judah. But in 1 Chron. 21. 1. it is said, And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. Satan, he cannot tempt without leave from God. As a Lion cannot stir out of his [illegible: 2 letters]ge, until the Keeper brings him out; so the Devil, this roaring Lion, is held by the irresistible Chains of God's Providence, and cannot stir until God brings him out. Consider two things: 1. To be led into Temptation, is more than simply to be tempted. God's permitting us to be tempted, is not so much as God's leading us into Temptation; for these are two distinct Phrases. God may permit or suffer us to be tempted, as a Lord or Soveraign, which hath power over his own Creature, for the trial and exercise of Grace, and can absolutely dispose of it according to his own Will; but he leads us into Temptation, as a Iudg. And therefore this is one of the Comforts which Iob propounds to himself, when Satan had a liberty to molest him, Iob 9. 12. He taketh away, who can hinder him? who shall say unto him, What dost thou? The General of an Army may, according to his discretion, lead which Band he pleaseth, and set them in the Forlorn-Hope, in a place of the greatest Danger, and appoint for Reserves which part of the Army he pleaseth: So God may single out his Champions to Combat for his Glory, and may leave others in a more quiet Posture, according as he pleaseth. Thus, as a Soveraign Agent, God may suffer to be tempted. But now, to lead into Temptation, that's another thing, and implieth something of Punishment; or as it is expressed, Mat. 26. 41. Pray that ye enter not into Temptation: We enter into it by our own voluntary motion, as having forfeited his Protection. But then God leads us in as a Iudg, puts the Malefactor into the Executioners or Officers hands: so doth God lead us into Temptation; it [illegible: 1 word] judicial Act, especially when left to perish under the weight of a Temptation. 2. Consider; God as a Judg, he may lead us into Temptation two ways: either he may act in way of Correction, to manifect his fatherly Indignation; or by way of strict Punishment. And so in respect of his fatherly Correction, God may give us up to a vexing, or to an insnaring Temptation. He may lead the Godly into Temptation, that they may be molested and troubled; and may lead the Wicked into Temptation, that they may be seduced and led away for their eternal Ruin. There's a vexing Temptation God useth for the Correction of his own Children; and thus Paul was buffeted by Satan, lest he should be exalted above measure, 2 Cor. 12. 7. The Shepherd sets his Dog upon the stray'd Sheep, not to worry him, but to lodg him, and bring him back again into the Fold: so doth God suffer his Children to be buffeted and exercised by Satan, to their great trouble, but for their good in the issue; for he knoweth how to turn all these things for good. Then there is an insnaring Temptation, by which the Wicked are intangled in a way of Sin; and so Satan, as God's Executioner, is said sometimes to blind the Eyes of Wicked Men, lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them, 2 Cor. 4. 4. and sometimes to harden their Hearts, John 12. 40. lest they should be converted and healed; for the punishment of former Sins, God may give up the Wicked to be blinded and hardned by Satan to their own destruction; which is one of the most dreadful Acts of God, as a Judg, on this side Hell. Certainly then when we are tempted, we have great cause to deal with God about the Temptation, for he hath a hand; either he may suffer us to be tempted, as Lord and Soveraign; or may lead us into Temptation, either in a way of fatherly Correction, or as a meer Punishment, that we may more ruin and destroy our selves. I come now to the second Reason. Secondly, God alone can give strength to resist and overcome the Temptation; and therefore we should deal with him very earnestly about it; Rom. 16. 20. The God of Peace▪ shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. It is God that treads down Satan, but under your feet. We fight it out, but the Author of the Victory is the God of Peace We are interested in it, (for we trample upon Satan with our own feet) but God's is the Grace. Our Faculties are not only exercised, but our Graces. Briefly, two ways doth God concur with the Saints in resisting Temptations. First, God plants all those Graces in their Hearts, that are necessary to the Conflict. To speak of those three Essential Graces, Faith, Fear, and Love; these are all necessary for the resistance of a Temptation. That Faith is necessary, 1 Pet. 5. 9. Whom resist stedfast in the Faith. And Fear, and Love, that they also are necessary, I shall prove thus: Satan's Weapons against us, and his way of assaulting, are either subtil Wiles, or fiery Darts; That ye may be able to stand against the Wiles of the Devil, and quench all the fiery Darts of the Wicked, Ephes. 6. [illegible: 1 letter]1, 16. As he assaults us by fiery Darts, by raging and boisterous Temptations, take the Shield of Faith, cover all with the Righteousness of Christ, and with a sense of your Privileges by Christ, and that's it which maintains the Heart, and keeps it against the fiery Darts of the Devil. But as he assaults us by his Wiles, there Fear, and the Love of God comes in, and is necessary for us. For there are two sorts of Wiles that Satan useth for the destroying of our Souls; One is, to convey the Temptation by such means as are most taking with the Person tempted: and the other is, disguising and turning himself into an Angel of Light, colouring the Temptation. For the first, Namely, as he suiteth every Distemper of our Souls with a proper Diet or Food, or tempts us by such means as are likely to prevail. As if a Man were tempted by sensual Delight, there the Love of God is necessary; Why? for nothing but the Love of God will make us deny that which is so near and pleasing to us, or that Affection which grows upon the apprehension of his Grace in Christ, therefore the Grace of God is said to teach us to deny all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts, Tit. 2. 12. 2. For the other Wile. As Satan doth transform himself into an Angel of Light, and cover his base Designs with plausible Pretences; for instance, Revenge shall be accounted Zeal: He will difguise it so, as that the very Apostles shall count it Zeal for the Glory of God, when they called for Fire from Heaven to consume them, even as Elias did. Luke 9. 54. And Carnal Counsel shall be counted Pitty and Natural Affection. Mat. 16. 22. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: This shall not be unto thee. He shall be the Devil's Agent to tempt Christ, and his Carnal Counsel shall be looked upon as Pity to his Master. And Licentiousness shall be Christian Liberty, and our Liberty by Christ shall be used a[illegible: 1 letter] an occasion to the Flesh, Gal. 5. 13. And an immoderate use of Carnal Pleasure shall be Christian Rejoicing, or Christian Chearfulness. Therefore as there needs Love to withstand the Potency of Temptation, by the suitableness of the Bait to our own Affections; so there needs the Fear of God, Prov. 14. 27. The Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life, to depart from the Snares of Death. When the Devil, by his Wiles, is laying Snares for us, Snares of Death, the Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life. A Man that is afraid to offend God, and to abuse his Liberty, or run into any Excess, under colour of a Grace, is very cautious, and watchful, and thereby is not so soon surprized. Thus, when the Soul is inflamed by the vehement heat of boyling Lusts, or raging Despair, Faith is necessary. Luke 22. 31, 32. Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as Wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy Faith fail not. Faith laying hold upon Christ's Righteousness, and waiting for his Grace, teaches us to overcome in such Conflicts. But why should I instance in these three Graces only▪ when we are bidden to put on the whole Armour of God? Eph. 6. 11, 13. If we would come off with Honour in this Conflict, we must be compleatly armed; no Power of the Soul, or Sense of the Body must be left naked, and without a Guard, therefore not one saving Grace can be wanting. A Christian is set forth as armed from Head to Foot. There's for the Head a Helmet of Salvation, which is Hope; a Breast-Plate of Righteousness; the Girdle of Truth; for Shoes; the Gospel of Peace; the Shield of Faith; the Sword of the Spirit. These are the Graces necessary to resist Temptation, and these we have from God. A Christian hath not only Weapons Offensive, but Defensive; not only a Sword, but also a Shi[illegible: 1 letter]ld: Satan hath only Weapons Offensive, as Darts, he hath Darts to wound the Soul. Again, observe, there is no piece of Armour for the Back; why? Because there is no Flight in this Spiritual Warfare, we must stand to it, Jam. 4. 7. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. But let us see what are the pieces of the Spiritual Armour? The Apostle begins with the Girdle of Truth, by which is meant not Truth of Doctrine (for that's the Sword of the Spirit) but Sincerity, or an honest Intention; when a Man endeavoureth to be both to God and Man, what he seems to be; now it's the Lord that must renew the right Spirit within us. Satan he assaults us with Wiles, but our Armour of Proof against him is the Girdle of Truth. We stand against the Wiles of Satan, but we must not fight against him with his own Weapons, and put off Wiles with Wiles; Sincerity and honest Intention, that's our Strength: this is a Girdle to the Loins, it gives Strength and Courage to the Soul. And then there's the Breast-Plate of Righteousness, or that Grace which puts us upon a holy Conversation, suitable to God's Will revealed in his Word; whereby we endeavour to give God and Man their due; it secures the Breast, and Vital Parts, the Seed of inherent Grace in the Heart, an honest fixed purpose to obey God in all things. The next thing, the Feet must be shod; we shall meet with rough Ways in our Passage to Heaven, and what's that which is Armour of Proof for our Feet? The Preparation of the Gospel of Peace, a Sense of our Peace and Friendship made up between God and us through Christ; without this we shall never follow God in the way of Duty, when we meet with Difficulties and Hardships. But above all, take the Shield of Faith; a Shield covers the Body▪ but that which gives Defence to all is Faith; without this a Man is naked; destitute of Christ's imputed Righteousness, he wants his Covenant-Strength; it applyeth Christ's Righteousness, and engageth the Power of God on our behalf. Then there's the Helmet of Salvation, which is Hope, 1 Thess. 5. 8. A well-grounded hope of Salvation, it makes us hold up the Head in the midst of all Waves and sore Assaults, that is, it is our great Motive and Encouragement in the work of Sanctification. Then there's the Sword of the Spirit, which is both Offensive and Defensive; it wardeth off Satan's Blows, and makes him fly black from us as one wounded and ashamed. These are the Graces; now God gives them to us, and therefore he is called, The God of all Grace, 1 Pet. 5. 10. Why? because he requires it only? No, but because he giveth it also: And it is called The Armour of God, vers. 11. God is the Author, God is the Maker, God is the Inventer of this Armour; and he doth freely bestow it upon us. The Apostle bids us, Take the whole Armour of God, vers. 13. that is, take it out of God's Hand; this Armour is not of our making and procuring, but made to our Hands by God himself. Secondly, He actuates these Graces by putting good Motions into our Hearts, or sweet and gracious Thoughts, whereby all the fore-mentioned Graces are drawn out. When we are conflicting with Sin in an Hour of Temptation, Faith is set a-work; That God may fulfil all the good pleasure of his Goodness, and the work of Faith with power, 2 Thess. 1. 11. that is, by a Divine Power and Influence quickning it into Acts. Ioseph, when he was a[illegible: 1 letter]saulted by a grievous Temptation, he had a gracious Motion and thought put into his Mind, How can I do this Wickedness, and sin against God? Gen. 39. 9. Still there is a seasonable remembrance of things by the Spirit, whose office it is to bring all things to remembrance, Ioh. 14. 26. The Spirit doth not only teach us all things, but brings thing[illegible: 1 letter] to our remembrance, when we have need of any Truth to be set home upon the Heart; either such a Truth as forbids the Evil to which we are tempted; or that speaketh Comfort and Encouragement to us under such a Cross; or pressing such a Duty as we hang off from. The seasonable remembrance of Truths, is the great actual help which we have from God. Jesus Christ himself, by seasonable urging the Scripture, defeated the Temptation wherewith he was assaulted, Mat. 4. 10, 11. The Word quickneth in Affliction, Psal. 119. 50. Some proper Comfort is born in upon the Soul by the Power of God. It is not the bare remembrance of Truth, but the secret Power of God which enliveneth it, and makes it effectual in its season to defeat the Temptation. Vse. It directs you what to do in Temptations, to go to God for Help and Strength against them. Briefly, when you treat with God, it should be under a threefold Notion. 1. As the Author and Giver of Grace. 2. As the Sovereign Giver and Disposer of it, according to his own Will. 3. As a Judg, by Temptation, correcting some foregoing Sin by the present Temptation. 1. Treat with God as the Author and Giver of Grace. Jam. 1. 17. He is the Father of Lights, from whom every good and perfect Gift cometh down. And so, (1.) We ought to come to him as renouncing our Strength, and waiting for his Grace as able to help us. That Address Iehoshaphat made in a Temporal Case, is good also in a Spiritual, 2 Chron. 20. 12. Lord, we have no might, our Eyes are unto thee. There is a renouncing of their own Strength, and a dependance upon God. There must be a renouncing of all Self-dependance, for God gives Grace to the Humble, Jam. 4. 6. The word Humble, is to be understood not Morally, to those that are of a lowly carriage towards Men of a meek Spirit; but it is understood Spiritually, of those that in the brokenness of their Hearts acknowledg their own Nothingness and Weakness; to these he gives Grace. God withholdeth and withdraweth his Influences, when we do not acknowledg the daily and hourly necessity of Grace, when we do not desire it with such vehemency as we were wont, nor receive it with such Thankfulness and Rejoicing. In these three last Petitions of the Lord's Prayer; Give us this day our daily Bread then, Forgive us our Trespasses; then, Lead us not into Temptation: we beg daily Bread, daily Pardon, daily Strength. We can neither live without the one nor the other; we cannot live without daily Bread, nor live comfortably without daily Pardon, nor live holily without daily Grace. And therefore you are to wait upon God all the Day, Psal. 25. 5. And Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me. Now, we may be said to set the Lord before us, either in point of Reverence, when we are sensible of his Eye and Presence; or in point of Dependance, when we are still waiting for his Strength; and that's the meaning there, He is at my right Hand, I shall not be moved. Look, as a Glass without a foot falls to the Ground, and is broken as soon as 'tis set out of Hand; such a sensible Christian apprehends himself to be, if he be out of the Hands of God, he is broken, and falls to pieces. Therefore in this Sense he goes to God, and desires him to keep him from Temptation. Dependance begets Observance. If the Creature could once but live of himself, tho it were but for a while, God would seldom hear from him. This is that which is the Bridle upon the new-Creature, to keep up his constant commerce with God. (2.) We must go to him with Confidence, in an actual dependance upon the All-sufficiency of his Grace. It is not enough to apprehend our Weakness, but we must also go forth in the Strength of God, that is, hold up our Hearts with a Sense of this, that God is able to bear us up, and defeat all our Spiritual Enemies. God would not take off the Temptation from Paul, 2 Cor. 12. 9. but saith[illegible: 1 letter] My Grace is sufficient for thee; He can either weaken. Temptation, or give in further supply of Strength: Therefore encourage your selves in the power of the Lord. The Devil cannot tempt us one jot further than the Lord will permit him, his Malice is limited and restrained; if you be in Satan's Hands, Satan is in God's Hands, and can do nothing without his leave and permission; he begs leave to enter into the Herd of Swine, much less can he enter into the Sheep of his Pasture. 2. Look upon God not only as the Giver of Grace, but as the Soveraign Giver and Disposer of it according to his own Will, Phil. 2. 13. It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good Pleasure. His giving of Grace is altogether free, as what measure of Assistance we shall have, and by what means it shall be supplied. God may enlarge or abate the degree of his Influence, according to his own Will. Now, thus we must come to him, with Submission to his good Pleasure, either for taking off the Temptation, or continuing it for your Exercise, or the measure of your Supply. When you murmur and fret, it's sign you have too good Thoughts of your selves; when we prescribe to God, it argues some ascribing to our selves. You are to endeavour (indeed) to pray, and use all good means to come out of Temptation; but submit, if the Lord be pleased to continue his Exercise upon you. Nay, tho God should continue the Temptation, and for the present not give out those measures of Grace necessary for you, yet you must not murmur, but lie at his Feet; for God is Lord of his own Grace. 3. You are to look upon God as a Iudg, correcting some foregoing Sin by your present Temptation. And therefore, (1.) You must humble your selves under his mighty Hand (when you are exercised with great and sore Temptations) and accept the Punishment of your Iniquity, without murmuring; that's the only way to get it off, when you own it as the Fruit of Sin. Lev. 26. 41. If then their uncircumcised Hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their Iniquity. And Mic. 7. 9. I will bear the Indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. Acknowledg the Justice of his Providence in this trouble that is brought upon you. A Christian must not only look to the Malice of Satan in his Temptations, but to the Iustice of God. Look, as in outward Affli[illegible: 1 letter]tions, we are not to reflect upon Instruments; Iob did not say, The Caldean and Sabean hath taken, but, The Lord hath taken, chap. 1. 2[illegible: 1 letter]. So in these Spiritual Afflictions, take the Temptation out of God's Hand, as a Judg. Tho Satan pursue you with fiery Darts, with Temptations horrible and terrible, yet look upon it as the Fruit of some foregoing Sin. If he should tempt you by injection of despairing Fears, or blasphemous Thoughts, these are not your Sins, but they may be a Punishment for your Sins; so you ought to humble your selves under the mighty Hand of God. When you are vexed with such Temptations as pierce and prick you in your Veins; (as David speaks) when the Devil bears in blasphemous Thoughts upon the Heart, they are his Sins, but your Corrections, justly ordered by God; it may be it is for the Correction of your Sin, that you have provoked God to afflict you thus; and this Rod, if it smart, it was dipt in your own Guilt: and it's a Fruit of God's Fatherly Indignation, for your Folly and Vanity: For God may thus manifest it, by giving thee up to this severe Discipline, to be tempted and vexed by Satan. Now 'tis your Duty to be sensible of your Sin, and say, as Sion in her Troubles, Lam. 1. 18. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his Commandment. (2.) Find out and remove the Cause of Sin, when God lets loose Satan upon us. Paul discerned it presently (as usually God's Rod brings Light along with it) when he was buffeted with a Messenger of Satan, it was that he might not be ex[illegible: 1 letter]lted above measure, 2 Cor. 12. 7. Now that which hath provoked God to exercise us with this Discipline, that may be known sometimes by the Time when this Temptation surprizeth us, if it trea[illegible: 1 letter] upon the Heels of some immediate and foregoing Provocation; that's the Sin you should humble your selves for. Or by that ill Frame and Posture of Spirit wherein the Temptation found you, as Paul's Heart was likely puffed up and exalted with his Spiritual Enjoyments, therefore God lets loose Satan. Sometimes by the nature of the Temptation it self; for God suits Punishments to Sins, and apt and proper Remedies to every Disease. Or else, the Sin will be cast up by workings of Conscience in a way of Remorse; as in a Tempest, that which is at bottom comes on top. Or God will discover it by his Spirit, when you go and seek to him. When Temptation is grievous and sore, go to God and say, Lord, why is it thus with me? Job 34. 31, 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have born chastisement, I will not offend any more. That which I see not, teach thou me; if I have done Iniquity, I will do no more. Pray for a discovery of your secret Sin, and what is the Mind of God in the Dispensation. Now when you have found out the cause of the Sin, this is the Direction, to remove the Cause; for until we let the Sin go, God will continue the Punishment; tho we strive, pray, and ask Counsel, our burden will still be continued upon us, until Sin be mortified in us, tho in some measure it be removed out of our Hearts. But deliver us from Evil. WE come to the Close. The Words [non-Latin text not transcribed], may be rendred, either from the Evil One, or from the Evil Thing. First, From the Evil One, Mat. 13. 19. Then cometh, [non-Latin text not transcribed], the Evil One, and catcheth away that which was sown in his Heart. And 1 Joh. 2. 13. I will write unto you young Men, because ye have overcome, [non-Latin text not transcribed], the Wicked One. And, 1 Joh. 5. 18. He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and, [non-Latin text not transcribed], that Wicked One toucheth him not. Eph. 6. 16. Take the Shield of Faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Wicked, [non-Latin text not transcribed], of that Wicked One. In all these Places the Devil is so called, because his great business is to draw, and drive others to Sin; and therefore, as God is the Holy One, so Satan is called the Wicked One. Secondly, It may be rendred that Evil Thing, Mat. 5. 37. Whatsoever is more than these cometh, [non-Latin text not transcribed], of Evil. Mat. 5. 39. But I say unto you, [non-Latin text not transcribed], resist not Evil. We are commanded to resist the Devil, and therefore in that Place clearly it is put for the Evil Thing: And so in many other Places. Now which of these Sences shall we prefer? First, If it be meant of the Evil One, or Satan, the Words will bear a good Sence; thus: If God for our Trial and further Humiliation shall suffer us to be tempted by the Devil; yet we desire that he may not have his Will upon us, that we be not kept under his Power. To make good this Interpretation; know, the Devil may fitly be called, the Evil One, for he is the oldest Sinner, he sins from the Beginning, 1 Ioh. 3. 8. And he is the greatest Sinner, therefore he is called, Eph. 6. 12. Spiritual Wickedness; his Sins are in the highest degree sinful, every Sin of his is a Sin against the Holy Ghost, against full Light, and with Malice, and Spight against God and the Saints. And he is the Father of Sin, Joh. 8. 44. As Iubal was the Father of all such as handle the Harp and Organ, Gen. 4. 21. that is, he was the first that taught the use of that Instrument: So all the Sins in the World, are by his furtherance, both Actual, and Original; therefore he may be fitly called the Evil One. Again, He hath a great stroke in Temptation, that he is the Artificer, the Designer, the Improver of them; therefore he is called, [non-Latin text not transcribed], the Tempter, Mat. 4. 3. Well then, Lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from the [Evil One.] Secondly, We may render it Indefinitely, as we do, Deliver us from Evil, that is, from Sin. And [illegible: 1 letter]itly is this so called, because it is the greatest Evil, above Poverty, Sickness, and Worldly Loss. Every thing which doth harm us, that may be called Evil; now Sin doth most hurt, nothing so much as Sin; why? Because it doth endamage our inward Man, and endanger our Everlasting Hopes. 1. It doth endammage our inward Man, and hindreth and diminisheth our comfortable Communion with God. Other things may harm the Man, but they do not touch the Christian; and therefore saith the Apostle, 2 Cor. 4. 16. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward Man perish, yet the inward Man is renewed day by day. Breaches made upon the outward Man, come not so near as a Breach made upon the inward Man; therefore we faint not, so long as the inward Man is safe. 2. It doth endanger our everlasting Hopes and Concernments, and therefore it is the greatest Evil. All Afflictions do but reach our Temporal, but Sin reacheth our Eternal Concernments; and therefore the Apostle promiseth himself this kind of Deliverance, as that which was most worthy; 2 Tim. 4. 17, 18. I was delivered out of the Mouth of the Lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil Work, and will preserve me unto his Heavenly Kingdom. Well then, you see it may be rendred the Evil One, or the Evil Thing. The word carrieth it for Sin; [non-Latin text not transcribed] denoteth the Evil of Afflictions, and malum poenae, as well as malum culpae, but [non-Latin text not transcribed] never but Evil of Fault. And we need not anxiously dispute, whether the one or the other, for one cannot be understood without respect to the other. Therefore I shall take it in a general sence; That Evil which results from Temptations, whether they arise from Satan, the World, or our own Hearts. From the words thus opened, the Points will be two. First, That while we are in this Valley of Tears and Snares, we should with earnestness and confidence, pray to be delivered from Evil. Secondly, To be kept from the Evil of Sin, is a greater Mercy, than to be kept from the trouble of Temptation. I observe the first Point, because Christ thus directed us to pray to God. The second, Because the Evil of Sin is intended. For the First; We should pray with earnestness, because of our Danger; and with Confidence, because of God's undertaking. The Lord Jesus knows what Requests are most acceptable to his Father. Now when he would give a perfect Pattern and Platform of Prayer, he bids you pray thus; Deliver us from Evil. Nay, we have not only Christ's Direction, but Christ's Example; John 17. 15. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the World, but that thou shouldst keep them from the Evil. He did not absolutely pray for an exemption from Temptation, though he knew the World would be a tempestuous Place, that his People must expect strong Assaults; (Lord, take them not out of the World, but keep them from the Evil) so here, Deliver us from Evil. First, We should pray with Earnestness, because of our Danger, from the Enemies of our Salvation, which are the Devil, the World, and the Flesh; In respect of all which, we pray to be delivered from Evil. 1. From the Evil which the Devil designs against us. Both bad and good Men have need to make this Prayer: Bad Men have need; Good Men will have a Heart certainly to pray thus to God, if they consider their Danger. (1.) Natural and unconverted Men, they are under the Power of the Devil, if they were sensible of it; for the Devils are said to be Rulers of the Darkness of this World, Ephes. 6. 12. By which is meant the Wicked, Ignorant, and carnal part of the World, whether they live in Gentilism, or within the Pale and Line of Christ's Communion, over all those that live in their unrenewed state of Sin and Ignorance; over all these, Satan hath an Empire and Dominion. And mark, when God carried on his Kingdom in in a way of sensible Manifestation, by Visions, Oracles, and Miracles: So did Satan visibly govern the Pagan World by Apparitions, Oracles, lying Wonders, and sensible manifestations of himself. But now, when God's Kingdom is Spiritual, The Kingdom of God is within you, Luke 17. 21. So by proportion, Satan's Kingdom is Spiritual too, he rules in the Hearts of Men, though they little think of it. All natural Men, whether they be Pagans or Christians, though outwardly and apparently they may renounce the Devil's Kingdom, and do not seem to have such open communion with him, as the Gentiles that consult with his Oracl[illegible: 1 letter]s, and were instructed by his Apparitions, acted by his Power, and offered Sacrifice to him: But Spiritually, all natural Men are under the Devil; for, 1 Io. 3. 8. He that committeth Sin, is of the Devil; that is, he belongeth to him. How is he of the Devil? They are his Children, Acts 13. 10. O thou Child of the Devil. And they are his Subjects, he ruleth in them; he hath a Kingdom among Men, which by all means he goeth about to maintain; Mat. 12. 26. If Satan be divided against himself, how then can his Kingdom stand? And they are his Work-houses, he worketh in them: Ephes. 2. 2. The Spirit that worketh in the Children of Disobedience. The Devil is hard at work in a wicked Man's Heart, framing Evil Thoughts, Carnal Motions; urging them to break God's Laws; drawing them on to more Sin and Villany; fills their Hearts with lying, and all manner of Sins; Acts 5. 3. Why hath Satan filled thine Heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? He binds them with Prejudices, and will not suffer them to hearken to the Glorious Gospel; 2 Cor. 4. 4. In whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them which believe not, lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them. He blinds and holds them captive at his Will and Pleasure, their Souls are fettered, 2 Tim. 2. 26. And sometimes he oppresses their Bodies, (for Satan carrieth on his Kingdom by Force, Tyranny, Fears, and Bondage); and therefore it is said, Acts 10. 38. That Christ went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil. Yet further, as God's Executioner, he hath the Power over Death, for their torment; Heb. 2. 14. That through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death, that is, the Devil. And unless the Lord be merciful, he never ceaseth carrying on wicked Men, until both they and he are for ever in Hell; Mat. 25. 41. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. All this is spoken, to shew Carnal Men their Condition: O that they would seriously think of it! When they do Evil, when they slight the Motions of God's Grace, they are under Satan; and not only by force, as a Child of God may be sometimes, but they are willingly ignorant, 2 Pet. 3. 5. The more willingly we commit Sin, still the more we are under the Power of the Devil. Well then, if any have need to say, Deliver us from Evil, certainly unrenewed Carnal Men, have need to go to God, and say, Lord pluck us out of Evil; as the same Expression is used, Col. 1. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of Darkness, [non-Latin text not transcribed], who hath delivered us with a strong hand. O go to God, in the Name of Christ; there is no way of escape, until God pluck you out by main force. And mark, this Power by which we are delivered, God conveyeth by the preaching of the Word, which was appointed to turn us from Darkness unto Light, and from the Power of Satan unto God, Act. 26. 18. and therefore hearken to God's Counsels, before your Condition grow incurable, and wait upon the Ordinances; for the more you neglect and contemn the means of your Recovery, your misery increaseth upon you; for every day you are still more given up to Satan by the just Judgment of God, and to be captivated and taken by him, at his will and pleasure, by the Snares he sets for you. (2.) Good Men, or God's own Children, though they are delivered from the Power of Satan, and brought into the Kingdom of Christ, yet they are not wholly free in this World, but are sometimes caught by Satan's Wiles, Ephes. 6. 11. sometimes wounded by his fiery Darts, ver. 16. Their Lusts, and their Consciences, are sometimes set a raging; though he hath no allowed Authority over their Hearts, yet he exerciseth a tyrannical Power; though he cannot rule them, yet he ceaseth not to assault them, if it were but to vex and trouble them. Briefly, the Children of God have cause to pray (Deliver us from Evil) in regard of Satan, because Satan hath a hand in their Persecutions; and likewise a hand in their Temptations to Sin. It is he that instigateth their Enemies to persecute them; and it is he that inflameth their Lusts. 1. In stirring up their Enemies to persecute them. All the Troubles of the Children of God, they come originally from the Devil; Luk. 22. 53. This is your Hour, and the Power of Darkness. We do not read that Satan did immediatly vex Christ; and how was that Hour then said to be the Power of Darkness? Why, by setting his Instruments a-work to crucify him. And as he dealt with the Head, so with the Members. Rev. 12. 12. The Devil hath great Wrath, for he knoweth he hath but a short time. When his Kingdom begins to totter and shake, then he stirs up all his Wrath, and inflames his Instruments; as dying Beasts bite hardest. So, Rev. 16. 14. we read of the Spirits of Devils that go forth unto the Kings of the Earth, to stir them up against the Saints. If you could behold, with you bodily Eyes, this Evil Spirit hanging upon the Ears of great Men, and buzzing into them, and stirring them up, and the common People, and animating them against the Children of God, you would more admire at the Wonders of God's Providence, that you do subsist: O, how they are acted by this wrathful Spirit! 2. By inflaming our Lusts and Corruptions. So, 1 Cor. 7. 5. lest Satan tempt you by your Incontinency; sets Lusts a boiling, either to vex the Saints, or to insnare them. It is possible he may sometimes prevail with God's own Children, to draw them to some particular Act of gross Sin; as 2 Sam. 11. 4. as when David defiled himself with Lust, that thereby he may dishonour God; for by this means the Name of God was blasphemed, 2 Sam. 12. 14. Or that thereby he may disturb their Peace, for this made David lie roaring, Psal. 32. 3, 4. his radical Moisture was even wasted and exhausted. Or else to Spiritual Sins, as Murmuring, Repining against God; distrust of Providence, when under Crosses. Or when they are in their Comforts, to drive them to Carnal Complacency, and neglect of Holy Things, disuse of Communion with God. Or to inordinate Passions, or Spiritual Wickedness, such as is not conversant about Carnal Passions, or Fleshly Lusts, but Spiritual Pride, Error, and Unbelief. Certainly, those that have any thing of experience of the Spiritual Life, cannot be ignorant of Satan's Enterprizes. Well then, we had need go to God to deliver us from Evil: For outward Evils, for the Protection of his Providence; for these God hath undertaken, Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the Day of Trouble; I will deliver thee. Satan is in God's Chains, he could not enter into the Herd of Swine without leave; therefore certainly he cannot get among the Sheep of Christ's Fold. It's the saying of Tertullian, If the Bristles of Swine be numbred, the Hairs of our Head are numbred; therefore you had need go to God, (Deliver us from Evil) that Persecution may not rage over you; that he may hedg you in by his Providence, Iob. 1. 10. and that he would be as a Wall of Fire round about you. As to inward Evils, so we go to God for Wisdom and Strength; for Satan assaults us both ways, by Wiles and Darts; when he comes in a way of Violence, he comes with fiery Darts; but when he doth lie in Ambush, there he hath his Wiles to intice us with a seeming Good. We, 1. Beg Wisdom, that you may espy the Wiles of Satan, and may not be caught unawares, for he is transformed into an Angel of Light, 2 Cor. 11. 14. Mark, the Devil doth not care so much to ride his own Horses, to act and draw wicked Men to Evil, he hath them sure enough; but he laboureth to imploy the Saints in his Work, if he can, to get one which belongs to God to do his Business; therefore he changeth himself into an Angel of Light. The Temptation is disguised with very plausible Pretences, then a Child of God may be a Factor for Satan, and an Instrument of the Devil: For instance, Would Peter have ever made a Motion for Satan, if he had seen his Hand? O no; the Temptation was disguised to him, when he perswaded his Master from suffering. He covereth his foul Designs with plausible Pretences. Carnal Counsel shall be pity and natural Affection; Mat. 16. 22, 23. Let not these things be; Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. He said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, Thou art an Offence unto me. At another time, the Disciples, when their Master was slighted and contemned, they thought certainly they should do as Elias did, call for Fire from Heaven to consume them, Luke. 9. 54. Revenge will often go for Zeal for God. Revenge, or storming at Personal Affronts, or Injuries done to our selves, is looked upon as Zeal; then the Disciples may not know what Spirit they are of Many times we are acted by the Devil, when we think we are acted by the Spirit of God; and that which seems to be Zeal, is nothing but Revenge. Therefore we had need go to God; Lord, deliver us from Evil, we are poor unwary Creatures, that we may not be insnared by fair Pretences, and surprised by his Enterprises. And thus we beg Wisdom. 2. We pray for Strength to withstand his Darts, that we may take the Armour of God, and withstand the Evil One, Ephes. 6. 13. Alas! of our selves, we cannot deliver our selves from the least Evil, or stand out against the least Assault; therefore it is God alone that must keep the Feet of his Saints, 1 Sam. 2. 9. Therefore we go to him, that we may get his Covenant-strength, that we may be strong in the power of his Might, to conflict with Satan. Well then, in regard of the first Enemy of our Salvation, the Devil, we had need pray earnestly, That we may not be prevailed over by his Arts; 'Tis God alone that can keep us. 2dly, The World, that's another Evil, which is as it were the Devil's Chess-Board; we can hardly move backward or forward, but he is ready to attach us, and surprize us by one Creature or another, and draw us into the Snare; therefore it is said, Gal. 1. 4. That Christ gave himself for us, that he might deliver us from this present Evil World. That's one way of being delivered from Evil, when we are delivered from an Evil World. It concerns us, and it is a great point of Religion to be kept unspotted from the World, Jam. 1. 27. The whole World is full of Evils and Temptations, and we cannot walk any where but we are likely to be defiled. The Things of the World, the Men of the World. 1. The Things of the World. All Conditions of Life become a Snare to us, Prosperity, Adversity, Pro. 30. 8, 9. Give me neither Poverty nor Riches; feed we with Food convenient for me, &c. Lest I be full and deny thee, &c. Either Condition hath its Snares. A Garment too short will not cover our Nakedness, and too long proves, Lacinia [illegible: 1 letter]raepend[illegible: 1 letter]ns, ready to trip up our Heels; and therefore both the one and the other Condition are very dangerous. Many carry themselves well in one Condition, but quite miscarry in another. As [illegible: 2 letters]phraim was as a Cake not turned, baked on the one side, Hos. 7. 8. quite Dough on the other. Or as 'tis said of Ioab, 1 King. 2. 28. He turned [illegible: 1 letter]fter Adonijah, th[illegible: 1 letter] he turned not after Absalom. Some miscarry in Adversity, others in Prosperity. [illegible: 1 letter]ndeed more under Prosperity. Diseases which grow out of Fulness, are more rife than those which grow out of Want; and fat and fertile Soils are most ranck of Weeds. God's Children most miscarry when all things are prosperous and flow in upon them, when they have lived in Plenty. David was not foiled while he wandred up and down in the Wilderness, but when he walked upon the Tarras of his Pallace in Ierusalem, then he fell to Lust and Blood. The unsoundness of a Vessel is not seen when it is empty, but when fill'd with Water, then we see whether it be stanch, or leaky or no. But the other Condition is not without its Snares neither. In Adversity we are apt to be impatient, as well as in Prosperity to be forgetful of God; and therefore we had need learn how to go up Hill and down Hill, to know how to abound, and how to be abased, Phil. 4. 12. Look, as the Wind doth rise from all Corners, so do Temptations. When we are kept low and bare, or in Danger, then we are full of worldly Fears, Distrusts, Cares, grow base, Pusillanimous, and have not the Spirit and Generosity of a Christian; in a high Condition we are Proud, Secure, forgetful of Changes, Vain, Wanton; and press towards Heaven less, and grow dead to good Things. 2. As from the Things of the World, so from the Men of the World. We are apt to be poisoned by their bad Example, and easily catch a Sickness one from another. Good Men may receive a taint, Isa. 6. 5. I am a Man of unclean Lips, and I dwell in the midst of a People of unclean Lips. Open Excesses do soon manifest their own Odiousness. I confess, a Man that runs into open Excess, we are not so much in danger of being inticed by him to the like Practice; but we learn of one another secretly to be cold, careless, and less mortified. I say, tho we are not carried into inordinate Practices, and gross Wickednesses, by the Example of others; yet we learn to be cold in the Profession of Godliness, formal, less stirring in the way of Holiness▪ and sometimes ensnared by their Counsels; the Flood and Torrent of Evil Examples and Counsels is so great that it carrieth away Men. Gal. 2. 13. Barnabas also was carried away with their Dissimulation. And the Wills of Men is one of our Snares, 1 Pet. 4. 2. And besides, we are in danger to be terrified by their Frowns, and act unseemly. Isa. 8. 13. Fear not their Fear, nor be afraid; out of the fear of Men we are apt to miscarry in our Duty to God. Well then, we need to go to God to be delivered from the Evil of the World, that we may not be infected nor terrified by the Men of the World; or, which is the more usual Temptation, corrupted by the Things of the World. The World doth secretly and sligh[illegible: 1 letter]ly insinuate with us, and therefore keep us from Evil. Now how comes the World to be Evil? In two things; when both our Care, and our Delight, is lessened towards Heavenly Things. 1. When our Care is lessened, when we are not so serious, so frequent in Communion with God, as we were wont to be; as Martha that was cumbred about many things, but Mary had chosen the better part, Luke 10. 42. When you begin to lessen your Cares of Duty, and Hagar thrusts Sarah out of Doors; when the Son of the Bond-Woman begins to mock at the Son of the Free-Woman; when Religion begins to be looked upon but as Mopishness; to be so nice, precise, and so careful to maintain constant Commerce with God, and begin to have lessening Thoughts of God, and Religion goes to the Walls. So, 2. When our Delight is less in heavenly things; when we have lost our favour of the Word, and Ordinances, and Sabbaths, and they are not so sweet as before; 1 Joh. 2. 16. If any Man love the World, the love of the Father is not in him. When the Love of the World hath made you weary of the Love of God; when your Heart goes a whoring from God the chief Good: As when the Affections are scattered, a Man is tempted to look upon other Objects, the Wife of the Bosom is defrauded of her Right: So God is defrauded by an over-delight in the Creature, the World intercepts your Delight. Psal. 73. 27, 28. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw nigh to God. When our Delight in Communion with God is lessened by Delight in the Creature, 'tis Spiritual Adultery. Now when worldly Objects are so continually with us, solliciting our Affections, and drawing us away from God; Oh! what need have the best of us to pray, Lord keep us from Evil! The Soul doth easily receive a taint from the Objects to which we are accustomed; therefore they which live in the World had need to take heed of a worldly Spirit. The continual Presence of the Object doth secretly intice the Heart; as long Suits prevail at length, and green Wood kindles by long lying in the Fire. Insensibly is the Heart drawn away from God, and you shall find less favour in Holy Things. 3dly. We had need to pray earnestly, Lord keep us from Evil, because we are in danger of that other Enemy, the Flesh. There is not only an Evil without us, as the Devil, and the World, but an Evil within us: An Evil Heart of Vnbelief, in departing from the Living God, Heb. 3. 12. An Evil Heart that is full of urgings and sollicitations to Sin. There are not only Snares and Temptations in the World, but there is a flexibleness in the Party tempted. Jam. 1. 14. Every Man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own Lust, and enticed, [non-Latin text not transcribed], of his own Lusts; the Fire burns in our own Hearts, Satan doth but blow up the Flame: there is bad Liquor in the Vessel, Satan doth but only give it vent, and set it abroach with violence: We carry sinning Natures about with us, therefore, Lord, Deliver us from Evil. The Evil of the World would do no more hurt than the Fire doth to a Stone, if we were not combustible Matter, The Corruption that is in the World through Lust, 2 Pet. 1. 4. The danger of living in the World doth not stand in this, because here are so many Inticements and Baits for every Sense, but it's the Corruption through Lust; as the Venom is not in the Flower, but Spider. The Philistines could not prevail against Sampson, if Dalilah, on whom he doted, had not lull'd him asleep. Or as Balaam first corrupted Israel, before he could curse them, or bring them any harm: So Corruption in the Heart makes us liable to Satan's Malice. There is a treacherous Party within to open the Door to Satan, without which all outward Force could not annoy us. Well then, we had need go to God: Lord, Deliver us from Evil. Where we beg, 1. That God would weaken the strength of inbred Corruption, that we may not be foiled by it. Paul groans sadly, Rom. 7. 24. O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death? It is a Question, but it implyeth a Wish, for the Hebrews propose their Wishes by way of Question, that is, O that I were delivered! It is a great Mercy to be kept from falling into Sin; Kept from every Evil Work, 2 Tim. 4. 18. 2. If we be foiled by our Corruption, we beg that we may not lie in it, nor grow weary of our Resistance, nor cast away our Weapons, and suffer Sin to have a quiet Reign. Psal. 119. 133. Let not any Iniquity have dominion over me. We cannot hope for a total exemption from Sin, but O Lord let it not reign over us. How shall we know when Sin reigns? When there is no course of Mortification set up against it, to break the Power, Force, and Tyranny of it. Take this Distinction: There are remaining, and reserved Corruptions, Sin remains where it doth not reign; but reserved Corruption that's reigning. I will explain it thus; Sin remains, when notwithstanding all our Endeavours, yet it still haunts and pesters us, tho praying, watching, striving, waiting, and depending upon God for Strength; but it is reserved, when you let it alone, and are loth to touch it, but rather cherish, dandle, and foster it in the Heart, and make provision for it. Therefore then are we delivered from Evil, when we recover by Repentance; and tho we suffer by the Tyranny of Sin, we will not let it alone to have a quiet reign in our Hearts: Do not live under the Power of Corruptions. Sin let alone will do us farther Mischief. Secondly, As we have reason to pray to God with earnestness, because of our Danger; so with Confidence, because of God's Undertaking, 2 Thes. 3. 3. The Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from Evil. God hath undertaken to keep those who with humble and broken Hearts do come to him to be kept from Evil; that are watchful, serious, and careful to get Evils redressed as soon as discerned; therefore we may come with an assured Confidence to be delivered from all Evil. How far hath God undertaken to keep his People from Evils and Dangers in this Life? I answer, 1. So far as may be hurtful to their Souls. 1 Cor. 10. 13. God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. It is part of God's Faithfulness to keep you from Evil, to proportion and temper Temptation to your Strength. God suits the Burden to every Back, he drives on as the little Ones are able to bear, therefore certainly he will mitigate Temptation, or give in supply of Strength. 2. God will keep you from the Evil of Sin, so far as it is deadly; that is, that it be not a Sin unto Death, 1 Iohn 5. 16. and that it may not reign in our mortal Bodies, for you are dead to it. Rom. 6. 14. For Sin shall not have Dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under Grace. 3. God undertakes for our Final Deliverance from all Evil, upon our translation to Heaven. This is included in this Prayer, that we may at length come to that State, where is no Sorrow, no Sin, no Assault and Temptation from Satan, that we may be kept from all Wickedness. Psal. 34. 19. Many are the Afflictions of the Righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. There is a time when God delivereth us from all at once, and that is by Death, and our Translation into Heaven. Well then, Let us fly to God for Deliverance, waiting for his Help. Doct. That to be kept from the Evil of Temptation, is a greater Mercy than to be kept from the Trouble of Temptation. Lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil: That is, If we be led into Temptation, let us be kept from the Evil of it. First, It's a more wonderful Providence to be kept from Evil than from Temptation; Esse bonum facile est, ubi quod vetat esse remo[illegible: 1 letter]um est. It is no great matter to be Chast or Honest, when there's no Temptation to the contrary; Ay, but to keep our Integrity in the midst of Assaults and Temptations, there's the wonder: If a Garrison be never assaulted, 'tis no wonder that it standeth exempt from the Calamity of War: This is like the Bush that was burned, yet not consumed; exercised with Temptation from Day to Day, and yet kept from Evil. And in this Sence God's Power is more glorified, than in keeping the Angels; for the Angels are out of Gun-shot, and Harms-way, and not liable to Temptations: But to preserve a poor weak Creature in the midst of Temptation, O! how is the Power of God made perfect in Weakness? 2 Cor. 12. 9. Perfected, that is, gloriously discovered. Secondly, The Evil of Sin is greater than the Evil of Affliction or Trouble. 1. The Evil of Sin is the greater Evil, because it separateth from God, Isa. 59. 2. 'Tis an Aversion from the Chiefest Good. Affliction doth not separate from God, 'tis a means to make us draw nigh to him. Poverty, Sickness, Blindness, Loss of Goods, let a Man be never so low and loathsom, yet if in a state of Grace, the Lord taketh pleasure in him, and he is near and dear to God; God kisseth him with the Kisses of his Mouth, nothing is loathsom to God but Sin. 2. Sin is Evil in it self, whether we feel it or no; Affliction is not Evil in it self, but in our Sense and Feeling, Heb. 12. 11. Sin is Evil, whether we feel it or no; 'Tis worse when we do not feel it. Past Feeling, Eph. 4. 19. when our Conscience is benummed. 3. Affliction, or Malum Poenae, is an Act of Divine Justice: but Malum Culpae, is an Act of Man's Corruptness. For the first, Affliction. Amos 6. 3. Is there any Evil, and the Lord hath not done it? But Sin is the Devil's work in us; 1 John 3. 8. He that committeth Sin, is of the Devil; for the Devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the Works of the Devil. And Joh. 8. 34. Whosoever committeth Sin, is the Servant of Sin. The one cometh from a just God, the other from our corrupt Hearts. The one is the Act of an Holy God, the other the Act of a sinful Creature. 4. The Death of Christ falls more directly upon this Benefit, exemption from Sin. Mat. 1. 21. He shall save his People from their Sins. Acts 3. 26. God having raised up his Son Iesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities; not Troubles, or Sorrows, but Sins. 5. Affliction is a more particular temporal Evil, but Sin is an infinite universal Evil; Sickness depriveth us of Health, Poverty of Wealth, &c. And every adverse Providence doth but oppose some particular temporal Good▪ But Sin depriveth us of God, who is the Fountain of our Comfort; the other but of some limited Comfort. 6. Afflictions are sent to remove Sin. Heb. 12. 11. Now no chastning for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness, unto them which are exercised thereby. Isa. 26. 9. When thy Iudgments are in the Earth, the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness. But Sin is not sent to remove Affliction. Now the End must be greater than the Means, both as to Prosecution and Aversation. As to Prosecution; To dig for Iron with Mattocks of Gold and Silver. So in Aversation; If Death were not worse than the Pain of Physick, no Man would take Physick to avoid Death. 7. Affliction is the Effect of God's Love. Heb. 12. 6. Whom the Lord loveth, he chastneth. But to be left to Sin, is an Effect of God's Anger. God doth not always exempt from Troubles; yet if he keep from Spiritual hurt thereby, if he sanctify the Trouble, support us with sufficient Grace, 2 Cor. 12. 9. if preserved from Evil, howsoever tempted and exercised, 'tis enough. Vse 1. To reprove our Folly. We complain of other Things, but we do not complain of Sin, which is the greatest Evil. This is contrary to the Spirit of God's Children, who rejoice in Troubles, but not in Sins; 2 Cor. 12. 9. Most gladly therefore will I rejoice in Infirmities, that the Power of Christ may rest upon me. They groan bitterly under Sins, Rom. 7. 23. O wretched Man, &c. If any Man had cause to complain of Afflictions, Paul had: In Perils often, Whipped, Persecuted, Stoned. But the Body of Sin and Death was the greatest Burden; Lusts troubled him more than Scourges; his Captivity to the Law of Sin, more than Prisons. When Affliction sitteth too close, Sin sits loose. In Affliction, there is some Offence done us; but in Sin, the wrong is done to God; And what are we to God? Afflictions may be good, but Sin is never good. The Body suffereth by Affliction, but the Soul suffereth by Sin, loss of Grace and Comfort, which are not to be valued by all the World's Enjoyments. The Evil of Affliction, is but for a moment, like Rain, it drieth up of its own accord: But the Evil of Sin is for ever, unless it be pardoned and taken away. Sin is the Cause of all the Evils of Affliction; therefore when we complain, we should complain, not so much of the Smart, as of the Cause of it. 2. It directeth us; (1.) How to pray to God, against Sin rather than Trouble. This is indeed to be delivered from Evil; 2 Tim. 4. 18. Paul reckoned upon that, He will deliver me from every evil Work. When afflicted, you should rather desire to have the Affliction sanctified, than removed; you will be most careful, for that Saints do not pray for the Interests of the Old Man, rather than the New Man. To be freed from Trouble, is a common Mercy; but to have it sanctified, is a special Mercy. Carnal Men may be without Affliction, but Carnal Men cannot have experience of Grace. Bare deliverance is no sign of special Love. (2.) In our choice: 'Twas an heavy Charge they put upon Iob; Job 36. 21. Thou hast chosen Iniquity rather than Affliction. Sometimes we are put upon the trial, To loose the Favour of God, or the Favour of Men, Duty and Danger: Here content my self, gratify my Lusts and Interests; there, offend God. Out of the Temptation, we could easily judg, that all the Misery in the World is to be endured, rather than commit the least Sin. But how is it upon a trial, when a Worldly Convenience, and a Spiritual Inconvenience is proposed? By chusing Sin, a Man cannot altogether escape Affliction, here, or hereafter. Wickedness, though it prosper a while, yet at length it proveth a Snare. 3. It directeth us to submit to God's Providence, and to own Mercy in it: Though God doth not exempt us from Troubles, yet if he keep us from Hurt thereby; if he sanctify the Trouble, and support us with Grace sufficient, 'tis his Mercy to us. For Daniel to be put into the Lion's Den, was not so great a Judgment, as for Nebuchadnezzar to have the Heart of a Beast. To be given up to our own Hearts Lusts, to commit any Sin, 'tis a greater Cross than any Misery that can light upon us; therefore let us be patient under Affliction. Our great Care should be, not to dishonour God in any Condition: God hath promised to be with his People in their Afflictions, to comfort them; but hath never promised to be with his People in their Sins; I will be with you in the Fire, and in the Water; as the Son of God was with the three Childr[illegible: 2 letters] in the fiery Furnace. But God is departed wh[illegible: 1 letter] they si[illegible: 1 letter]; I will go to my own place. Sin hindreth Prayer, but Afflictions quicken it. Isa. 26. 16. Lord, in Trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a Prayer when thy chastning was upon them. In Affliction, 'tis a time to put the Promises in suit; it doth not hinder our access to God, and the Throne of Grace, but driveth us to it. But Sin increaseth our Bondage, maketh us stand at a distance, and grow [illegible: 1 letter]hy of God. The Fruit of Sin, is Shame, Rom. [illegible: 1 letter]. 21. 4. It teaches us how to wait and hope for the issue of our Prayers. Pray that ye enter not into Temptation; yet be not absolute in that, but to be kept from Evil; that what way soever we are tried, we may be kept from the Evil of Sin. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever. Amen. IN these words we have the Conclusion of all, and that which giveth us confidence in the Requests we make to God. First, The Confirmation is taken from the Excellency of God to whom we pray; where there is a declaration of what belongeth to God. Secondly, The Duration and Perpetuity, for Ever. Three things are mentioned as belonging to God; Kingdom, Power, and Glory. 1. By Kingdom is meant, God's Right and Authority over all things, by which he can dispose of them according to his own pleasure. 2. By Power is meant, his Sufficiency to execute this Right, and to do what he pleaseth, both in Heaven and Earth. 3. The final cause of all, is his Glory: Thine is the Glory; or the Honour of all things in the World belongs to thee. Glory is Excellency discovered with praise. We desire that he may be more honoured and brought into request and esteem. Secondly, We have the Obsignation, and sealing of our Requests, in the word Amen; which is, Signaculum Fidei, an Expression of our Faith and Hope: And actus desiderii, the strength of our Desire. There is the Amen of Faith, and the Amen of hearty Desire; as by and by. Now let us look upon this Conclusion, first, as a Doxology, or expression of praise to God: And the Note is; Doct. That in every Address to God, lauding or praising of God is necessary. For in this perfect Form of Prayer, Christ teaches us, not only to ask things needful for our selves, but to ascribe to God things proper to him. There are two words used in this Case in Scripture, Praise and Blessing: Praise, relateth to God's Excellency; and Blessing, to his Benefits; Psalm 145. 10. All thy Works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy Saints shall bless thee. All the Works of God declare his Excellency; but the Saints will ever be ascribing to God, the Benefits they have received from him. So they are spoken of as Things, though somewhat alike, yet as distinct; Nehem. 9. 5. Blessed be thy glorious Name, which is exalted above all Blessing and Praise. Our Praise cannot reach the Excellency of his Nature; nor our Blessing, express the Worth of his Benefits. Both may be here intended. For thine is Kingdom and Power, relateth to his Excellency; and thine is the Glory, to his Benefits; for God's Glory is the Reflex of all his Works, and so expresseth the Benefits shewed to the Sons of Men, especially to his People. Well then, when-ever you would pray to God to bless you, you must bless God again, and praise his Name; Ephes. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places in Christ. 'Tis the Eccho and Reflex of his Grace and Mercy to the Creatures. God blesseth us, and we bless God; as the Eccho returneth the Word, or the Wall beateth back the Beams of the Sun. Only consider, We bless God far otherwise than he blesseth us: God's Blessing is operative, ours declarative; His words are accompanied with Power, Benedicere, is Benefacere. He doth good, we speak good, when we remember the blessed Effects of his Grace, and tell what he hath done for our Souls. The Reasons why we are to mingle Praises and Thanksgiving with our Requests, are these; 1. Because this complieth more with the great end of Worship; which is not so much the Relief of Man, as the Honour of God; therefore we should not only intend the supply of our Necessities, for that's but a brutish Cry, howling for Corn, Wine, and Oil, Hosea 7. 14. But we should intend also the Honour of God; Psal. 50. 23. Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me. A Man may offer Requests to God, yet not honour him, but seek himself; but he that offereth Praise, glorifieth me: He that doth affectionately, and from his Heart, give God the honour of his Attributes and Titles in Scripture, he glorifieth him; and therefore Worship being for the Glory [illegible: 1 word] God, that should not be left out. 2. This is the most effectual spiritual Oratory, or way of praying. Psal. 67. 5. Let the People praise thee, O God, Let all the People praise thee. What then? Then shall the Earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. We have Comforts increased, the more we praise God for what we have already received. The more Vapours go up, the more Showrs come down; as the Rivers receive, so they pour out, and all run into the Sea again. There is a constant circular Course and Recourse from the Sea, unto the Sea: So there is between God and us; the more we praise him, the more our Blessings come down; and the more his Blessings come down, the more we praise him again; so that we do not so much bless God, as bless our selves. When the Springs lie low, we pour a little Water into the Pump; not to inrich the Fountain, but to bring up more for our selves. 3. It's the noblest part of Worship, and most excellent and acceptable Service. It is a great honour to Creatures, to bestow blessing upon God. In other Duties, God is bestowing something on us; but in praise (according to our manner, and as Creatures can) we bestow something upon God. In Prayer, we come as Beggars, expecting an Alms: In Hearing, we come as Scholars and Disciples, expecting Instruction from God: Here (according to our Measure and Ability) we give something to him; not because he needs it, being infinitely perfect, but because he deserves it, being infinitely gracious. This is the Work of Angels and glorified Saints. Other Duties more agree with our imperfect State, as Hearing and Prayer, that our Wants may be supplied; but this Duty agrees with our State when we are most perfect. Love is the Grace of Heaven, and Praise the Duty of Heaven; we are for Vials, they Harps; Prayer is our main Work, and Praise theirs. Vse. To reprove us, that we are altogether for the supply of our Necessities, but little think of giving God the honour due to his Name. Either we meddle not with it at all, or do it in a very slighty fashion. In this perfect form, the Glory of God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending of this short Prayer; the first Petition, it is for God's Glory, and the final Conclusion also. And therefore it is verily a Fault, that God is no more praised. In our Addresses to him (Psal. 22. 3.) it's said, O thou that inhabitest the Praises of Israel; the meaning is, dwellest in Israel, where he is praised of them, because it is the great Work they are about. Surely our Assemblies should more resound with the Praises of God. In Church-Worship, there should be a mixture of Harps, which are Instruments of Praise, as well as Vials full of Odors, which are the Prayers of the Saints, Rev. 5. 8. But usually we thrust Gratulation, Thanksgiving, and Praise, into a narrow Room, and are scanty therein, but can be large and copious in expressing our Wants, and begging a Supply. This Duty is made too great a Stranger in your dealings with God. What are the Reasons of this Defect? 1. Self-Love. We are eager to have Blessings, but we forget to return, to give God the Glory: Prayer is a Work of Neeessity, but Praise a Work of Duty, and Homage. Self-Love puts us upon Prayer, but the Love of God upon Praise. Now because we are so full of Self-Love, therefore are we so backward to this Duty. 2. A second Cause is, our stupid Negligence; we do not gather up Matter of Thanksgiving, and observe God's gracious dealing with us, that we may have wherewith to inlarge our selves in giving Glory to his Name; Col. 4. 2. Continue in Prayer, and watch in the same with Thanksgiving. We should continually observe God's Answers and Visits of Love; and what Attributes he makes good to us in the course of his Providence. But out of Spiritual Laziness, we do not take notice of these things, therefore no wonder if we are backward to speak good of his Name, but are always whining, murmuring, and complaining. Secondly, it is not only a Doxology, but a full one, and very expressive of the Excellency of God. From whence note; Doct. The Saints are not niggardly and sparing in praising of God; Kingdom, Power, and Glory, and all that is excellent, they ascribe to him. A gracious Heart hath such a sense of God's Worth and Excellency, that he thinks he can never speak honourably enough of it. See how David inlargeth himself very sutably to what is spoken here, 1 Chron. 29. 10, 11, 12, 13. And David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God, for ever and ever: Thine, O Lord, is the Greatness, and the Power, and the Glory, and the Victory, and the Majesty: thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as Head above all. Now therefore, our God, We thank thee, and praise thy gloriou[illegible: 1 letter] Name. O, when once a Child of God, falls upon speaking of God, he cannot tell how to come out of the Meditation; he seeth so much is due to God, that he heaps words upon words. So, 1 Tim. 1. 17. Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only Wise God, be Honour and Glory, for ever and ever. Amen. And in many other places of Scripture. Now this copiousness in praising of God, is, partly, because of the excellency of the Object; Nehem. 9. 5. Blessed be thy glorious Name, which is exalted above all Blessing and Praise. When they have done what they can to bless God, remember his Benefits, or praise God, and recount his Excellencies, still they come too far short: Therefore when we cannot do all, we should do much. And partly, it is from the greatness and largeness of their Affection, they think never to have done enough for God, whom they love so much. David saith, I will praise him yet more and more. They cannot satisfy themselves, by taking up the Excellency of God in one Notion only; therefore Majesty, Greatness, Glory, Wisdom, and Power, they mention all things which are honourable and glorious. Vse. The Use is again, to reprove us for being so cold and sparing this way. It argueth a want of a due sense of God's Excellency, and straitness of Spiritual Affection. Therefore we should study God more, and observe his manifold Excellencies. Get a greater esteem of him in your Hearts; for out of the abundance of the Heart, the Mouth will speak. We should be calling upon our selves, as David, Psal. 103. 1. Bless the Lord, O my Soul; and all that is within me, bless his Holy Name. Thirdly, I observe again; It is brought in with a For, as relating to the foregoing Petitions; Lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil: For thine is the Kingdom, &c. What respect hath this Doxology to the foregoing Requests? First, It serves to increase our Confidence in Prayer. Secondly, Our Reverence and Affection. Thirdly, To regulate and direct our Prayers. 1. As to the Person to whom we pray. 2. As to the manner of asking. 3. As to the Persons praying. Let us see all these Requests. First, The Great End, is to increase our Confidence. Observe, Doct. It is a great relief to a Soul, in praying to God, to consider, that his is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory; and all these for ever. His is the Kingdom. God hath the Soveraign Government of all Things. And then his Right to govern, is backed with all-sufficient Power and Strength; and so he can dispose of his Soveraignty for the bringing to pass what we expect from him. [illegible: 1 letter] Authority is one thing, and Power another, but they both meet in God; He hath all Power and Authority. And then, His is the Glory: He is concerned as well as we; yea more, His Interest is greater than ours, for the Glory of all belongs to him. And all this, not for a Time, but for ever. These are the Encouragements to raise our Confidence, that our Prayers shall be heard, and granted, when we ask any thing according to his Will. [illegible: 1 letter]here are two things that give us Confidence in any that we sue to, if he be Able and Willing. Now God is able to grant our Requests, and very prone and willing also. We are taught it sufficiently in this Prayer; for we begin with him as Father, and we end with him as a glorious and powerful King: His fatherly Affection (on the one hand) shews, That he is willing; and his Royal Power (on the other) that he is able. So that if we ask any thing according to his Will, we need not doubt. We may gather his Power and Will out of this very Clause: His Power; for His is the Kingdom, and Power, or a Right and Authority, backed with absolute All-sufficiency. Then his Will, Thine is the Glory; It is his Glory to grant our Petitions, not only matter of Happiness to us, but of Glory to God, therefore we need not doubt. But more particularly: (1.) There is Confidence established by that, that his is the Kingdom. God's Kingdom is either Vniversal, over all Men or Things; or particular and special, which notes his Relation to the Saints, to those which have given up themselves to his Government, to be guided by him to everlasting Glory: and both these are grounds of Confidence. 1. His Vniversal Kingdom over all Persons and Things in the World. This Kingdom is an absolute Monarchy, with a plenary Dominion and Propriety grounded upon his Creation of them. There is a two-fold Dominion, Dominium Iurisdictionis, and Dominium Proprietatis: The one is such as a King hath over his Subjects; the other, such as a King hath in his Goods and Lands: The latter is greater than the former. A King hath a Dominion of Jurisdiction over his Subjects, to command and govern them; but he hath not such an absolute propriety in their Persons, as he hath in his own Goods and Lands; He may dispose of them absolutely at his own Pleasure, but his Jurisdiction is limited. In short, We must distinguish of his Dominion, as a Ruler, and as an Owner. But both these, they concur in God, and that in the highest degree, for God is Owner as well as Ruler; he made all Things out of Nothing, therefore hath a more absolute dominion over us, than any Potentate or King can have, not only over his Subjects, but his Goods; And can govern all Things, Men, Angels, and Devils, according to his Pleasure. It is more absolute, than any Superiority in the World, and more universal, as comprizing all Persons and Things; God hath right to be King, because he gave being to all things, which no Earthly P[illegible: 1 letter]tentate can. Therefore the Author must be owner; All other Kings are liable to be called to account and reckoning by this great King, for their Administration; but God is Absolute and Supream. Now this is a great incouragement to us, that we go to a God that hath an absolute Right, for which he is responsible to none. We go not to a Servant, or a subordinate Agent, who may be controul'd by a higher Power, and whose Act may be disanulled; but to an absolute Lord, to whom none can say, What dost thou? Job 9. 12. Here's the Comfort of a Believer, that he goes immediatly to the Fountain, and Owner of all Things; the Absolute Lord of all the World, is his Father; the soveraign and free disposing of all Things, is in his Hand. If we expect any thing from subordinate Instruments, God's leave must first be asked, or they can do nothing for us; but he can do what he pleaseth, 'tis his own; Mat. 20. 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? None can call him to an account. 2. His Relation to the Saints. It is the Duty of a King to defend his Subjects, and provide for their welfare: So God being King, will see, that it be well with those that are under his Government. It concerns you much to get an Interest to be under this King, then to mention it in Prayer: Psal. 44. 4. Thou art my King, O God, command deliverances for Jacob. If you want any thing for your selves, or the Church, put God in mind of his Relation to you, Thou are my King. Let not this Interest lie neglected or unpleaded. All the Benefit which Subjects can expect from a potent King, you may expect from God. Again, the word Command is notable, and expresseth the Case to the full; command Deliver ances; All Things are at God's Command and Beck; if he do but speak the word, or give out Order to second Causes, it is all done in a trice. So, Psal. 5. 2. Hearken unto the Voice of my Cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray, to thee, and to none other. Why should we go to Servants, when we may go to the King himself? So, Psal. 74 12. For God is my King of old, working Salvation in the midst of the Earth. God will defend his Kingdom, and right his injur'd Subjects. Therefore if we would have any Blessing to be accomplished for our selves, or for the Publick, let us go to God, Thine is the Kingdom. And more especially, if we would have any good thing to be done, by those in Authority, and subordinate Power over us, do not so much treat with them, as with God. Let us beseech God to perswade and incline their Hearts, for his is the Kingdom; he can move them to do what shall be for the glory of his Name, and the comfort and benefit of his afflicted People. Let us go to God, who is the sovereign King, he can give you to live a quiet and peaceable Life, in all Godliness and Honesty, 1 Tim. 2. 2. Or, he can give you Favour, dispose of their Hearts to do good to his People. Nehem. 1. 11. Prosper, I pray thee, thy Servant this day, and grant him Mercy in the sight of this Man. For I was the King's Cup-bearer. The soveraign disposal of all things, is in the Hand of God. (2.) Thine is the Power. This also is an Argument of Confidence, that God hath not only [illegible: 1 letter] Kingdom, but Power to back it. Titles without Power, make Authority ridiculous, and beget [illegible: 2 letters]orn, n[illegible: 1 letter]t Reverence and Respect. But now, [illegible: 1 word] Kingdom is accompanied with Power and [illegible: 1 span]. He hath right to command all, Kings no Creature can be too hard for him. Earth [illegible: 2 letters] [illegible: 1 word], when they have Authority and Power, [illegible: 1 word] it is limited. 2 Kings 6. 27. When the Wo [illegible: 1 letter]an came to the King of Israel; Help my Lord, O [illegible: 1 letter]ing. A[illegible: 1 letter]d he said, If the Lord do not help [illegible: 1 span] shall I help thee? [illegible: 1 letter]ut God's is an [illegible: 1 letter]nlimited Power▪ An absolute Right, and an [illegible: 1 letter]nlimited Power; they meet fitly in God; there [illegible: 1 letter]ore this is an encouragement to go to him. Christians, that Power of God which educed all things out of nothing, which established the Heavens, which fixed the Earth; that Power of God, it's the ground of our Confidence, Psal. 121. 2. My help cometh f[illegible: 1 letter]om the Lord, which made Heaven and Earth. This Power should we depend upon. We can ask nothing but what God is able to give, yea, above our asking. Eph. 3. 20. Now unto him that is able [illegible: 1 letter]o do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Our Thoughts are vast, and our Desires very craving, and yet beyond all that we can ask or think, According to the mighty Power that [illegible: 1 letter]ork[illegible: 1 letter]th in us. We cannot empty the Ocean with a Nutshel, nor comprehend the Infinite God, and raise our Thoughts to the vast extent of his Power, only we must go to some instances o[illegible: 1 letter] God's Power; that Power which made the World out of nothing, and that Power which wrought in you, where there is such infinite Resistance. We may go to God, and say, Mat. 8. 2. Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. You need not trouble your selves about his Will, he is so Good and Gracious, prone and ready to do good, so inclineable, he is your heavenly Father. But that which is most q[illegible: 1 letter]estioned▪ is the Sufficiency of God; can you believe his Power? Now determine but that, Lord thou canst, and that's a great relief to the Soul. Our Wants are not so many but God is able to supply them; our Enemies and Corruptions not so strong, but God is able to subdue them; surely your heavenly Father will do what is in the Power of his Hand. A Beggar when he seeth an ordinary Man coming, lets him pass without much Importunity; but when he seeth a Man well habited, well attended, and with rich Accoutrements, he runs close to him, and will not let him alone, but follows him with his Clamor, knows it is in his power to help him: So this should encourage us to go to the mighty God, which made Heaven and Earth, and all things out of nothing. The third Argument which Christ propounds; Thine is the Glory: The Honour and Glory of all will redound to God, as the Comfort accrueth to us; it is for God's Honour to shew forth his P[illegible: 1 letter]wer in our Relief, and to be as good as his Word. Now this is a ground of Con[illegible: 1 letter]idence, That he hath joyned his Glory and our Good tog[illegible: 1 letter]ther: And that God's Praise waiteth, while our d[illegible: 1 letter]liverance waiteth. Psal. 65. 1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion. You think your Comfort stays, and all this while God's Honour waits. So Psal. 112. 1. Praise ye the Lord; Blessed is the M[illegible: 1 letter]n that feareth the Lord. It is the Lord's praise t[illegible: 1 letter]at his Servants are the only and blessed People in the World. And this is a wonderful ground of Confidence. Think, surely God's Glory he will be chary and tender of, he will provide for the Glory of his great Name. There is nothing God stands upon more, than upon the Glory of his Name; nothing prevaileth with God more than that. If God were a loser by your Comforts; if he could not [illegible: 1 letter]ave or bless thee without wrong done to himself, we might be discouraged: But when you can come and plead with him, as Abigail, It will be no grief of Heart unto my Lord to forgive thy Servant: So, it will be no loss to God if he shew Mercy and Pity to such poor Creatures as we are; you then may pray more freely and boldly. If thy Comforts were inconsistent with his Glory, or were not so greatly exalted by it, then it were another matter; but all makes for the Glory of his Name. If our Good and Happiness were only concerned in it, there might be some Suspicion; but the Glory of God is concerned, which is more worth than all the World: We are unworthy to be heard and accepted, but God is worthy to be honoured. It is for the Honour of God, to choose base, mean, and contemptible Things, and to shew forth the Riches, Goodness, Power, and Treasure of his Glory. Much of our Trouble and Distrust comes only from reflecting upon our own Good in the Mercies that we ask, as if God were not concerned in them; whereas the Lord is concerned as well as you. As the Ivy wrapt about the Tree, cannot be hurt, except you do hurt to the Tree: So, the Lord hath twisted our Concernment about his own Honour and Glory. Thus the Saints plead God's Glory as an Argument, Jer. 14. 7. O Lord, tho our Iniquitie[illegible: 1 letter] testify against us, do thou it for thy Names sake. They do not tell him what he shall do, but do thou that which shall be for thy Glory. So, Ezek. 36. 22. Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O House of Israel, but for mine holy Names sake. So Isa. 48. 9. For my Names sake will I defer mine anger, and for my Praise will I refrain for thee; that I [illegible: 1 span] (4.) The Duration, For ever; all Excellencies which are in God, they are eternally in God. God is an infinite, simple, independent Being, the Cause of all things, but caused by none; therefore he was from Everlasting, and will be to Everlasting: Psal. 90. 2. Before the Mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World: even from everlasting, to everlasting, thou art God. If there were a time when God was not, then there was a time when nothing was; and then there would never have been any thing, unless nothing could make all things: therefore God is eternally glorious, for whatever is in God, is originally in himself, and absolutely without dependance on any other, to everlasting. How loosely do Honours sit upon Men? Every Disease shakes them out of their Kingdom, Power, and Glory; and within a little while the State, Show, and all the Command of Earthly Kings will fade away, and come to nothing. Governours and Government may dye, Principalities grow old and infirm, and sicken and dye, as well as Princes; Kingdoms expire, like Kings, and they like us. Psal. 82. 6, 7. I have said, ye are Gods, and all of you are Children of the most High: But ye shall dye like Men. But thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever. Psal. 45. 6. His Kingdom, and Power, and Glory, they are without beginning, and without end. Now this is also a ground of Confidence and Dependance upon God. Earthly Kings when they perish, their Favourites are counted Offenders. 1 Kings 1. 21. When my Lord the King shall sleep with his Fathers, that I and my Son Solomon shall be counted Offenders. When other Governours are set up, they and their Children will be found Offenders. But our King lives for ever, therefore this should encourage us to be oftner in attendance upon God, performing it with all Diligence and Seriousness, rather than court the Humours and Lusts of earthly Potentates, who die like one of the People, and leave us exposed to the rage and wrath of others that do succeed them: But God is the same that ever he was, to all those that ever called upon his Name. God is where he was at first; I AM, is his Name; there is no wrinkle upon the Brow of Eternity. His Arm is not short, that it cannot save; or his Ear heavy, that it cannot hear, Isa. 59. 1. Whatever he h[illegible: 1 letter]th been to his People that have called upon him in former Ages, he is the same still. So, Isa. 51. 9. Awake, awake, put on strength, O Arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days, in the Generations of old: Art thou not it that hath cut [illegible: 1 word], and wound[illegible: 1 letter]d the Dragon? God hath done great things for his People, he smote Rahab, and kill'd the Dragon (meaning Pha[illegible: 1 letter]aoh); and God is the same God still, his Kingdom, Power, and Glory are for ever; and God will be your God too for evermore. Look, as this doth encrease the terror of the damned in Hell, that they fall into the Hands of the living God, Heb. 10. 31. God lives for ever to see Vengeance executed upon his Enemies: so it is a Comfort to have an interest in the living God, that can and will keep you, and bring you to Heaven, where you shall be with him for evermore: that will ever live to see his Friends rewarded. Secondly, It directeth and regulateth our Prayers. 1. It directs us as to the Object of Prayer; to whom should we pray but to him that is absolute, and above controul? To God, and God alone, not to Angels and Saints. To whom should we go in our necessities, but to him that hath Dominion over all things, and Power to dispose of them for his own Glory? Will you think it a boldness to go immediately to God? It were so, indeed if we had not a Mediator: for a fallen Creature can never have the Impudence; and wicked Men that have not got an Interest in Christ, cannot expect Relief from God; but it is no Impudence to come with a Mediator. Heb. 4. 16. Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain Mercy, and find Grace to help in time of need. 2. It directs us how to conceive of God in Prayer; Right Thoughts of God in Prayer are very necessary, and very difficult: no one thing troubleth the Saints so much as this, how to fix their thoughts in the apprehensions of God, when they pray to him. Now here[illegible: 1 letter]s a direction how we should look upon God: Look upon him as the eternal Being, and first Cause, to whom belong Kingdom, Power, and Glory. We cannot see God's Essence, and therefore we must conceive of him according to his Praises in the Word. Now take but the Preface, and the Conclusion, and then you have a full Description of God. Look upon him as an Eternal Being, whose is the Kingdom, absolute Right to dispose of all things in the World, backed with All sufficiency and Strength: And look upon him as your Father that is in Heaven; for, Our Father which art in Heaven, relates to Christ, that is in the heavenly Sanctuary, appearing before God for us. This will help you in your Conceptions of God, that you may not be puzled nor intangled in Prayer. 3. It directs us, as to the Manner of praying; with Reverence, with Self-abhorrency, and with Submission. (1.) With Reverence: for he is a great, powerful and glorious King: Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory. O shall we serve God then in a slight and careless Fashion! Mal. 1. 8. If ye offer the Blind, the Lame and Sick for Sacrifice, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy Governour, will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy Person? saith the Lord of Hosts. Go to an Earthly King, would you come to him with rude Addresses, not thinking what to say, tumbling out Words without Sence and Understanding. And compare this with Vers. 14. saith God, when they brought him a sickly Offering, I am a great King; implying, it is a lessening of his Majesty. You do as it were dethrone God, you put him besides his Kingdom, you do not treat him as he doth deserve, if you do not come into his presence with a holy Trembling. (2.) With Self-abhorrency, and a Sense of your own Nothingness. I observe this, because all the Arguments in Prayer are not taken from us, but from what is in God, from his Attributes; Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory. It is a blessed thing to have God's Attributes on our side; to take an Argument from God, when we can take none from our selves. Christ teacheth us to come with Self-denial. The two first Words, Kingdom and Power, shew that all things come from God, as the first Cause; and the last Word, Thine is the Glory, shews all must be referred to God, as the last End: So that Self must be cast out. So that all the Reasons of Audience and Acceptance are without us, not from within us. Dan. 9. 8, 9. To us belongeth Confusion of Face; to the Lord our God belong Mercies and Forgivenesses. Therefore thus it directs us to place all our Confidence in God's fatherly Affection, in his Power, Goodness, and Glory, and in his absolute Authority; nothing to move God from our selves. (3.) To come with Submission. Thine is the Kingdom; that is, he hath an absolute Power to dispose of all Blessings, therefore it is lawful for him to do with his own as he pleaseth. We must come, not murmuring or prescribing to God, but expecting the fulfilling of our desires, as it shall seem good to the Lord, according to his Wisdom and Power, by which he exercises his Kingdom over all Things, as may be for the Glory of his Name. Psal. 115. 1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give Glory, for thy Mercy, and for thy Truths sake. Not to satisfy our Revenge, not to gratify our private Interest and Passions; but, Lord, for thy Name-sake, as may be for manifesting thy Mercy and Truth, so do it: Not too passionate for our own Ends, but confident that God, who hath the Kingdom and Government of the World in his own hands, will administer and carry on all Things for his own Glory. 4. It directs us again, what are the Duties of the Persons praying. (1.) Freely to resign up our selves to God's Service. Otherwise we mock God, when we acknowledge his Dominion over all the World, and we our selves will not be made subject to God. Therefore certainly a Man that useth this Prayer, Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory, will also say, I am thine, save me. Psal. 119. 94. Let us freely resign up our selves for him to reign over us. Can you say with any face to God, Thine is the Kingdom, yet cherish rebellious Lusts in your own Hearts? It's the most unsuitable thing that can be. Thine is the Power; He is able to bear you out in his Work, however the World rage. And therefore we should not think scorn of his Service, for his is the Glory: The Service of such a King will put honour upon you. (2.) Another Duty of him that is to pray, is to depend upon God's All-sufficiency. Shall we speak thus of God, and say, Lord, Thine is the Power, and yet not rely upon him? He that cannot rely upon him for this Life and the other, doth but reproach God, when he saith, Thine is the Power; Thine is the Power, yet I will not trust thee, but fly to base Shifts, as if the Creature had Power, and Man had Power, as if they could better provide for us then God. Therefore we are to live upon him, and cast our selves into the Arms of his All-sufficiency. (3.) Another Duty of them that would pray this Prayer, is, sincerely to aim at and seek the Lord's Glory in all things; Why? for the Glory is thine. Wilt thou say, Thine is the Glory, and yet give and take the Glory which is due to God, to thy sel[illegible: 1 letter]? All is due to him, from whom we have received all things. But he that prides himself in Gifts and Graces, cannot be in good earnest. Wilt thou rob God of the Honour, and wear it thy self? Did [illegible: 1 letter]en believe all Glory belongs to God, they would not take Vain-glory to themselves. Hero[illegible: 1 letter] was eloquent, and the People cried out, The Voice of a God, and not of a Man: He did but receive this Applause, and usurped the Glory due to God, and God blasted him. Therefore when we pride our selves in our Sufficiencies, and abuse our Comforts to our own Lusts, we cannot with a good Conscience say, Thine is the Glory. For[illegible: 2 letters]ver. Amen. ALL this is seal'd up to us in the last Word, [Amen.] Which may signify, either, so be it, so let it be, or so it shall be. The Word Amen, sometimes is taken Nominally, Rev. 3. 14. Thus saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the Creation of God. Sometimes it is taken Adverbially, and so it signifieth Verily, and Truly; and so either it may express a great Asseveration, or an affectionate Desire. Sometimes it expresseth a great and vehement Ass[illegible: 1 letter]veration, John 6. 47. Amen, Amen, Verily, Verily, I say unto you. In other places it is put for an affectionate Desire; Ier. 28. 6. When the false Prophets prophesied Peace, and Ieremiah pronounced War, Amen! the Lord do so, the Lord perform thy Words which thou hast prophesied. Amen, 'tis not an Asseveration, as confirming the Truth of their Prophecy, but expressing his own hearty wish and desire, if God saw it good. Two things are required in Prayer; a fervent Desire, and Faith. A fervent Desire; therefore it is said, James 5. 16. The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much. And then, Faith, James 1. 6. But let him ask in Faith, nothing wavering. What's that Faith required in Prayer? A Persuasion that those things we ask regularly according to God's Will, that God will grant them for Christ's Sake. Now both these Amen signifies: our hearty desire that it may be so; and our Faith (that is) our Acqu[illegible: 3 letters]scency in the Mercy and Power, and Wisdom of God concerning the Event. Christ would have us bind up this Prayer, and conclude it thus, Amen, so let it be, so it shall be. Observe hence, That it is good to conclude holy Exercises with some Vigour and Warmth. Natural Motion is swifter in the end and close: So should our spiritual Affections, as we draw to a conclusion, put forth the Efficacy of Faith and holy Desires, and recollect as it were all the foregoing Affections; that we may go out of the Presence of God with a sweet Savour and Relish, and a renewed Confidence in his Mercy and Power. Again, This Amen relateth to all the foregoing Petitions, not to one only. Many when they hear, Lord, Give us this day our daily Bread, will say Amen; but when they come to the Petition, Thy Will [illegible: 1 letter]e done on Earth, as it is in Heaven, they are cold there, and have not hearty Desires and earnest Affections. Many beg pardon of Sin; but to be kept from Evil, to bridle and restrain their Souls from Sin, they do not say Amen to that. Many would have Defence, Maintenance, and Vi[illegible: 1 letter]tory over their Enemies; but not with respect to God's Glory: They forget that Petition, Hallowed be thy Name, but this should be subordinated to his Glory. Nay we must say Amen to all the Clauses of this Prayer. Many say, Lord, Forgive us our Debts, but do not like that, as we forgive our Debtors; they are loth to forgive their Enemies, but carry a rancorous Mind to them which have done them wrong. But now we must say Amen to all that is specified in this Prayer. Then, Mark, This Amen it is put in the close of the Doxology. Observe hence, There must be a hearty Amen to our Praises, as well as our Prayers; that we may shew zeal for God's Glory, as well as Affection to our Profit. Your Allelujahs should sound as loud as your Supplications, and not only say Amen when you come with Prayers and Requests, things you stand in need of; but Amen, when you are praising of God. FINIS.