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<DATE>2012-06-11</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P>A TREATISE OF PRAYER.</P>
<P>Two <HI>Quaeries</HI> re&s;olved touching formes of Prayer. And Six <HI>Quaeries</HI> relating &s;pecially to the LORDS PRAYER.</P>
<P>That the Reader may have full Re&s;olution, &s;pe|cially to the fourth of the&s;e <HI>Queries,</HI> relating to the Lords Prayer, he &s;hall finde in the end of this Trea|ti&s;e, That Holy and Learned Mans judgement, D^r <HI>Owen,</HI> as to that matter in his An&s;wer to Mr <HI>Biddles</HI> &s;econd que&s;tion of Prayer <HI>Pag.</HI> 667, 668, 669.</P>
<Q><P><HI>They who aske not for the Spirit, that they may pray in the Spirit, are <GAP DESC="foreign">, Brutes and Mutes.</HI> <BIBL>Chry:</BIBL></P>
<P><HI>A Malefactor expecting his &s;entence to death, needs not man or booke to prompt him how to plead for his life. He that can reade him&s;elfe Ca&s;t and condemned by &s;inne, needs not a booke to prompt him how to plead his pardon.</HI> <BIBL>Pari&s;: of Divine Rhetor: Compare with this <HI>Jer:</HI> 3. 13. and <HI>Rom:</HI> 10. 9, 10.</BIBL></P>
<P><HI>The Lords Prayer is the mould, wherein all the Churches prayers are ca&s;t, moulded and formed:</HI> <BIBL>Bez: Luk. 11. 2.</BIBL></P>
<P><HI>See to it, that God be as well plea&s;ed with thee calling Him Father, as thou art well plea&s;ed to call Him Father.</HI> <BIBL>Cyp: Sermon the &s;ixt upon the Lords prayer: <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</BIBL></P>
<P><HI>Thou &s;halt call me My father, and &s;halt not turne away from Me,</HI> <BIBL>Jer: 3. 19.</BIBL> [that is, I will put filiall affections, awfull thoughts, con&s;tant re&s;olutions into thy heart, and <HI>thou &s;halt not turne away from Me</HI>].</P></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>M. S.</HI> for <HI>Henry Cripps</HI> in <HI>Popes-head-Alley,</HI> 1656.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>THE FOURTH TREATISE OF PRAYER.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Two <HI>Queries</HI> touching formes of Prayer, and &s;ix relating to the Lords Prayer. I. Whether a wicked man may &s;ay that prayer? II. Whe|ther our Lord gave His Di&s;ciples this pray|er, that they &s;hould pray to His Father in tho&s;e very words? III. Whether a Godly man takes it into his Clo&s;et? IV. Whether it be comely for a Godly Mini&s;ter to take it into his pulpit? V. Whether <HI>John</HI> taught his Di&s;|ciples to pray, by giving them <HI>formes</HI> of pray|er to &s;ay? VI. Whether a Godly parent can teach his childe to pray, by giving him any forme of prayer? And in &s;peciall, by teaching his childe to &s;ay the Lords Prayer?</P>
<P>The Negative in all the&s;e is under our Maintenance.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. I.</HEAD>
<P>_WEE &s;hall not enter into the Common place of prayer, it is not a place to &s;ay much of it; and to &s;ay little is to &s;ay little more than nothing at all. It is, being mounted on the wheele of Faith, the great Engine of the world, and wheeles all about there; it is an <HI>Appeale to God</HI> in the Name and Mediation of Chri&s;t; A committing the cau&s;e and Condition of
<PB N="2" REF="3"> His Church, and of His Truth, the concernements thereof in Generall, His owne in &s;peciall, to Him, and &s;o takeing fa&s;t hold of the Allmightie, the All&s;ufficient God in Chri&s;t, it hath an <HI>Omnipotency</HI> in it, and can doe what God Him&s;elfe is plea&s;ed to doe, <HI>all things,</HI> that &s;tand with His good will and plea&s;ure for the &s;upport and &s;upply of His Church, every faithfull &s;oule there: And the carying on of His <HI>Truth,</HI> whereby <HI>immortality and light is brought to light in the &s;oule.</HI> In a word, It is the breathing-in and-out of the Spirit of God and of Glory; It is that which fet|cheth-in all from God through the hand of Chri&s;t by the Spirit; And the Returne of All to God the fir&s;t &s;pring and fountaine of all by the &s;ame way of Conveyance: For he or &s;he, that Remem|bers they have all from God, cannot forget to Returne all to Him. The Di&s;ciple hath all by askeing, and it is but aske and have, the &s;ame he asketh, or that which is better; he writeth up|onall he hath, <HI>Asked of God, The Gift of God;</HI> His Lord and Ma|&s;ter<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al 2. Math. 26.</NOTE> had nothing but by askeing, <HI>Aske of Me,</HI> and <HI>I will give thee.</HI> And that He, the Mediator of His Church, giveth-out unto His people at this pre&s;ent, He asketh His Father fir&s;t. Surely the Saint mu&s;t aske in Faith, if he will receive in mercy; for &s;o he ask|eth His Lords leave, and acknowledgeth Him to be Lord of the <HI>Mannour</HI> of <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> and <HI>Earth.</HI> To &s;hutt up this, and to pro|ceed to what we cheifly intend in this place; Prayers are the Em|ba&s;&s;adours of the poo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> empty &s;oule, to God for &s;upply from the aboundant Riches of His grace: We &s;ay a poore empty Spirit, for that is full of prayer, and much &s;upplication <HI>The poore man</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 18. 23.</NOTE> <HI>&s;peakes &s;upplications,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 words"> intreaties, that is his Character and his Dialect. But <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 words"> is no &s;en&s;e of povertie, there is no prayer, for there is a <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> temper, Rich enough and wanting</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 3.</NOTE> <HI>nothing;</HI> That per&s;on prayeth not, or not to purpo&s;e, it is but a Cu&s;tome onely and a forme.</P>
<P>Now we crave leave to put two Que&s;tions, and humbly to give our per&s;wa&s;ion in way of An&s;wer unto both.</P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. I.</HEAD>
<P>1. WHether per&s;ons full of them&s;elves, as we are all by na|ture, wholy emptie and &s;wept of all Goodne&s;&s;e, and garni&s;hed with noy&s;ome lu&s;ts, the furniture and rich garni&s;h of<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 12. 44.</NOTE>
<PB N="3" REF="3"> the uncleane Spirits hou&s;e, whether the&s;e are like to helpe them|&s;elves by u&s;eing &s;ett formes of Prayer?</P>
<P>2. Whether <HI>Babes</HI> in Chri&s;t, newly converted ones, renewed in the <HI>Spirit of their mindes,</HI> have need of <HI>formes,</HI> tho&s;e crutches and helpes of devotion, when they are addre&s;&s;ing them&s;elves un|to their God?</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> <Q><HI>The fir&s;t;</HI> Whether unrea&s;onable and wicked men, as all are, that have not faith, can helpe them&s;elves in this their condition by u&s;eing &s;ett formes of prayer?</Q></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> To this we humbly give our opinion, That they cannot helpe them&s;elves at all, but the more they u&s;e them, the more they are di&s;advantaged by them, the more indi&s;po&s;ed to, and putt fur|ther off from the power of Godline&s;&s;e. For</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The rea&s;on of this we take from the Philo&s;ophers knowne rule, which indeed we thinke falls-in with common Ex|perience, <Q>That <HI>habits,</HI> whether in good things or in evill, are acquired and improved both by continuall exerci&s;e.</Q> The&s;e things, which we learne <HI>for</HI> practi&s;e, we learne <HI>by</HI> practi&s;e, as &s;aith learned D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>Wilkins.</HI> Now for any one to habituate or accu&s;tome him&s;elfe to formes of prayer, that is, to prayers made or written by another, and &s;aid by him&s;elfe, &s;hall find him&s;elfe as unable, and as hard a matter to come off from them (yet off he mu&s;t come i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> ever he looke to find acceptance with his God) as it is with an <HI>Ethiopian</HI> to change his skin, or the Leopard his &s;pots. O! we are much taken with and hardly taken off from <HI>formes of prayer,</HI> we have been accu&s;tomed to from our youth up, and never found the&s;e did the fle&s;h any hurt, putting <HI>it to Co&s;t;</HI> as the&s;e never did the &s;pirit or <HI>hid-man</HI> of the heart any good. So then the&s;e formes of prayer we come with before God, doe more indi&s;po&s;e us to God, and e&s;trange us from Him: And it is not good to accu&s;tome our &s;elves to that, we mu&s;t leave at la&s;t, and come off from, if ever good be wrought in us or by us.</P>
<P>Secondly, Becau&s;e we may &s;ay of the&s;e formes of prayer, as is &s;aid of the wicked them&s;elves, the&s;e are <HI>&s;en&s;uall not having the</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jude 19.</NOTE> <HI>Spirit:</HI> though we may &s;uppo&s;e them very exactly compo&s;ed; and by the mo&s;t accompli&s;hed Men, we meane, by Holy men, <HI>having the Spirit.</HI> For though they might <HI>pray in prayer, wrought</HI> by the Spirit for that very thing; Yet being written before their
<PB N="4" REF="4"> eyes, and prayed by the booke <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> or <HI>invi&s;ible,</HI> we meane the <HI>memory,</HI> there is no more &s;pirit and life therein, than there is in a dead letter. Indeed we may call the&s;e prayers <HI>fle&s;h,</HI> being writ|ten with inke <HI>which profiteth nothing,</HI> it is the <HI>Spirit that quick|neth;</HI> And thereby, that is by the <HI>Spirit of God,</HI> His people call <HI>Him Father,</HI> and <HI>Je&s;us their Lord.</HI> But praying without the <HI>Spi|rit,</HI> and wholy carele&s;&s;e to aske after the <HI>Spirit,</HI> calling for it in prayer, we are never more likely than at &s;uch a time, and when we are upon that &s;olemne worke, never more likely than then to call <HI>Chri&s;t accur&s;ed.</HI> Could we &s;ay, <HI>Abraham's, I&s;aac's, Jacob's</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Cor. 12. 3.</NOTE> prayers, with <HI>Paul's</HI> prayers, &amp;c. And have not that Spirit, by which they prayed, our prayers would become as we beleeve, in the eares of our God, but as <HI>&s;ounding bra&s;&s;e or a tinkling Cym|ball.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, We may Con&s;ider this. All that God giveth to us, or workes for us, He doth all by the Hand of His Spirit: So al&s;o, All that His people give backe againe to Him, or worke for Him, They doe it by the &s;peciall helpe of the Spirit too; Therefore it is they &s;ee &s;o much need of the Spirit, and call &s;o earne&s;tly for a &s;up|plie from the &s;ame.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 1. But it may be &s;aid, how &s;hall &s;en&s;uall men, not ha|ving the Spirit call for the Spirit; unle&s;&s;e as they are taught to doe it in other's words?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> This is a le&s;&s;on can never be taught by man, not by all or any prayers &s;ugge&s;ted to us by Man; That every one of us by Nature is the Devill's hou&s;e emptied and &s;wept of all Goodne&s;&s;e, brim-full of all filthine&s;&s;e, adorned and garni&s;hed with noi&s;ome lu&s;ts, the ornament and garni&s;h of that hou&s;e the Devill calls his owne; this we thinke no man que&s;tioneth. Now if all this were debated upon and &s;et downe prayer-wi&s;e, according to the ex|acte&s;t forme, It could not accompli&s;h the thing: what is it to &s;ay in another's <HI>words, I am a &s;inner,</HI> or <HI>I have &s;inned,</HI> though, &s;aying<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 5. 20.</NOTE> &s;o much, he had &s;aid all, if his heart had &s;aid it, and not another for him, <HI>freely, feelingly, &s;incerely</HI> and <HI>beleivingly:</HI> So then one word &s;poken in de&s;ire and endeavour from the heart, as afore&s;aid, hath more virtue and efficacy in it, than a thou&s;and words &s;ug|ge&s;ted to us by the eyes or memory onely. Certainly we mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e &s;inne in our owne words, our Confe&s;&s;ion will not be ac|cepted
<PB N="5" REF="4"> el&s;e; as we mu&s;t for&s;ake &s;in in our workes; they, that con|fe&s;&s;e and for&s;ake &s;in, are the &s;ame.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 2. But is there not a double u&s;e of the&s;e &s;et formes of prayer? fir&s;t, for directing of our de&s;ires? &s;econdly, for execite|ing our affections?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> We humbly conceive there is not a &s;ingle u&s;e of them; not fir&s;t for the directing our de&s;ires. The&s;e are all inward and are moved by a principle within, never &s;tirred to move after God, Chri&s;t, Grace, Glory, till there be &s;ome inward &s;en&s;e, or feeling of the want, and nece&s;&s;itie of haveing God in Chri&s;t, and all the needs of the &s;oule &s;upplyed by Him. <HI>Sen&s;e of want is the Giving of De&s;ire.</HI> Now we cannot &s;ee how this inward &s;en&s;e can be wrought in the Soule, by a forme of words lying before us, any more than painted bread can &s;tirre-up de&s;ire, or &s;atisfie de&s;ire be|ing &s;tirred-up. As no outward thing can inwardly defile, for all reall and truely called defilement is within and from within, el&s;e the Devill him&s;elfe could not defile us; &s;o no outward thing can inwardly purifie; and then, not purifying, it can give but poore directions, to our de&s;ires. Secondly, Nor are they of u&s;e, (as we conceive) for the exciteing our affections: The&s;e are warme and hott and doe heate and warme, but &s;till by &s;ome workings from within fir&s;t. Affection is like fire, it is hot it &s;elfe fir&s;t, before it heate others; We mu&s;t be affected before we can affect. Now we cannot &s;ee how a dead powerle&s;&s;e forme (which as one hath it, nouri&s;heth the <HI>hid-man of the heart,</HI> no more than <HI>&s;tock-fi&s;h</HI> nou|ri&s;heth the bodie, and that gives no more nouri&s;hment, &s;aith <HI>E|ra&s;mus,</HI> than a &s;tone does) can excite affections, unle&s;&s;e to it &s;elfe, becau&s;e &s;o exceeding plea&s;ing to fle&s;h and blood, never cro&s;&s;ing in the lea&s;t the De&s;ires of the &s;ame.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 3. But is not this to take the generalitie of men quite off from praying?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> No: to our &s;eeming it putts them on upon prayer, to pray that they may be enabled to pray in a deepe &s;en&s;e of &s;inne, and the need they have of the blood of Chri&s;t to purifie their hearts, and pacifie their Con&s;ciences; all which they are to pray for.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 4. But pray they cannot, unle&s;&s;e they pray by the booke, vi&s;ible or invi&s;ible.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="5">
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> To this we &s;ay, That to our &s;eeming if they doe pray by the booke, they doe not pray at all in Gods account. And truely tho&s;e men are b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lder with God than they dur&s;t be with men; had they offended a great Lord, they mu&s;t acknowledge the offence with their owne mouthes, and not another for them, and have righted their offended Lord, if he would have it &s;o, with their owne hands; and glad with all their hearts, that the offended Lord would be &s;o accorded; But we are bold with God though who made us &s;o, but our owne &s;hamele&s;&s;e impudent Spi|rits? We can offend God &s;inning again&s;t Him, and confe&s;&s;e it by a <HI>proxi,</HI> in his words who did not give the offence. We &s;in with our owne mouthes, and will confe&s;&s;e with anothers mouth: may not the Lord &s;ay, <HI>offer this to your Governour, &s;ee whether he will</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mal: 1. 18.</NOTE> <HI>accept of your Per&s;on?</HI></P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 5. But this will be &s;aid &s;till, if they may not pray by the booke they cannot pray at all &s;o the Lord God &s;hall have no &s;ervice from them at all?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> Indeed the Lord God, to Whome all we are, and have, and can, is due, hath no &s;ervice, none at all from a wicked man, his <HI>lu&s;ts</HI> are deepe &s;harers here, for they have all; as once &s;o they &s;ay &s;till, <HI>It is in vaine to &s;erve the Lord.</HI> But all the Di&s;&s;ervice<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mal. 3. 14.</NOTE> they can doe, they doe unto the Lord, even all they can again&s;t Him, becau&s;e they know Him not; for this is a Ruled Ca&s;e, or a knowne Conclu&s;ion; <Q>The more we know of God, the more we honour Him, and our &s;elves the le&s;&s;e; And the le&s;&s;e we know of God, the le&s;&s;e we honour Him, and our &s;elves the more; As God ri&s;eth in our thoughts, &s;o we fall, and as we ri&s;e in our owne thoughts, &s;o God falls.</Q> We would adde this, That the hardne&s;&s;e of our hearts appeares in nothing more than in the&s;e &s;tout words, <HI>We cannot pray, our Spirits are &s;o barren;</HI> The&s;e are &s;tout words indeed, and argue the &s;toute&s;t heart, and much pride of Spirit, as u&s;ually &s;poken by proud Men; It is as if &s;o be a man &s;hould &s;ay; <HI>I &s;inne and I will &s;inne: But I will not &s;ay unto God I have &s;inned, what &s;hall I doe?</HI> If He will take my Confe&s;&s;ion from another's-mouth, let Him take it; I will not confe&s;&s;e my &s;elfe a &s;inner, with my owne Mouth; nor will I aske Him pardon. The&s;e are as &s;tout words, to our &s;eeming, as can be &s;poken; upon the Readers thoughts we leave them. When we have added this
<PB N="7" REF="5"> more; As we are Creatures, and have our dependance upon God, every moment we are obliged to pray unto Him: As &s;infull Crea|tures, &s;uch as &s;in and Satan can make us, we are obliged to con|fe&s;&s;e unto Him with our own Mouths. We would an&s;wer a Que|&s;tion one or two more before we give Re&s;olution to the other Ca&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 6. <Q>But would not praemeditated formes prevent many rude, Crude or indige&s;ted expre&s;&s;ions?</Q></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> Yes &s;ure, with tho&s;e, that know not in the world how to pray without them; <HI>If &s;en&s;uall men not having the Spirit,</HI> wholy carried by &s;en&s;e, and minding nothing above the place their foote treades on, if the&s;e &s;hould pray without the booke, po&s;&s;ibly, as their parts might be, low and meane, they would u&s;e &s;trange and uncouth expre&s;&s;ions. But they, who &s;et them&s;elves before their God, and expect the &s;upplies of His Spirit from Him, looking upon their owne &s;trength as rottenne&s;&s;e, to be re&s;ted on; knowing they cannot thinke a good thought, as of them&s;elves, and would not for a world utter ra&s;h words in His pre&s;ence; &s;urely they &s;hall finde the a&s;&s;i&s;tance they looke for, and &s;uch a &s;upplie as &s;hall be be&s;t for them; And if they ri&s;e not from their knees more comforted, They &s;hall be more humbled, which is as good; for a groane from the heart is as good as a teare from the<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Spirit of adoption may be in a groane as well as in a prayer. <HI>Mr. Ford. &s;p. Ador. 480.</HI></NOTE> eye; And they &s;hall be kept from &s;peaking that in prayer, which is unbecomeing their God to heare; or the Asking of that, which is unbe&s;eeming their God to grant. But we would add this, which we thinke more properly relates to the Re&s;olution of this Que|&s;tion. A wicked mans prayer, we meane him, who is re&s;olved to goe-on in his wickedne&s;&s;e, comes from his nece&s;&s;ities, feare and dread being before him, trouble and angui&s;h upon him, perhaps and terrour within him, looking upon death now not at a di|&s;tance, but as the <HI>King of terrours, requiring his &s;oule of him, and killing him with death:</HI> his prayer now, as we were &s;aying, comes from his nece&s;&s;ities, not from his heart, therefore &s;hall not come <HI>neare Gods heart</HI> (to &s;peake after the manner of men) And then it is all one whether he pray by the book, or by his owne Spirit, the one as the other hath the &s;ame acceptance with God. <HI>Deare children, followers of God</HI> alwayes, are alwayes heard, though they doe but <HI>chatter like a Crane.</HI> And children of <HI>Belial,</HI> who never
<PB N="8" REF="6"> heard God &s;peaking unto them in His Word, are not heard of God, for He heareth not &s;uch &s;inners, who wallow in their &s;inne as doth a &s;wine in the myre, and returne unto it as doth a dog to his vomit. Whether then their expre&s;&s;ions are exact, and as well compo&s;ed as words in print can be: or rude, indige&s;ted or incom|po&s;ed, it is much the &s;ame, and comes to as much as nothing. Such a wicked-mans praying is but tatling, and babling; or to &s;peake as the holy Scripture doth, It is as the <HI>roaring of Beares,</HI> or <HI>howling of Doggs,</HI> I&s;a. 59. 11. Ho&s;. 7. 14.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t:</HI> 7. Moreover, It is &s;aid, doe not they, who dare not bring praemeditated formes before their God, ru&s;h upon dutie, without u&s;eing the Common meanes of fitting them&s;elves, and &s;o tempt God?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> To this we &s;ay, that to expect any thing from God, without u&s;eing the meanes allowed by God, as helpes that way, were to tempt God and provoke Him to His face; Therefore doubtle&s;&s;e it is the wicked man that ru&s;hes upon Dutie, not be|thinking him&s;elfe before-hand unto what a glorious pre&s;ence he is come, and what is the worke he is to engage upon, and what the danger is of mi&s;carrying; He that thinkes of none of all this, he Ru&s;heth upon Dutie; And indeed what needs the meditation of what I am to &s;peake unto God, when it is &s;ugge&s;ted unto me? I can reade it with mine eyes, and &s;ee my &s;elfe &s;peake? But that man, that prayeth in the Spirit, though he doth make a totall re|&s;ignation of him&s;elfe unto the hands of the Spirit, expecting His immediate &s;ugge&s;tions, Yet &s;o as he hath omitted no meanes be|fore to fit and prepare for that high &s;ervice; as thoughts of him|&s;elfe and his nothingne&s;s; of the glorious Name of God, and all his expectations, therein and from the &s;ame: The&s;e things toge|ther with the word of God, he gives him&s;elfe to, meditates upon, and is <HI>wholy in it,</HI> and is &s;o as the &s;ea&s;on fitts, he addre&s;&s;eth him|&s;elfe before his God: He knowes, That, that glorious promi&s;e, <HI>Math: 10. 19. Take no thought how or what ye &s;hall &s;peake, for it &s;hall be given you in the &s;ame houre;</HI> relateth to extraordinary &s;er|vices, when God calls forth unto them, that then they may expect extraordinarie a&s;&s;i&s;tance. But when he may u&s;e Common and or|dinarie means of Gods appointment to prepare him for this pray|ing worke, and &s;hould be negligent in the u&s;e thereof, which
<PB N="9" REF="6"> through grace he cannot br, then it were a great pre&s;umption to depend upon extraordinary helpe; So now before we come to give &s;ome re&s;olution to the Second <HI>Querie,</HI> we would in the clo&s;e of this, give-in &s;ome Coun&s;ell, which we hope &s;hall be well agree|ing with the word of God, to them, who being <HI>&s;en&s;uall not ha|ving the Spirit,</HI> mu&s;t needs be wholy unacquainted, with the <HI>Lord</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> who is the <HI>way,</HI> the <HI>Truth,</HI> and the <HI>life,</HI> and yet hap|ly, they pray to God, and prai&s;e Him, as ordinarily as they ri&s;e|up from their Beds, and Tables; lye downe upon the one, and &s;it at the other. This is the Coun&s;ell we would give, That they would cea&s;e from their <HI>formes</HI> of praying, or from praying by a <HI>forme,</HI> which differs as much from <HI>praying in the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> as doth the <HI>Sunne</HI> in the <HI>firmament,</HI> from the <HI>Sunne</HI> painted on a &s;igne-po&s;t: And apply them&s;elves to <HI>hearing the Word,</HI> whereby faith cometh-in to the &s;oule; &s;o may they, by the ble&s;&s;ing of God, attaine to the knowledge of Him, to whom they are praying; and of Him in who&s;e Name they mu&s;t pray, and find <HI>acce&s;&s;e unto the Father;</HI> of Him al&s;o through who&s;e <HI>interce&s;&s;ion</HI> within us the prayer is formed (<HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 26.) and &s;o finds acceptance, by the <HI>Mediation</HI> of that <HI>Advocate</HI> with-out us, at the right hand of the Father, being as <HI>&s;weet Odours</HI> now, all that from the fle&s;h adhe|ring to them, being &s;eperated from them. Hereby al&s;o, we meane by <HI>diligent hearing the Word preached,</HI> they may attaine to a knowledge of them&s;elves, what <HI>lo&s;t-ones</HI> they are in them&s;elves, and that they mu&s;t be <HI>puni&s;hed with everla&s;ting de&s;truction from the pre&s;ence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power,</HI> if they <HI>know not God, and obey not the Go&s;pel of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and <HI>be found in Him;</HI> which may put them upon praying that they may profit by hearing. Indeed we would take off the&s;e <HI>&s;en&s;uall per&s;ons, not having the Spirit from praying by the booke;</HI> and <HI>Read|ing the Holy Scriptures,</HI> as they read them; and apply them&s;elves to the <HI>hearing Gods Word in &s;ea&s;on and out of &s;ea&s;on,</HI> and attend upon the moovings of the Holy Spirit, upon the Word preached, which is the Chariot of the Spirit, therewith (for &s;o it is appoin|ted of God) the good Spirit comes into the heart, as the Sunne into the hou&s;e; workes Faith there, and makes us light in the Lord: &s;o as now we can &s;ee clearely how to pray, and how to read, and &s;et our &s;eale to it; whereas before we did not pray, nor
<PB N="10" REF="7"> did <HI>read the booke, neither did we looke thereon</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Revel. 5. 4. See <HI>Bright.</HI></NOTE>. We &s;ay it againe, this is the Coun&s;ell, which hath been given to us, and, through mercy, we have received it, and therefore we would give it to o|thers, who may be (as we were when time was) as much ver&s;ed in reading the Holy Scriptures, as they are in praying, and all this while, as we did, &s;lighting the place appointed for Hearing, and de&s;pi&s;ing the Word preached there. Thus then, as we were &s;ay|ing, we would advi&s;e them to <HI>frequent Sermons,</HI> and give all Dili|gence to <HI>profit</HI> thereby, we meane, to get faith by hearing, that therewith they may <HI>mixe</HI> that they heare, and make it profitable unto them. For if we enquire at the <HI>Holy Oracle,</HI> we beleeve it will re&s;olve us, as to <HI>Reading</HI> the Holy Scriptures before we have profited by <HI>Hearing,</HI> That the word of God preached, which is called, we thinke, <HI>The &s;word of the Spirit,</HI> is as different from the <HI>Word</HI> read in our hou&s;e, as is a &s;word in the hand of a Mighty man, different, in point of working, or making execution upon our lu&s;ts, from the &s;word lifted-up in <HI>Georges</HI> hand upon a &s;igne-po&s;t. Give we then all Diligence in Hearing, that we may read and pray at home with under&s;tanding. This is our Coun&s;ell, and this our Conclu&s;ion, That, who&s;oever rejecteth it, <HI>multiplies Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ions,</HI> as he multiplies prayers, and prai&s;es. Nor can he think, and &s;hew him&s;elfe a man, That he &s;hall <HI>be taught of the Father,</HI> who <HI>heareth not His Word:</HI> or that Chri&s;t appeares in the pre|&s;ence of God for him in heaven; when he vi&s;ibly and apparently appeares again&s;t Him on earth, turning His Word behind his back, and &s;etting his heart again&s;t it. We proceed to the &s;econd <HI>Querie.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. II.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Q:</HI> II. <Q>WHether Babes in Chri&s;t, newly converted ones, renewed in the &s;pirit of their mindes, have need of formes, tho&s;e commonly called crutches and helpes of Devotion when they appeare before their God?</Q></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> We humbly conceive, no: If they that were Lame be|fore cannot now <HI>leape like an Hart,</HI> yet they can goe to God without a Crutch. And this we thinke the Scripture holds forth before us, that the <HI>Adopted of God in Chri&s;t,</HI> His Sonnes and
<PB N="11" REF="7"> Daughters, have out-growne their Crutches and helpes of De|votion, though &s;ome of them but <HI>Babes</HI> in Chri&s;t. For when&s;oe|ver The <HI>Spirit</HI> tells a per&s;on, he is the &s;onne or daughter of God, having wrought faith in his heart; The &s;econd thing the <HI>Spirit</HI> doth, it teacheth him to pray, that is, to <HI>Call God Father,</HI> which is the voice of Gods Spirit in a &s;anctified &s;oule; It enableth him<NOTE PLACE="marg">G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">la. 4. 6&punc;</NOTE> to Cry <HI>Abba Father:</HI> to pray earne&s;tly, to be fervent in prayer; They were cold prayers before, but a lip-labour onely; But the Spirit, comeing-in to witne&s;&s;e with his Spirit, and bringing faith with Him, makes the Childe to goe to God, and looke upon Him as a <HI>Father,</HI> who&s;e favour he doubts not off; or if he doe, he would have his doubts re&s;olved, and his evidences cleared; and for this he <HI>cries;</HI> and is not helped at all, as we conceive, by any &s;et forme, which heateth the Spirit no more than the <HI>Cen&s;er</HI> is without fire; for the Holy Gho&s;t having &s;anctified the heart, and put it into a whole-frame of Grace; The heart &s;peakes to God as it is quickned, acted, and moved by the Spirit of God: And herein we would appeale to the experience and practi&s;e of all, that are but <HI>Babes</HI> in Chri&s;t, whether ever they were gainers, by any formes of Devotion, prayers &s;ett before them? And if they &s;ay, no; then they will not be ea&s;ily per&s;waded to pray by tho&s;e formes, from which they gaine nothing but more dullne&s;&s;e, dro&s;&s;ine&s;&s;e and indi&s;po&s;edne&s;&s;e in their Spirits. It is our per&s;wa|&s;ion, That a child of God, who is afflicted with the &s;en&s;e of &s;inne, and affected with the &s;en&s;e of a pardon, had rather &s;peake five words to God with his under&s;tanding and &s;utable affections, than ten thou&s;and words prompted or &s;ugge&s;ted to him by a vi&s;i|ble<NOTE PLACE="marg">Books are a memory with|out us, and memory is a book within&punc; us.</NOTE> booke, before his eye, or an invi&s;ible, his memory; And more acceptance &s;hould he find with his God. He hath told his errand in his owne words; perhaps he wants words and can but chatter, like a Crane: It is, as was &s;aid, a prayer notwith&s;tanding, and may crie aloud in the eares of his God; It is delivered with under|&s;tanding, with &s;uitable affections&punc; with Humility, an excellent in|gredient in prayer, with an inward &s;en&s;e of his Condition; It is a good prayer &s;ure and finds acceptance with his God. We are ge|nerally deceived about prayer, It is, thinke we, a worke of memo|rie, of a good witt, a readie invention, a voluble tongue, This makes an excellent prayer in the e&s;teeme of a mans &s;elfe, and in
<PB N="12" REF="8"> the account of others; But this is not prayer; <HI>Prayer is the worke,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Ford.</HI> p. 629. 525, 526 545, 546.</NOTE> <HI>of Gods Spirit, in a &s;anctified heart,</HI> and feeles no need of Crutches to &s;upport and beare it up Heaven-ward; the&s;e help us not we find, when we are <HI>lame;</HI> it is granted, the&s;e hinder us when we are <HI>&s;ound;</HI> The <HI>Lord Chri&s;t</HI> is the Churches Advocate by <HI>Office;</HI> The <HI>Spirit</HI> her Advocate by <HI>Energie</HI> and <HI>operation.</HI> All the pray|ers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 26.</NOTE> which prevaile with God are formed, wrought and fa&s;hioned in our hearts by the Spirit of God. Now we &s;uppo&s;e here is a <HI>B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">be</HI> in Chri&s;t, as weake as <HI>Babes</HI> are, notwith&s;tanding he hath<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bez&punc;</NOTE> no need of a forme; he is in Chri&s;t, and therefore hath the Spirit of Chri&s;t, and therefore in the Spirit he can pray. <HI>The Spirit hel|peth his infirmities&punc;</HI> Rom: 8. 26. <HI>helpeth.</HI> The Greek word is ve|ry emphaticall, a De-compound, helpeth as a Father helpeth the little Child at a burden; The Child onely puts to his hand, the Father his &s;trength. Indeed the Father doth all, &s;o doth the Spi|rit in this <HI>Babe:</HI> and if any thing el&s;e come to helpe with Him, He will not helpe at all. If the Crutch doe any thing, the Spirit will doe nothing. <HI>He is an helpe &s;ufficient of Him&s;elfe, The Spi|rit will not helpe with a Crutch.</HI> When the Spirit of God &s;ets home our mi&s;erie and extreame nece&s;&s;itie, we cannot want wittie words and Ingenious expre&s;&s;ions. <HI>Grande doleris ingenium e&s;t mi|&s;eri&s;&abque; venit &s;olertia rebus: mi&s;ery felt is full of ingenuity, and e|nergie too:</HI> <Q>It will tell it's tale well enough; the man is &s;en&s;ible of his wants, you need not &s;upplie him with words. If a poore Tenant, finding he hath a hard bargaine, comes to his Land|lord, Let him alone for telling his tale, (&s;aid excellent <HI>Sibs</HI>) you may warrant his abilitie that way; he will lay open the &s;tate of his wife and Children, and the ill yeare he hath had; he will be eloquent enough.</Q> There is no man that hath an humble and broken heart (though he be never &s;o illeterate) but he will have a large heart to God in this kinde. The great worke in our &s;elves is, for the working whereof we mu&s;t attend the Spi|rits worke in the U&s;e of the meanes, is a <HI>true &s;en&s;e of our owne ne|ce&s;&s;itie:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">See D. <HI>in W.</HI> p. 27.</NOTE> And then we &s;hall not need, as the <HI>&s;entenced Malefactor</HI> needs not, Any Ma&s;ter to teach us how to &s;upplicate; nor any booke out of which we might learne a fitt forme of petitioning. The apprehen&s;ion of our pre&s;ent danger will make us both im|portunate and eloquent, in the de&s;ire of mercy. <HI>A &s;pring of De|&s;ire ari&s;eth from the &s;en&s;e of want.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="13" REF="8">
<HEAD>SECT. III.</HEAD>
<P>THus we have told our Apprehen&s;ion in this matter; It were no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> faire dealing now, if we &s;hould conceale from the Rea|der, that the Godly learned have &s;poken much in favour of &s;et formes of prayer; And the late&s;t, we thinke, that have written for them, is Reverend <HI>Hilder&s;on;</HI> <Q><HI>I doe not denie,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>but a weake Chri&s;tian may u&s;e the helpe of a good prayer booke;</HI> In this<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 51. 63.</NOTE> ca&s;e <HI>better to pray with a booke, than not to pray at all.</HI> Certainly 'tis a Spirit of Errour that hath taught the world otherwi&s;e. Fir&s;t our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour pre&s;crib'd to His Di&s;ciples a forme of prayer, not onely to be <HI>to them,</HI> and to His whole Church, a Rule and Samplar, according to which all our prayers &s;hould be framed; but even <HI>for them,</HI> and to &s;ay it, <HI>tying them&s;elves to the words of it.</HI> Luk. 11. 2. It is cleare al&s;o that <HI>John</HI> taught his Di&s;ciples to pray, by giving them formes of Prayer to &s;ay, And the be&s;t reformed doe now and ever have, u&s;ed pre&s;cript formes of Prayers, and have judged them of great u&s;e and ne|ce&s;&s;itie for the Edification of the Church:</Q> Reverend <HI>Hilder&s;on's</HI> words all the&s;e; A man, as all know, of pretious note and ac|count in the Church, and &s;o with all, we thinke, that feare their God; we would be numbered among&s;t them in this matter; but for our Rea&s;on, now that the Lord hath, we hope, &s;anctified it; and our Judgement, we re&s;erve it as a Cha&s;t Virgin for the Lord; our meaning is, we will not give up our judgement to any man; In de&s;ire and endeavour, through Grace, we will lay that levell to the Rule of God's Word. We will not, we are &s;ure we ought not to call any man on Earth <HI>Father</HI> or <HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> That is, we will give no man power on Earth over our Judgements and Con&s;ci|ences, &s;uch the Father hath (or &s;eeme to take) over the per&s;on of his Child. We are to follow none but as they follow Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 23. 8, 9.</NOTE> no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> ought we to be commanded by any, that Command not from His mouth; our Leaders mu&s;t le<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d to Him, our Commander mu&s;t command for Him, el&s;e we mu&s;t not be lead, or Commanded by<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 55. 4.</NOTE> them. My Con&s;cience, as one <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">aith, is Gods throne, I cannot<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Ford. &s;p. of Ad. p.</HI> 4<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> an&s;wer it to God, if I permit (any man) much le&s;&s;e Satan to u|&s;urp it&punc;</P>
<PB N="14" REF="9">
<P>So now it will be expected we &s;hould give &s;ome account of our di&s;&s;enting from tho&s;e Learned and Godly men in point of &s;et formes of prayers. For the &s;ame we have read from worthy <HI>Hild.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Fir&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ol p 348. Saints e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o p. 80.</NOTE> we may read from others the excellent of the Earth, <HI>Perkins; Pre&s;ton.</HI> The&s;e were for &s;ett formes; Therefore We profe&s;&s;e we are in &s;ome kinde of paine, while we are declareing our Judge|ment, which will be &s;omewhat differing from theirs in this point, the&s;e being as is well knowne in all the Earth eminently Learned and Godly. But for the la&s;t of the&s;e, That excellent Preacher in his time, Dr: <HI>Pre&s;ton,</HI> it may be noted, That he alloweth the practi&s;e of the primitive times, and of our times, in reference to their <HI>Litur|gies</HI> onely, in their publike meeting places; And tells us, it is not enough to be pre&s;ent at and joyne in the&s;e prayers, but we mu&s;t Goe to God in &s;ecret, and <Q><HI>he that is exceeding weake,</HI></Q> that is his<NOTE PLACE="marg">See Mr. <HI>Ford</HI> of Adop: 525, 526. 545, 545.</NOTE> expre&s;&s;ion, may u&s;e a <HI>prop to helpe him,</HI> as a Child that cannot goe, he meanes a &s;ett forme of prayer for a time; In the next place it may be ob&s;erved of them both, That they take in this <HI>obi|ter,</HI> and as it were upon the by; It was not to their &s;cope, and therefore not in their purpo&s;e or intention to plead by way of Ar|gument for <HI>&s;et formes</HI> to bring with us, when we goe to prayer, that is, to God; Onely worthy <HI>Hild:</HI> as was &s;ayd, &s;peakes more for &s;et formes than any we have met with, Mr <HI>Rogers</HI> him&s;elfe not excepted&punc; &s;o we take leave to examine the proofe he makes, the&s;e are his words, for we know there is much notice taken of them.</P>
<P><Q><HI>I dare not Deny, but a weake Chri&s;tian</HI> (him we called by Scripture allowance a Babe in Chri&s;t) <HI>may u&s;e the helpe of a good prayer-booke:</HI></Q> This is taken-up at a very cheap rate, without the price of a proofe; or if you will call it a proof, this it is; <HI>Better to pray in a Booke, than not to pray at all.</HI></P>
<P>This we take to be, as, we thinke, the Schollars phra&s;e it, <HI>Peti|tio principij,</HI> a mere begging of the Que&s;tion, It a&s;&s;erteth &s;ome|thing, but proves nothing; It a&s;&s;erts this, That if a Babe in Chri&s;t, a truely converted one, have not a booke to pray by, he cannot pray at all, whence he inferr's, <HI>'tis better to pray in a booke, than not to pray at all.</HI></P>
<P>Now we have a&s;&s;erted the Contrary, and doe a&s;&s;ert it &s;till, That a Babe in Chri&s;t would pray to his Heavenly Father in the
<PB N="15" REF="9"> Name of Chri&s;t, though there were not a &s;et forme of prayer in the world.</P>
<P>And we would humbly add what we conceive to be a truth, if there were as many &s;et formes of prayers, that <HI>the world it &s;el<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e could not containe the bootes written thereof,</HI> yet all the&s;e, alltoge|ther, or apart, could not give the lea&s;t helpe to the Devotion of this <HI>Babe in Chri&s;t.</HI> All tho&s;e would not make him crie in prayer <HI>Abba Father.</HI> But this one Charge again&s;t him&s;elfe, which &s;urely<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 12. 13. Job 7. Luke 5. 18. Jere: 3. 13.</NOTE> he can doe very readily, <HI>I have &s;inned,</HI> &s;poken from him <HI>freely, feelingly, humbly, &s;incerely</HI> as <HI>David, Job,</HI> the Prodigall now <HI>come to him&s;elfe,</HI> and as the <HI>Babe</HI> in Chri&s;t can &s;peake it, is of more ac|count with his God, and more prevailing to encline His eare, than all the Rhetoricke in the world, &s;ugge&s;ted to this <HI>Babe</HI> by ano|thers tongue or pen. <HI>Prayer,</HI> we have heard &s;ay, is the <HI>key</HI> that openeth all Gods Trea&s;uries; But now another's key, be it never &s;o exactly made (to argue it by way of a &s;imilitude) cannot fit the <HI>wards</HI> of <HI>my locke;</HI> Our plaine meaning is, and without a fi|gure; A forme of prayer, the exacte&s;t that ever was made, can|not &s;urely fitt my needes, cannot &s;peake out the things, that I want, to the eares of my God; or &s;peake out His pray&s;es, for what I have received from Him. It cannot reach the troubles of my Soule, nor can it tell the Con&s;olation there; or &s;uppo&s;e it could, It would not &s;upplie me with the <HI>Spirit,</HI> By whome I mu&s;t, through Chri&s;t, pre&s;ent all this before my God; for <HI>what man</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2. 11, 12</NOTE> <HI>knoweth the things of a man, &s;ave the Spirit of man within him?</HI> and &s;o forth, for it requires our ob&s;ervation through-out. We will put a clo&s;e to this, when we have &s;poken two or three things more very briefly.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, We conceive that tho&s;e &s;et formes cannot take any whit with a Babe in Chri&s;t, one Rea&s;on is, Becau&s;e &s;et formes are &s;o taking with us while we are out of Chri&s;t, we cleave to them as fa&s;t as the skin to the fle&s;h, or the fle&s;h to the Bone; And what we cleave to, we plead for. Surely it is otherwayes with him or her, that is in Chri&s;t; as the nature is changed, &s;o are the actions, the de&s;ires, the affections. They remember well they never pre|vailed any thing by &s;et formes; unle&s;&s;e to the <HI>hardening</HI> and <HI>braw|ning</HI> of their owne hearts; The <HI>&s;tupifying</HI> or <HI>deadning</HI> of their owne &s;pirits; they never prevailed with God to give them a &s;ight
<PB N="16" REF="10"> of their &s;inne, and forgivene&s;&s;e of the &s;ame; for they were never in earne&s;t with Him about this matter; if they had, they had pleaded with their God in their owne words, and not in anothers for them.</P>
<P>It is the wicked man that &s;ticks to his formes as fa&s;t as he cleaves to his &s;innes; The Babe in Chri&s;t not &s;o; hee or &s;hee is renewed in the &s;pirit of their minde, and therefore &s;tand as much again&s;t &s;et formes, as the wicked &s;tand for them.</P>
<P>Secondly, Suppo&s;e wee, for information &s;ake, That the per|&s;on praying hath a &s;en&s;e of the want of that he prayes for, That granted, we affirme, he hath no more need of a <HI>&s;et forme,</HI> teach|ing him to pray, than an hungry man hath to pray for his bread; If he hath no &s;en&s;e or feeling of what he prays for, which cannot be &s;uppo&s;ed in a <HI>Babe,</HI> then the &s;et forme of prayer will doe him no good; for the forme of prayer is as dead a peice as the heart is, and two dead things, like two withered &s;tickes, cannot enliven and quicken each other.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Wee would appeale to the Con&s;cience of every wick|ed man, <HI>&s;eared</HI> though it may be, as well as to the ob&s;ervation and experience of all the godly that know them, and that are ac|quainted with them; whether by their &s;et formes or prayer bookes they have gained more &s;trength again&s;t &s;in, or more &s;trength to &s;in? To our &s;eeming the an&s;wer mu&s;t be (for &s;o &s;peakes their con|ver&s;ation to the godly that doe ob&s;erve it) by their &s;et formes they have gained more &s;trength to &s;in, thereby their hearts have ri&s;en with more oppo&s;ition again&s;t God, and indignation again&s;t the Godly; for it is a ruled ca&s;e, <HI>They that &s;ticke fa&s;te&s;t to formes of godline&s;&s;e, are the greate&s;t enemies to the power thereof.</HI> And this is a knowne <HI>Maxime</HI> al&s;o, That a mans lu&s;ts are no more &s;haken by &s;uch prayers, though he &s;hould turne them over as fa&s;t as that Antichri&s;tian doth his <HI>beades,</HI> than a Giant is &s;haken by the &s;hak|ing of a &s;traw in a Pigmies hand.</P>
<P>Fourthly, A forme of prayer is an artificiall prayer made by the art and skill of another, and it is but like artificiall breath of <HI>bellowes,</HI> or the like, <HI>cold,</HI> whereas naturall breath is <HI>hot;</HI> &s;urely cold praying hath cold working; and moves not at all with God; as good ask doubtingly as coldly, for, as the &s;aying is, it teacheth God to deny.</P>
<PB N="17" REF="10">
<P>Fifthly, Set formes of prayer are too plea&s;ing and &s;utable to fle&s;h and bloud, to be plea&s;ing to God, or Good men or to doe the &s;oule any Good. That which hath any virtue in it to doe the &s;oule good, mu&s;t hurt the fle&s;h, even to a torment; that mu&s;t <HI>of|fend</HI> the fle&s;h that doth indeed <HI>defend</HI> the &s;pirit. But this prayer by a prayer-booke doth no more execution upon our lu&s;ts, than a <HI>potgun</HI> can again&s;t an heard of Harts, or a Gun charged with pou|der among Armed men. It is a <HI>lazie &s;en&s;uall</HI> prayer, el&s;e <HI>fle&s;hly mindes</HI> would never &s;o plead for it; for as was &s;aid, <HI>Give them that which is &s;weet, though it choakes them,</HI> Per fallacia bona itur ad vera mala, <HI>through &s;eeming good and plea&s;ant things, wee ha&s;ten to reall evills:</HI> As per fallacia mala itur ad vera bona, <HI>through &s;eeming evill things wee come to true and reall good things.</HI> It is but a &s;eeming good to plea&s;e the fle&s;h, and but a <HI>&s;eeming</HI> evill to cro&s;&s;e it, as the Babe in Chri&s;t doth, and <HI>wre&s;tleth</HI> with God in His &s;trength about it, knowing he oweth his fle&s;h nothing but <HI>mortification,</HI> &s;ave onely to make it &s;erviceable to his God, and his owne &s;oule.</P>
<P>Sixthly, Wee will clo&s;e with this; po&s;&s;ibly a Babe in Chri&s;t may want convenient utterance, by rea&s;on of &s;ome defect in the tongue, or ba&s;hfullne&s;&s;e in the pre&s;ence of others. And upon that account, our famous and excellent <HI>Perkins</HI> (but it was forty yeares agoe, when formes of prayer were of more account then now they are, and the hurt they did, not &s;o looked into, as now it is, and with that allowance you mu&s;t weigh them if they &s;hould not hold waight) mooves in this <HI>Babes</HI> behalfe, for a <HI>prayer-booke,</HI> in the&s;e very words; <Q><HI>The Grace and gift of prayer may be &s;hewed in</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Ford. 480.</HI></NOTE> <HI>reading of a prayer,</HI></Q> <HI>other wayes it would goe very hard with them, that want convenient utterance.</HI></P>
<P>Wee humbly crave leave to &s;ay, That notwith&s;tanding that want, which a Babe in Chri&s;t may have, there is no want of a prayer-booke though; This <HI>Babe</HI> &s;erveth his God in his &s;pirit, who can &s;upply that want, yea a greater want than that, &s;uppo|&s;ing he could not &s;peake one articulate or di&s;tinct word before his God, he can <HI>pray in his &s;pirit</HI> through the mediation of His Son, and finde acceptance &s;ure enough; his Lord takes not his prayers by number, but by waight; nay, the Lord doth not &s;o much weigh the words of prayer, no nor the grace of prayer by the <HI>&s;cale,</HI> as he
<PB N="18" REF="11"> tryes both by the <HI>touch&s;tone;</HI> Hee not &s;o much regards the <HI>num|ber</HI> as the <HI>truth</HI> of prayers, and the&s;e may be but breathings after God and Chri&s;t, yet they have a voice as loud in Gods eare as is thunder in ours.</P>
<P>Wee will draw to a clo&s;e; Who ever hath the <HI>&s;pirit of Grace</HI> hath al&s;o the <HI>&s;pirit of &s;upplication, who may be in a groane, as well as in a prayer.</HI> Whence we may conclude, That he who hath this &s;pirit, hath no need of a prayer-booke whereafter to pray. If you grant, he hath th' one in his heart, he will di&s;daine, we thinke, to take the other into his hand. The Good Spirit is his Great Helper at this great and high &s;ervice, when he is engageing upon it. Take this withall, if plea&s;e you, it plea&s;eth this <HI>Babe</HI> very well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Non actibus &s;ed finibus pen&s;antu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> officia.</NOTE> for it makes much for his comfort; <Q>That his Duties are weigh|ed, and reckoned upon, not by their <HI>Acts,</HI> but by their ends.</Q></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IV.</HEAD>
<P>WEE have humbly given our opinion, in way of &s;atisfacti|on to tho&s;e two <HI>Queries,</HI> relating to prayer, under that Generall notion. And here wee have forborne to reply any thing to the cu&s;tomes and practi&s;es of primitive times, and times more lately by-pa&s;t; for (fir&s;t) They plead for formes of prayer in their publique places, wee plead again&s;t the u&s;e of them in our private Clo&s;ets. (Secondly) Againe, wee are to walke clo&s;e up to the rule of Gods word, and not by the practi&s;e and precepts of men, whereunto &s;omething hath been hinted before more than once. (thirdly) Wee have replyed nothing to <HI>Johns</HI> teaching his Di&s;ciples to pray by giving them a forme of prayer to &s;ay, which is not &s;o cleare to us, that &s;o he did, but wee may &s;peake more to it hereafter.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II.</HEAD>
<P>_WEE come now to that &s;peciall prayer, which by good warrant wee call the <HI>Lords prayer,</HI> and to make an|&s;wer as wee can, and as the Lord &s;hall a&s;&s;i&s;t to &s;ix <HI>Queries</HI> thereupon. But fir&s;t wee may not di&s;&s;em|ble what we finde written by worthy <HI>Hild:</HI> and ex|cellent <HI>Perkins, That the Lords prayer may be &s;ayd by us as wee
<PB N="19" REF="11"> read it;</HI> <Q>Our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour pre&s;cribed to his Di&s;ciples a forme of prayer, not onely to be to them and his whole Church a rule and &s;ampler, according to which all our prayers &s;hould be fra|med, as appeares. <HI>Mat. 6. 9. After this manner pray yee,</HI> but even for them, and to &s;ay, <HI>tying them&s;elves to the very words of it,</HI> as appeareth <HI>Luke 11. 2. When you pray &s;ay Our Father.</HI> So worthy <HI>Hild:</HI> excellent <HI>Perkins</HI> &s;peakes in the&s;e words; The Lords prayer is a direction and as it were a &s;ampler to teach us how and in what manner we ought to pray: None is to ima|gine, That wee are bound to u&s;e the&s;e words onely and no o|thers, for the meaning of Chri&s;t is not to bind us to the words, but to the matter and to the manner, and to the like affections in prayer; And then a little after making an&s;wer to the third plea again&s;t the u&s;e of <HI>the Lords prayer,</HI> Hee an&s;wers, <HI>That therefore the rather it &s;hould be u&s;ed as a prayer.</HI></Q> But he makes no proofe hereof, <Q>unle&s;&s;e this which followes may be taken for a full proofe; <HI>Sure it is that ancient and worthy Divines have r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|verenced it as a prayer</HI> choo&s;ing rather to u&s;e the &s;ame words than any other, as <HI>Cyprian, Tertullian, Augu&s;tine,</HI> And &s;o con|cludes, <HI>Wherefore this opinion that the Lords prayer is not to be u&s;ed as a prayer, is full of ignorance and errour.</HI></Q></P>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. II.</HEAD>
<P>THus wee have dealt faithfully in &s;etting downe what we find pleaded for the &s;aying of the Lords prayer. Yet we hope to acquit our &s;elves of both the&s;e, <HI>Ignorance</HI> and <HI>Errour,</HI> in the words of truth and &s;oberne&s;&s;e, though our Judgements bend from M^r <HI>Hilds</HI> words. That our Saviour gave his Di&s;ciples <HI>that prayer to &s;ay, tying them&s;elves to the very words:</HI> nor can we fall in with the&s;e ancient Divines, choo&s;ing rather to u&s;e tho&s;e words in prayer than any other. Wee &s;hall in all humility and mode&s;ty interpo&s;e our judgement again&s;t this, without making the lea&s;t reflection upon the good knowledge, excellent learning and Godline&s;&s;e of the&s;e two men, the one famous for all the&s;e all over this Nation, the other over all the Chri&s;tian world; And therefore how loath are wee to make mention of the&s;e things: But that here is a ne|ce&s;&s;itie for it, becau&s;e they that are &s;uch &s;ticklers for formes of
<PB N="20" REF="12"> prayer, and are re&s;olved to bare them&s;elves up upon tho&s;e crut|ches. They al&s;o, who, as far can be ob&s;erved, never u&s;ed any o|ther prayer but the Lords prayer, doe catch at &s;uch &s;ayings as the&s;e, coming from &s;uch excellent men, when they <HI>&s;lightingly</HI> pa&s;&s;e over what they may find in every page for their edification; wee were &s;aying, full loath we are to meddle in the&s;e things, but for the rea&s;on above-&s;aid; Though wee hope wee &s;hall doe but our duty herein, which is to bring <HI>the &s;ayings of men to the &s;ayings of God; The words of men, to the words of God,</HI> as to their <HI>&s;tandard</HI> or <HI>&s;cale,</HI> where they mu&s;t be weighed in the ballance of the Sanc|tuary.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. III.</HEAD>
<P>HEE is a perfect man that &s;lips not with his tongue; and as perfect is hee, that &s;lips not with his pen, <HI>Dabimus veniam petimu&s;&abque; vici&s;&s;im,</HI> wee give and wee crave the &s;ame pardon. But &s;till wee take leave to doe our dutie, finding wee have &s;uch war|rant for it, to examine the forementioned words by the touch|&s;tone of Gods word. Tho&s;e brave and generous <HI>Bereans</HI> did &s;hew<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 17. 11, 12</NOTE> them&s;elves to be &s;uch, by inquiring into, and que&s;tioning the A|po&s;tles words, who yet, if any in the world, might have been be|leeved upon his <HI>ip&s;e Dixit,</HI> his owne word for it, that Apo&s;tle might; It was enough that <HI>Paul</HI> &s;ayd it; no, not enough, for the&s;e truely wi&s;e <HI>Bereans;</HI> they have a &s;ure word to goe by, and to that word they will bring the Apo&s;tles words, to inquire of them whe|ther they be the words of truth, as wee doe inquire whether it be true gold by the <HI>touch&s;tone</HI> and <HI>fining pot;</HI> They that receive the word with all readine&s;&s;e of mind, will with the &s;ame readine&s;&s;e &s;earch the Scriptures dayly, whether tho&s;e things be &s;o or no. And behold a ble&s;&s;ed effect of this; <HI>Many of them beleeved.</HI> Wee think this was &s;poken before, If &s;o, &s;o much the more wee &s;hould ob&s;erve it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IV.</HEAD>
<P>BEfore we proceed to our next Chapter, we de&s;ire the Rea|der to ob&s;erve for the clo&s;e of this; That the&s;e excellent men have but &s;poken their owne words, and given us their owne per|&s;wa&s;ion,
<PB N="21" REF="12"> as to the matter of our enquiry, onely the later of them tells us the Judgement of others, <HI>Cyprian, Tertullian,</HI> and <HI>Augu|&s;tine,</HI> the&s;e <HI>cho&s;e rather to pray in the&s;e very words:</HI> But what is this to us, if we cannot under&s;tand our Lords words as they did? In|deed we find <HI>Cyprian</HI> hath a whole Sermon of the <HI>Lords prayer,</HI> which in order is his &s;ixt. And it was &s;o cleare to him, <HI>All were to pray in tho&s;e very words;</HI> that he concludeth <HI>That to pray in any other words, argueth not onely ignorance but a &s;in.</HI> Yet the&s;e are but words, &s;poken onely not weighed, and in darke times com|pared with ours. And, we think, there are &s;ome other words in the &s;aid Sermon more to be taken notice of, which are the&s;e; <Q>The New man, now borne againe, and like the Prodigall, <HI>come</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Homo novus re|natus quando Deum, patrem dicimus, qua&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> fil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> Dei agere debemus, ut quo|modo nobis pla|cemus de Deo&punc; patre &s;ic &s;ibi placeat &amp; ille de nobis.</NOTE> <HI>to him&s;elfe,</HI> and returned to his Father, the fir&s;t word he &s;peakes is <HI>Father.</HI> And now he is declared a Son, he carries him&s;elfe like a child. Whence he infers it &s;hould be our great Care &s;o to doe, That as it plea&s;eth us well to Call <HI>God Father;</HI> &s;o it may plea&s;e Him as well to call and acknowledge us His children: which falls-in fully with what we reade, <HI>Jer: 3. 19. Thou &s;halt call Me my Father, and &s;halt not turne away from Me;</HI> that is as before explained, I will give thee the Di&s;po&s;ition of a childe, when I give thee leave to call <HI>Me Father.</HI></Q> This now we have cited out of <HI>Cyprian,</HI> tendeth much, we think, both to our edifi|cation, and information, that we may know how to ballance his words, and, by the ju&s;t weight we find in the later, make allow|ance for the lightne&s;&s;e of the former. And all this we &s;hall be able to doe, we meane, we &s;hall be edified and fully informed in the&s;e and all other matters nece&s;&s;ary to &s;alvation, when we &s;hall humbly yeeld-up our &s;elves into His Hands who leads into all Truth, and will not &s;uffer us to be lead by our own humours or principles. So wee proceed according to our propo&s;ed Method, to An&s;wer &s;ome <HI>Queries</HI> about the <HI>Lords prayer,</HI> where the&s;e matters will fall-in in their due place and order.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="22" REF="13">
<HEAD>CHAP. III</HEAD>
<P>_THe fir&s;t <HI>Query</HI> is, <HI>Whether a wicked man may &s;ay the Lords Prayer.</HI> Now becau&s;e it is Que&s;tioned by &s;ome <HI>whether a wicked man ought to pray at all;</HI> Wee will cleare this fir&s;t, <HI>That h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">w wicked &s;oever the man be, yet he ought to pray;</HI> whereof that holy and learned Mans words, in the place forequoted upon the Title page, make full proofe; <Q>Prayer, &s;aith he, is a Naturall acknowledgement of God, That every man is everla&s;tingly and indi&s;pen&s;ably obliged unto by virtue of the Law of Creation, though the matter of it be&punc; vari|ed according to the &s;everall &s;tates and conditions whereinto we fall, or are brought. Every one, that lives in dependency on God, and hath his &s;upplyes from Him, is by virtue of that de|pendance, obliged to this Dutie, as much as he is to own God for his God.</Q> That excellent Expo&s;itor upon <HI>Job 22. p.</HI> 264. &s;peakes the &s;ame thing; <Q>Wee owe prayer to God as His Crea|tures, or in regard of our naturall dependance upon Him, much more as New Creatures, or in regard of our &s;pirituall depen|dance upon Him.</Q></P>
<P>And this might &s;uffice; but becau&s;e we intend the in&s;truction of the &s;imple, &s;uch as we our &s;elves are, we intend to be larger here in &s;hewing what the Dutie of every man is, how wicked &s;oever, though he be wholy unable to performe that dutie. Fir&s;t then</P>
<P>We would &s;hew whom we meane by the <HI>wicked man?</HI> Not eve|ry man in the horrid &s;tate of nature, lying in his blood; for there wee all were for as much as wee all were wicked: But that wicked man wee meane, who lyeth in his blood in his wickedne&s;&s;e (for our blood is as we thinke was &s;aid, <HI>our wickedne&s;&s;e,</HI> as our Lords <HI>blood</HI> is our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e&punc;) <HI>in that evill&punc; one,</HI> under the Dominion of<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 1. 23. 5. 2. Acts 26. 18. 1 John 5. 19.</NOTE> an uncleane &s;pirit within, and that other without, which rules in him, as he doth in the <HI>darkne&s;&s;e of the world, in the children of di&s;|obedience</HI> there. And hee is be&s;t content it &s;hould be &s;o, for in his blood he lyeth as on a pillow of Downe, or bed of Ro&s;es, never better content than now that God hath made a <HI>puni&s;hment of his &s;inne, giving him up to his owne hearts lu&s;ts,</HI> and laying him in the
<PB N="23" REF="13"> lap of his own will, to <HI>commit &s;in with greedine&s;&s;e,</HI> as the hungry bea&s;t eateth it's meate, or the thir&s;ty, &s;walloweth downe water, a very <HI>Epicure</HI> in both, <HI>pa&s;t-feeling</HI> now, and <HI>voyd of judgement,</HI> pride hath &s;o covered his eyes, and drawne &s;uch a thicke skinne over his heart, that it makes him forget all God and all, <HI>Hee is not in all his thoughts;</HI> hee forgets all &s;ave him&s;elfe. And this his remembrance of him&s;elfe &s;erves him onely to cloath and garni&s;h, feed and pamper that <HI>Idol</HI> his <HI>fle&s;h,</HI> and then to Glory in it when he hath &s;o done; hee is out of Chri&s;t, and &s;lighteth the meanes, the great Appointment of God, wherby to di&s;cover this his hor|rid condition unto man, and to deliver him out of it. Tho&s;e he hath &s;lighted, turned his backe upon them, while he was &s;itting under them, with full con&s;ent of mind, withdrawing his heart from <HI>obedience,</HI> when, in &s;hew, his eare <HI>gave audience; hating to be re|formed;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 7. 11. P&s;al. 50. 16.</NOTE> fully re&s;olved, as a man built-up upon the bottom of his confidence, that he will not for&s;ake <HI>his way, nor his thoughts,</HI> nor<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 2. 30.</NOTE> will he returne unto the <HI>Lord;</HI> he hath no need of Him, being a Lord, and a God to him&s;elfe. <Q>This is the wicked man (he is a legion) <HI>twice dead;</HI> the Go&s;pell hath been to him a &s;avour of<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jud. 12.</NOTE> death unto death; unto <HI>the death</HI> they are involved in, and are obnoxious to by nature, <HI>they adde a &s;econd death,</HI> or rather &s;eale<NOTE PLACE="marg">See Dr <HI>Owen</HI> pag. 356. Mr <HI>Caryl</HI> on <HI>Job</HI> 8. 19. 116. Dr <HI>K.</HI> Ch. 5. 63.</NOTE> up their &s;oules under the power, and mi&s;ery of the other, by contempt of the meanes of life, and recovery;</Q> We will adde but this for the compleating of this mans mi&s;ery, out of Learned Dr <HI>Rainolds</HI> (and all this wee have &s;aid in the de&s;cription of this man, and his mi&s;ery tends to this, that wee might heare and feare and not doe as he doth prae&s;umptiou&s;ly, for) <Q>the&s;e men, <HI>that</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tre. with us, pag. 25.</NOTE> <HI>doe their utmo&s;t</HI> to keep them&s;elves out of Chri&s;t, and by con&s;e|quence under the cur&s;e, as their per&s;ons, &s;o their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions are under the &s;ame cur&s;e; as their con&s;ciences, &s;o their e&s;tates are &s;till uncleane, <HI>they eat their meate like &s;wine</HI> rowled up in the dirt of their owne &s;in and of Gods cur&s;e.</Q></P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding thus wicked though they are, and are re&s;olved &s;o to be, yet <HI>pray they ought,</HI> though pray they cannot, but as a <HI>Dear roares,</HI> becau&s;e of &s;ome paine upon the fle&s;h; or as a <HI>dogge howles;</HI> or if there be no paine upon them, then they pray as a <HI>Parret</HI> &s;peakes: Yet, as wee were &s;aying, <HI>pray they ought,</HI> though they <HI>be in praying,</HI> as <HI>they are in being,</HI> and their prayers are as
<PB N="24" REF="14"> their per&s;ons are, an <HI>abomination</HI> to the <HI>Lord;</HI> for &s;uch is Gods Law unto them; yet pray they ought, that is their duty, and the Homage they are to give unto the Lord, as was &s;ayd. The Coun|&s;ell that <HI>Daniell</HI> gives to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> Chap. 4. 27. and the direction <HI>Peter</HI> gives to <HI>Symon Magus,</HI> Acts 8. 22. cleares this unto us, that a wicked mans duty <HI>is to repent and pray,</HI> and doe the <HI>workes of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> though he is no more able, of him&s;elfe to doe it, than a mountaine can moove and teare it &s;elfe up by the roots and mount up into the Moone; or a bramble yeeld grapes; or a Thi&s;tle figgs; or a Serpent &s;pit pearles; naturall impotency can give no excu&s;e to willfull neglect; <Q>A wicked mans nece&s;&s;itie of &s;inning, mu&s;t not nullifie the Law of God, which requireth the doing of the&s;e things, though not with &s;uch an uncleane heart as he doth them. The impotency of man mu&s;t not eyther prejudice Gods authoritie, or Dimini&s;h his own dutie;</Q> The&s;e are the words of our Learned <HI>Rainolds</HI> in his Treat: <HI>pag,</HI> 246 247. where the Reader may meet with much more, giving re&s;olution to the &s;ame ca&s;e with this, <HI>that a wicked man ought to pray,</HI> it is his dutie. And oh! that he could pray for a &s;ight of his &s;inne, and &s;ence of that wrath, which he is trea&s;uring-up every day a|gain&s;t the day of wrath, being bu&s;ily imployed every houre of the day in damning him&s;elfe; that &s;o he might looke after Him, whome the Father <HI>&s;anctified</HI> and <HI>&s;ent</HI> into the world to be a pro|pitiation<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6. 36. 1 Joh. 2. 2.</NOTE> for the &s;innes thereof; and oh that he would pray again&s;t the Grand delu&s;ion of his de&s;perately wicked heart, which will per&s;wade him to beleeve that he lookes after Chri&s;t Je&s;us the Lord for <HI>life</HI> and <HI>immortalitie</HI> from Him, while yet he lookes not after the meanes, but turnes his backe upon the Glorious Go&s;pell, whereby He is declared to the world to be a <HI>Prince,</HI> and a <HI>Savi|our,</HI> all &s;alvation in Him, and <HI>none other</HI> Name <HI>given among Men</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>under Heaven, whereby we might be &s;aved;</HI> The de&s;perate heart of man will per&s;wade to turne the Back upon all this, The Go&s;pell of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and yet he &s;hall have Salvation by Him, though not receiving His Word.</P>
<P>To our &s;eeming now this is fully proved, That a wicked Man ought to pray, though he doth not pray, neither can he, nor will he, unle&s;&s;e as <HI>Pharoah</HI> did, take away <HI>the plague,</HI> remove this e|vill of puni&s;hment. And then perhaps he will crie Lord, Lord,
<PB N="25" REF="14"> for po&s;&s;ibly he &s;ees death, &s;inne and judgement, not as formerly at a di&s;tance, but neare at hand, and upon him; and then with <HI>Balaam</HI> he may &s;ay, <HI>My God;</HI> And oh! that <HI>I may dye the death of the Righteous;</HI> Therefore he that liveth like a Devill would die like a Saint, and &s;o he may pray at the houre of his death, when his time is gon, and the time of Gods patience is &s;pent, and the houre of judgement is come, but then it will be too late, no re|medie now but a Torment; He mu&s;t live to God, that prayes to God, walke with Him, and before Him, who lookes for &s;peciall mercy from Him. For if we expect God &s;hould come to us in wayes of mercy, we mu&s;t attend upon Him in wayes of Dutie, dealing with us as Creatures endued with Rea&s;on, under&s;tanding, wills, affections. But becau&s;e all the&s;e are mi&s;erably depraved, he deales with us as &s;uch, and &s;o depraved, wholy di&s;-inabled in our &s;elves for the u&s;eing or improving any the forementioned without &s;peciall Grace from Him, which He be&s;towes upon us in the u&s;e of meanes He vouch&s;afeth to us. But though wicked men doe none of this, nor is it po&s;&s;ible, as his e&s;tate now is, that he can doe it; nay it is the abhorring of his &s;oule to doe it, for <HI>he abhorr's the Lord;</HI> yet he ought to doe it, That is the point, and we thinke cleared, he ought to pray, it is his dutie.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. <HI>Q.</HI> 1.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Q.</HI> I. _BUt whether he may pray the <HI>Lords Prayer</HI> that is the Que&s;tion, which now we &s;hall endeavour to put out of Que&s;tion, <HI>A wicked man ought not to &s;ay the Lords prayer;</HI> he is a proud, bold, and dareing per&s;on, he will adventure herein. It is probable he know's no other prayer, and this he received by <HI>Tradition</HI> from his Pa|rents, who po&s;&s;ible knew no other prayer neither. But he ought not to &s;ay this prayer, &s;ay we, and the&s;e are our Rea&s;ons for &s;o &s;aying.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It is the Churches prayer, we meane not a Nationall Church, we have not a thought of it, when our thoughts are upon This Church, the <HI>Church of the living God;</HI> A Nationall Church a huge va&s;t body, a Mon&s;ter rather; and as <HI>cold</HI> as <HI>fro&s;t,</HI> which we
<PB N="26" REF="15"> know congregates, &amp; fa&s;tneth together very <HI>heterogenious</HI> things, which <HI>heate</HI> &s;eperates; we meane not that commonly called a Church, which takes-in very heterogenious per&s;ons, wicked and righteous, the Beleiver and the Infidell, if not wor&s;e; the <HI>Di&s;ciple</HI> and the <HI>Drunkard;</HI> the True <HI>Saint</HI> and the Reall <HI>Devill</HI> together, for the&s;e were borne in a Church, and quickly after Baptized there, and growing up, though in their Debauchedne&s;&s;e&punc; getting &s;trength therein&punc; as yeares come on; yet by virtue of their <HI>water Baptizement</HI> are become <HI>vi&s;ible Saints:</HI> we meane not the&s;e, nor that called a Church, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ath but a <HI>Name onely,</HI> till the <HI>Spirit</HI> within gives the thing; we meane a company of New Creatures, differing as much from the <HI>common</HI> or <HI>Nationall Church,</HI> as Men doe from Bea&s;ts: That we may be cleare at this point, we meane the <HI>Generall A&s;&s;embly, and Church of the fir&s;t-Borne, The Sonnes and Daughters of God; begot and borne unto Him in Chri&s;t of wa|ter and of the Spirit;</HI> It is their prayer; It is the <HI>Di&s;ciples prayer,</HI> their's, who are di&s;ciplined by the Go&s;pell, received, beleived, and obeyed; by their Lords appointment it is theirs. Both the Scrip|tures (<HI>Math: 6. 9. Luke</HI> 11. 2.) we conceive holds it forth clearely, <HI>pray ye; And when ye pray, &s;ay.</HI> Our ble&s;&s;ed Lord &s;pake to His Di&s;ciples, here is the <HI>mould</HI> wherein to ca&s;t your prayers; this &s;hall be to you a Rule and Sampler, according to the which all your prayers &s;hall be framed; but of this hereafter. It is the Churches prayer, the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eleivers, the Di&s;ciples, and Saints prayer really &s;uch and indeed, which they can hold forth and have to &s;hew for, not onely, becau&s;e they were borne in <HI>England</HI> and Baptized there (a meere vanitie, and le&s;&s;e if le&s;&s;e can be) but they were borne of God through Chri&s;t, by the Spirit with the Word, and &s;o baptized with fire, and the Holy Gho&s;t, it is their Prayer. It is true the wicked man claimes it for his, becau&s;e he was borne and Baptized in this Nation; &s;o doth he <HI>Childrens&punc; Bread</HI> too, it belongs to him upon the &s;ame &s;core. But he hath right to nei|ther, as we have heard, and may yet more fully heare. Wee pro|ceed.</P>
<P>Secondly, And humbly offer this to the thoughts of rea&s;ona|ble men, can we thinke that our <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Lord</HI> would put the&s;e words into a wicked mans mouth? Bid him call God Father, Whome he knowes not, endeavours not to know, nay abhorr's
<PB N="27" REF="15"> to know? He indeed will &s;ay, for who &s;o willfull as he, as <HI>Ba|laam</HI> did, <HI>My God,</HI> and as he, and he was many, <HI>My Father.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Num. 22. 18. Jer: 3. 4.</NOTE> But who bad them &s;ay &s;o? you know the &s;aying; It is pre&s;ump|tion in the highe&s;t degree to &s;peake of God, or from God, or to God, without His leave or command &s;o to doe; You &s;ay, &s;aith the Lord Chri&s;t of <HI>my Father,</HI> He is <HI>your Father, your God</HI> but ye<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 8 54, 55</NOTE> &s;ay pre&s;umptuou&s;ly in &s;o &s;aying; He is not the <HI>Father of tho&s;e that know Him not,</HI> but as He is the Father <HI>of the raine; But ye have not knowne Him,</HI> &s;aith the Lord. And not knowing Him, how care they, how they Rebell again&s;t Him? Can we thinke that the Son of God, while He <HI>tabernacled</HI> here on Earth, would bid notorious Rebells, rebelling again&s;t the light of their owne <HI>Con|&s;ciences</HI> within, and of the <HI>Word</HI> without to call God Father, and Him Lord, while they were &s;peaking and <HI>do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing evill things, as they could?</HI></P>
<P>We humbly conceive, It cannot enter into the heart of a Rea|&s;onable man to thinke that &s;o our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour would doe. He hath re&s;olved the Ca&s;e; <HI>Thou &s;halt call Me my Father, and</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 3. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>&s;halt not turne away from Me.</HI> I will give thee the di&s;po&s;ition of a Child, or give thee to looke after it, before thou &s;halt, with my leave, <HI>call Me Father:</HI> I will put filliall-affections, awfull thoughts; con&s;tant Re&s;olutions into thy heart, to love feare and &s;erve Me. And then thou &s;halt <HI>call Me Father.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Yet againe, Can it enter into our thoughts, that our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour &s;hould bid a wicked man <HI>call Je&s;us accur&s;ed?</HI> No; you will &s;ay, for who can thinke &s;o? we doe, If we hold to this, That <HI>a &s;en&s;uall man not having the Spirit, can call God Fa|ther,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12. 3.</NOTE> <HI>or Chri&s;t Lord: No man &s;peaking by the Spirt of God calleth Je&s;us accur&s;ed.</HI> <Q>What, they &s;ay, that &s;peake by another Spirit, judge you, &s;aith That Learned man; The Apo&s;tle would &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dr. <HI>Kendall,</HI> Chap. 16. pag. 145. P&s;al: 110. 19, 20.</NOTE> <HI>They call Je&s;us accur&s;ed. And no man can &s;ay</HI> (heartily) <HI>Je&s;us is the Lord but by the Holy Gho&s;t.</HI> Becau&s;e, as our Learned <HI>Rei|nolds</HI> &s;aith, other Lords are pre&s;ent with &s;en&s;uall, and wicked men, who doe with their owne eyes over&s;ee, and by their owne vi&s;ible power order, and direct them in their &s;ervice. It is not po&s;&s;ible, that they &s;hould feare honour and &s;erve Chri&s;t (which is to &s;ay heartily <HI>Je&s;us is the Lord</HI>) unle&s;&s;e Chri&s;t be in them by His Spirit, and they in the faith. <HI>Sen&s;uall men not having the
<PB N="28" REF="16"> Spirit</HI> may, out of externall conformitie to the Di&s;cipline and profe&s;&s;ion under which they live, with their mouthes acknow|ledge Him to be Lord, yet their hearts will never tremble and willingly &s;ubmit them&s;elves to His obedience; Their Con&s;cien|ces will never &s;et to its &s;eale to the <HI>Spirituall power</HI> of Chri&s;t o|ver the thoughts, de&s;ires, and &s;ecrets (yet this is to call Him Lord) but by the over-ruling direction of the Holy Gho&s;t; Therefore he bla&s;phemes in Calling God Father, and <HI>Chri&s;t ac|cur&s;ed:</HI> he hath no allowance from Chri&s;t &s;o to doe, it were bla&s;phemy to thinke &s;o; and that is our third Rea&s;on.</Q></P>
<P>Fourthly, Nor would the Lord Chri&s;t put a lie into a man's mouth in bidding him, this &s;en&s;uall man, we meane this <HI>Legion,</HI> call God, Father; when as He is not their Father, but they are <HI>of</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8. 34. 44.</NOTE> <HI>their Father the Devill, and doe that, which they have &s;eene with their Father, even the Lu&s;ts of their Father they will doe.</HI> If it be asked how wicked men &s;ee the Devill doe, that which they did and doe? Worthy Mr <HI>Burge&s;&s;e</HI> an&s;wers it; <Q>Becau&s;e they expre&s;&s;e in their lives &s;uch wickedne&s;&s;e, as was and is in the Devill, even the &s;ame things which the Devill would doe, and wee &s;hould &s;ee him doe, if he were vi&s;ible before our eyes.</Q> <HI>Naturae &s;equi|tur &s;emina qui&s;&abque; &s;ua.</HI> As man's Nature is, and his principle with|in, &s;uch are his actings and doeings without; <HI>As he is in being, &s;uch he is in acting;</HI> If he be <HI>in the evill one,</HI> that is, under the power and dominion of an uncleane Spirit; mo&s;t uncleane will his act|ings<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 1. 23. 5. 2. Joh. 1. 5.</NOTE> be, for he will doe that which he hath &s;een his Father doe: Certainly the Lord will not bid &s;uch an uncleane wretch call God Father; for that were for the Lord of truth to put a lie into a mans mouth, which were Bla&s;phemie to thinke.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Yet againe, though as Excellent <HI>Turkney</HI> hath it out of <HI>Morney</HI> fir&s;t Chapter fir&s;t words; <Q>A man hath never le&s;&s;e<NOTE PLACE="marg">De veritate Religionis. Cap. 1. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> to &s;ay than when that,</Q> which he is to prove or cleare is more certaine and manife&s;t than his proofe. <HI>Omni luce clarius, omni interpretatione notius;</HI> Notwith&s;tanding we will proceed. The Lord Chri&s;t would not bid a man, (we &s;hould tremble to &s;peake this, or to heare it, but &s;ith it is commonly done, and in a zeale for our God we would not have it &s;o done being a&s;&s;ured from a &s;ure word; That a wicked man Bla&s;phemes the Name of his God, and ha&s;tneth his owne Cur&s;e, by letting this prayer goe out of
<PB N="29" REF="16"> his mouth; as he doth by taking into his mouth the Bread and Wine at the Lords Table) wee were &s;aying, The <HI>Lord Chri&s;t</HI> would not bid a man bla&s;pheme <HI>This Glorious &amp; fearefull Name, The Lord his God;</HI> and &s;o ha&s;ten his Cur&s;e, bringing upon him|&s;elfe<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 8.</NOTE> &s;wift de&s;truction; but &s;o he mu&s;t that Bids a wicked man <HI>&s;ay</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2. 1. I&s;ai. 52. 5.</NOTE> <HI>the Lords Prayer;</HI> call God Father; <Q><HI>My Name Continually eve|ry day is bla&s;phemed?</HI> how &s;o, or what had they done? why, they would <HI>lie,</HI> and <HI>&s;teale,</HI> and <HI>&s;weare,</HI> and yet would come un|to<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 7.</NOTE> Gods Temple, and call upon Him; They that did wickedly <HI>as they could,</HI> lyars, Cur&s;ers, oppo&s;ers of what is Good (The&s;e are worthy Mr <HI>Burge&s;&s;e's</HI> words) Yet they will: come here and &s;ay <HI>our Father.</HI> Nay you cannot meete with any bea&s;tly<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 3.</NOTE> &s;inner, but his heart is filled with this bold impudency, he will &s;ay as they did we are <HI>Jewes&punc;</HI> i. e. <HI>true beleivers</HI> (for as that<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 2 9. Mr <HI>Caryll.</HI> Job 11. 4. 21.</NOTE> Learned man &s;aith,</Q> under the old Te&s;tament-Termes, Go&s;pell profe&s;&s;ours are expre&s;t in the <HI>Revelations</HI>) I am &s;uch a one, a true Chri&s;tian, for the time was, when I was Borne, and quickly after Baptized, and a vi&s;ible Saint I was ever &s;ince being a member of a (Nationall) Church, and yet this Bea&s;t-like man, doth not &s;o much as <HI>pretend to pietie; which yet were double iniquitie;</HI> for the <HI>&s;hew of his countenance doth witne&s;&s;e again&s;t him,</HI> he <HI>declares his &s;in</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. 3.</NOTE> <HI>as Sodom,</HI> he <HI>hideth it not;</HI> yet &s;o impudent he is, he calls <HI>God, Father.</HI> And &s;o goes on to the end of his prayer. Tell us your opinion here Sir, doth not this tread upon the brinks of Bla&s;phe|mie at lea&s;t? And if it doe &s;o, It were bla&s;phemie to thinke, That our Saviour Chri&s;t would bid a wicked man &s;ay that prayer, for that were to bid him bla&s;pheme the Name of his God, <HI>fearefull and glorious.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly, And in the la&s;t place, to bid him &s;ay this prayer, were to bid him ha&s;ten his owne Cur&s;e, and to bring upon <HI>him&s;elfe &s;wift de&s;truction,</HI> which he mu&s;t needs doe continually, and dayly bla&s;pheming that holy and &s;acred Name, which yet he takes into his mouth, and &s;ayes before the Lord and His people, <HI>Hallowed be Thy Name;</HI> As if a Malefactor &s;hould &s;et&punc; him&s;elfe before his Judge, and remember the Judge of the Murther which he had committed, and call-down vengeance upon him&s;elfe: So doth e|very wicked man that calls God Father, and continues to rebell again&s;t Him; he minds God, as we may &s;ay, to inflict the Cur&s;e
<PB N="30" REF="17"> upon him, which he hath de&s;erved, which certainly &s;hall be done &s;o &s;oone, as he hath filled-up the Mea&s;ure of his Bla&s;phemies: Wee leave it to your judgement, Sir; &s;o you will rule it by the Scriptures, whether a wicked man doth not ha&s;ten his Cur&s;e by letting this prayer goe out of his mouth? Whence have and &s;till doe i&s;&s;ue forth &s;o many vaine, lying, and deceitfull words, and Cur&s;ed Oaths, as he doth by takeing into his mouth the Bread and Wine at the Lords Table? We &s;hall &s;peake more to this in the next Treati&s;e where we &s;hall hold-forth this undoubted &s;igne of a faithfull Mini&s;ter, whom Satans tongue (in his in&s;truments and &s;ervants) is &s;till di&s;quieting, and as they po&s;&s;ibly can, vexing and tormenting, becau&s;e the tongue of this good Mini&s;ter is &s;till, and &s;till will be vexing and <HI>tormenting</HI> him and them: But if a<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 11. 10.</NOTE> Mini&s;ters tongue will not <HI>torment</HI> Satan, Satans tongue will not torment him. There we &s;hall al&s;o commend unto your reading, and, if you plea&s;e, to your tran&s;lating <HI>I&s;idor: Pelu&s;iot's Epi&s;tle to his friend about this prayer,</HI> that &s;o your Saint (that hath no more to plead for his Saint-&s;hip, but that he was borne in &s;inne, &s;o he will acknowledge, onely he is clean&s;ed from it, and he hopes thorowly purged by Bapti&s;me quickly after he was borne, and can &s;ay this prayer before your face in the Congregation:) Wee were &s;aying, That &s;o your Saint may, by Gods ble&s;&s;ing upon your in&s;truction of him at that point, your &s;elfe being better in|formed about it fir&s;t, may con&s;ider, at what an high degree of bla&s;phemy he hath arrived, that dares &s;ay that prayer before his God, while his heart ri&s;eth-up in Rebellion again&s;t Him.</P>
<P>Here wee would add this, that the more excellent your prayer is, and this is excellency in the ab&s;tract, the more unbecoming a loath&s;ome per&s;on it is, as a <HI>pearle in a &s;wines &s;nout;</HI> But this is<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 13. 5.</NOTE> not the wor&s;t, the more excellent and &s;overaigne a thing is, being received or u&s;ed after the <HI>due manner,</HI> and according as God hath appointed it to be received or u&s;ed, the more deadly it workes; the more di&s;tractive it is, the more it ha&s;teneth the cur&s;e upon the &s;pirit, and bringeth-on de&s;truction &s;wiftly, being prophaned, and bla&s;phemed by uncleane lips, and hands; Wee might make in|&s;tance in the <HI>Word</HI> of God de&s;pi&s;ed, and rejected; ca&s;t behind the backe, it is a <HI>&s;avour of death unto death;</HI> at once it kills twice, like the &s;tronge&s;t poy&s;on mixt with the &s;tronge&s;t wine, the very
<PB N="31" REF="17"> &s;ent kills, or as the wine received at the Lords Table by a vi&s;ible <HI>&s;en&s;uall</HI> per&s;on <HI>not having the Spirit:</HI> See by their out-workes, what dreadfull workings the wine hath upon their &s;pirits! But looke to the thing in hand, and here is a loath&s;ome per&s;on, and delights in his loath&s;omene&s;&s;e, which &s;hould be loath&s;ome to him, yet he &s;ayes the Lords prayer. Now ob&s;erve him in his walke, his cur&s;ed act<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">gs therein, and tell your &s;elfe whether the cur&s;e of God, which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> hath been plucking downe upon him&s;elfe with <HI>both hands,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">: as with <HI>cart-ropes,</HI> doth not cleave as fa&s;t to him as his heart cleaveth to his &s;inne?</P>
<P>Wee thinke wee have made &s;ufficient proofe, That a wicked man ought not to &s;ay this prayer, certainly he hath no warrant from our Lord and Saviour &s;o to doe; But &s;ince hee will doe it on his owne head, as we &s;ay, and &s;o is carried head-long towards his cur&s;e, meeting it as it were halfe way; wee have read how hee cur&s;eth him&s;elfe by calling Chri&s;t accur&s;ed; and how he hath drawne upon him&s;elfe <HI>&s;wift de&s;truction;</HI> And wee have been the longer at this point, That all that &s;ee this man with his cur&s;e up|on him, cloathed with it as with a Garment, eating his meat, as was &s;ayd, as a &s;wine doth his, <HI>rolled up in dirt,</HI> may <HI>&s;ee and fly a|way,</HI> as hee will doe, that <HI>heares, and feares,</HI> and will no more pre&s;umptuou&s;ly call God Father, as the wicked man doth, while, with a high hand, and an <HI>uncovered head,</HI> hee acteth <HI>villany</HI> a|gain&s;t the Lord. Wee will clo&s;e this with worthy <HI>Mantons</HI> words; <HI>I have read of a Jewell,</HI> &s;ayth he, <HI>that being put into a</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Upon <HI>James 5. 16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>dead mans mouth, loo&s;eth all its efficacie; Prayer is &s;uch a Jewell in a dead mans mouth, it is of no power nor efficacie, but to ha&s;ten his ruine and utter de&s;truction.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. <HI>Q.</HI> 2.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Q.</HI> II. _WEE come now to make enquiry into the &s;e|cond Que&s;tion; <Q><HI>Whether our Ble&s;&s;ed Sa|viour gave his Di&s;ciples this prayer, That they &s;hould pray to His Father in tho&s;e very words?</HI></Q></P>
<P>The Affirmative is much pleaded for, but generally, and u&s;u|ally,
<PB N="32" REF="18"> by tho&s;e, who are <HI>enemies to the Cro&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t,</HI> adver&s;aries to all goodne&s;&s;e, and not acquainted at all what <HI>prayer in the Holy Gho&s;t</HI> meaneth: Wee &s;ay it againe, becau&s;e wee would not be mi&s;taken, The Affirmative is generally and univer&s;ally pleaded for by &s;uch kinde of men, who cleave as fa&s;t to their formes, as &s;in cleaveth to them; or they to their &s;in; And they beare them|&s;elves out at this point from the&s;e words of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour; <HI>when ye pray &s;ay.</HI> But indeed it is not much to be minded what &s;uch manner of per&s;ons &s;ay, who will catch at any thing, that may make for their pre&s;ent ea&s;e, and put the <HI>fle&s;h to no c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t.</HI> Yet it is to be regarded what any good man &s;ayth learned and godly. And thus, as wee have heard, worthy <HI>Hild:</HI> &s;ayes; <Q><HI>Our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour prae&s;cribed to His Di&s;ciples a forme of prayer, for them to &s;ay by, tying them&s;elves to the very words of it.</HI></Q> Had he attempted the proofe of this a&s;&s;ertion, perhaps he would have found it, a more difficult undertaking than barely to af|firme it; &s;o that excellent man &s;peakes upon a different account, who&s;e words are &s;o much in our hearts, that they mu&s;t needs be much in our mouthes; we will tell our per&s;wa&s;ion here, That a man &s;hall not readily meet with &s;uch like an expre&s;&s;ion in any godly mans writings; and wee thought it our dutie to &s;et it downe, that wee may <HI>wre&s;t</HI> it, what wee can, out of their hands, who are <HI>unlearned,</HI> and <HI>un&s;table,</HI> and doe wre&s;t words, &s;uch words as the&s;e, as they doe all other Scriptures, to <HI>their own de&s;truction;</HI> &s;o wee will now endeavour to evince the Negative; <Q>That our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour did not give this prayer to His Di&s;ciples, that they &s;hould pray this prayer, <HI>tying them&s;elves to the very words <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> it:</HI></Q> for indeed wee <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> worthy <HI>Hilds:</HI> words to be the out|la&s;hing of his pen, &s;tarting a&s;ide, as the able&s;t pen may doe, from its very &s;cope, and maine intendment. <Q>Which was to &s;hew, That our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour prae&s;cribed to His Di&s;ciples a forme of prayer, which &s;hould be to them and His whole Church a rule, and &s;ampler, according to which all our prayers &s;hould be made:</Q> Which is the &s;ame with learned <HI>Beza's</HI> latine note; for it is not in the Engli&s;h, <HI>Perfecta Chri&s;tianae precationis formula, &amp; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> typus,</HI> <Q><HI>a mo&s;t perfect forme of Chri&s;tian prayers, and the very type and mould, wherein to ca&s;t all our prayers;</HI> </Q> which words have no agreement with tho&s;e, that went before, <HI>not onely
<PB N="33" REF="18"> to be;</HI> nor with tho&s;e that follow, <HI>tying them&s;elves to the very words of it,</HI> very cro&s;&s;e, as wee &s;ayd, are the&s;e latter words, to the good mans &s;cope, and intendment: as they are to excellent <HI>Per|kins</HI> words; <Q><HI>The Lords prayer is, as it were, a direction, and &s;am|plar to teach us how, and in what manner wee ought to pray: None is to imagine, wee are bound to u&s;e the&s;e words, and none o|ther: For the meaning of Chri&s;t is not to bind us to the words, but to the matter and manner; and to the like affections in prayer.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Thus wee have heard what others &s;ay; now wee crave leave to ca&s;t in our owne thoughts here, and to give our opinion; <Q>That our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour pre&s;cribing this prayer, did not intend, That any one of His Di&s;ciples &s;hould pray unto the Father in the&s;e very words.</Q></P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. I.</HEAD>
<P>FOr fir&s;t; The whole carriage of this prayer, from the <HI>Alpha</HI> to the <HI>Omega,</HI> from the beginning to the end, and clo&s;ing words thereof, argueth it to be of generall concernment to the whole Church of God, more relating that way to the good of the Body, than to the peculiar good of any member thereof: though wee know this cannot be &s;evered, the good of the whole, and of the part; for that, which is good for the Body, is good for the member too; and what is good for the member, is good for the whole Body; as what is good for the Bee-hive, is good for the Bee, and what is good for the Bee, is good for the Bee-hive; Yet wee conceive when a Di&s;ciple comes before God, hee &s;preads before Him, his peculiar ca&s;e, and &s;aith, not <HI>our Fa|ther,</HI> but <HI>my Father;</HI> not others ca&s;es, but his owne. This wee conceived relates to the Church in generall; but a Di&s;ciples prayer relates to him&s;elfe in &s;peciall, and his owne concernments, though he can no more forget the Church of Chri&s;t, than he can <HI>to eat his bread, or his right hand forget its cunning.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. II.</HEAD>
<P>AGaine, our thoughts are, That the &s;cope, and intendment, of this prayer, is mainly to be looked after, And tells the Di&s;ciple what he is mainly to tend unto, and bend again&s;t, be his
<PB N="34" REF="19"> prayer long, or never &s;o &s;hort, <HI>Viz,</HI> <Q><HI>The Hallowing the great and glorious Name of God,</HI> in the laying him&s;elfe out to the ut|mo&s;t for the advancement of the kingdome of Chri&s;t, in his owne heart, His intere&s;t there, and thorow the world; and the throwing downe the kingdome of &s;in, and Satan there, and here and every where.</Q> This wee conceive was our Lords maine &s;cope in pre&s;cribing His Di&s;ciples this prayer; And this mu&s;t be the Di&s;ciples &s;cope in the moulding their petitions thereafter.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. III.</HEAD>
<P>WEE cannot conceive that this prayer &s;hould be put into the Di&s;ciples mouthes to &s;ay it in tho&s;e words; and yet they never &s;ayd it &s;o farre as wee can heare, not one of the Apo|&s;tles, nor Di&s;ciples in tho&s;e dayes, yet wee meete with many of their prayers: nor any of the Ble&s;&s;ed Martyrs that wee read of, and we have read &s;ome volumnes of them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IV.</HEAD>
<P>ANd la&s;tly, the height and depth, length and breadth of the Contents in this prayer, which wee thinke the under&s;tand|ing of an Angell cannot comprehend, makes us beleive; That the Lord intended not, That His Di&s;ciples &s;hould huddle it-up as he reads it; Nor can we think, That any true Di&s;ciple in the world, that &s;hall well ponder on the matter, and weigh the contents thereof with all his heart and &s;oule (which every true Di&s;ciple doth not doe) will &s;ay <HI>that Prayer</HI> after the manner; <HI>Sing ye prai&s;es with under&s;tanding:</HI> &s;o, put-up your petitions with <HI>under|&s;tanding.</HI> It is good to be full of affection, but it is be&s;t to worke in the full <HI>A&s;&s;urance of under&s;tanding.</HI> Affections without under|&s;tanding, are blind; under&s;tanding without affection is lame; the want of eyther run's us upon a thou&s;and inconveniences. But if any dutie, then that of prayer calls-up all our Affections; It calls for a worke of the under&s;tanding al&s;o. Now, we thinke, no godly man's under&s;tanding (though his onely is opened, re|newed and &s;anctified) is able to goe along with this manner of &s;aying it, as he reads it; he will make a pau&s;e &s;ure at the ontrance&punc;
<PB N="35" REF="19"> <HI>My Father.</HI> We have told you our thoughts, as to this matter. Onely we entreat the Reader to ob&s;erve what he met with in the fir&s;t Chapter &s;econd and third &s;ection, and in the &s;econd Chapter, &s;pecially the fourth paragraph there; together with the fir&s;t para|graph in the Chapter following, which we thinke, refers much to that which precedeth, as to that which followes.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. <HI>Q.</HI> 3.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Q.</HI> III. <Q>_WHether a Godly per&s;on he or &s;he, brings this prayer into the Clo&s;et with them, there and then humbling them&s;elves be|fore their God.</Q></P>
<P>We told you, we maintained the Nega|tive, our Rea&s;ons are.</P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. I.</HEAD>
<P>ANd the fir&s;t we would onely offer to your Con&s;ideration, being rejected by the godly Learned, yet we conceive no rea&s;on is given for their refu&s;ing of it: <Q><HI>That, which is a patterne to make all prayers by, &s;hould not be u&s;ed as a prayer.</HI></Q> To this the onely An&s;wer is; <Q><HI>Therefore the rather it may be u&s;ed as a prayer.</HI> But this makes no proofe, nor doe the words following. <HI>That &s;ure it is, Antient and worthy Divines have reverenced it, as a prayer, choo&s;ing rather to u&s;e tho&s;e words than any other.</HI></Q> And &s;o many worthy Divines doe now, and yet by &s;o doing prove no|thing to the purpo&s;e. We will offer but a word in it, and tell you what we conceive, that the Argument is very &s;trong; <HI>The pat|terne to make all prayers by, is not to be u&s;ed as a prayer,</HI> for if wee u&s;e the patterne for our prayer, wee &s;hall never pray according<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 3. 2.</NOTE> to the patterne; As the Di&s;ciples doe not &s;tint them&s;elves with any degree of holine&s;&s;e, Gods owne purity being their Copie, &s;o neither can they &s;tint them&s;elves in prayer, the Lords owne prayer being their patterne: We proceed.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. II.</HEAD>
<P>WEE thinke it cleane be&s;ides the &s;cope and intendment of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour in giving His Di&s;ciples this Prayer, if they &s;hall plead their ca&s;e with Him in tho&s;e very words;
<PB N="36" REF="20"> Now in this Ca&s;e we cannot reach our Lord's mind, nor eye His &s;cope, but by ob&s;erving what He did while He tabernacled among men; He put up many prayers to His Father, and indeed, though Lord of all, yet as Mediator of His Church, and &s;o a &s;ervant to His Father in the Churches behalfe, He could have nothing, nor<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 2. 8. Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">6. 5<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. Heb. 7. 25.</NOTE> hath He to this day, but He <HI>mu&s;t aske for it:</HI> And among all the&s;e prayers we read not (and <HI>quod non ligitur, non creditur</HI>) That this &s;acred prayer came-out of His &s;acred lips any more than once. Nor have we ob&s;erved it from the mouths of any of His Apo&s;tles, or other of His Deare Children Yet we read of their prayers, and though &s;hort, yet were they moulded after <HI>this man|ner,</HI> <Q>That the throne of His Glory may be advanced in their Hearts; And that the world, and all that, which mightily op|po&s;eth the lifting-up of the &s;ame, may be throwne-downe, Cru&s;hed to the earth and ruined:</Q> but never heard we this Prayer from their lips, nor from any of the Ble&s;&s;ed Martyrs. Now, cer|tainly, the&s;e, being of the Number of That Virgin&punc; Company, fol|low their <HI>Leader</HI> and <HI>Commander,</HI> though <HI>haud pa&s;&s;ibus aequis,</HI> yet they follow Him, and did eye, marke, and behold His Ble&s;&s;ed &s;cope, and intendment in all He did or &s;pake.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. III.</HEAD>
<P>THe Di&s;ciple doth not, as we thinke, bring this Prayer before His Lord for this were to limit and &s;tint him&s;elfe, and &s;o to <HI>Re&s;traine prayer,</HI> which &s;ure was far from the Intent of our Lord to pre&s;cribe &s;o Contrary to the workings of His own Spirit in the hearts of His Cho&s;en; The&s;e find a re&s;traint upon them&s;elves, as often as they find not the Ble&s;&s;ed Spirit enlargeing of them to pray; and then humbled they are, when Comforted they cannot be: But it is far from them, as it was from the Mind of Chri&s;t pre&s;cribing this prayer, to <HI>&s;tint them&s;elves,</HI> &s;o many words, and no more, as acceptable with their God, as &s;o many <HI>Ave-Maries</HI> and <HI>Pater-no&s;ters</HI> given out by Number, you know by whome. A <HI>naturall prayer</HI> put-up by the &s;trength of Nature, is a &s;tinted and a limited prayer: But a <HI>Spirituall prayer,</HI> as a Di&s;ciples pray|er is, hath alwayes an Infinitene&s;&s;e in it; his &s;pirit being right &s;et, is enlarged to a kind of Infinitene&s;&s;e in Gods Service; There is a
<PB N="37" REF="20"> <HI>Naturall Bias</HI> in his &s;oule, which inclines him to a limited prayer; But we know the &s;trength of the Arme takes away that <HI>Bias:</HI> So the &s;trength of the Inward man takes away this <HI>Bias.</HI> Though this Di&s;ciple is not able to doe what is actually infinite, yet his de&s;ire is infinite in this, That being to deale with an <HI>Infinite God,</HI> were he able to doe ten thou&s;and times more than he doth, yet his heart would doe more. Oh that I could doe more; As he growes in grace, &s;o his de&s;ire after grace is enlarged, as much as a wicked man is after the world and &s;in; he enlargeth his de&s;ire <HI>as hell,</HI> and a godly man enlargeth his <HI>as Heaven.</HI> He limits not him&s;elfe; <HI>Tho&s;e de&s;ires are boundle&s;&s;e which the Holy Spirit enlarg|eth to a kinde of Infinitene&s;&s;e, Cau&s;ing tho&s;e to Center in the infinite Love of God unto them through Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> and this is our third Rea&s;on.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IV.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e Di&s;ciples have their &s;tated and &s;et times for prayer eve|ry day. It is true, they pray <HI>Continually,</HI> or without <HI>Cea|&s;ing.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 10. 2. 1 The&s;&punc; 5. 17.</NOTE> Prayer never Cea&s;eth to goe-forth, till the grace de&s;ired comes-in: Though the words of prayer cea&s;e in the mouth; yet the grace of prayer cea&s;eth not in the heart: But they have their &s;tated times for prayer, and the very <HI>flower</HI> and <HI>creame</HI> of time it &s;hall be, which is appointed for that high Service: from hence we prove, That the Di&s;ciple brings not this prayer before his God; He hath more to &s;ay, and mu&s;t take more time for it, than is taken-up in repeating the&s;e words; They have many more words to utter before their God, we &s;ay not, than are contained in that prayer (for all the Angells in Heaven cannot readily tell us, and explaine to us the Contents thereof, or what is contained therein) but many more <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ords than <HI>numerically</HI> word for word are Contained therein; Therefore he mu&s;t take time for it, and, if we may &s;o &s;ay, the <HI>fir&s;tling</HI> thereof; As he prayes to God con|tinually, &s;o he prai&s;es God continually; <HI>prayers and prai&s;es goe together,</HI> very few breathings goe betwixt: but be they few or ma|ny, the Di&s;ciple takes time for it. No &s;ooner is he awake in the morning, but he a&s;cribeth to God the Glory, Who alone g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ve him &s;leepe, which all created &s;trength could not doe; and awak|ned
<PB N="38" REF="21"> him out of &s;leepe, el&s;e he had &s;lept on till the Great Day of the Lord God had come: he prai&s;eth his God for this in the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. And no &s;ooner is he &s;et upon his leggs, but he is upon his knees, prai&s;ing Him with heart and voice, That &s;et him on his leggs, whereas He might have laid him re&s;tle&s;&s;e upon his pillow, where many an head lyeth akeing. But how if he be awakned with paine and &s;orrow upon the fle&s;h? (to take it-in by the way) Notwith&s;tanding he finds matter of prai&s;e, and his heart enlarged that way; He can <HI>&s;ing the high pray&s;es of his God,</HI> for tho&s;e glorious excellencies, that are in Him&s;elfe, and for the Emanations or flowings forth of the &s;ame by Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the exceeding aboundant riches of His goodne&s;&s;e to His beloved ones in and through Him; and to him&s;elfe in &s;peciall; For though his fle&s;h feeles paines upon it, yet &s;aith the Spirit, <HI>I am not &s;icke, mine iniquitie is forgiven, my &s;in is pardoned:</HI> Hitherto he never found, That his Heavenly Father did him any hurt by afflicting him, but good a great deale. Which may mind you of him <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome</HI> tells us off, <Q>who was acquainted with greifes in his mea|&s;ure, as his Lord and Ma&s;ter was (in His Churches &s;tead, and for her &s;ake) that they may never have any hurt therefrom) and never came before his God, but the fir&s;t words he &s;pake, were prai&s;es to his God for his <HI>paines</HI> and <HI>&s;orrows</HI> upon the fle&s;h (to u&s;e his own words) for <HI>his hell here,</HI> as well as for his <HI>Hea|ven</HI> hereafter. And you may remember another, A very good Man, who enjoyed health, and wealth, all was pro&s;perous with him for fiftie yeares together; and after the Date of tho&s;e yeares, he had &s;carce a Comfortable day to the houre of his death:</Q> But this is for our Learning, how prai&s;e-full was he, That his God &s;pared him &s;o many good dayes, and in&s;tructed in&s;tructed him to that Di&s;cretion, as to make an improvement of them, therein to lay-up, as we &s;ay, for a rainy day, or &s;pending time, and to beare his Cro&s;&s;es, now they are come, willingly, and more, re|joyceingly; for he found no lo&s;&s;e by them. Indeed this is the Glorious Priviledge of Di&s;ciples really and indeed &s;uch; <HI>Amidst all their Cro&s;&s;es they find not one Lo&s;&s;e.</HI> But this is it we were proo|ving, There mu&s;t be time for this <HI>prai&s;eing the Lord,</HI> and the&s;e mu&s;t be uttered with a Man's own mouth; and &s;urely the&s;e will not endure to be bounded within a &s;ett forme, nor can they have
<PB N="39" REF="21"> acceptance with their God&punc; But that per&s;on, Man or Woman, who brings that Prayer before his God, Cannot prai&s;e Him for that he hath received (and what hath he, and hath not received?) for him&s;elfe, and for all his, for all which God mu&s;t be prai&s;ed. <Q><HI>Prayer and thankes are like the Double motion of the Lungs</HI> (as<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dr. <HI>G:</HI> of pray+er, <HI>pag. 61.</HI></NOTE> &s;aith that Learned, Holy Man) <HI>the Aire that is &s;ucked in by pray|er, is breathed forth againe by thankes.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Secondly, Nor can he pray unto Him for &s;upply of what is wanting, keeping him&s;elfe to that forme of prayer, and &s;peaking to his God in the&s;e very words. The Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t are very wanting, at lea&s;t none knows their wants or &s;ees their wants, or feel's their wants, as the&s;e doe; And the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> none pray's for the &s;up|ply of their wants as the&s;e doe, the&s;e <HI>poore ones and needie ones:</HI> Indeed the Hebrew word for <HI>poore</HI> (as we have heard) &s;prings from a roote &s;ignifying <HI>De&s;ire;</HI> And the Rea&s;on is, as one &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Caryl. Job 5. 15. 298.</HI></NOTE> <Q>becau&s;e <HI>poore men are commonly rich in de&s;ires.</HI> They that are full of &s;en&s;ible wants, are full of earne&s;t wi&s;hes. And the Rea|&s;on why <HI>povertie of Spirit</HI> in our Spirituall E&s;tate is pronounced a Ble&s;&s;ing, is, becau&s;e the poore in Spirit are full of De&s;ires af|ter Spirituall Riches. They are ever craveing and &s;eeking to be filled with that fullne&s;&s;e which is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>with Grace for Grace;</HI> they would have the Image of every Grace in Chri&s;t engraven upon their Soules; or (in an holy Covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e) they would be as rich in Grace, as Chri&s;t is;</Q> The&s;e are the words of that Excellent Man before cited; more there are and tend much as to give in&s;truction, &s;o to our &s;cope and purpo&s;e, That a Di&s;ci|ples prayer, whereby he makes knowne his Reque&s;ts to God, cannot po&s;&s;ibly be <HI>encircled</HI> or pent-up within that Compa&s;&s;e of &s;ix lines, which may be utternd in &s;o many breathings, or within the &s;pace of one Minut's time; for we thinke within that &s;pace of time and le&s;&s;e, that prayer may be &s;aid, or rather hudled; as with|in two Minut's-time the 67^<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">^h <HI>P&s;alme</HI> may be &s;aid over and over, whereby as you may remember <HI>Bellarmine</HI> could mea&s;ure the huge body of the Sunne, and the quickne&s;&s;e of his race; <Q><HI>For I ob&s;erved</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>the fir&s;t peering of the Sunne on our &s;ide of the Globe,</HI> and <HI>by that time I have &s;aid that P&s;alme over twice, the Sunne is up: and in a full body appeares to us:</HI></Q> So then in twelve breathings the <HI>P&s;alme</HI> is &s;aid over, and over, and in &s;ix breathings
<PB N="40" REF="22"> the prayer is &s;aid. And is not this to the heart of a wicked man, In le&s;&s;e than a minutes time, and that is the &s;malle&s;t parcell of time, he can begin and end his prayer, which being the Lords Prayer, he hath &s;aid it as well as the be&s;t Clarke in the Nationall Church, and yet he prayed no more than that Pillar of Antichri&s;t, in his time, prayed, while he read over that P&s;alme.</P>
<P>But to proceed in this a little farther; A Di&s;ciples Prayer, wherein he him&s;elfe tells his whole <HI>mind to God,</HI> it is not uttered in &s;ix breathings: Certainly he hath much upon his &s;pirit, when he comes before his God. We will put a que&s;tion here; and give you leave to An&s;wer it. What would this Di&s;ciple have more, than he hath, that he is &s;till begging? he hath all, God and all; he is <HI>compleate in Chri&s;t,</HI> and now what can he need? It is granted un|to him, being one of the Number, to be arraied <HI>in fine linnen, cleane and white,</HI> which is the <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Saints:</HI> his <HI>Defence is the Munition of Rockes;</HI> The promi&s;e is made good unto him; <HI>Bread &s;hall be given him, his waters &s;hall &s;hall be &s;ure;</HI> that is, he<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">3. 16. <HI>Cal:</HI></NOTE> &s;hall want nothing for this life, nor for that which is to come; What would this man have more? You are, we hope, a Di&s;ci|ple, and not of the common Ranke or &s;tamp of Di&s;ciples, that have no more to &s;hew for their Di&s;ciple-&s;hip, but that they were borne and Baptized in a Nationall Church. But you are <HI>borne againe</HI> and made a Di&s;ciple indeed: And then you can make an|&s;wer and tell us, what this Di&s;ciple would have more, by what your &s;elfe would have; he &s;ees his <HI>Lord</HI> in the &s;hade, he would &s;ee him in the <HI>Sun-&s;hine;</HI> he would &s;tand more in the Sun-&s;hine of Gods favour; That Sun-&s;hine upon him never wearieth with its beame; The more it is, the more refre&s;hing it is; More of the light of thy countenance, more and more good Lord; Shew me Thy &s;elfe more clearely: let me have a fuller &s;ight of Thee, and in-&s;ight into my &s;elfe; for I would <HI>abhorre</HI> my &s;elfe more, I would <HI>repent</HI> more. We verily beleive, That You, being a Di&s;ciple, doe pray after that manner. And yet you find not a word of all this in the Lord's Prayer, we meane, explicit there, or expre&s;&s;ed; Im|plyed it is and much more in that one &s;weet word, <HI>Father.</HI> We take leave to proceed yet farther, and &s;o to trie your Di&s;ciple|&s;hip.</P>
<P>You beleive on the Name of the Son of God; you know Him,
<PB N="41" REF="22"> <HI>who is eternall life;</HI> yet &s;o &s;ure as you are a Di&s;ciple, you goe on praying, That you may <HI>beleive on the Name of the Sonne of God.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh 5. 13.</NOTE> You doe beleive, and yet you would beleive; you doe beleive, and this &s;hall &s;ave you from all evill; for as you know full well, and doe teach it your people, <Q><HI>It is not this or that Degree of faith, which &s;aveth,</HI> but <HI>the truth of faith, though but as the lea&s;t graine or lowe&s;t degree thereof:</HI></Q> Yet you re&s;t not here, nor will you &s;uffer your people to re&s;t; for he that &s;its downe at the lowe&s;t degree of Grace, it may be doubted, he hath no grace at all, and &s;hall become a Chri&s;tian indeed, when an Ape becomes a Man; or a<NOTE PLACE="marg">He that hath <HI>true grace</HI> may goe to heaven <HI>ce<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tainly;</HI> but he who hath <HI>&s;trong Grace</HI> only goeth to Heaven com|fortably. Mr. <HI>Jen:</HI> on <HI>Jude pag. 165.</HI></NOTE> Nominall Di&s;ciple, becau&s;e Baptized in <HI>England,</HI> becomes a re|all Saint. Grace is &s;till a&s;piring higher and higher, &s;o are you, being a gracious Man; you doe beleive, then we beleive, you would beleive more &s;trongly, that you might act more vigorou&s;|ly in the whole wor&s;hip of your God; Specially in tho&s;e <HI>&s;imple Duties,</HI> which none but the Di&s;ciple performeth, fle&s;h and blood can doe nothing at them; as <HI>to love God; To Tru&s;t him;</HI> To <HI>de|pend on him;</HI> To <HI>have joy and delight in Him;</HI> To have <HI>Commu|nion with Him;</HI> To <HI>take Him for your portion, and inheritance,</HI> and to <HI>be all in all to Him;</HI> The&s;e are &s;imple Duties, are acts of the &s;oule, not compounded of matter and forme, And the&s;e you are able to doe through Him, that &s;trengthen's you: But this you<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 5. 13.</NOTE> could not doe, but that you are &s;till a&s;piring after a full a&s;&s;urance of hope; And for this you bow your knee before your Heavenly Father day and night, for &s;o true Di&s;ciples u&s;e to doe; but then they bound not them&s;elves within the Lords Prayer.</P>
<P>More &s;hould be added to this paragraph; but that we have been large in it. Sometimes this Di&s;ciple loo&s;eth the &s;ight of his God, A Child of Light and walkes in Darkne&s;&s;e of di&s;comfiture and &s;or|row. And what &s;ayes he then to his God? Whome perhaps, his evidences being now &s;o blurred and blotted, he cannot call Fa|ther. There is a Cup of trembling in his hand, there are &s;ad ap|prehen&s;ions in his heart; what &s;ays he now to his God? No man can tell, but the Man in his Ca&s;e; nor perhaps he neither; for he cannot tell him&s;elfe. He is in the &s;ame ca&s;e his Lord and Ma&s;ter was in before him, and that is his Comfort, if he could &s;ee it; he &s;hall be brought out of it anon with joy and gladne&s;&s;e: but this is his ca&s;e at pre&s;ent, his &s;oule is troubled, and <HI>what &s;hall he &s;ay?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">John 12. 27.</NOTE>
<PB N="42" REF="23"> We will ca&s;t a vaile over this and pa&s;&s;e on, <HI>Curae parvae loquuntur in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&egrave;ntes &s;tupent;</HI> but certainly he prayes, rather the Spirit within him; and no &s;et forme in the world helps him with a word here, much le&s;&s;e with a groane, Once more and &s;o to come to a period, or full &s;top here: This Di&s;ciple now on his knees; as we &s;uppo&s;e him to be, &s;preadeth the concernments of his Churches before his God, as neare and deare to him as his owne, he cannot <HI>keepe &s;i|lence</HI> being a faithfull Remembrancer: This takes up &s;ome time al&s;o, and more words, than are numbred up in &s;ix lines; and &s;o much to our fourth Rea&s;on, why a true Di&s;ciple brings not this prayer with him when he kneeles before his God. Before we pro|ceed we would make an&s;wer to that we have heard argued for the bringing the Lords Prayer before the Lord; It is this;</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> When a Di&s;ciple hath but little time, and can &s;peake but few words, then he may draw-up all into a narrow roomth, and &s;ay the Lords Prayer onely, may he not?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w:</HI> To this we &s;ay fir&s;t, That a Di&s;ciple (Remember you &s;till&punc; that we doe not meane a Di&s;ciple at large, a member of the Nationall Church, becau&s;e he was Baptized therein; and received into that huge, we had almo&s;t &s;aid, and let it goe, <HI>Mon&s;trous Bo|dy,</HI> to whome Duty is a burden, and &s;in light, with whome pray|ing time is <HI>wa&s;te-time,</HI> that takes up more time than &s;aying the Lords prayer, we doe not meane him, he is not in our thoughts, unle&s;&s;e it be to mourne over him, and your &s;elfe, that account him &s;uch, we meane a Di&s;ciple indeed, and what we were &s;aying of him, we are &s;peaking out) That a Di&s;ciple indeed, prayeth in|deed, and being a man of much Grace, heares much, and reads much, meditates much, and <HI>prayes much:</HI> he is a man of much prayer; he &s;pends much time to gett Grace, to make him rich to God, to get &s;trength in the inward man, to pa&s;&s;e through all va|rietie of afflictions; for all this he prayes unto his God, at the lea&s;t<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 55. 17. Dan. 6. 10.</NOTE> twice a day, we verily beleive <HI>thrice,</HI> as others have done be|fore him.</P>
<P>It may be &s;aid, this &s;pends much time; whereunto it may be an|&s;wered, That no time is better &s;pent, than that, which is &s;pent in Calling upon God, if called upon <HI>in truth.</HI> It hinders not in our <Q>Bui&s;ine&s;&s;e, though it &s;eeme to hinder and though it takes (the&s;e are Excellent <HI>Pre&s;ton's</HI> words) &s;o much from the heape, yet in|deed
<PB N="43" REF="23"> it increa&s;eth the heape;</Q> The baiting of the hor&s;e hinders not the journey; nor the oileing of the wheele, nor the whetting of the Sithe; though there be a &s;top in the worke for a time, yet as our Common &s;aying is, <HI>A whet is no let;</HI> and praying time as it may be improved, is the mo&s;t gaineing time. <Q><HI>One houres Com|munion</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Dr. G.</NOTE> <HI>with God may in a moment bring in more &s;weetne&s;&s;e, than all other gaineings can doe to Eternity;</HI></Q> The words of that Ex|cellent Man Dr G: We would conclude, That a Di&s;ciple holds on a Con&s;tant Cour&s;e in prayer: He would rather forget to eate his bread, than forget to pray to Him, &amp; to prai&s;e Him for his bread. As he hath &s;tated times for ea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing and drinking, &s;o hath he for praying and prai&s;eing; and if he finds not a fit &s;ea&s;on for eating, yet he will for praying He thinks much and often upon Glori|ous <HI>Pre&s;ton's</HI> words: <Q>The neglect of prayer uncovers the roofe as it were, and the Cur&s;e is rained downe upon our Tables, upon our meate and drinke, upon all our endeavours, and all the en|terprizes we take in hand: Thus with the outward man. And the lo&s;&s;e we &s;uffer in the inward man, upon the neglect of this Dutie is very great, that being ready &s;till to be di&s;tempered, to goe out of order, to contract hardne&s;&s;e and &s;oile; for it falls out with a mans heart; as it doth with a garden, that is neg|lected, it will quickly over-runne with weedes, if you looke not diligently to it&punc; and the way to looke to it, is Con&s;tancy in this Duty&mdash;there is much more to excellent purpo&s;e.</Q></P>
<P>But (2) now &s;uppo&s;e, &s;ome great bui&s;ine&s;&s;e comes to hand (there is none greater than Prayer) and the Di&s;ciple hath but a moments time to breath forth unto his God. What will he <HI>pray in prayer?</HI> we meane, what words will he u&s;e? Happily &s;uch like words as the&s;e; <HI>Lord heare, Lord forgive, Cau&s;e the light of Thy Countenance to &s;hine upon us; and take away that, which more than Eccl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">p&s;eth it from us;</HI> Truely We cannot tell what he will &s;ay, if you can tell, you may tell us. But we are verily per&s;waded, he <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ill not &s;ay the Lords prayer, what ever his time be more or le&s;&s;e; And this is our Confidence in this matter. Now wee pro|ceed.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="44" REF="24">
<HEAD>SECT. V.</HEAD>
<P>WE &s;uppo&s;e this will be granted, having its ground in the word of God, That &s;o &s;oone as a Child Calls God Fa|ther,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 15. 18.</NOTE> and Chri&s;t Lord, he remembers he hath &s;inned again&s;t Him; That is all we will &s;ay, <HI>he hath &s;inned again&s;t Him;</HI> And now, <HI>what &s;hall he doe?</HI> here is guilt Contracted, and filth too, who knowes how much? and now what &s;hall he doe to have the Guilt remoo|ved, and his Con&s;cience pacified, his filth purged, and his Con|&s;cience purified; what &s;hall he doe? &s;urely he hath no way to take, but to flie, as the Man-&s;layer, whome blood pur&s;ued to the <HI>Citie of Refuge,</HI> unto the <HI>fountaine opned for &s;in and uncleanne&s;&s;e,</HI> and Entreate (for all comes-in at the doore of free Grace) that he may be put into the <HI>Jordan of Chri&s;t His Blood.</HI> Well, this &s;hall be in good time, but not yet to his &s;en&s;e and feeling (for we en|quire not what was done in Heaven before time was, but what is done on Earth, and within the heart, to make all &s;ure there) we were &s;aying, he, having taken a right Cour&s;e, and waiting at a &s;ure doore, he &s;hall have a pardon &s;ealed to his Soule anon, in his Lords good time. But yet what &s;hall he doe? for &s;urely &s;omething is to be done. <Q>The Apo&s;tles (&s;aid that Learned Expo&s;itour)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Upon <HI>Job 7. 20 p. 691.</HI></NOTE> gave Go&s;pell Coun&s;ell, yet when men asked them, <HI>What &s;hall we doe to be &s;aved?</HI> they &s;aid not, ye mu&s;t doe nothing, God will &s;ave you by His free Grace;</Q> No, they called them to <HI>repent</HI> and <HI>beleive every one of them.</HI> Sin mu&s;t be knowne to be &s;in (call it by the wor&s;t name you can thinke of, then you call it <HI>Sin</HI>) above<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.</NOTE> mea&s;ure &s;infull, and mu&s;t be acknowledged &s;o to be; <HI>Onely ac|knowledge thy iniquitie. Know the Plaegue of thine owne heart and</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. 13. 1 Kings <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. 38.</NOTE> <HI>mourne for thy &s;inne,</HI> becau&s;e Committed again&s;t the Lord; and doe this as <HI>David</HI> for his Son <HI>every day,</HI> for every day thou &s;in|ne&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 13. 37. Zach 12.</NOTE> and as true Mourners doe, mourne bitterly; and mourne the more becau&s;e thou can&s;t not mourne enough. This is that the Lord will have the Di&s;ciples doe. And &s;o now, for we mu&s;t Con|tract, we will conclude; That Confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in is the great ingre|dient in prayer for pardon of &s;in, whereunto the Scriptures &s;peake every where. Onely Acknowledge: <HI>Confe&s;&s;ing their &s;innes;</HI> And <HI>for&s;aking of &s;in</HI> mu&s;t goe before pardon of Sin; yea and <HI>&s;ubduing</HI>
<PB N="45" REF="24"> of &s;in too: All this in the &s;trength of God; but he mu&s;t be <HI>en|quired</HI> of touching the&s;e matters; He will have &s;in acknowledged; He will have &s;in for&s;aken, put as far away by us, as the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> is from the <HI>We&s;t,</HI> as to our Love to it, likeing of it, de&s;ire after it, delight in it: So far we mu&s;t put it away, before the Lord will tell us, that He hath put our &s;ins &s;o far away from Him&s;elfe and from<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 103.</NOTE> us; That it &s;hall be as po&s;&s;ible for the Ea&s;t and We&s;t to meet to|gether, as for a Man and his &s;in, to hurt him. So now wee con|clude, That this Confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in, which every man will grant, mu&s;t be with a man's owne mouth, not by any &s;et forme what|&s;oever, is not expre&s;&s;ed, no not the lea&s;t &s;ound that way, in the Lords prayer, Therefore his <HI>Di&s;ciples indeed,</HI> what ever your Di&s;|ciples<NOTE PLACE="marg">*</NOTE> doe, bring not this Prayer before their God. And</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. VI.</HEAD>
<P>OUr &s;ixth rea&s;on, why a Di&s;ciple bringeth not this Prayer be|fore his God, is, becau&s;e it is already wrought to his hand: he need not take any paines about it; The lea&s;t Child in his hou&s;e, that can &s;peake, though he cannot read, can &s;ay it. This Di&s;ciple, that knows in his mea&s;ure, what a Di&s;proportion there is, betwixt the Great and Dreadfull God; and this worme, the Creature, (yea ba&s;er than a worme, con&s;idered in him&s;elfe, becau&s;e a &s;infull Creature) or, to expre&s;&s;e it in excellent <HI>Greenhills</HI> words, <HI>betwixt Maje&s;tie and Nothingne&s;&s;e;</HI> And that <HI>&s;loath</HI> to u&s;e the &s;ame man's words, is a Gulf betwixt this God who is all, and this Creature who is nothing at all, in him&s;elf con&s;idered, but a thing of nought, wor&s;e than Nothing; This <HI>Di&s;ciple</HI> now knowing all this in his mea&s;ure, dareth not, as we &s;uppo&s;e, and were &s;aying, Come before his God with a prayer wrought to his hand, but having <HI>acce&s;&s;e to the Father,</HI> through the Mediation of the Sonne, <HI>by one Spirit,</HI> he ca&s;teth him&s;elfe into the Armes of the Spirit, lookes for a &s;upply from Him, enableing this Di&s;ciple to put-up a prayer wrought<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 5. 16.</NOTE> now in him, and wrought out from him by the &s;ame Spirit. This prayer <HI>wrought</HI> to our hands, The Lords Prayer, is the exacte&s;t peice of worke in &s;ight that ever was: But yet this Di&s;ciple that &s;aies this prayer (if any &s;uch there be, as many &s;uch there be in the Nationall Church) is not exact in this prayer; for praying
<PB N="46" REF="25"> this Prayer, wrought to his hand, he prayes nothing to purpo&s;e; Nothing wrought in him by the Spirit of God nor wrought-out from him by the &s;ame Spirit; he doth exerci&s;e neither the <HI>gift</HI> of prayer, nor the <HI>Grace</HI> of prayer. Nay, he doth not exerci&s;e any one facultie of his Soule in &s;aying his prayer wrought to his hand, nor any one member of his body, unle&s;&s;e it be his tongue; and what is <HI>lip-labour</HI> before the Lord, any more than <HI>eye-&s;ervice</HI> be|fore<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Sam. 24.</NOTE> a Man? Certainly this Di&s;ciple is of <HI>David's</HI> mind; <Q><HI>I will not,</HI> &s;aid he <HI>offer unto the Lord my God of that which &s;hall c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t me nothing.</HI> There is a <HI>body-prayer,</HI> of this we have been &s;peaking hitherto (to u&s;e that Excellent Expo&s;itours Di&s;tinction) which<NOTE PLACE="marg">Upon <HI>Job</HI> 11. 13 p. 108.</NOTE> is never alone with a Di&s;ciple, for woe to Body-prayer, when it is alone. And there is a <HI>Soule-prayer,</HI> which may be alone, and<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 1. 13. Neh: 2. 4.</NOTE> as fervent &amp; effectuall both as <HI>Hannah's</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah's</HI> pray|ers were; For the &s;oule and &s;pirit of a prayer, is the &s;oule and &s;pirit in the &s;trength of God lifted-up in prayer, which doth in|finitely more in prayer than the body doth; yet in &s;aying this prayer the body doth nothing, the &s;oule le&s;&s;e. But this is the thing; A Di&s;ciples Body-prayer (wherein he exerci&s;eth him|&s;elfe every day, and likely thrice a day) exerci&s;eth the whole outward-man: The hands pray, knees pray, the eyes pray, (we have this in the place fore-mentioned) <HI>ge&s;tures are &s;peaking in prayer.</HI></Q> By the&s;e we pray when we hold our peace, and lift-up a loud voice, when we &s;ay never a word; but in &s;aying this pray|er wrought to our hands, the Soule and Body both, every power of the one and every member of th' other may fit as &s;till as a &s;tocke; onely let the tongue wagge, and by helpe thereof &s;ay the prayer notwith&s;tanding. The tongue is all-&s;ufficient for that worke; All the Re&s;t both the powers of the Soule, and members of the Body, may &s;tand &s;tock-&s;till the while; when one member is all-&s;ufficient for the worke what needs more? <HI>Fru&s;tr&agrave; &s;it per plura.</HI> We had more rea&s;ons to give why a Di&s;ciple brings not this prayer before his God; but we thinke this may &s;uffice; onely remember this, <HI>Fervent in &s;pirit, &s;erving the Lord.</HI> Wee come now to the fourth <HI>Querie.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="47" REF="25">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. <HI>Q.</HI> 4.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Q.</HI> IV. <Q>_WHether it be comely for a Godly Man, and true Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t to pray the Lords Prayer before his people, that is, to adde it unto the clo&s;e of his owne?</Q></P>
<P>It hath been &s;aid by two onely in our heareing; The one old enough to make a Mini&s;ter if yeares would doe it. But&mdash;<HI>Tempora cert&egrave;</HI></P>
<P><HI>Virtutem nec prima negant, nec ultima donant.</HI> The other young enough, to &s;ay no more: The&s;e two, and one|ly the&s;e &s;pake this, more than ever we heard &s;poken by any in the Clo&s;e of their prayers. <Q><HI>Thou mayest Lord ju&s;tly neglect our imperfect prayers if we &s;hould neglect to &s;ay Thy mo&s;t perfect prayer, Thou ha&s;t pre&s;cribed to us &amp; Commanded us to &s;ay.</HI></Q> If this now can be proved, that our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour hath commanded His Mini&s;ters to clo&s;e their prayers with His prayer, then The Que&s;tion is re&s;olved in the Affirmative, and put out of all Que|&s;tion, <Q><HI>That every Godly Mini&s;ter mu&s;t clo&s;e his prayer with the Lord's prayer.</HI></Q> Why? His Lord commands him: and he is not a godly Mini&s;ter that doth not doe what his <HI>Lord Commands.</HI> But now we are per&s;waded, the&s;e are but men's words, who are re&s;olved to &s;ay &s;omething to carry forth their matters before the people, though they can prove nothing Nay we are Confident, That the&s;e two, <HI>the old Man,</HI> and the <HI>Novice,</HI> affirming, That their Lord commands them to joine His prayer to the end of their owne, have &s;poken Contrary to the mind and will of their Lord, and their <HI>pre&s;umptuous words</HI> will be required at their hands. And herein we doe appeale to the Godly in all the world, Min|&s;ters and people; And if any among&s;t them all, &s;hould affirme it, <HI>That the joyning of this prayer to the end of his owne is commanded him of his Lord,</HI> we would appeale from him, to our onely Lord God Him&s;elfe, the Lord of Glory. He hath commanded His Di&s;ciples to pray; for they &s;hall have nothing, as He Him&s;elfe the Mediatour and Advocate of His Church hath not of His Fa|ther, <HI>but by askeing,</HI> which was &s;aid before. But if He hath com|manded them to pray this very prayer, then we would humbly
<PB N="48" REF="26"> aske why &s;hould they pray any other prayer? or why doe not they not give this the praecedency before any other prayer? this being given them under a &s;peciall command to pray; <HI>When ye pray &s;ay;</HI> as to our under&s;tanding they wre&s;t their Lords words, and thwart His &s;cope and intendment wholy: more of this here|after.</P>
<P>But we come to our undertakeing, which is to Maintaine the Negative: <Q>That it is not comely for a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t to joyne the Lords prayer to the end of his owne.</Q> But fir&s;t we would heare how they doe maintaine the Affirmative: <HI>That it is comely for a Mini&s;ter &s;o to doe;</HI> And what we have heard alledged for the Maintenance thereof, we will take leave to &s;et downe in this place.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <Q><HI>Godly Mini&s;ters &s;ay that prayer at the end of their owne.</HI></Q> We onely reply to that. So doe the ungodly and Bruti&s;h Mini|&s;ters too, all over your Nationall Church; It is their very <HI>Sibbo|leth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">*</NOTE> You may know a Bruti&s;h Pa&s;tor, as by his walke, &s;o al&s;o by<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 12.</NOTE> pronounceing of that prayer, we meane as to the words and &s;ylla|bles there, the&s;e he can frame to pronounce aright, like a Clarke, as we &s;ay. But &s;urely what the&s;e Bruti&s;h ones doe is not comely for the Godly to doe: Nor indeed can we po&s;&s;ibly di&s;cerne their Godline&s;&s;e, godly though they may be, and we hope are, by their &s;o doing.</P>
<P>Secondly, <Q><HI>It hath been antiently &s;o done, and cu&s;tomarily &s;o now and of cour&s;e.</HI></Q> To this we Reply as followeth.</P>
<P>All this makes nothing in the matters of God. <HI>Antiquitie</HI> (though Truth indeed be mo&s;t Auncient) and <HI>Cu&s;tome,</HI> or <HI>mos populi;</HI> the Mode of the people, will plead as hard every whit for the greate&s;t plague of the world, for the <HI>head</HI> (that Man of Sin, <HI>merum &s;celus,</HI> as Learned <HI>Beza</HI>) of that Cur&s;ed Kingdome; For the Shoulders and pillars of the &s;ame, for all their Cur&s;ed doc|trines and practi&s;es; Antiquitie and Cu&s;tome will plead as hard for all the&s;e; And for a <HI>Service-Booke, will-wor&s;hip</HI> too, which is as unplea&s;ing to God our Lord, as it would be to a Prince if we &s;hould pay him money of our owne <HI>Coincing;</HI> for which he would be &s;o farre from thanking us, That he would arraigne-us for Traitours. As a Mini&s;ter mu&s;t not &s;peake from God, but the <HI>preaching of God,</HI> even as it is written: So nor ought he to &s;peake to God, but by the Direction of the &s;ame Word.</P>
<PB N="49" REF="26">
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> But doth not this Ca&s;t &s;ome blot upon the <HI>&V;niver&s;i|ties manner and old Cu&s;tomes?</HI> for Generally the Learned and godly there did conclude their prayers with the Lords prayer; And it was &s;o &s;trictly ob&s;erved, That the Country-Mini&s;ter who never u&s;ed &s;o to doe in his owne pulpit, yet going thither to take his Degree of Bach: or D^r: It was expected of him, he &s;hould clo&s;e his prayer after the u&s;uall manner, and that he might not give offence to others, &s;o he did, though with &s;ome offence to him&s;elfe.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> This we thinke cannot be denied, no more than can this, <HI>That from the Prophets in tho&s;e places, Corruption in Doctrine, as well as prophanene&s;&s;e in life went forth into all the Land.</HI> But we beleive, That it is not now, as then it was; matters are done, we hope, at lea&s;t in de&s;ire and endeavour in right order, and mea&s;u|red forth, according to the Standard of Gods Word: for it is true, we doubt not, which one &s;aith of the pre&s;ent &s;tate of the Univer&s;ities; <Q><HI>There have been more Mu&s;es heretofore, but never &s;o many Graces as now.</HI></Q> But if not, which God forbid, yet <HI>non ad Con&s;uetudinem, &s;ed ad Norman vivimus.</HI> And as many as walke <HI>according to this Rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon the I&s;rael of God. This Rule,</HI> fixing the eye thereupon, and en|quiring not what was the <HI>Cu&s;tome</HI> of men to doe, but what was the <HI>mind</HI> of God that they &s;hould doe.</P>
<P>And this la&s;t &s;aid may &s;uffice in way of An&s;wer to that &s;o com|monly urged, and is thought &s;o Cogent upon Mini&s;ters, next to the pretended Command of Chri&s;t, to adde the Lords prayer to th' end of their own; <Q><HI>That the A&s;&s;embly of Divines in their Di|rectory for Wor&s;hip, have thought fitting, Mini&s;ters &s;hould clo&s;e their prayer with the Lords Prayer.</HI></Q></P>
<P>To that which hath been &s;aid, we would adde but the&s;e two words (1) That we are inclined to thinke, That the fiery indig|nation of the Lord flaming forth again&s;t tho&s;e His enemies, who &s;tood-up in their might for that old <HI>Directory for Wor&s;hip,</HI> com|monly called the <HI>Service-Booke,</HI> or <HI>Booke of Common-Prayers,</HI> and pre&s;&s;ed it upon Gods people with Arguments, <HI>Cogent</HI> enough, and too much with fle&s;h and blood. Whereupon it might, nay it was &s;aid of that &s;aid Booke, <HI>A bloody booke was that Service-booke unto them;</HI> and accordingly was it dealt with by the powers a|bove
<PB N="50" REF="27"> us, though not full-up to the rate of that bloody per&s;ecuti|on was rai&s;ed again&s;t the Godly Mini&s;ters by the &s;ame. We were &s;aying, we are inclined to thinke, That the <HI>De&s;truction from the Almighty</HI> is a <HI>terror</HI> to Godly Mini&s;ters to apply them&s;elves to any other <HI>Directory</HI> for wor&s;hip, than to the <HI>Spirit of God and of Glory;</HI> Who, being the great <HI>purcha&s;e</HI> of Chri&s;ts blood, <HI>promi&s;e</HI> of the Father&punc; and <HI>prayer</HI> of the Son, is given to His Church for their A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;uffi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ient guide, onely Help, and to make an A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">undant &s;upply unto them when they are &s;etting them&s;elves in prayer to make their &s;upplications unto their Father in Heaven. (2) The other word we would adde, is, That when the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel and <HI>Glory of Chri&s;t,</HI> who have their <HI>Mi&s;&s;ion, Commi&s;&s;i|on, In&s;titution,</HI> and <HI>Induction,</HI> chiefly and principally from Him, and can &s;hew their <HI>Letters Patents</HI> for it, when the&s;e, are &s;o hardly Driven, (as tho&s;e are, who are quite forfaken of the Spi|rit of God) that they may u&s;e tho&s;e <HI>platformes of prayer</HI> there pre&s;cribed, or el&s;e not <HI>pray at all,</HI> as we heard before, then they will, (for nece&s;&s;itie, they &s;ay, hath no law) be &s;o bold or impu|dent rather, to u&s;e that <HI>prayer</HI> al&s;o, being the mo&s;t exact forme of all formes. But the&s;e never were, and never &s;hall be &s;o for|&s;aken of their God; And in a&s;&s;ured Confidence thereof we pro|ceed.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <Q>This we have heard, &s;ome one of us at lea&s;t, alled|ged for the &s;aying of this prayer. There is a <HI>&s;ickne&s;&s;e</HI> upon all the faculties of the &s;oule. And the memory amid&s;t the Re&s;t is a very &s;ickly, weake, and infirme thing; So as we many-times forget to put up tho&s;e Reque&s;ts unto God, which were in the purpo&s;e of our hearts to doe. Now to helpe and &s;uccour us in this matter, we adjoine the Lords prayer to the end of ours, that being compleat as we all know, in the whole and in every part, and Containes in it, as the Creed, all things to be beleived, &s;o this, all things to be de&s;ired.</Q> To this we reply.</P>
<P>Granting this fir&s;t, That this <HI>&s;ickne&s;&s;e</HI> is <HI>Epidemicall,</HI> univer&s;al|ly &s;pread over all men, and over all in man. And the Memory, <HI>the Soule's &s;tore-hou&s;e</HI> is fearefully tainted with it, mo&s;t unhappily, and tenaciou&s;ly retentive of all that is evill; So as what was but once heard, &s;eene or done, giving plea&s;ure to the fle&s;h, will be kept in the Memory and repeated there, who knowes how long
<PB N="51" REF="27"> and how often? (yet take-it-in by the way, as often as any evill, &s;eene heard or done is remembred with delight, &s;o often is it act|ed over againe) But now when any thing truely Good is Com|mended to it, and received-in, of how &s;hort continuance it is there? If a <HI>Hand Allmighty</HI> lodgeth it not there, and keepeth it there! The memory of it &s;elfe, and in it's owne nature is a very Step-dame to Good or like a very leaking ve&s;&s;ell. This is her Sickne&s;&s;e, and if it be not Cured, it will be our woe. And now to draw nearer to the point in hand, we cannot po&s;&s;ibly &s;ee&punc; though, we hope, we Crie for His <HI>eye-&s;alve,</HI> which onely maketh to &s;ee; how the <HI>&s;ickne&s;&s;e</HI> of the memory, cau&s;ing the praying man to for|get what he would have remembred, and made his reque&s;t to God for, Can be helped (for to this particular we &s;peake) by <HI>ad|joining His Lords prayer.</HI></P>
<P>We crave leave to aske this Godly Mini&s;ter, what he hath for|got to petition his God in behalfe of the people, to whome he is made an <HI>Over-&s;eer.</HI> He hath not Confe&s;&s;ed their &s;innes &s;o fully nor &s;o feelingly as he &s;hould, and thought to have done; This may be; He knew full well &s;ome &s;peciall mercies his people had received from God, and he quite forgot to render God the prai&s;e; He knew as well &s;ome &s;peciall mercies his people had not and yet felt not any want of them, as a <HI>&s;eeing eye,</HI> and <HI>heareing eare,</HI> but he quite forgot here al&s;o. He was well acquainted with &s;ome par|ticular mi&s;ery, that was felt by &s;ome one or more of his people, being &s;ickne&s;&s;e and &s;orrow upon the fle&s;h: and another mi&s;ery he might know of al&s;o, which is the <HI>mi&s;ery of all mi&s;eries,</HI> becau&s;e not <HI>felt</HI> nor <HI>feared,</HI> yet clapt fa&s;t upon them, <HI>perver&s;ne&s;&s;e of Spirit,</HI> and <HI>hardne&s;&s;e of heart.</HI> Here the Godly man's memory may fal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e him al&s;o. In all the&s;e, he might not petition God as he ought and haply thought to have done, and in &s;ome of the&s;e perticulars his memory wholy failed him. Now he will rele<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ve him&s;elfe and his people, who&s;e good he &s;pecially intends, by <HI>&s;aying the Lords prayer.</HI> But is that the way to releive him&s;elfe or them? We hum|bly offer it to the thoughts of every intelligent Man. Will his re|peating the Lords prayer before the people help them, when they are returned home, to Confe&s;&s;e their &s;in there more fully or fee|lingly? doth that prayer &s;upply them with words that way? or to prai&s;e God for the mercies they have, or to pray unto Him for
<PB N="52" REF="28"> what they would have; for the takeing away the Stone in the heart, if it be not all over Stone, as de&s;irerou&s;ly as we would have the Stone taken-out of the Bladder; but is there one expre&s;&s;e<NOTE PLACE="marg">*</NOTE> word in the Lords prayer that helpes to the putting-up that great petition? wee meddle not with what is Comprehended there (which exceeds the Comprehen&s;ion of an Angell) but with what is <HI>expre&s;&s;ed</HI> there: And to our &s;eeming there is not in that prayer, one expre&s;&s;e word there, that can helpe the praying man in all or any of tho&s;e perticulars before-mentioned.</P>
<P>To clo&s;e this we conceive it to be thus; every godly per&s;on going to prayer, goes to God in the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; <HI>Through Him by the Spirit, he hath an acce&s;&s;e unto the Father.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 2.</NOTE> And oh what a deale of Eloquence and Rhetorick is in this one word, <HI>Father!</HI> how it works upon the bowells of the Father, upon the bowells of the Child too! &s;o as the Child cannot chu&s;e but crave, the Father cannot chu&s;e but grant, what ever is good for the Child. There is a reciprocall worke &s;till, a reflexing Act of the &s;oule. The Father's bowells yerne towards the Child, The Child's bowells yerne towards the Father. But we recall our &s;elves, being to deliver our thoughts what a Godly Mini&s;ter doth, when he hath entred the pulpit. Surely in de&s;ire and endeavour he comes wholy off from him&s;elfe; he u&s;eth all that Ged hath given him, and layeth out the very <HI>Male of his flocke,</HI> for that very end given him: but he tru&s;teth it not, he hath no <HI>Confi|dence in the fle&s;h:</HI> It is fully and wholy &s;et upon his God; <HI>He loves to be tru&s;ted, and cannot be tru&s;ted too much; as the creature cannot be tru&s;ted too little.</HI> In a word, he rolles him&s;elfe upon <HI>God,</HI> putts him&s;elfe as he can, into the good <HI>Spirits hand;</HI> Leaves his matters there, humblie expects &s;upplies from Him; He is in the place, where he &s;hould be, unto which his God hath called him; upon his worke, which he doth with more Delight than to receive his wages. Now he would not doubt but that the good Spirit to Whome he hath committed him&s;elfe and his worke, will carry him through it both in praying and preaching. And now, for now we are clo&s;eing the point, notwith&s;tanding the &s;ickne&s;&s;e of his memory, and many other his infirmities, who knowes how many? yet <HI>he knowes Whome he hath tru&s;ted,</HI> and upon Who&s;e &s;core, and that He is able to leade him unto his worke, and to carry him
<PB N="53" REF="28"> through his worke&punc; nor dares he for his life take a dead letter<NOTE PLACE="marg">*</NOTE> (&s;uch a thing is the Lords prayer, as uttered by Man, as dead as other letters he reades in the &s;ame Chapter) he will not, we were &s;aying take a dead letter to helpe the living Spirit. The&s;e are our thoughts of this matter.</P>
<P>Fourthly, <Q>We have heard in the La&s;t place, this alledged for the &s;aying the Lord's prayer at the end of their owne prayer; our prayers are very imperfect, we all know, and God may neg|lect them; therefore wee adde the Lords prayer to the end of our's, that perfect and compleate prayer which the Father will not neglect.</Q></P>
<P>We replie, Granting as before, that the prayers of the be&s;t men are but imperfect, as them&s;elves are, very imperfect things. Pray|er is a mixed or Compounded Dutie, for though it be wrought within by the Spirit of God, before it be put-out by the tongue, yet fle&s;h hath much to doe in it, enough to defile it; and &s;o the be&s;t prayer formed as we heard, pa&s;&s;eth from us, as Wine through a Dunghill, therefore the&s;e can have no acceptance for the pray|ers &s;ake, nor for his &s;ake that prayeth: if that be all which makes for its acceptance, it will be neglected &s;ure enough; but for His &s;ake onely, Who&s;e bui&s;ine&s;&s;e it is now in heaven to <HI>take away the</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 5.</NOTE> <HI>iniquity of our holy things,</HI> and <HI>to pre&s;ent our per&s;ons and our &s;er|vices pure and &s;potle&s;&s;e in His &s;ight;</HI> And, in &s;peciall, the&s;e pray|ers as the &s;weete&s;t <HI>odours</HI> in the No&s;trills of His Father; provided &s;till, that we loath this uncleanne&s;&s;e, that cleaves &s;o fa&s;t to our per&s;ons and prayers, and put it away as a loathed thing; Now it &s;hall doe us no hurt, nor hinder our prayers neither; for it is not <HI>what Corruption cleaves to us, but whether we cleave to it; not the having of it;</HI> for <HI>as &s;ure</HI> we have it, as it is &s;ure we have fle&s;h: <HI>but it is the Loveing of it. No more &s;in is imputed by God, than is &s;eene and allowed by us.</HI> So then it is granted, That Prayers are very imperfect, they receive a tincture of uncleanne&s;&s;e, which cleaves to the &s;pirit and mind of a man, though renewed, that are &s;ub&s;ervient and in&s;trumentall in this praying worke; they are <HI>&s;im|ple duties,</HI> that are &s;o good, that none but the good can doe them, and they cannot doe them ill, we meane, not <HI>&s;infully,</HI> though <HI>im|perfectly,</HI> as to <HI>love God,</HI> to <HI>feare</HI> Him, to <HI>tru&s;t</HI> Him, to <HI>rejoyce,</HI> yea to glory in Him, having cho&s;en Him for their portion, and &s;et their hearts upon Him.</P>
<PB N="54" REF="29">
<P>To put a clo&s;e to this al&s;o. Will the adding that perfect pray|er to the end of yours, make any thing at all towards the takeing away the uncleanne&s;&s;e of your prayers? or helpe at all again&s;t the imperfection thereof? We take it, you mu&s;t an&s;wer one way or other; It helps, or it doth not helpe: if you &s;ay it helpeth, how ab&s;urd were your &s;aying? you know, <HI>Who liveth ever</HI> to helpe at this worke, and <HI>all proud helpers together with Him &s;hall &s;toop un|der Him;</HI> If you &s;ay the adding the Lords prayer to the end of yours, helpeth not, no, not at all, then you &s;ay all the Truth as to this matter; but withall we feare, you charge your &s;elves with &s;ome folly, in adding that to your prayers, which profiteth not at all, being never intended for that end. We will conclude with this, It profiteth no more than doth dead fle&s;h profit a quickned and quicking &s;pirit: So we come to make out the <HI>Negative, That it is not comely for a Godly Mini&s;ter to adde the Lords prayer to the end of his owne.</HI></P>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. II.</HEAD>
<P>OUr Rea&s;ons are the&s;e; Fir&s;t, Their Lord commands them not &s;o to doe; for if &s;o, an ab&s;urditie would follow; If their Lord hath commanded them &s;o to doe, then <HI>&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">li &amp; &s;emper,</HI> this is the onely <HI>prayer</HI> they mu&s;t &s;ay, and alwayes &s;ay; for the Com|mand<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"></NOTE> of Chri&s;t mu&s;t take place &s;till. It is this prayer and no other, and not at this time onely, but at all times, <HI>When ye pray &s;ay.</HI> Thus we conceive it mu&s;t be, and this were very ab&s;urd and in|congruous to common &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on. The Commands of God in the old Te&s;tament, as to the Sacraments there, and other legall ob&s;ervations of places and of Dayes, they had their <HI>untill: untill the fullne&s;&s;e of time &s;hall come,</HI> untill God be manife&s;ted in the fle&s;h, for the&s;e pointed unto Him, <HI>That was to come;</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">t the Commands of Chri&s;t now, as we conceive, bind us to their ob&s;ervation till His Comming in &s;ome glorious way, whether to re&s;tore His Church, <HI>Math: 17. 11. Acts</HI> 3. 21. or make her compleate in Glory, is too deepe for our &s;hallowne&s;&s;e; But His commands bind us <HI>till</HI> His Comeing. Nothing &s;hall be added to them or taken from them. See <HI>Hild:</HI> on <HI>Joh: 4. pag:</HI> 187.</P>
<P>Secondly, If their Lord commands them to &s;ay this prayer at
<PB N="55" REF="29"> the end of their owne, then the Godly Mini&s;ters all over the Land, truely and indeed &s;uch, could have no more omitted the &s;aying of it, than they could forbeare to eate and drinke: for the Commands of Chri&s;t, all and every one doe come with as much force upon their Spirits, to doe thereafter, as Eating and drinking come upon them when their need is. For they have the &s;ame mind that is in Chri&s;t, they <HI>delight to doe His will,</HI> His Command, His <HI>Law is within their heart,</HI> the doing of it is their meat and drinke, (&s;o &s;aith the Spirit) now what an ab&s;urd thing were this, for can it take with a Rea&s;onable man; That the&s;e words, <HI>when ye pray &s;ay</HI> (this prayer at the end of you<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s) <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">or <HI>have not I commanded you?</HI> have they not My Stamp upon them? And yet &s;carce one Godly Mini&s;ter among many doe or dare &s;ay it at the end of their owne. Certainly they would doe the Command of their Lord, boldly and con&s;tantly, and fervently too; though it &s;hould put them to as much <HI>co&s;t</HI> the doeing of it, as is imaginable, yet they would doe it, <HI>Their Lord hath commanded it.</HI> This is the poin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, The Godly Min<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ter would doe it, he could not but doe it, were it commanded him of his Lord, <HI>when ye pray &s;ay.</HI> And it were ab|&s;urd to &s;ay or thinke the Contrary.</P>
<P>And which we mu&s;t not forget, It were as ab&s;urd to thinke, that any one Bruti&s;h Pa&s;tour, amid&s;t the <HI>Droves</HI> and <HI>Herds</HI> of them, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ould &s;ay this prayer, &s;uppo&s;e now, what they pretend&punc; our <HI>Lord Commanded them</HI> &s;o to &s;ay, <HI>when ye pray &s;ay;</HI> this pray|er after your owne, for it hath My &s;tamp of Command upon it, &s;uppo&s;e it &s;o to be, as they &s;ay, Then it were ab&s;urd to thinke, they would &s;ay, as now they doe willingly and more, rejoyceing|ly, it being commanded them of God; for all the Commands of God, as was &s;aid before, are an abomination to them: they ab|horre<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;tmas day. pag. 18, 19.</NOTE> to doe them, as they <HI>Abhorre God&punc;</HI> their heart &s;tands in the greate&s;t oppo&s;ition to the Commands of Chri&s;t; as doe the re|mote&s;t extreames, Heaven and Hell. The&s;e doe wickedly as they can, and cannot but doe it, <HI>fullfilling all the wills of the fle&s;h,</HI> and &s;o they will doe, that's the <HI>voice of their nature;</HI> The Godly Man doth <HI>fooli&s;hly</HI> &s;ometimes, we meane <HI>&s;infully</HI> again&s;t the commands of his Lord, but not with full con&s;ent of his will, he doth it&punc; over|taken now, or &s;urprized, or betrayed, but, <HI>oh! he would not doe it,</HI> that is <HI>the voice of Grace.</HI> The evill man in doeing God's com|mands,
<PB N="56" REF="30"> is as the good man in doeing the commands of the fle&s;h. The evill man does doe God's Commands &s;ometimes, he reades, and heares, and prayes, but as unwillingly all this, as <HI>Haman</HI> brought <HI>Mordecai</HI> on hor&s;ebacke through the &s;treets of the Ci|tie, <HI>that he would not doe in good things, that doth he.</HI> The godly man &s;ometimes doth the Commands of the fle&s;h, which are mo&s;t contrary to the Commands of Chri&s;t, but <HI>what He hates</HI> that <HI>doth he.</HI> This is the point, and &s;o we have done, A Bruti&s;h Pa&s;tour, and a bruti&s;h people are &s;o farre from doeing the Commands of Chri&s;t, That they <HI>hate</HI> to doe it, <HI>with their whole heart, and with their whole &s;oule;</HI> and it were ab&s;urd to &s;ay or thinke the contra|ry. <HI>When ye pray, &s;ay</HI> (this prayer after your owne) The Lord Chri&s;t commands no &s;uch thing, neither ever came it in His heart, for could we &s;uppo&s;e, our Lord had commanded &s;o to doe, The Pa&s;tour <HI>after Gods owne heart</HI> had never omitted it; The Bruti&s;h one had never &s;aid it, unle&s;&s;e as a Parret his <HI>chaire,</HI> he had not &s;aid it like a Clarke, as now he &s;ayes it, nor done it &s;o, as he doth the wills of the fle&s;h. This is the &s;econd.</P>
<P>Thirdly, We would aske this Godly Mini&s;ter, what good he finds by adding this prayer to the end of his own, which we would &s;uppo&s;e was <HI>wrought</HI> in him, and out from him, by the Spirit of God. We know <HI>Cui bono?</HI> is the greate&s;t enquiry; and in this Ca&s;e, what Spirituall advantage by &s;o doing? what hath this ad|vantaged the Spirit; God's Spirit, or his owne, renewed by the &s;ame Spirit? We pa&s;&s;e this, leaving it upon his thoughts, having &s;poken &s;o much thereunto before; onely this we would adde; It is, you know, a &s;ure &s;aying, <HI>That every act of Grace, extends grace in the heart of a Di&s;ciple; as every act of &s;in, extends &s;in in the &s;inner; for grace,</HI> as corruption, gaines by acting; Now it is left upon your thoughts, whether you have found grace hath been extended in your heart, by the addition of this prayer to the end of your owne?</P>
<P>Fourthly, What good doth he doe by repeating this prayer, or what advantage is it to his hearers? Certainly a Godly Mini|&s;ter &s;hould looke to that, whereby he may <HI>profit his people. The Preacher was wi&s;e;</HI> and how did he evidence his wi&s;dome? <HI>He</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 12. 9.</NOTE> <HI>&s;till taught the people knowledge, yea he gave good heed, and &s;ought out:</HI> he would not &s;peake a word &s;ure but to profit, and the build|ing
<PB N="57" REF="30"> up of his people. Two great workes he is continually ver&s;ed and exerci&s;ed in, being charged upon him, <HI>praying and preaching,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 6. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> and how &s;tudiou&s;ly carefull is he, being the peoples mouth to God, and God's mouth to the people, that not one word pa&s;&s;e from his mouth, which makes not for the good of his people, and for the clearing of his account at the great Day. He remem|bers well before Whome he is, and to Whome he &s;peakes <HI>in pray|er,</HI> and from Whome he &s;peakes <HI>in preaching.</HI> And he con&s;iders, as he can the infinite di&s;tance betwixt Maje&s;tie and Nothing; and now how fixedly doth he looke to Him who is the <HI>Middle per&s;on,</HI> and having <HI>laid His hand upon Both,</HI> &s;tands as a &s;creen, be|twixt <HI>everla&s;ting Burning,</HI> and this <HI>peice of dried &s;tubble,</HI> as in it &s;elfe con&s;idered: and &s;o rolling him&s;elfe upon This <HI>one Mediatour,</HI> and ca&s;ting him&s;elfe into the hands of His Spirit; and tru&s;ting in His &s;upply, he falls to his worke, and now what advantage hath hee, or have his hearers by addition of this prayer? that is the Que&s;tion, and the an&s;wer thereunto, you mu&s;t make unto your God; onely this which we have heard, we will &s;ay more, which you know is a Mini&s;ters <HI>Motto,</HI> or &s;hould be, <Q><HI>Nu&s;quam doceo, ubi non moveo: Nu&s;quam moveo ubi non doceo,</HI> I never teach &s;avingly, where I doe not move or &s;tirre feelingly; that is prae|vailingly: nor doe I ever &s;o move, where I doe not &s;o teach,</Q> &s;o we leave this upon your thoughts, and proceed to one Rea&s;on more.</P>
<P>Fifthly, To our &s;eeming, it is a very &s;infull doeing to adde this prayer to the end of our owne, and this upon a threefold ac|count.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, You glad the hearts of them that &s;hould not be gladded, the wicked we meane; if yon have not heard it &s;aid by them, we have once and againe, <HI>What a Brave Mini&s;ter have we to day?</HI> Why? <HI>he &s;aid the Lords prayer twice to day</HI> (and oh how &s;weetly did he &s;ay it!) and that was all they ob&s;erved; for the addition of that prayer, rendred him &s;o gracious in their eyes, and his Ser|mon &s;o &s;weet. Certainly we mu&s;t not <HI>glad the hearts of wicked ones,</HI> for then we glad <HI>That Wicked-One.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Ye mu&s;t not make the wicked Bla&s;pheme in Calling God, <HI>Father;</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;t accur&s;ed;</HI> but this they will doe in &s;pight of your heart; for they and they onely will &s;ay it after you,
<PB N="58" REF="31"> and if they &s;hould be a&s;leep, as Commonly they are, all the time of your praying, yet they will awaken at this prayer, or if, while you are running it over with the <HI>&s;peed of a good Clark,</HI> they &s;hould chance to nod at the fir&s;t or &s;econd Petition, yet they will be per|fectly awaked at that <HI>&s;ignall Conclu&s;ion, AMEN</HI>&mdash;But wee forbeare&mdash;for <HI>Nemo libent&egrave;r moratur in a&s;peris.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Yee <HI>&s;ad</HI> them, whome the Lord would not have <HI>&s;ad|ded,</HI> yee &s;ad the hearts, we thinke, of all the truly Godly there; They cannot endure to heare the Name of God prophaned, That &s;weete&s;t Name, <HI>Father,</HI> Bla&s;phemed; their <HI>onely Lord,</HI> cal|led <HI>accur&s;ed;</HI> They cannot endure it, it is more greivous to them to heare this within the meeting place, than &s;ee their filthy Con|ver&s;ation without We tell you againe; The Truely Godly can|not endure to heare this, they can with much more patience heare their Earthly father abu&s;ed, &amp;c. But their heavenly Father, <HI>Who loved them,</HI> and <HI>Gave His Son unto them;</HI> and them unto His Son: and this Son of God, Who, taking their nature, hath redeemed their Soules from all adver&s;itie, wa&s;hing them in His owne blood; we were &s;aying, they cannot endure to heare their <HI>Father Bla&s;|phemed.</HI> nor their Lord <HI>called accur&s;ed;</HI> nor that Signall Word, <HI>Amen</HI>&mdash;ecchoed forth by per&s;ons little better than <HI>Quakers</HI> and <HI>Ranters;</HI> damnable <HI>Hereticks; wicked and &s;inners before the Lord exceedingly.</HI> But wee have done: The&s;e are our Rea&s;ons, why a Godly Mini&s;ter may not adde the Lord s prayer to th' end of his owne. Onely you will remember here what an Excellent Man &s;aid; <Q><HI>It is Better to occa&s;ion wrath in the Bad, than greife in the Good.</HI></Q></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. And fift <HI>Querie.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>Q.</HI> V. <Q>_WHether <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> taught his Di&s;ciples to pray by giving them formes of prayer to &s;ay? And, (which may be queried there|upon) Whether a Parent can teach his child to pray, by &s;etting <HI>formes</HI> of prayer before him whereafter to pray?</Q> As thus (for wee would be cleare, as to the holding-forth our meaning, and per&s;wa&s;ion, in
<PB N="59" REF="31"> this matter) <Q>here, Child, is a forme of prayer, when you pray &s;ay as you &s;ee here is pre&s;cribed unto you.</Q></P>
<P>That this ought to be, we meane, That a child may and ought be taught to pray by formes of prayer &s;et before him, is affirmed and argued from <HI>Johns</HI> practi&s;e with his Di&s;ciples. Now our per|&s;wa&s;ion is, That <HI>John</HI> did not give his Di&s;ciples, nor &s;hould a pa|rent give his child any <HI>forme of prayer</HI> whereafter to pray. And if he &s;hall &s;o doe, we are inclined to thinke, he hath not by &s;o do|ing, taught his child to pray, we meane, by giving the child a forme whereafter to pray.</P>
<P>We will heare, as hitherto we have don, what we have heard &s;aid, for the holding forth the Affirmative; and</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, This is forced again&s;t us, without any &s;hew of rea&s;on, as we conceive, <Q>That we allow not a parent to teach his child to pray.</Q></P>
<P>Truely we would not &s;ay it for a world, for we know it is a pa|rents Duty to teach his Child to pray, and to make it their very worke and their bui&s;ine&s;&s;e, that their Child may be &s;till Learning at that high worke.</P>
<P>Secondly, <Q><HI>But this cannot be done, but by giving them a forme of words wherebyto pray.</HI></Q></P>
<P>We think, yes; it may, by Gods ble&s;&s;ing upon the Parents faithfull and Con&s;tant endeavour, this way; and that a forme of prayer pre&s;cribed will rather hinder than further the worke, as was &s;aid before.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <Q><HI>But ye, in &s;o &s;aying, doe Cro&s;&s;e,</HI> I verily beleive, <HI>the practi&s;e of mo&s;t the Godly all over the world.</HI></Q></P>
<P>It is but your Faith, and it is quickly &s;aid, and impo&s;&s;ible to be Proved, <Q><HI>That mo&s;t of the Godly give their Children formes of prayer, to teach them to pray;</HI></Q> though you doe &s;o, you will not conclude that others &s;o doe. You may be, as was &s;aid, <HI>norma pub|lica,</HI> as a patterne or &s;tandard to your owne people and Chil|dren, not &s;o to others.</P>
<P>Fourthly, <Q><HI>We are &s;ure we have a &s;ure patterne for it, John Bapti&s;t him&s;elfe.</HI></Q></P>
<P>We had rather, you had &s;aid, we have a &s;ure word for it from the Lord God Him&s;elfe: Yet we refu&s;e not this patterne; As farre from De&s;pi&s;ing what <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> did, as we are from reject|ing
<PB N="60" REF="32"> what <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> &s;aid; And this you &s;ay <HI>John</HI> did, <HI>he</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 11. 1.</NOTE> <HI>taught his Di&s;ciples to pray;</HI> we yeild it; and that every Godly parent is to make him his patterne, in teaching his Child to pray.</P>
<P>Fifthly, <Q><HI>The<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> he mu&s;t give his Child a forme of prayer, not po&s;&s;ible el&s;e to teach him to pray. Be&s;ides &s;o taught John his Di&s;|ciples to pray, as worthy</HI> Hild: <HI>&s;ayes, by giving them formes of prayer to &s;ay.</HI></Q></P>
<P>We move heavily here, becau&s;e again&s;t the Streame, even of the Learned in this very matter; <HI>John's teaching his Di&s;ciples to pray.</HI> Yet if we have the Mind of Gods Spirit, and the tide of the Scriptures with us, we &s;hall hold-on our cour&s;e, and attaine our end anon. To this wee &s;ay then; <Q>That it is very po&s;&s;ible to teach a child to pray, without giving them formes of prayer to &s;ay;</Q> And &s;o wee are per&s;waded <HI>John</HI> taught his Di&s;ciples to pray; wee would be rightly under&s;tood here, &s;peaking after the manner of men, and according to the po&s;&s;ibilitie, our heavenly Father, for his onely Sonnes &s;ake, hath made po&s;&s;ible unto men. It is not cleare to us, nor doe wee thinke it po&s;&s;ible for any man to make it cleare to him&s;elfe from the word of God, <HI>That John taught his Di&s;ciples to pray by giving them formes of prayer to &s;ay;</HI> He taught them to pray, that is out of all que&s;tion, for &s;o wee read, and &s;o he did his dutie, and full-up to his charge. But that <HI>he gave them formes of prayer to &s;ay,</HI> this is of mans adding, and upon an ungrounded &s;uppo&s;ition, as wee conceive; <Q><HI>That it was not po&s;&s;ible for John, but by tho&s;e formes to teach his Di&s;ciples to pray.</HI></Q> Wee conceive, yes; And that <HI>John</HI> in tho&s;e dayes, and that a godly parent in the&s;e our dayes, can skill better to teach his child to pray without formes of prayer, than with them.</P>
<P>Surely <HI>John</HI> did teach his Di&s;ciples, <HI>To Whome they</HI> were to ad|dre&s;&s;e them&s;elves in prayer, after he had told them fir&s;t what a &s;olemne and &s;acred worke it was; And then acquainted them with the <HI>New and living way unto the Father, through Whome and</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14. 6. Heb. 7. 19. 10. 19, 20. Eph. 2. 18.</NOTE> <HI>by Who&s;e hand, introduction, or hand-leading they have acce&s;&s;e unto the Father.</HI> He manife&s;ted unto them, as he could, for that was his great worke to doe, The <HI>Me&s;&s;ias;</HI> he &s;hewed Him openly be|fore them; and what lo&s;t ones they were without Him. And what glorious creatures they are, being <HI>found in Him, not having
<PB N="61" REF="32"> their owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> which more <HI>in&s;nareth the &s;oule, and in|dangereth it al&s;o, than the gro&s;&s;e&s;t &s;ins doe.</HI> It is a grave and weigh|tie<NOTE PLACE="marg">D^r <HI>G</HI> trial. <HI>gr. 1. 53.</HI></NOTE> &s;peech which that excellent man hath; <Q><HI>There is no danger to be lifted-up hy the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of another, for it is without us, wee can't vainly boa&s;t of it, for that faith, that apprehends it, emptyes us fir&s;t of our &s;elves, and goeth out to another for it. But &s;anctification being a worke wrought in us, wee are apt to doate on that, as too much upon any excellency in our &s;elves.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Surely <HI>John</HI> beate them off from their <HI>owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> the putting <HI>any confidence in their fle&s;h;</HI> he clubbed downe that <HI>Mon|&s;ter,</HI> for &s;o <HI>Luther</HI> calls it; he treated much with them, as wee reade, <HI>about Repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Je&s;us&punc; Chri&s;t;</HI> and dealt with them much, &s;pecially with his Di&s;ciples, in this, what <HI>blind, poore, naked, emptie ones they mu&s;t be in their owne &s;en&s;e and feeling,</HI> before it can ever enter into their thoughts to pray <HI>for the anoynting with eye-&s;alve,</HI> that <HI>they may &s;ee a far-off,</HI> or before they will looke after faith, which pitcheth the &s;oule up|on Chri&s;t, and then fetcheth in all that maketh truly rich, and put|teth upon the &s;oule the glorious cloathing of the Saints, emptieth the &s;oule, and then fills it with the <HI>fulne&s;&s;e of God, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Thus wee conceive, and by no other meanes did <HI>John</HI> teach his Di&s;ciples to pray; Wee cannot reach to his words, and may &s;eeme too bold in making offer that way; But thus wee conceive, and wee &s;ay it againe, <HI>John</HI> taught his Di&s;ciples to pray. And not by pre&s;cribing them certain formes of prayer to &s;ay, when they come before their God. And this wee conceive to be the ready way a godly parent takes now to teach his childe to pray to his God. What way mu&s;t he take? This he may know better than wee. But he mu&s;t teach the childe to know God fir&s;t; or, if to pray fir&s;t, then to pray, that he may know Him, beleeve in Him and obey Him; And this the parent cannot well teach the childe till he hath taught the poore &s;imple creature to know it &s;elfe fir&s;t in &s;ome mea&s;ure, and what need he hath <HI>of a God in Chri&s;t</HI> (for &s;o the parent dropps into the childe, as he can, a little ve&s;&s;ell, and a le&s;&s;e mouth to receive in, and how much falls by, and how little is in when it is there in &s;uch matters as the&s;e are?) But this (wee were &s;aying) the godly parent endeavours to doe now a little
<PB N="62" REF="33"> and then a little, A little more knowledge of him&s;elfe, what he is in the <HI>fir&s;t Adam,</HI> as he was borne in the world, <HI>a childe of death,</HI> of, or <HI>under wrath there;</HI> what they are, that are tran&s;lated or ta|ken out of the <HI>fir&s;t Adam, in whome all dye,</HI> and are <HI>pl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nted in the &s;econd Adam, in whome all are made alive:</HI> This and what more wee cannot &s;o well tell the godly parent treateth w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th his childe about, and &s;o <HI>teacheth him to pray;</HI> and a farre more ready way doth he take by &s;o doing, then if he could give unto his hands All the prayer-books that are in the world. This is our per&s;wa&s;ion, and that wee are &s;o taught out of the word of God. And truly wee are the more inclined hereunto.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, By rea&s;on that this was the manner of all the godly in the holy Scriptures, teaching their&punc; children to pray &s;o farre as wee can learne thereby, and have any di&s;cerning thereof, held forth before us. Heare his words to <HI>Solomon</HI> his &s;onne, they con|teine much; <HI>Know thou the God of thy father</HI> [A mightie motive<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Chro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. 28. 9.</NOTE> to <HI>Solomon</HI> to learne to know the Lord; he had a godly father that knew him, as the father had a godly mother that knew her God; and &s;urely taught <HI>David</HI> to know him al&s;o, <Q><HI>The &s;on of</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 8. 6. 16. 116. 16.</NOTE> <HI>thy handmaid] And &s;erve him.</HI></Q></P>
<P>[<HI>Solomon</HI> mu&s;t know the God of his father, before he can &s;erve Him, as his father did. Wee cannot wor&s;hip or pray unto Him, whom wee know not, for in &s;o doeing, wee <HI>wor&s;hip wee know not</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">John 4. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">2.</NOTE> <HI>what.] A God.</HI></P>
<P>A God in Chri&s;t mu&s;t in &s;ome mea&s;ure and degree be reveiled to us, before wee can come to God, and plead our matters with Him, in His Sons ble&s;&s;ed Name, and for His glorious&punc; &s;ake; Wee can no more &s;erve a God&punc; Whom wee know not, then wee can be &s;aved by a Chri&s;t whom wee never heard of: for that were, as if a captive held under the power of <HI>death, &s;in, devill,</HI> and <HI>hell,</HI> &s;hould be redeemed by a price paid by one, whom never before nor after he had an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> knowledge of; or as if God for Chri&s;ts &s;ake <HI>&s;hould &s;ave us, and yet never by any meanes or in any mea&s;ure make That Chri&s;t knowne to us.</HI> He mu&s;t by &s;ome meanes or <HI>other be reveiled to them, who, being growne up to the u&s;e of rea&s;on, were ever &s;aved by him.</HI> The&s;e are excellent Dr <HI>Tuckneyes</HI> words. We &s;hould, as a<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sermon upon <HI>Acts 4. 12.</HI></NOTE> godly parent will with his child, and whom he will teach to pray, goe through the forementioned Scriptures which containes &s;o
<PB N="63" REF="33"> much, but wee have attained our &s;cope thereby, A godly paren<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> teacheth his child to know God fir&s;t what He is in him&s;elfe out of Chri&s;t <HI>meere wrath,</HI> a <HI>con&s;umeing fire;</HI> and as &s;uch an one he cannot be &s;erved. Then to know Him a God in Chri&s;t, and a Fa|ther, and &s;o He is &s;erved, and well-plea&s;ed with the &s;ervice if it be in truth.</P>
<P>Wee pa&s;&s;e on and &s;hall pa&s;&s;e over <HI>David's</HI> Catechi&s;me and <HI>Bath&s;heba's</HI> al&s;o, whereof wee reade in the booke of the <HI>Pro|verbs,</HI> but not a word there of teaching the childe to pray by <HI>form<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s of prayer.</HI> Wee thinke that <HI>Paul's</HI> direction to parents how they &s;hould order their children, and &s;pecial<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y how to teach them to pray&punc; contains as much to that m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tter as doth that Cate|chi&s;me, <Q><HI>Bring them up,</HI> &s;o wee read it;</Q> the word is, <HI>nur&s;e them</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 6. 4. 1 The&s;. 2. 7.</NOTE> <HI>up.</HI> As a nur&s;e, &s;aith he, in another place, takes care of the bodies concernments, &s;o doe ye parents of your childrens &s;oules concern|ments. <HI>Nur&s;e them up in the nurture;</HI> It implyes all care and dili|gence about the inward man &s;till, that all be done as matters &s;hall require, whether they <HI>exhort, charge, reproove, correct,</HI> or <HI>in&s;truct, that all be done to the childe in a motherly way,</HI> or, as <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>as a father his children;</HI> remembring &s;till, that godline&s;&s;e is a rich and &s;ure trade, if the childe be taught well to follow it.] <HI>And admonition</HI> [A dealing about the mind of the childe &s;till, rectify|ing or moulding of it betime, as the nur&s;e doth the mould of the head, when its tender: It &s;ignifies a dropping or putting into the<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. 4&punc;</NOTE> mind &s;till. It is a thru&s;ting of &s;omewhat upon the childe &s;till with an holy violence, which may mind him of his Lord Jehovah his God; &s;o that the child may &s;ee, that, what his parents &s;peakes to him comes from his Lord, and tendeth to this, to bring the mind of the child up to the Lord, there to fix and pitch his &s;oule for ever] <HI>Zanch:</HI> (&s;o wee are told) &s;peakes u&s;efully to this as his manner is, upon this ver&s;e, where he tells us the manner of all the godly in the primitive times, and what cour&s;e <HI>Abraham</HI> tooke to teach his children. Wee verily thinke wee may adde, <Q><HI>to pray.</HI></Q> And what way al&s;o <HI>L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">is</HI> the <HI>grandmother</HI> and <HI>Eunice the mother</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 1. 5.</NOTE> taught their young <HI>Timothy,</HI> wee will adde againe, <HI>to pray.</HI> The very way which the old Chri&s;tians (<HI>pri&s;ci chri&s;tiani</HI>) did take to<NOTE PLACE="marg">3. 1.</NOTE> teach their children [<HI>to pray] by bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.</HI> And all this is but according to the
<PB N="64" REF="34"> pre&s;cript and charge unto us from the Lord God Allmightie; <HI>The&s;e words which I command thee this day &s;hall be in thine heart,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 6. 6, 7.</NOTE> <HI>and thou &s;halt teach them diligently (thy children) and &s;halt talke of them, when thou &s;itte&s;t in thine hou&s;e, and when thou walke&s;t by the way, and when thou lye&s;t downe, and when thou ri&s;e&s;t up.</HI> And this is the way, wee are per&s;waded in our hearts, every godly pa|rent mu&s;t take, who makes it his bui&s;ine&s;&s;e to teach his childe to pray, for this was the manner of the godly in dayes of old: which is our fir&s;t rea&s;on.</P>
<P>Secondly, And in the &s;econd place we are apt to thinke, That to bring up a childe in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, is the onely ready way to teach a childe to pray; and not to give him formes of prayer to &s;ay; becau&s;e the&s;e formes hinder rather than further the worke, carrying the childe on in &s;uch a high worke (the calling upon God in prayer) by the Eye upon the formes, or by the memorie, which is all one, whereas he &s;hould under&s;tand what he doth, and know Him in &s;ome mea&s;ure and degree, Whom he calleth upon.</P>
<P>Thirdly, If to give a childe a forme of prayer, when you pray <HI>&s;ay the&s;e words,</HI> were to teach him to pray, then to teach a childe to pray is the ea&s;ie&s;t worke in the world, &amp; of as quicke di&s;patch, for &s;o ea&s;ie it is, and as quickly done, to give a childe a forme, whereby to pray. But no godly parent ever found it from ancient dayes to this day an ea&s;ie worke and of quick di&s;patch to teach his childe to pray, no more than it is an ea&s;ie worke or the worke of a day <HI>to rule well his owne hou&s;e, and to have his children in &s;ub|jection</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3. 4.</NOTE> <HI>with all gravitie,</HI> which falls-in fully with the&s;e words be|fore-cited, to <HI>bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,</HI> whereby to teach his childe to pray. It is not the worke of a day, or two, as was &s;aid in another ca&s;e, but the worke of every day, while the childe is under the parents eye and eare, <HI>To teach the childe to pray:</HI> Nay to adde this; It is ea&s;ie for the vile&s;t per|&s;on in your Nationall Church to teach a childe to pray, if to give him a forme to pray be to teach him to pray; for &s;o much he or &s;he can doe having learnt &s;o much them&s;elves to pray that way. But &s;ure he or &s;he mu&s;t be taught to pray and helpe by the good Spirit to pray, before they can teach their childe to pray.</P>
<P>Fourthly, And in the fourth place, we thinke, it at lea&s;t coa&s;t|eth
<PB N="65" REF="34"> neere the brinke of pre&s;umption, nay is it not downe-right pre&s;umption to teach a childe to pray by giving him a forme of prayer to &s;ay? As thus, for, as wee &s;aid, &s;o plaine wee would be; <Q>Deare childe, what ever thy ignorance is of God the Father, thou praye&s;t unto; or of God the Sonne <HI>manife&s;t in the fle&s;h,</HI> in who&s;e name thou praye&s;t; what ever mercy thou ha&s;t received, and would&s;t prai&s;e God for; what ever want thou feele&s;t, and would&s;t pray to Him for a &s;upply from Him; what ever thy &s;innes are thou &s;hould&s;t confe&s;&s;e before Him, yet doe thou, childe, pray in the&s;e words, according to this very forme I have pre&s;cribed unto thee.</Q> Surely wee will not feare to &s;ay, this were pre&s;umption; and, &s;o, as may be feared, it will be accounted be|fore his God.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Be&s;ides, and &s;o wee have done, In &s;o doeing, wee meane &s;o teaching this childe to pray by a forme, The parent hath told a loud lye in the eares of God, and of all the godly, for he tells God and men both, <HI>he hath taught his childe to pray,</HI> when indeed there is no &s;uch thing done; he hath not taught his childe to pray; for by his owne confe&s;&s;ion he hath given his childe a <HI>forme</HI> whereby to pray, which forme will become a prayer well|plea&s;ing unto God, when copper becomes gold, the bramble a vine the Moone a Sunne, or when the <HI>Sunne</HI> painted on a &s;igne|po&s;t &s;hall &s;hine in the firmament of Heaven. And &s;o wee have taken in your rea&s;ons, and examined the rea&s;onablene&s;&s;e of them, That a parent teaching his childe to pray, mu&s;t give him a forme whereafter to pray. Wee have given in our rea&s;ons al&s;o from &s;a|cred Scripture, as wee &s;uppo&s;e, That by giving your childe a forme whereby to pray, is not to teach the childe to pray. But let it be committed to Him, Who <HI>guides into all truth.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. Sixt and la&s;t <HI>Querie.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>_Q.</HI> VI. WEE are come to our &s;ixt and la&s;t <HI>Querie,</HI> to give&punc; in our thoughts thereunto; <Q>Whether a Godly parent hath any Command from Chri&s;t, to teach their children the Lords prayer, thereafter to pray, &s;aying the very &s;ame words?</Q></P>
<PB N="66" REF="35">
<P>Wee &s;aid, <HI>a Command from Chri&s;t,</HI> for wee &s;uppo&s;e it granted, That a Godly per&s;on will, in every thing he doth, &s;pecially in matters of &s;o high concernment, look fir&s;t to his Warrant; <HI>This I doe, I have a &s;ure Word for what I doe.</HI> And having his Lords<NOTE PLACE="marg">S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">quis De<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">h <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">empe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">et jam ut da<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ne u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">en tum Mand<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"> tis e&s;t h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r? D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">um <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">uth<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> e~. Lum 3. 38.</NOTE> word for that he doth <HI>&s;hould he be condemned by an hundred worlds</HI> (to u&s;e excellent <HI>Calvins</HI> words) he has enough to beare him out&punc; <HI>his Lord Commanded him.</HI></P>
<P>But, Sir; before we proceed we crave leave to give-in a &s;ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t account, wherefore wee meddle with this here; your &s;elfe giving the occa&s;ion thereof, and little le&s;&s;e, though perhaps again&s;t your purpo&s;e, provoking us &s;o to doe: Our account in &s;hort is this: Our Mini&s;ter in the cour&s;e of Catechizing his people (as was hinted before in our Introductive part) fell upon the Expo&s;ition of the <HI>Lord's Prayer,</HI> and as an Introduction thereunto, he put &s;ome <HI>Queries</HI> about this prayer, and among others, of &s;peciall u&s;e all&punc; as we thought, this was one; <Q><HI>Whether a Godly parent ought to teach his Children this prayer?</HI></Q> and &s;o re&s;olved it from Scrip|ture, as wee &s;uppo&s;e, in the Negative <HI>he ought not.</HI> But how were the Godly people (they &s;eemed &s;uch to be and we would hope they, &s;ome of them, more than &s;eeme) &s;tirred at this? as much every whit as the ungodly are, when their Idol is pulled at, to pull it-away; for whereas (we tell you the words of one of them) they could have pulled out their eyes for their Mini&s;ter, before he meddled with the Lord's prayer, now they were more enclined, at lea&s;t, to pull out their Mini&s;ters eyes from him, than their owne for him. Truely we judge Charitablie, as our dutie is, and con|ceive good hope, that the Oppo&s;ers or contrary-minded herein, &s;ome of them, are godly in the maine, (onely &s;educed or mi&s;|guided by former guides) though one of them well &s;tricken in yeares, was taught that prayer at the fir&s;t, when he was a Childe, and &s;eldome &s;aid any other to that day, as hath been told to us by one that did know, if any did To Conclude our narrative part; The&s;e per&s;ons thus moved and di&s;quieted, addre&s;&s;ed them&s;elves to you Sir, as their <HI>Oracle,</HI> whereas their Dutie was to have Con&s;ul|ted with the Scriptures, our Mini&s;ter laid before them, and after|wards, as occa&s;ion required, with him&s;elfe; But it is not our <HI>man|ner</HI> to doe things after their <HI>right manner.</HI></P>
<P>Though yet we Blame them not for advi&s;eing with you, onely
<PB N="67" REF="35"> wee &s;ay they &s;hould have &s;earched the Scriptures, and have advi|&s;ed with their Mini&s;ter fir&s;t. Your An&s;wer to them was &s;weet and comely, farre otherwi&s;e than was reported by one of them, who may be as much taken with <HI>that prayer,</HI> as &s;ome are with that they make an Idol. Onely this you &s;aid to them, which they lookt for and it plea&s;ed them well, and it was aboundantly enough to marre all our Mini&s;ter had &s;aid from the Lord unto them, <Q><HI>That you teach your Children that prayer, or allow it they &s;hould be &s;o taught.</HI></Q> And now wee are forced to call your practi&s;e into Que|&s;tion, which truly, but for the Truth's &s;ake, wee &s;hall doe unwil|lingly, and &s;o wee &s;hall &s;tate the Que&s;tion in the Negative; <Q><HI>That a Godly Parent ought not to teach his Children the Lords prayer.</HI></Q> You hold the Affirmative, for thereafter you practi&s;e, wee would hope you can make full proof that your practi&s;e is Godly. So, Sir, we crave your rea&s;ons, at lea&s;t, wee crave your leave to gue&s;&s;e at them, by what we have heard from others, and &s;o to &s;ett downe, as may be allowed us in the&s;e ca&s;es, what proba|bly your rea&s;ons may be to hold-forth your practice with your children to be godly and holy, full-up to your rule and pre&s;crip|tion in Gods word, whereafter you order, wee hope, your whole conver&s;ation, your &s;ayings and doeings before your people, and your whole hou&s;e, your children &s;pecially the maine and principall parts, and your cheife goods there: for by your well-ruling of them, and care over them, you will make full proofe what care you take of the Churches of God; for he who knowes how to rule his own hou&s;e well, is in a good po&s;ture of &s;pirit to rule well the hou&s;e of God&mdash;But this was &s;poken before in the &s;econd Treati&s;e, relating to the Lords Supper <HI>pag.</HI> 19. This wee were &s;aying your ruling well your own hou&s;e, will be a good Te&s;ti|moriall, that you rule well as a good Steward in the Hou&s;e of the living God. Therefore we hope, you can give good rea&s;on for all you doe in your owne hou&s;e, which you order, we would hope, in de&s;ire and endeavour, as tho&s;e <HI>who&s;e prai&s;e is in the Go|&s;pell.</HI> Probably your rea&s;ons are the&s;e, or &s;uch like, to the&s;e; for wee will not mention here any of that, which went before, one wee would remind you of the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <Q><HI>Can there be a more excellent prayer, and more compre|hen&s;ive than the Lords prayer is?</HI></Q></P>
<PB N="68" REF="36">
<P>Verily, No; And therefore is it &s;o takeing in the world; for if any forme may be u&s;ed whereafter to pray, u&s;eing the <HI>very &s;ame words,</HI> then this forme above any. No prayer being more excel|lent, nor more comprehen&s;ive. But therefore thinke wee, the more unfit to be taught a Child, the more un&s;uitable to his under&s;tand|ing. The prayer is excellent, con&s;idered in it &s;elfe, and as you may be able to con&s;ider of it; but it hath no excellencie with a childe; he &s;peakes as a child, he under&s;tands as a child, he thinkes, or rea|&s;oneth as a childe; And with due regard to all this, you mu&s;t &s;peake to him, and rea&s;on with him, in lower matters than are the contents of this prayer.</P>
<P>Secondly, <Q><HI>You may &s;ay, I mu&s;t rea&s;on with him about God, and Chri&s;t, and what manner of per&s;on He is, and how He is to be &s;erved; but the&s;e are no low matters, but high, and much above the reach of a childs under&s;tanding.</HI></Q></P>
<P>It is readily graunted. Yet you may con&s;ider, it is one thing to drop-in, as into a verie narrow mouthed ve&s;&s;ell, drop by drop, and to powre in all at once; wee meane, To deale with a childe word after word, then to &s;ee how the fir&s;t word taketh, before you deale with him about the &s;econd; And to give him &s;ix lines together, whereas each line &s;ingle and apart, comprehends more of God and of Chri&s;t in it, of grace and glory by Him, then doe the vi&s;ible Heavens; O the va&s;t comprehen&s;ion of this Prayer! And the &s;hallowne&s;&s;e of a childs; &s;hall wee &s;ay of a mans com|prehen&s;ion about it! You may teach your child to &s;ay it, &s;o you may your <HI>Parrot</HI> too; and teaching him it altogether to &s;ay it, as you, in your pulpit, he will under&s;tand it as much as the Parrot doth; and by &s;o &s;aying it, you &s;hall teach the people to under|&s;tand it, if not all, yet but little better al&s;o; You may put this prayer, as to the words of it, into the mouth of your childe, but he comprehends it no more, than doth the darkne&s;&s;e the light.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <Q>You may &s;ay as wee heare others doe, <HI>It is a com|mendable thing, and well becomeing a godly parent &s;ure, to teach his child to call God father, though</HI> as <HI>Hieron</HI> &s;aith, <HI>he doth but li&s;pe out father.</HI></Q></P>
<P>You know, and you know it for your good, To call God fa|ther, or rather to cry, <HI>Abba Father,</HI> is as was &s;aid, of the Spirits teaching, I cannot li&s;pe <HI>Abba Father,</HI> but as He hath <HI>adopted</HI> mee,
<PB N="69" REF="36"> that is, in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in Whome alone He is become the Father of mercies unto mee, &s;aith that learned man Dr <HI>K:</HI> Chap: 4. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">:</HI> 115. Yet it is graunted, you are to teach your childe to call <HI>God father,</HI> as you can. And you have heard of the method or ready way you may take till you know a better in teaching your child, that great and high le&s;&s;on. But everie thing is comely in its due time and order. Wee conceive you are to teach your child fir&s;t, to call him&s;elfe <HI>rebell again&s;t this heavenly Father;</HI> that he was borne into the world with his backe again&s;t him, (being borne a child of wrath a&s;&s;oone as he was a child of a man:) an enemie to this Father, even <HI>enmitie</HI> it &s;elfe, and an <HI>hater</HI> of Him. And then wee take it, the child is to be farther que&s;tioned (and that is the be&s;t way of teaching by que&s;tioning) whether this <HI>en|mitie</HI> is in any mea&s;ure or degree di&s;covered to him, by the Spirit with the Word, and <HI>&s;hine in him?</HI> (for enmitie cannot become friend&s;hip, though enemies may be made friends) <HI>enmitie mu&s;t be &s;laine.</HI> This wee conceive the child mu&s;t be taught fir&s;t, before he can be taught to call God Father, after a due manner and a right under&s;tanding.</P>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECT. IV.</HEAD>
<P>NOw wee take leave to give-in our rea&s;ons, as few and as breifely as wee have taken-in yours; <Q><HI>Wherefore it is not becomeing a godly parent to teach his child the Lords prayer.</HI></Q> Wee &s;hall not recall here neither, but reminde you onely of what went before, that caried verie levell to this verie &s;cope.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It is cleane cro&s;&s;e to the right method of teaching to ex|erci&s;e the childes memory fir&s;t, for it is to teach your child as you would teach your Parrot, between whom you know to put a wide difference, Sith God hath made them &s;o to differ, <HI>Who tea|cheth</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 35. 11.</NOTE> <HI>us more then the bea&s;ts of the earth, and makes us wi&s;er then the fowles of heaven.</HI> You teach a child as becometh a childe to be taught; You teach a fowle, bird or bea&s;t, as is comely for them to be taught; be&s;ides, you put a greater difference betwixt earth|ly and heavenly matters; &s;en&s;uall and &s;pirituall; and accordingly you mu&s;t vary in your teaching. This may &s;uffice for the fir&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, You would have your deare childe to be a gainer
<PB N="68" REF="37">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="69" REF="37">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="70" REF="38"> by your teaching. Wee be&s;eech you aske him, now you have taught him the Lords prayer, what he hath gained by your tea|ching? Our per&s;wa&s;ion is you will find his gaine to be but &s;mall; onely whereas when time was he &s;aid it as a child, <HI>Parrot</HI>-like now, being growne-up, he &s;ayes it with <HI>more grace</HI> in the eare of the hearer, &s;aying it like a <HI>Clarke,</HI> but perhaps with as little grace in the heart as he &s;aid in before when he was a child. But yet we cannot graunt you, That by all your teaching, you have taught your child the <HI>Lords prayer&punc;</HI> for if you have taught him to read it, he can teach him&s;elfe to &s;ay it without your helpe.</P>
<P>Thirdly, You &s;hould not doe as all the wicked of the world doe; we meane, of your Nationall Church, who have onely this to &s;hew for their Chri&s;tianitie, and whereby to make full proofe thereof, <HI>That they were borne in your Church, and wa&s;hed there:</HI> Wee thinke it is not comely for you to doe as they doe; they hold to that Injunction appointed them by their <HI>Prie&s;t,</HI> as he by the Bi&s;hop, whereof hereafter. All the wicked per&s;ons in your Church, we are per&s;waded, not one excepted, no not the verie&s;t varlet there, but they all teach it their children, they &s;hall have it, as they them&s;elves had it, <HI>by tradition from their parents.</HI> The&s;e were taught their <HI>Pater no&s;ter;</HI> (they under&s;tand the Latine as well as the Engli&s;h, and the Greeke too) <HI>their Creed,</HI> and the <HI>ten Commandements;</HI> and &s;o much they will teach their children, either by them&s;elves or another, and having learnt &s;o much with|out the booke, they have learnt enough for them&s;elves and their children after them. You that know the Country-folke and their u&s;age, know it &s;o to be, having heard them &s;aying &s;o much you know not how often. You know better, and you mu&s;t doe better. You would not be numbred among the wicked in after time, you mu&s;t not doe, as they doe now. And yet to excu&s;e them a little, and blame you more. The&s;e, as they conceived, had a command or charge laid upon them, when time was, by their guides and rulers of their Church then; their charge is expre&s;&s;e in the&s;e words; <Q><HI>At the la&s;t end the Prie&s;t calling the God-fathers and God|mothers together, &s;hall &s;ay th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> exhortation following, the fulle&s;t part whereof is this, Yee &s;hall provide that the&s;e children &s;hall learne the Creed, the Lords prayer, and the ten Commandements in the Engli&s;h tongue.</HI></Q></P>
<PB N="71" REF="38">
<P>You will not&punc; ground your practi&s;e hereupon, for &s;o you would practi&s;e after that heathen Prie&s;t, whom you may know; This Prie&s;t ju&s;tifies his cu&s;tomes as to Church-matters, by quoteing (as we have heard) the <HI>Service-Booke,</HI> and tho&s;e cu&s;tomes in u&s;e then, which he followes to a tittle; for as to that &s;acred Booke, wee cannot tell whether he &s;o much as lookes upon it; certaine it is he hateth the contents there with his heart; for he hateth to heare it, and to be informed by it. You abhorre wee hope, &s;uch doeings, which were in u&s;e among&s;t us, when <HI>Tyrannie and Pope|rie</HI> were in their Tropick, or Zenith, the highe&s;t verticall point; then indeed the&s;e words were in u&s;e, which &s;ome will call a com|mand or charge. But &s;o will not you, for you (wee would hope) doe ble&s;&s;e God day and&punc; night, who hath delivered His Church (wee meane, not that you call <HI>Nationall,</HI> for that is in <HI>Egypt</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 7. 39.</NOTE> &s;till, being never out, or if a dayes journey out, yet returning thereunto, and is there <HI>in heart,</HI> there it would be as before in the Bi&s;hops dayes) wee &s;ay <HI>His Church</HI> from out of that more than <HI>Egyptian darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> whereunto it &s;hall returne no more; being the <HI>Vineyard of red wine,</HI> which <HI>He</HI> hath undertaken <HI>to water eve|ry moment, and that nothing hurt it, to keepe it night and day.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, And in the la&s;t place; you &s;hould not teach your child that, which you mu&s;t unteach againe: what is taught and learnt by the precepts of men, mu&s;t be untaught and unlearnt by the precept of God. But, wee thinke, wee have prooved, That the teaching by formes, is but the teaching of men, and they have their warrant, onely by precept from men: You know what is &s;toried of a godly Matron, after her heart was turned, and &s;ett upon Chri&s;t, It was told us once, and wee heard it twice; before <HI>&s;he was humbled,</HI> as was &s;aid of <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh,</HI> &s;he had taught her chil|dren<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chr. 33. 19.</NOTE> as you doe, <HI>the Lords prayer,</HI> and &s;o &s;he confe&s;&s;ed, but come|ing <HI>to her &s;elfe,</HI> or to u&s;e her owne words, to her <HI>right minde;</HI> &s;he endeavoured all &s;he could to unteach them againe; what &s;he ef|fected with all her indeavour is more then wee can tell. But you may tell us when you goe about it, what an hard and difficult worke you &s;hall find it to be to unlearne your children what you have &s;o ea&s;ily and quickly taught them, (if it had been good, it had not been &s;o ea&s;ily taught, nor &s;o quickly learnt) In the meane time, wee can tell our &s;elves, That children and grown-folke al&s;o
<PB N="72" REF="39"> are as hardly beat off from their formes, as an hungry Ma&s;tyffe is from his prey. Naturally wee cleave as fa&s;t to formes of all fa|&s;hions, and the&s;e to us, as the fle&s;h cleaveth to the bone, and &s;inne to the fle&s;h. How hard a thing is it then to leave a <HI>forme,</HI> and looke to the <HI>power?</HI> when in leaving this wee mu&s;t overcome a <HI>double Nature,</HI> our owne fir&s;t, and that, which cu&s;tome hath made our owne, or &s;econd Nature, having learnt it from our Cradle, and growne up in the practi&s;e of it.</P>
<P>Take heed good Sir, Looke over your &s;cholars, and con&s;ider them well, you may teach them in the&s;e ea&s;ie matters, or plea&s;e you, they can learn without teaching, &s;uch ea&s;ie le&s;&s;ons, &s;ix lines in &s;ix minutes time; <HI>Lenocinante Natura,</HI> their nature is a very bawd hereunto, to <HI>learne formes,</HI> and cleave unto them, when &s;he hath done; but when you come to unlearne them, which you mu&s;t doe, if ever you learne them right, you &s;hall finde it a worke im|po&s;&s;ible to fle&s;h and blood. Why! What thinke you? A childe or a man prayes, as you have taught him, and exactly well he thinkes, for he &s;ayes the <HI>Lords prayer</HI> (without either feare or wit, becau&s;e without under&s;tanding) Can you thinke now that he will be drawne off from this praying by a forme? why not? be|cau&s;e (1) his father taught him &s;o to pray, and he knew well what he did, for he was a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t: <HI>father</HI> and <HI>mother</HI> are deare names, and what they teach is like to abide with them, &s;peci|ally if it put the <HI>fle&s;h to no co&s;t;</HI> but however, it is like to &s;ticke, becau&s;e a le&s;&s;on from a father comes with <HI>authoritie,</HI> and &s;o with more advantage to prevaile. (2) Becau&s;e he can pray by <HI>a forme,</HI> yet reade nothing to purpo&s;e, nor heare any thing to purpo&s;e: nor meditate upon any thing to purpo&s;e that he heares or reades; this is mo&s;t plea&s;ing to the fle&s;h. Your child will part as hardly from it as he will part from his <HI>skin,</HI> yea or from his &s;inne. Deare Sir, remember what you have read, and adde it, if plea&s;e you, to all that, which went before; <HI>He that reades much, and heares much, and meditates much upon what he reades and heares, he prayes much,</HI> (for to meditate and to pray are from the &s;ame root) per&s;wade your children to reade much, and heare, and meditate much, that is, to thinke on what they reade and heare (for <HI>thoughts are but exerci&s;ing of the &s;oules faculties, you know</HI>) and by the ble&s;&s;ing of God with you and them, you may teach them to pray, and to ac|count
<PB N="73" REF="39"> no more of their formes, one, or more, as to their helpe in that matter, then they doe of anothers <HI>mouth</HI> and <HI>teeth,</HI> thereby to chew their meate; or of anothers feet whereby to goe. <HI>Ye &s;hall offer no &s;trange incen&s;e thereon,</HI> Exod: 30. 9. Mr <HI>Ain&s;worths</HI> note there-upon is this; <Q><HI>It figured the prayers of the Saints, which mu&s;t be according to the will of God, by His Spirit, and in faith: not after the tradition of men, or will of the fle&s;h.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Once more and wee have done; Live well before your chil|dren, wee hope you doe, a readie way al&s;o to teach them to pray well, for you know the &s;aying, <HI>well living is a well teaching;</HI> <Q>and the &s;horte&s;t way of teaching; a long way about by pre|cept, a &s;hort way by practi&s;e or example;</Q> <HI>he that lives well prays well;</HI> and he that beleives much, prayes much, though he &s;ay not a word. <HI>A good life is a good prayer,</HI> it is <HI>a continued prayer,</HI> as you have read. Wee will clo&s;e with this; <Q>Traine up a child (&s;aith the wi&s;dome of God) <HI>in his way</HI> of Gods pre&s;cribing, and when he is old <HI>he will not depart from it.</HI> As if he had &s;aid; <HI>He will be the better for it while he liveth.</HI> Traine up a child in formes<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 22. 6.</NOTE> (according to the wi&s;dome of the fle&s;h) and when he is old he will not depart from them;</Q> As if wee had &s;aid, <HI>he will be the wor&s;e for them while he liveth,</HI> if grace interpo&s;e not. The&s;e are too &s;weet to the fle&s;h, for the fle&s;h to leave; the&s;e are all the comfort the fle&s;h hath while the man is living; but dying &s;hall &s;tand the man in no more &s;tead, than a <HI>paper wall</HI> can defend a|gain&s;t a Cannon &s;hott, or the <HI>Cawle of the heart</HI> again&s;t the paw of a Lion. Wee will &s;hutt up with this, and &s;o call to remem|brance, That there was an huge great per&s;on, who had learnt that in his Cradle, which he could not unlearne on his throne; and it was no &s;mall di&s;honour to him. So may a child be taught a forme of prayer in his cradle, which if, through the favour of the times, he be admitted to the pulpitt, he will u&s;e there al&s;o; and &s;o exact he will be therein, that all that heare him, may conclude, <HI>he was taught that forme from his cradle.</HI> It is important &s;ure, and very momentous, el&s;e <HI>Quintillian</HI> (wee rather mention him) had not been &s;o full and large upon it; what choice wee &s;hould make of Nur&s;es, becau&s;e commonly the&s;e parle fir&s;t with the child in the morning, and la&s;t at night, and much all the day long. And if they be bad, not knowing their dutie, or carele&s;&s;e of what they know,
<PB N="74" REF="40"> wee are like to have, as was once &s;aid wirtily, but truely, <HI>a child, or a boy of him all his life long</HI>&mdash;The &s;umme is this; <HI>Be well ad|vi&s;ed about that you teach your child in the morning of his yeares, he will &s;avour of it to the evening of the &s;ame.</HI> Nur&s;es or mothers, who &s;hould make all, commonly marre all, if &s;peciall grace inter|po&s;e not. No more, for this containes much, if not all.</P>
<P>Now we will Contract, what hath been &s;aid of this &s;ubject <HI>prayer,</HI> and the &s;cope whereto it tends, and give it in this breif.</P>
<P>We have &s;hewen what a &s;erious worke it is; and what a &s;light, and vaine thing <HI>formes</HI> are: wee have declared again&s;t a wicked mans prayer; for &s;o the Lord him&s;elfe doth: it is an <HI>abomination;</HI> yet it is his dutie to pray; though a greater abomination it is to &s;ay the <HI>Lords prayer.</HI></P>
<P>Wee have &s;hutt it out of the Clo&s;et; It is too &s;hort for Clo|&s;et-worke. And too long for an <HI>after prayer,</HI> being, who knowes how full of heavenly &s;en&s;e, and &s;pirituall meaning. Therefore wee have cutt it off from the Mini&s;ters prayer in the pulpit; If he will &s;ett it too againe, be it at his plea&s;ure, it may be to his perill.</P>
<P>Wee have que&s;tioned it very much, and endeavoured to put it out of que&s;tion, that <HI>John</HI> did not teach his Di&s;ciples to pray by giving them formes of prayer to &s;ay. Wee have cleared it to be a parents dutie to teach his child to pray; and, as wee could, wee have directed his practi&s;e, and concluded, That a parent tea|cheth not his child to pray, that gives him formes of prayer to &s;ay, for that they learne without teaching, too prompt and ready that way. The Spirit of the Lord teacheth parent and child to pray; and the fir&s;t thing the Spirit teacheth, wee thinke, is, to &s;ay that they <HI>cannot pray;</HI> yet wee &s;hould tempt God, if wee our &s;elves &s;hould not pray, and teach our children &s;o to doe, to pray, that they may be enabled to pray. To &s;hutt up, The God of all graces and father of mercies, in and through His Sonne, gives forth no temporall, much le&s;&s;e eternall &s;alvation; no common mercy, much le&s;&s;e any &s;pirituall grace, which is eternall, to His <HI>marve|lou&s;ly</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 4. 3.</NOTE> <HI>&s;eperated ones, His gratious Saints,</HI> but He will &s;tirre them up to <HI>inquire</HI> after Him fir&s;t before He gives it; They &s;hall aske before they have; and but aske, and have, yet not for their asking.</P>
<P>Now it is marvelous to con&s;ider <HI>Satans devi&s;es</HI> here, that im|placable enemy and adver&s;ary of all righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e He per&s;wades
<PB N="75" REF="40"> the wicked to &s;it downe fully content with their condition, and &s;atisfied with common mercies, and not pray at all; and if they will be praying; it &s;hall be but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">prating and babling; A meere prophaneing of Gods Name, if not bla&s;pheming. If they will pray as the mo&s;t will, they &s;hall pray in anothers words, and no matter in who&s;e <HI>name;</HI> by a booke or without it, by the memorie, never with the heart, unle&s;&s;e for the remooving of &s;ome plague, felt or feared. But never about the <HI>plague of the heart,</HI> the plague indeed.</P>
<P>And for the&s;e <HI>gratious Saints,</HI> This adver&s;ary &s;hewes him&s;elfe &s;uch an one, in no one thing more than in this, <HI>To keepe them from praying</HI> but if that cannot be, then he imployes all his force poli|cie and might to hinder and interrupt prayer, and for the effecting of this&mdash;what will he ca&s;t in; and how readily doth fle&s;h com|ply with him&punc; But the&s;e know <HI>whom they have tru&s;ted;</HI> And that His grace &s;hall be &s;ufficient for them.</P>
<CLOSER>AMEN.</CLOSER>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<HEAD>Po&s;t&s;cript.</HEAD>
<P>WEE have purpo&s;ely forborne to di&s;charge our Treati&s;e of that charge of bla&s;phemie once and againe charged upon it; wee have given a marke in the margine all along where the yong-man, in the name perhaps of his elders, enters not his di&s;&s;ent onely but the charge of bla&s;phemie again&s;t us. It is hum|bly referred to God and His Scriptures to judge how ju&s;t that charge is. And if it &s;hall plea&s;e tho&s;e <HI>whom God hath made able Mini&s;ters of the New Te&s;tament, not of the Leter but of the Spirit</HI> (for <HI>the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life</HI>) to give-in thei<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> judgement here al&s;o, we are a&s;&s;ured it &s;hall be according to Truth. Wee will adde two words more; The one we borrow from him, who&s;e words we &s;hall hereafter &s;et downe; <HI>It is far more facile to give the harde&s;t Cen&s;ures,</HI> than <HI>to An&s;wer the ea&s;ie&s;t Arguments.</HI> The other is this which one of us has read &s;ome where; <HI>A good Cau&s;e when plainely told is learnedly pleaded, e&s;pecially if a Meeke</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>or ju&s;t</HI> Jo&s;hua <HI>be the Judge thereof.</HI> So we come to &s;et downe here, as was &s;pecified upon the <HI>Title page,</HI> the words of that holy and learned Man, who &s;peakes to all matters he undertakes <HI>in the Name of his God</HI> to &s;peake unto <HI>after his manner, which is to &s;ay all
<PB N="76" REF="41"> that can be &s;aid in any &s;ubject what&s;oever.</HI> This <HI>encomie</HI> or high Commendations was given to <HI>Grotius</HI> by one of our own, in &s;ome matters of the highe&s;t concernment, relating to our deare Lord and Chri&s;t, of the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;ion&punc; with him; And &s;o thought it not enough to Commend the &s;aid man <HI>without any exception,</HI> but he mu&s;t admire him al&s;o <HI>&s;ine modo</HI> and without ju&s;t rea&s;on. May it not be feared, That he <HI>feareth not his Maker</HI> as he ought, nor Con&s;iders how <HI>&s;oone He can take him away&punc;</HI> who can give &s;uch flattering words, or high commendations to that man, who hath &s;uch low thoughts of our deare&s;t <HI>Lord</HI> and <HI>Saviour.</HI> To &s;ay no more; Surely &s;uch an honour as this <HI>to &s;ay what can be &s;aid in any &s;ubject</HI> belongs to that Man, who <HI>honours God,</HI> and whom God doth honour; who&s;e whole heart is taken-up with the <HI>love of Him;</HI> his tongue with the <HI>prai&s;e of Him;</HI> and whole life with <HI>the &s;er|vice of Him;</HI> And ble&s;&s;ed be our God and Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who <HI>giveth gifts unto Men,</HI> plenty of his Spirit, and variety of His Graces, <HI>for the perfecting of His Saints; for the worke of the Mini&s;try; and for the edifying of the Body of Christ.</HI> Having &s;poken this which every man, we thinke, that hath read all, or any part of this learned mans works, as one among&s;t us hath done, will find him&s;elfe pre&s;&s;ed to &s;peake, and &s;o give that honour to the &s;aid excellent Man, <HI>to &s;ay what can be &s;aid in any &s;ubject</HI> his God &s;hall ingage him upon. We &s;hall now &s;ett downe what he &s;aith for the readers fuller re&s;olution, e&s;pecially to the fourth <HI>Query,</HI> relating to the Lords prayer, as was &s;pecified in the Title page.</P>
<P><HI>Q. ii. Did not Chri&s;t pre&s;cribe a forme of prayer to his di&s;ciples, &s;o that there remaineth no doubt touching the lawfulnes of u&s;ing a form?</HI></P>
<P>A. Luk. 11. 1, 2, 3, 4.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> If Chri&s;t pre&s;cribed a <HI>forme of prayer</HI> to his di&s;ciples, to be u&s;ed <HI>as a forme</HI> by the repetition of the &s;ame words; I confe&s;&s;e it will be out of Que&s;tion, that it is lawfull to u&s;e a forme: but that it is lawfull not to u&s;e a forme, or that a man may u&s;e any prayer but a forme, on that &s;uppo&s;ition, will not be &s;o ea&s;ily determined. The words of Chri&s;t are, <HI>when you pray, &s;ay, Our Father &amp;c.</HI> If in this pre&s;cription, not the <HI>matter</HI> onely, but the <HI>words</HI> al&s;o are at|tended, and that forme of them which followes is pre&s;cribed to be u&s;ed, by vertue of this command of Chri&s;t, it will be hard to di&s;|cover
<PB N="77" REF="41"> on what ground we may <HI>any otherwi&s;e</HI> pray, &s;eing our S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|viours command is po&s;itive, <HI>when you pray, &s;ay, Our Father, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>That which M. B. is to prove is, that <HI>Our Saviour hath pre&s;cri|bed the repetition of the &s;ame words en&s;uing,</HI> and when he hath done &s;o, if &s;o be he can do, his conclu&s;ion mu&s;t be, that <HI>that forme ought to be u&s;ed,</HI> not at all that <HI>any el&s;e</HI> may. If our Saviour have pre|&s;cribed us <HI>a forme,</HI> how &s;hall any man dare to <HI>pre&s;cribe another?</HI> or can any man do it without ca&s;ting on his <HI>forme</HI> the reproach of <HI>imperfection</HI> and in&s;ufficiency? Our Saviour hath pre&s;cribed us a <HI>forme of prayer</HI> to be u&s;ed as a forme by the repetition of the &s;ame words; therefore we may u&s;e it, yea we mu&s;t, is an invinci|ble argument, on &s;uppo&s;ition of the truth of the propo&s;ition. But our Saviour hath pre&s;cribed us &s;uch a <HI>forme &amp;c.</HI> therefore we may u&s;e another, which he hath not pre&s;cribed, hath neither <HI>&s;hew</HI> nor <HI>colour</HI> of Rea&s;on in it.</P>
<P>But how will M. B. prove that Chri&s;t doth not here in&s;truct his Di&s;ciples in <HI>what</HI> they ought to pray for, and for <HI>what</HI> they ought in prayer to addre&s;&s;e them&s;elves to God, and <HI>under what</HI> con&s;iderations they are to looke on God in their approaches to him, and the like, only, but al&s;o that he pre&s;cribes <HI>the words</HI> there mentioned by him to be repeated by them in their &s;upplications. <HI>Luk:</HI> 11&punc; he bids them &s;ay <HI>Our Father &amp;c.</HI> which at large <HI>Mat:</HI> 6. is, <HI>pray after this manner:</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>to this purpo&s;e.</HI> I doe not thinke the Prophet pre&s;cribes a <HI>forme of words,</HI> to be u&s;ed by the Church when he &s;ayes, <HI>Take with you words, and turne to the Lord, and &s;ay unto him, Take away iniquitie,</HI> (Ho&s;: 14. 2) but rather calls them to <HI>fervent &s;upplication</HI> for the pardon of &s;in, as God &s;hould enable them to deale with him. And though the Apo&s;tles never prayd for any thing, but what they were for the &s;ub&s;tance di|rected to by this prayer of our Saviour, yet we doe not find, that ever they <HI>repeated</HI> the very words here mentioned, or once com|manded or pre&s;cribed the u&s;e of them, to any of the <HI>Saints</HI> in their dayes, whom they exhorted to pray &s;o fervently and ear|ne&s;tly. Nor in any of the <HI>Rules</HI> and Directions, that are given for our praying&punc; either in reference to our &s;elves, or him by whom we have acce&s;&s;e to God, is the u&s;e of the&s;e words at any time in the lea&s;t <HI>recommended</HI> to us, or recalled to mind, as a matter of dutie.</P>
<PB N="78" REF="42">
<P>Our Saviour &s;ayes when ye pray, <HI>&s;ay, Our Father;</HI> on &s;uppo&s;i|tion of the &s;ence contended for, and that a <HI>forme</HI> of words is <HI>pre&s;cribed,</HI> I aske whether we may at any time pray, and <HI>not &s;ay</HI> &s;o? &s;eeing he &s;ayes, <HI>when you pray,</HI> &s;ay: whether we <HI>may &s;ay any thing el&s;e,</HI> or u&s;e any other words? whether the &s;aying of the&s;e <HI>words</HI> be a part of the wor&s;hip of God? Or whether any <HI>promi&s;e</HI> of <HI>Acceptation</HI> be annexed to the &s;aying &s;o? whether the <HI>&s;pirit of grace</HI> and <HI>&s;upplication</HI> be not <HI>promi&s;ed</HI> to all beleivers? And whe|ther he be not given them to enable them to pray, both as to <HI>matter</HI> and <HI>manner?</HI> and if &s;o, whether the Repetition of the words mentioned by them, <HI>who have not the Spirit given them</HI> for the ends before mentioned, be availeable? and whether <HI>prayer by the Spirit</HI> where the&s;e words are not repeated, as to the <HI>letters</HI> and <HI>Syllables,</HI> and order wherein they &s;tand, be acceptable to God? whether the pre&s;cription of a <HI>forme</HI> of words, and the gift of a <HI>&s;pirit</HI> of prayer be con&s;i&s;tent? whether the forme be pre|&s;cribed becau&s;e Believers are not able to pray without it? Or be|cau&s;e there is a peculiar Holine&s;&s;e force and <HI>energy</HI> in the letters words and &s;yllables, as they &s;tand in that forme? And whe|ther to &s;ay the fir&s;t of tho&s;e be not derogatory to the Glory of God, and <HI>efficacy of the Spirit,</HI> promi&s;ed and given to Believers&punc; and the &s;econd, to <HI>a&s;&s;ert</HI> the u&s;ing of a Charme in the wor&s;hip of God? whether in that re&s;pect <HI>Pater n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ter</HI> be not as good as <HI>Our Father?</HI> whether innumerable <HI>poore &s;o&punc; les</HI> are not deluded and hardned by <HI>&s;atisfying</HI> their con&s;ciences in, and with, the u&s;e of this forme never knowing what it is to pray in the <HI>holy Gho&s;t?</HI> And whether the A&s;&s;erting this forme of words to be u&s;ed have not confirmed many in their <HI>Athei&s;ticall</HI> bla&s;pheming of the <HI>holy Spirit</HI> of God, and his Grace in the prayers of his people? And whether the repetition of the&s;e words, after men have been long praying for the things contained in them, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s the manner of &s;ome is, be not &s;o <HI>remote</HI> from any <HI>pretence</HI> or colour of <HI>warrant</HI> in the Scripture, as that it is in plaine termes <HI>ridiculous?</HI> When M. <HI>Biddle,</HI> or any on his behalfe, hath an&s;wered the&s;e que&s;tions, they may be &s;upplyed with more of the like nature and impor|tance.</P>
<TRAILER>An End.</TRAILER>
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</EEBO>
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