The Catechizing of Families, Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIV. Our Father which art in Heaven,] Expounded.
Qu. 1. WHo is it that we pray to, whom we call Our Father?]
A. GOD himself.
Q. 2. May we not pray to Creatures?
A. Yes, for that which it belongeth to those Creatures to give us upon our request, supposing they hear us: But not for that which is Gods, and not their own to give; nor yet in a manner unsuitable to the Creatures Capacity or Place. A Child may Petition his Father, and a Subject his Prince, and all Men one another.
Q. 3. May we not pray to the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as well as to the Father?
A. As the word Father signifieth God a… God, it comprehendeth the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and as it signifieth the first Person in the Trinity, it excludeth not but implyeth the second and the third.
Q. 4. What doth the word [Father] signifie?
A. That as a Father by Generation is the Owner, the Ruler and the Loving Benefactor to his Child, so is God eminently and transcendently to us.
Q. 5. To whom is God a Father, and on what Fundamental account?
A. 1. He is a Father to all Men by Creation; to all lapsed Mandkind by the Price of a sufficient Redemption: But only to the Regenerate by Regeneration and Adoption, and that effective Redemption which actually delivereth Men from Guilt, Wrath, Sin and Hell, and Justifieth and Sanctifieth them, and make… them Heirs of Glory.
Q. 6. What is included then in our Child-like relation to this Father?
A. That we are his own to be absolutely at his dispose, his Subjects to be absolutely Ruled by him, and his Beloved to depend on his Bounty, and to love him, above all, and be happy in his Love.
Q. 7. What is meant by the words [which art i… Heaven?]
A. They signifie, I. God's real Substantiality: He is existent.
II. God's incomprehensible Perfection in Power, Knowledge, and Goodness, and so his absolute sufficiency and fitness to hear and help us. 1. The vastness, Sublimity and Glory of the Heavens, tell us that▪ He who Reigneth there over all the World, must needs be Omnipotent, and want no power to do his will, and help us in our need.
2. The Glory and Sublimity, tell us that he that is there above the Sun which shineth upon all the Earth, doth behold all Creatures, and see all the wayes of the Sons of Men, and therefore knoweth all our Sins, Wants and Dangers, and heareth all our Prayers.
3. Heaven is that most perfect Region, whence al… good floweth down to Earth: Our Life is thence; our Light is thence; all our Good and foretast of Felicity and Joy is thence: And therefore the Lord o… Heaven must needs be the Best; the Fountain of a… Good, and the most amiable End of all just Desire and Love. Yet Heaven is above our Sight and comprehension; and so much more is God.
III. And the word [Art] signifieth God's Etemity in that Heavenly Glory: It is not [who wast] or [who wilt be.] Eternity is indivisible.
Q. 8. Is not God every where: Is he more in Heaven than any where else?
A. All Place and All things are in God: He is absent from none: Nor is his Essence divisible or Commensurate by Place, or limited; or more here than there: But to us God is known by his Works and Appearances; and therefore said to be most where he worketh most: And so we say, that God dwelleth in him who dwelleth in Love: That he walketh in his Church; that we are his Habitation by the Spirit; that Christ and the Holy Spirit dwell in Believers: Because they operate extraordinarily in them: And so God is said to be in Heaven, because he there manifesteth his Glory to the Felicity of all the Blessed, and hath made Heaven that Throne of his Majesty, from whence all Light, and Life, and Goodness, all Mercy, …nd all Justice are communicated to and exercised on Men. And so we that cannot see God himself, must …ook up to the Throne of the Heavenly Glory in our Prayers, Hopes and Joyes. Even as a Mans Soul is undivided in all his Body, and yet it worketh not alike … all its parts, but it is in the Head, that it useth Reason, Sight, &c. and doth most notably appear to …thers in the Face, and is almost visible in the Eye: …nd therefore when you talk to a Man, you look him … the Face; and as you talk not to his Flesh▪ but to his …ensitive and intellectual Soul, so you look to that art where it most apparently sheweth its sence and …tellection.
Q. 9. Is there no other Reason for the naming of Hea…en here?
A. Yes: It teacheth us whither to direct our own desires; and whence to expect all good, and where our own Hope and Felicity is. It is in Heaven that God is to be seen and enjoyed in Glory, and in perfect Love and Joy: Though God be on Earth, he will not be our Felicity here on Earth: every Prayer therefore should be the Souls aspiring and ascending towards Heaven, and the believing exercise of a heavenly Mind, and Desire: For a Man of true Prayer to be unwilling to come to Heaven, and to love Earth better, is a contradiction.
Q. 10. But do we not pray that on Earth he may use us as a Father?
A. Yes: that he will give us all Mercies on Earth conducing to heavenly Felicity.
Q. 11. What else is implyed in the word, Our Father?
A. Our Redemption and Reconciliation by Christ, and to the Regenerate, our Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and so our Adoption; by all which, of Enemies and the Heirs of Hell, we are made the Sons of God, and Heirs of Heaven. It is by Christ and his Spirit that we are the Children of God.
Q. 12. Why say we Our Father, and not My Father?
A. 1. To signifie that all Christians must pray as Members of One Body, and look for all their good, comfort and blessedness in Union with the whole, and not as in a separate State: Nor must we come to God with selfish narrow Minds, as thinking only of our own case and good, nor put up any Prayer or Praise to God, but as Members of the Universal Church, in one Chore, all seen and heard at once by God, though they see not, and hear not one another: And therefore that we must abhor the pregnant comprehensive Sin of selfishness; by which wicked Men care only for themselves, and are affected with little but their Personal concerns, as if they were all the World to themselves, insensible of the Worlds or the Churches State, and how it goeth with all others. 2. And therefore that all Christians must love their Brethren and Neighbours as themselves, and must abhor the Sin of Schism, much more of Malignant Enmity, Envy, and Persecution, and must be so far from disowning the Prayers of other Christians on pretense of their various Circumstances and Imperfections, and from separating in Heart from them on any account for which God will not reject them; as that they must never put up a Prayer or Praise, but as in concord with all the Christians on Earth, desiring a part in the Prayers of all, and offering up hearty Prayers for all: The imperfections of all Mens Prayers we must disown, and most our own; but not for that disown their Prayers, nor our own. They that hate, or persecute, or separate from Gods Children, for not praying in their Mode, or by their Book, or in the Words that they write down for them, or for not worshipping God with their Forms, Ceremonies or Rites, or that silence Christ's Ministers, and scatter the Flocks, and confound Kingdoms, that they may be Lords of Gods Heritage, and have all Men sing in their Commandded Tune, or Worship God in their unnecessary Commanded Mode, do condemn themselves, when they say Our Father: And to repeat the Lords Prayer many times in their Liturgy, while they are tormenting his Children in their Prisons and Inquisitions, is to worship God by repeating their own Condemnation.
Q. 13. It seems this Particle, Our and Us is of treat importance.
A. The Lord's Prayer is the Summary and Rule of Mans Love and just Desires: It directeth him what to Will, Ask and Seek. And therefore must needs contain that duty of Love which is the Heart of the New Creature, and the fulfilling of the Law: The Will is the Man: And Love is the Will. What a Man Wills and Loves, that he is in God's account, or that he shall attain. And therefore the Love of God as God, and of the Church as the Church, and of Saints as Saints, of Friends as Friends, and of Neighbours as Neighbours, and of Men (though Enemies and Sinners) as Men, must needs be the very Spring of acceptable Prayer, as well as the Love of our selves as our selves. And to pray without this Love, is to offer God a Carrion for Sacrifice, or a lifeless sort of Service. And Love to all makes all Mens Mercies and Comforts to be ours, to our great Joy, and that we may be thankful for all.