A Body of Practical Divinity, Sermon 83 · Part 2

A Body of Practical Divinity · Sermon 83 · Part 2

p. 446MATTH. vi.9.

Hallowed be thy Name.

HAving spoken of the Introduction to the Lords Prayer, After this manner pray ye; and the Preface, Our Father which art in Heaven: I come now Thirdly to the Prayer it self, which consists of seven Petitions. A short body of Divinity is contained in them. I begin with the first Petition.

I. Hallowed be thy Name. In the Latin it is sanctificetur nomen tuum, sanctified be thy Name. In this Petition, Hallowed be thy Name, we pray, that Gods Name may shine forth gloriously, and that it may be honoured and sanctified by us in the whole course and tenour of our Lives. It was the Angels song, Glory be to God in the highest; that i…, let his name be glorified and hallowed. This Petition, Hallowed be thy Name, is set in the fore front, to show, that the hallowing of Gods Name is to be preferred before all other things; 1. It is to be preferred before Life; we pray, Hallowed be thy Name, before we pray, Give us this day our daily bread. 2. It is to be preferred before Salvation, Rom. 9.1. Gods Glory is more worth than the Salvation of all Mens Souls: As Christ said of love, Matth. 22.37. This is the first and great Commandment; so I may say of this Petition, Hallowed be thy Name, it is the first and great Petition; it contains the most weighty thing in Religion, Gods Glory. When some of the other Petitions shall be useless and out of date, we shall not need pray in Heaven, Give us our daily bread, because there shall be no hunger; nor, Forgive us our trespasses, because there shall be no sin; nor, Lead us not into temptation, because the Old Serpent is not there to tempt: Yet the hallowing of Gods Name shall be in great use and request in Heaven; we shall be ever singing Hallelujahs, which is nothing else but the hallowing of Gods Name. Every Person in the Blessed Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, must have this honour, to be Hallowed, their Glory being equal, and their Majesty co-eternal. Hallowed be thy Name: To admire Gods Name is not enough; we may admire a Conquerour; but when we say, Hallowed be thy Name, we set Gods Name above every Name, and not only admire him but adore him, and this is proper only to the Deity. For the further explication I shall propound Three Questions.

1. What is meant by Gods Name?

2. What is meant by hallowing Gods Name?

3. When may we be said to hallow or sanctifie Gods Name?

Quest. 1. What is meant by Gods Name?

Resp. 1. By Gods Name is meant his Essence; Psal. 20.1. The name of the God of Iacob defend thee; that is, the God of Iacob defend thee.

2. By Gods Name is meant any thing by which God may be known; as a Man is known by his Name; Gods Name is his Attributes, Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Goodness, by these God is known as by his Name.

Quest. 2. What is meant by hallowing of Gods Name?

Resp. To hallow is a communi separare, to set apart a thing from the common use to some sacred end. As the Vessels of the Sanctuary were said to be hallowed; so, to hallow Gods Name, is to set it apart from all abuses, and to use it holily and reverendly: In particular, Hallowing of Gods Name is to give him high honour and veneration, and render his Name sacred. We can add nothing to Gods Essential Glory, but we are said to honour and sanctifie his Name, when we lift him up in the World, and make him appear greater in the eyes of others. When a Prince is crowned there is something added really to his Honour; but when we go to crown God with our Triumphs and Hallelujahs, there is nothing added to his Essential Glory. God cannot be greater than he is, only we may make him appear greater in the eyes of others.

Quest. 3. When may we be said to hallow and sanctifie Gods name?

Answ. 1. When we profess his Name; our meeting in this holy assembly is an honour done to Gods Name; this is good, but it is not enough. All that wear Gods livery by profession are not true servants; there are some Professors Christ will at the last day profess against; Matth. 7.23. I will profess I never knew you. Therefore to go a little further.

p. 4472. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name, when we have an high appretiation and esteem of God; we set him highest in our thoughts. The Hebrew word to honour, foreign signifies to esteem precious. We conceive of God in our minds as the most super-excellent and infinite good; we apprehend in God a constellation of all beauties and delights; we adore God in his Glorious Attributes, which are the several beams by which his Divine Nature shines forth; we adore God in his Works, which are bound up in three great Volumes, Creation, Redemption, Providence; we hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we lift him highest in our Souls; we esteem him foreign, a super-eminent incomprehensible good.

3. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we trust in his Name; Psal. 33.21. We have trusted in his holy name. No way can we bring more revenues of Honour to God, or make his Crown shine brighter than by confiding in him; Rom. 4.20. Abraham was strong in faith giving glory to God; there was an hallowing of Gods Name: As unbelief stains Gods honour, and eclipseth his Name, 1 Iohn 5.10. He that believeth not makes God a lyar; so Faith doth glorifie and hallow Gods Name. The Believer trusts his best Jewel in Gods hands, Psal. 3.5. Into thy hands I commit my Spirit: Faith in a Mediator doth more honour and sanctifie Gods Name than Martyrdom, or the most sublime acts of Obedience.

4. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we never make mention of his name but with the highest reverence; Gods Name is Sacred, and it must not be spoken of but with veneration: The Scripture, when it speaks of God, gives him his Titles of Honour; Gen. 14.20. Blessed be the most high God; Neh. 9.5. Blessed be thy glorious name which is exalted above all praise. To speak vainly or slightly of God is a profaning his Name, and is a taking his Name in vain. Let his Name be Hallowed: By giving God his venerable Titles we do as it were hang his Jewels on his Crown.

5. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we love his Name; Psal. 5.11. Let them that love thy name be joyful; and that Love which is honouring Gods Name must be a special discriminating Love, the cream and flower of our Love; such a Love as we give to none besides: As the Wife honours her Husband, by giving him such a Love as she gives to none else, a Conjugal Love; so we hallow Gods Name by giving him such a Love as we give to none else; a Love joyned with Worship, Psal. 45.11. He is thy God and worship thou him.

6. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we give him an Holy and Spiritual Worship. 1. We give him the same kind of Worship that he hath appointed; Lev. 10.3. I will be sanctified of all that come nigh to me; that is, I will be sanctified with that very Worship I have appointed. It is the purity of Worship God loves better than the pomp. It is a dishonouring of Gods Name to bring any thing into his Worship which he hath not instituted; as if God were not wise enough to appoint the manner how he will be served; Men will go to prescribe him, and super-add their inventions: This God looks upon as offering strange fire, and it is an high provocation. 2. We give God the same Heart devotion in Worship as he hath appointed, Rom. 12.11. Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. The word for fervent, foreign, is a Metaphor that alludes to Water, that seeths and boyls over; so our Affections should boyl over in holy Duties. To give God outside Worship, and not the Devotion of the Heart, is instead of hallowing and sanctifying him in an Ordinance, to abuse him; as if one call for Wine, and you give him an empty Glass: It is to deal with God as Prometheus did with Iupiter, who did eat the Flesh, and present Iupiter with nothing but Bones covered over with Skin; then we hallow Gods name, and sanctifie him in an Ordinance, when we give him the vitals of Religion, an Heart flaming with Zeal.

7. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we hallow his day; Ier. 17.22. Hallow ye the Sabbath day. Our Christian Sabbath which comes in the room of the Iews Sabbath, is called foreign, the Lords day; Rev. 1.10. This was antiently called dies lucis, a day of light; wherein Christ the Sun of Righteousness shines in an extraordinary manner: It is an honour done to God to hallow his Sabbath. 1. We must rest on this day from all secular works: Ier. 17.21. Bear no burden on the Sabbath day: As Ioseph when he would speak with his Brethren thrust out the Egyptians; so when we would have converse with God on this day, we must thrust out all earthly employments. It is observable, Mary Magdalen refused to anoint Christs dead Body on the Sabbath-day; Luke 23.56. She had before prepared her Oyntment and Spices, but came not to the Sepulchre till the Sabbath was past. She rested on that day from civil Work, though it were a commendable and glorious Work, the anointing of Christs dead Body. 2. We must in a solemn manner devote our selves to God on this day: We must spend this whole day with God. Some will hear the Word, but leave all their Religion at Church, they do nothing at home, they do not pray or repeat the p. 448Word in their houses, and so they rob God of a part of his day; 'tis to be bewailed to see how Gods day is profaned. Let not Men think Gods Name is hallowed while his Sabbath is broken.

8. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we ascribe the honour of all we do to him: Psal. 96.8. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Herod instead of hallowing Gods Name, stain'd the honour of his Name in assuming that praise to himself which was due to God: Acts 12.23. We ought to take the honour from our selves and give it to God: 1 Cor. 15.10. I laboured more than they all: One would think this had savoured of pride, but the Apostle pulls the Crown from his own head, and sets it upon the head of Free-Grace; Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me. If a Christian hath any assistance in Duty, or victory over Temptation, he rears up a Pillar and writes upon it, Hucus que adjuvabit Deus,—Hitherto the Lord hath helped me. Iohn Baptist transferred all the honour from himself to Christ; he was content to be eclipsed that Christ might shine the more: Iohn 1.15. He that comes after me is preferred before me. I am but the Herauld, the voice of one crying, he is the Prince; I am but a lesser Star, he is the Sun; I baptize only with Water, he with the Holy Ghost: This i… an hallowing Gods Name when we translate all the honour from our selves to God; Psal. 115.1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. The King of Sweden wrought that Motto on the Battle at Lypswich. Ista a Domino facta sunt, The Lord hath wrought this Victory for us.

9. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name by obeying him: How doth a Son more honour his Father than by Obedience; Psal. 40.8. I delight to do thy will, O my God. foreign. Chrys. The Wise Men showed honour to Christ, not only by bowing the knee to him, but by presenting him with Gold and Myrrh, Matth. 2.11. we hallow Gods name not only by lifting up our eyes and hands to Heaven, and bowing the knee in Prayer, but by presenting God with golden Obedience. As the Factor trades for the Merchant, so we trade for God, and lay out our strength in his Service. 'Twas a saying of Reverend Doctor Iewell, I have spent and exhausted my self in the labours of my holy Calling; To obey is better than sacrifice. The Cherubims representing the Angels, are set forth with their Wings displayed, to show how ready they are to do service to God. To obey is Angelical; to pretend honour to Gods name, yet not to obey is but a devout complement. Abraham honoured God by Obedience; he was ready to sacrifice his Son, though the Son of his Old Age, and a Son of the Promise, Gen. 22.16. By my self have I sworn saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with-held thy Son, thy only Son; that in blessing I will bless thee.

10. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we lift up Gods name in our praises. God is said to sanctifie, and Man is said to sanctifie. God sanctifies us by giving us Grace, and we sanctifie him by giving him Praise. What were our Tongues given us for, but to be Organs of Gods Praise; Psal. 71.8. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise, and with thy honour all the day. Rev. 5.13. Blessing, honour, glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the lamb for ever. Thus Gods name is hallowed and sanctified in Heaven The Angels and Glorified Saints are singing Hallelujahs; let us begin the work of Heaven here. David did sing forth Gods Praises and Doxologies in a most melodious manner, therefore was called the sweet singer of Israel, 1 Sam. 23.1. Praising God is an hallowing of Gods name; it spreads his renown, it displayes the trophies of his excellency, it exalts him in the eyes of others; Psal. 50.23. Who so offereth praise glorifies me. This is one of the highest and purest acts of Religion. In Prayer we act like Men, in Praise we act like Angels: This is the musick of Heaven, foreign, Zenoph. this is a work fit for a Saint; Psal. 149.5, 6. Let the Saints be joyful, let the high praises of God be in their mouths. None but Saints can in a right manner thus hallow Gods name by praising him. As every one hath not skill to play on the Viol and Organ, so every one cannot rightly sound forth Gods harmonious Praises; only the Saints can do it; they only can make their tongue and heart joyn in consort; Psal. 111.1. I will bless thee O Lord, with my whole heart; and Psal. 66.17. He was extolled with my tongue: There was heart and tongue joyning in consort. This hallowing Gods name by praise is very becoming a Christian; it is unbecoming to murmur, this is a dishonouring Gods name: But it becomes the Saints to be Spiritual Quiristers in singing forth the honour of Gods name: It is called the garment of praise, Isa. 61.3. how comely and handsome is this garment of praise for a Saint to wear; Psal. 33.1. Praise is comely for the righteous; especially it is an high degree of hallowing Gods name, when we can speak well of God, and bless him in an afflicted state, Iob 1.21. The Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Many will bless God when he gives, but to bless him when he takes p. 449away, is in an high degree to honour God, and hallow his name: Let us thus magnifie Gods name. Hath not God given us abundant matter of praising him; he hath given us the nether and upper springs; he hath given us Grace, a Mercy spun and woven out of his Bowels, and he intends to crown Grace with Glory: This should make us hallow Gods Name by being trumpets of his Praise.

11. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name when we sympathize with him: We grieve when his name suffers. 1. We lay to heart his dishonours: How was Moses affected with Gods dishonour, he breaks the Tables, Exod 32.19. We grieve to see Gods Sabbaths profaned, his Worship adulterated, the Wine of Truth mingled with Error. 2. We grieve when Gods Church is brought low, because now Gods name suffers. Nehemiah layes to heart the miseries of Sion, his complexion begins to alter, and he looks sad; Neh. 2.3. Why is thy countenance sad? What sad when the Kings Cupbearer, and Wine so near? O but it fared ill with the Church of God, and Religion seemed to lose ground, and Gods name suffered, therefore Nehemiah grows weary of the Court, he leaves his Wine, and mingles his Drink with weeping. This holy sympathy and grieving, when Gods name suffers, God esteems an honouring and sanctifying his name. Hezekiah grieved when the King of Assyria reproached the living God; Isa. 37.17. He went into his chamber, and spread the letter of blasphemy before the Lord, 2 Kin. 19.14. and no doubt watered the Letter with his tears. He seemed not to be so much troubled at the fear of losing his own Life and Kingdom, as that God should lose his Glory.

12. We hallow and sanctifie Gods Name, when we give the same honour to God the Son, as we give to God the Father; Iohn 5.23. That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The Socinians deny Christs Divinity, saying, that he is foreign, a bare Man: This is to make him below the Angels; Psal. 8.5. For the Humane Nature considered in se is below the Angelical; this is to reflect dishonour upon the Lord of Glory: We must give equal honour to the Son as to the Father; we must believe Christs Deity, he is the picture of his Fathers Glory, Heb. 1.3. If the Godhead be in Christ, he must needs be God, but the Godhead shines in him; Col. 2.9. In whom dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily: Ergo, he is God. How could these Divine Titles be given to Christ? Omnipotency, Heb. 1.3. Ubiquity, Mat. 28.20. a power of sealing Pardons, Mat. 9.6. coequality with God the Father, both in power and dignity, Iohn 5.21, 23. how I say could these Titles of Honour be ascribed to Christ, if he were not crowned with the Deity? When we believe Christs Godhead, and build our hope of Salvation on the Corner-stone of his Merit: When we see neither the Righteousness of the Law, or of Angels can justifie, but we fly to Christs Blood as to the Altar of Refuge, this is an honouring and sanctifying Gods name: God never thinks his name to be hallowed, unless his Son be honoured.

13. We hallow Gods Name by standing up for his Truths. Much of Gods Glory lyes in his Truths. Gods Truths are his Oracles. God intrusts us with his Truths as a treasure. We have not a richer Jewel to trust God with than our Souls, nor God hath not a greater Jewel to trust us with than his Truths. Gods Truths set forth his Glory; now when we are zealous Advocates for Gods Truth, this is an honour done to Gods name. Athanasius was called, the Bulwark of Truth; he stood up in the defence of Gods Truths against the Arrians, and so was a Pillar in the Temple of God; better have Truth without Peace, than Peace without Truth. It concerns the Sons of Sihon to stand up for the great Doctrines of the Gospel; the Doctrine of the Trinity, the Hypostatical Union, Justification by Faith, the Saints perseverance: We are bid to contend earnestly, Iude 3. foreign, to strive as in an agony for the Faith; that is, the Doctrine of Faith: This contending for the Truth brings great revenues into Heavens exchequer; this is an hallowing of Gods name. Contend for the Truth. Some can contend for Ceremonies, but not for the Truth. We should count him unwise that contends more for a box of Counters, than for his box of Evidences.

14. We hallow and sanctifie Gods name by making as many Proselites as we can to him; by all holy expedients, Counsel, Prayer, Example, we endeavour the Salvation of others. How did Monica, St. Austins Mother, labour for his Conversion, she had sorer pangs in travail for his new birth, than for his natural birth: 'tis an hallowing Gods name when we diffuse the sweet savour of Godliness, and propagate Religion to others; when not only we our selves honour God, but are instruments to make others honour him. Certainly when the heart is seasoned with Grace, there will be an endeavour to season others. Gods Glory is dear to a Saint as his own Salvation, and that this Glory may be promoted he endeavours the conversion of Souls, every Convert is a Member added to Christ: Let us thus hallow Gods name by labouring to advance p. 450piety in others; especially, let us endeavour that those who are nearly related to us, or are under our roof, should honour God; Iosh. 24.15. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord: Let us make our houses Bethels places, where Gods name is called upon, Col. 4.15. Salute Nymphas, and the church that is in his house: Let the Parent endeavour that his Children may honour God, and the Master that his Servants honour him; read the Word, drop holy Instruction, perfume your Houses with Prayer; the Iewes had Sacrifices in their Family as well as in the Tabernacle. Exod. 12.3. this is an hallowing Gods name when we make proselites to him, and endeavour that all under our charge should honour and sanctifie his name.

15. We hallow Gods name when we prefer the honour of Gods name before the dearest things. 1. We prefer the honour of Gods name before our own credit. The Saints of old have for the honour of God been willing to endure reproach; Psal. 69.7. For thy sake I have born reproach. David cared not what reproach he suffered, so Gods name might not suffer. The Prophet Elijah was called in derision, the hairy Prophet, and the Prophet Isaiah, the bearer of burdens, and the Prophet Zephany, the bitter Prophet; but they did bind these reproaches as a crown about their head; the honour of Gods name was dearer to them than their own honour: Moses esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, Heb. 11.26. The Apostles went away rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ; Acts 5.41. foreign, that they were graced so far as to be disgraced for the name of Christ: This is an hallowing Gods name when we are content to have our name eclipsed that Gods name may shine the more. 2. We prefer the honour of Gods Name before our Worldly profit and interest; Mal. 19.27. We have forsaken all and followed thee. When these two, God and Estate come in competition, we will rather let Estate go, than Gods Love and Favour. Thus that noble Marquess of Vico parted with a fair Estate, using these words, Let their money perish with them that count all the Gold and Silver in the World, worth one hours communion with Iesus Christ. 3. We prefer the honour of Gods name before our Life; Rom. 8.36. For thy sake are we killed all the day long. The honour done to Gods name, is not by bringing that outward Pomp and Glory to him as we do to Kings, but Gods honour comes in another way, and that is by the Sufferings of his People. When the World sees how intirely Gods people love him, that they will dye in his service, this exalts and honours Gods name. Gods Crown doth flourish in the ashes of his Martyrs. St. Basil speaks of a Virgin condemned to the fire, who having her Life and Estate offered her if she would bow to the Idol, answered, Valeat vita, pereat pecunia, Let Life and Money go, welcome Christ. When Gods Glory weighs heaviest in the ballance, and we are willing to suffer the loss of all, rather than Gods name should suffer, now we do in an high degree hallow Gods name.

16. Vlt. We do hallow and sanctifie Gods name by an holy Conversation; 1 Pet. 2.9. Ye are a royal priesthood, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you. As an unholy life doth dishonour Gods name, Rom. 2.24. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, so by our holy and Bible Conversation, we honour Gods name. An holy Life speaks louder than all the Anthems and Praises in the World. Though the main work of Religion lyes in the heart, yet when our light so shines that others behold it, now they glorifie God; when our lives shine, now Gods name shines. The Macedonians used one day in the year to wear the picture of Alexander set with Pearl and costly Jewels; so when we carry the picture of Christ about us in our holy Example, now we bring honour to Gods name.

VSE I. See the true note and character of a Godly Person; he is a sanctifier of Gods Name, Hallowed be thy Name. A true Saint doth ambitiously endeavour to advance Gods name. This is the Question he asks himself in every thing he is going about; will this action tend to the honour of Gods name? Will this exalt God? This was St. Pauls foreign, his chief design, that Christ might be magnified, Phil. 1.20. viz. that the Crown upon his Head might flourish. A Godly Man thinks it is scarce worth the while to live, if he may not bring some revenues of honour to Gods name.

VSE II. I may here take up a sad lamentation, and speak as the Apostle Paul, weeping, Phil. 3.18. to consider how Gods name instead of being hallowed and sanctified, is dishonoured. Gods name, which is more worth than the Salvation of all Mens Souls, suffers deeply. We are apt to speak of our Sufferings; alas, what are all our Sufferings? Gods name suffers most; Gods name is the dearest thing he hath; how do Men stand upon their name and honour? Gods name is this day dishonoured, it is like the Sun in an eclipse. Theodosius took it hainously when they threw dirt upon his p. 451Statue, but now (which is far worse) disgrace is thrown upon the glorious name of Jehovah. Gods name in stead of being hallowed is dishonoured by all sorts.

1. Heathens.

2. Turks.

3. Jewes.

4. Papists.

5. Protestants.

1. By Heathens: They have a knowledge of a Godhead by the light of Nature; Rom. 1.19, 20. but they dishonour God and sin against the light of nature. The Aegyptians worship an Oxe, the Persians worship the Sun, the Grecians and Romans, Iupiter, and the Parthians worship the Devil.

2. Gods name is dishonoured by the Turks; they adore Mahomet their great Prophet as one divinely inspired; Mahomet was of an impure vitious life; Mahomet plucks the Crown from Christs Head, denying his Deity.

3. Gods name is dishonoured by the Iewes; who give not equal Honour and Adoration to God the Son as to God the Father; they expect a Messiah yet to come, seculum futurum; they believe not in Christ; they blaspheme him, and slight Righteousness imputed; they vilifie the Christian Sabbath.

4. Gods name is dishonoured by the Papists. Popery is a God dishonouring Religion: They dishonour Gods name.

(1.) By their Idolatry, which is spiritual▪ adultery, Ezek. 23.37. Idolatry is to worship a false God, or the true God in a false manner; this they are guilty of. 1. They dishonour God by their Idolatry in making graven Images, and giving the same honour to them as is due to God, foreign: Images are teachers of lyes, Hab. 2.18. they represent God in a bodily shape. 2. By their Idolatry in the Mass; worshipping the Host, and offering it up as a Sacrifice for Sin: The Apostle saith, Heb. 10.14. By one offering Christ hath perfected them that are sanctified; but as if Christs offering on the Cross were imperfect, they offer him up daily in the Mass, which is a dishonour done to Christs Priestly Office.

(2.) The Papists instead of hallowing Gods name, dishonour Gods name by locking up the Scriptures in an unknown Tongue; they (as the Philistins) pluck out the peoples eyes, and then make sport with them: The Bible is a shining light, but they draw a curtain over it; they take away the key of knowledge, Luke 11.52. and hinder Gods Glory by hindering Mens Salvation.

(3.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour it by giving Men Indulgencies. They say the Pope, as Peters Successour, hath power to grant Indulgencies, by vertue whereof Men are set free in the sight of God from the guilt of Sin: This is a double dishonour to God. 1. It is to steal a Flower from the Crown of Heaven. The Pope assumes a power to pardon, which is Gods Prerogative Royal; Mat. 2.7 Who can forgive sin but God only? 2. The Pope by his Indulgence encourageth Men to sin. What need the Papists care what Sins they commit, when they have a License and Patent from the Pope to bear them harmless.

(4.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour Gods name by their Invocation of Saints. We are to pray only to God, Matth. 6.6. Pray to thy Father; not pray to a Saint, or the Virgin Mary, but pray to your Father in Heaven: We may pray to none but whom we may believe in: Rom. 10.14. The Saints in Heaven are ignorant of our grievances; Isa. 63.16. Abraham is ignorant of us.

(5.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour it by their Luxury and Uncleanness: They allow of Stews. At Rome Fornication keeps open shop, and is in some cases, preferred before honourable Matrimony; Vrbs est jam tota lupanar.

(6.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour it by their Blasphemies. They give equal, nay more honour to the Virgin Mary than to Christ; they ascribe more to her Milk than his Blood; they call her Scala Caeli, the Ladder of Heaven, Ianna Paradisi, the Gate of Paradise. In their Doxologies they say, Praise be to the Virgin Mary, and also to Christ. What Blasphemy is this to set the Creature above the Creator. They say to her, O faelix puerpera, nostrae piaris scelera, O happy Mother of a Son who purgest away our Crimes.

(7.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour it by their Lyes. Their golden Legend is an imposture, and is full of lying wonders. They show Iohn Baptists Forehead for a Relique in Spain, yet his whole Head they affirm to be seen in St. Sylvester in Rome: They show St. Peters Shadow at Rome; indeed we read of St. Peters shadow Acts 5.15. but its strange how the Papists could catch his shadow, and keep it by them so long.

p. 452(8.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour it by Baptizing Sin with the name of Vertue. Breach of Oaths is with the Papists a Vertue. If a Man hath bound his Soul to God by an Oath, yet to violate this Oath is vertuous, if it may propagate the Catholick Cause. Killing those who are of a different Religion, is not only Venial, but a Vertue among Catholicks. Destroying Two Hundred Thousand of the Albigenses, who were Protestants, was commended as a glorious Action, honoured with a Triumph at Rome, and crowned with his Holiness blessing. Is not this an high dishonour to God to guild over the foulest Crimes with the name of Vertue and Piety.

(9.) Instead of hallowing Gods name they dishonour it by their damnable Assertions. 1. The Papists affirm that the Pope is above Scripture, that he may dispence with it, and that his Canons bind more than the Word of God 2. They teach merit by good Works, but if a Debtor cannot pay his Creditor, how can he merit at his hands? 3. That the Scripture is not a perfect Rule of Faith, and Man errs, therefore they eek it out with their Traditions, which they hold to be of equal Authority. 4. They teach that an implicite Faith is saving, though one may have an implicite Faith, yet be ignorant of all the Articles of Religion. 5. They say that the inward act of the Mind is not required in Gods Worship: Diversion of Mind in Duty, though one prayes and never thinks of God is no Sin, saith Angelus and Sylvester, and other Papists. 6. The Papists make Habitual Love to God unnecessary. It is not needful, saith Bellarmine, to perform any acts of Religion out of love to God. Stapleton and Cajetan affirm, that the Precept of loving God with all our heart is not binding; by which they cut asunder the Sinews and Soul of all Religion. Thus instead of honouring Gods name, the Papists dishonour it. Let us pray heartily that this Romish Religion may never get footing again in this Nation; God grant that this poysonful weed of Popery may never be watered here: But that it being a Plant which our Heavenly Father hath not planted, it may be rooted up.

5. Gods Name is dishonoured by Carnal Protestants How is Gods name this day dishonoured in England: His name is like the Sun in an eclipse. Christians instead of hallowing Gods name, reproach and dishonour it.

1. By their Tongues.

2. By their Lives.

1. By their Tongues. 1. They speak irreverently of Gods name: Gods name is sacred: Deut. 28.58. That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord thy God. The names of Kings are not mentioned without giving them their Titles of Honour, High and Mighty; but Men speak irreverently of God, as if he were like one of them, Psal. 50.21. this is a taking Gods name in vain. 2. They swear by his name. Many seldom name Gods name but in Oaths: How is God dishonoured when Men rend and tear his name by Oaths and Imprecations; Ier. 23.10. Because of swearing the land mourns. If God will reckon with Men for idle Words, shall not idle Oaths be put in the Account-Book? O but saith one, I cannot help it, it is a custom of swearing I have got, and I hope God will forgive me? Answ. Is this a good Plea, a custom of swearing? This is no excuse but an aggravation of Sin. As if one that had been accused for killing a Man, should plead with the Judge to spare him, because it was his custom to murder: This were an aggravation of the offence: Will not the Judge say thou shalt the rather dye. So it is here.

2. As Men dishonour God by their Tongues, so by their Lives. What is it to say, Hallowed be thy Name, when in their Lives they profane his name; they dishonour God by their Atheism, Sabbath-breaking, Uncleanness, Perjury, Intemperance, Injustice. Men hang out a Flag of Defiance against Heaven. As the Thracians when it thunders, shoot their Arrowes against Heaven; so Men shoot their Sins as bearded Arrowes against Heaven. Sinners are hardened in Sin, they despise Counsel, they laugh at Reproof, they have cast off the vail of Modesty. Satan hath taken such full possession of them, that when they sin they glory in their shame; Phil. 3.19. they brag how many new Oaths they have invented, how oft they have been drunk, how many they have defiled; they declare their sin as Sodom: Such horrid impieties are committed that a modest Heathen would blush at. Men in this Age sin at that rate, as if either they did not believe there were an Hell, or as if they feared Hell would be full ere they could get thither. Was Gods name ever so openly dishonoured? All our Preaching will not make them leave their Sins. What a black vail is drawn over the face of Religion at this day? Vivimus in temporum faecibus—Sen. We live in the dregs of time wherein the common shore of wickedness runs; Physitians call it foreign, when there is no part of the Body free from Distemper. England hath a Kakexy, it is all p. 453over disease; The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint: Isa. 1.6. As black Vapours rising out of the earth cloud and darken the Sun, so the Sins of People in our Age like Hellish Vapours cast a cloud upon Gods glorious name. O that our Eyes were like Limbecks, dropping the water of holy tears, to consider how Gods name, instead of being hallowed, is polluted and profaned: And may not we justly fear some heavy Judgments? Can God put up our affronts any longer? Can he endure to have his name reproached? Will a King suffer his Crown-Jewels to be trampled in the dust? Do not we see the symptoms of Gods Anger, do we not see his Judgments hovering over us? Sure God is whetting his Sword, he hath bent his Bow, and is preparing his Arrowes to shoot: Qualis per arva Leo fulvam minaci fronte concutiens jubam. Sen. Trag. The Body Politick is in a Paroxism, or burning Fit, and may not the Lord cause a sad Phlebotomy? Seeing we will not leave our Sins he may make us lose our Blood. May not we fear that the Ark should remove, the Vision cease, the Stars in Gods Church be removed, and we should follow the Gospel to the grave? When Gods name which should be hallowed is profaned among a People, it is just with God to write that dismal Epitaph upon a Nations Tomb, The Glory is departed. And that I may speak to the Consciences of all, and deal impartially, it were well if only the profane party were guilty; but may not many Professors be called to the Bar, and indited of this, that they have dishonoured Gods name; 2 Chron. 28.10. Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? Are there not the spots of Gods Children? Deut. 3….5. If you are Diamonds have you no flawes? Have not you your vanities? If your Discourse be not profane is it not vain? Have not you your self-seekings, rash censures, indecent dresses? If the wicked of the Land swear, do not you sometimes slander? If they are drunk with wine, are not you sometimes drunk with passion? If their sin be blaspheming, is not your sin murmuring? Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord? The sins of Gods Children go nearer to his heart than the sins of others: Deut. 32.19. When the Lord saw it he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and daughters. The sins of the wicked anger God, the sins of his own people grieve him; he will be sure to punish them; Amos 3.2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. O that our head were waters, that we could make this place a Bochim, a place of weepers, that Gods Children might mix blushing with tears, that they have so little hallowed, and so much eclipsed Gods name. Truly Gods own People have sinned enough to justifie God in all his severe actings against them.

VSE III. Of Exhortation. Let us hallow and sanctifie Gods Name: Did we but see a glimpse of Gods glory, as Moses did in the Rock; the sight of this would draw Adoration and Praise from us; could we see God face to face, as the Angels in Heaven do, could we behold him sitting on his Throne like … Jasper-stone, Rev. 4.3. we should presently at the sight of this glory do as the twenty four Elders; Rev. 4.10. They worship him that liveth for ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honour and power. That we may be stirred up to this great Duty, the hallowing, adoring and sanctifying Gods name; consider,

1. It is the very end of our Being: Why did God give us our Life, but that our living may be an hallowing of his Name? Why did he give us Souls but to admire him, and Tongues but to praise him? The excellency of a thing is, when it attains the end for which it was made: The excellency of a Star is to give Light, of a Plant to be Fruitful; the excellency of a Christian is to answer the end of his Creation, which is to hallow Gods name, and live to that God by whom he lives. He who lives, and God hath no honour by him, buries himself alive, and exposeth himself to a Curse. Christ cursed the barren Fig-tree.

2. Gods Name is so excellent that it deserves to be hallowed: Psal. 8.9. How excellent is thy name in all the earth: Psal. 104.1. Thou art cloathed with honour and majesty. As the Sun hath its brightness whether we admire it or no, so Gods Name is illustrious and glorious whether we hallow it or no. In God are all shining perfections, Holiness, Wisdom, Mercy: He is worthy to be praised: 2 Sam. 22.4. God is dignus Honore, worthy of Honour, Love, Adoration. We oft bestow Titles of Honour upon them that do not deserve them; but God is worthy to be praised; his Name deserves hallowing; he is above all the Honour and Praise which the Angels in Heaven give him.

3. We pray Hallowed be thy Name; that is, let thy Name be honoured and magnified by us: Now if we do not magnifie his Name, we contradict our own Prayers. p. 454To say, Hallowed be thy Name, yet not to bring honour to Gods Name, it is to take his Name in vain.

4. Such as do not hallow Gods Name, and bring revenues of honour to him, God will get his honour upon them; Exod. 14.17. I'll get me honour upon Pharaoh. Pharaoh would not hallow Gods Name: Who is the Lord that I should obey him? Well saith God, if Pharaoh will not honour me, I will get me honour upon him. When God overthrew him and his Chariots in the Sea, then he got his honour upon him. Gods Power and Justice were glorified in his destruction. There are some whom God hath raised to great Power and Dignity, and they will not honour Gods Name, they make use of their Power to dishonour God, they cast reproach upon Gods Name, and revile his Servants; well, they who will not honour God, he will get his honour upon them in their final ruine. Herod did not give Glory to God, and God did get his Glory upon him: Acts 12.23. The Angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms.

5. It will be no small comfort to us when we come to dye, that we have hallowed and sanctified God… Name: It was Christs comfort a little before his Death; Ioh. 17.4. I have glorified thee on the earth. Christs redeeming Mankind was an hallowing and glorifying of Gods Name; never was more Honour brought to Gods Name than by this great undertaking of Christ: Now here was Christs comfort before his Death, that he had hallowed Gods Name, and brought Glory to him. So what a Cordial will this be to us at last, when our whole Life hath been an hallowing of Gods Name; we have loved him with our Hearts, praised him with our Lips, honoured him with our Lives: We have been foreign, to the praise of his glory, Eph. 1.6. At the hour of death all your earthly comforts will vanish; to think how rich you have been, or what pleasures you have enjoyed upon earth; this will not give one dram of comfort: What is one the better for an Estate that is spent? But now to have Conscience witnessing that you have hallowed Gods Name, your whole Life hath been a glorifying of him, what sweet peace and satisfaction will this give? That Servant who hath been all day working in the Vineyard, how glad is he when evening comes that he shall receive his pay! Such as have spent their Lives in honouring God, how sweet will Death be when they shall receive the recompence of Reward. What comfort was it to Hezekiah when he was on his Sick-bed, and could appeal to God, Isa. 38.3. Remember, Lord, how I have walked before thee with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. I have hallowed thy Name, I have brought all the Honour I could to thee, I have done that which is good in thy sight.

6. There is nothing lost by what we do for God; if we bring Honour to his Name he will honour us. Honour is foreign. Arist. As Balac said to Balaam, Numb. 22.37. Am not I able to promote thee to honour? So if we hallow and sanctifie Gods Name, is not he able to promote us to Honour? 1. He will honour us in our Life. (1.) He will put honour upon our Persons: He will number us among his Jewels, Mal. 3.17. he will make us a Royal Diadem in his hand, Isa. 62.3. he will lift us up in the eyes of others; Zach. 9.16. They shall be as the stones of a crown lifted up, as an ensign of glory: He will esteem us as the cream and flower of the Creation; Isa. 43.4. Since thou hast been precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable. (2.) God will put honour upon our Names; Prov. 10.17. The memory of the just is blessed. How renowned have the Saints been in all Ages who have hallowed Gods Name: How renowned was Abraham for his Faith, Moses for his Meekness, David for his Zeal, Paul for his Love to Christ, their Names as a precious Oyntment send forth a sweet perfume in Gods Church to this day. 2. God will honour us at our Death; he will send his Angels to carry us up with triumph into Heaven; Luke 16.22. The beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosom. Amasis King of Egypt had his Chariot drawn with four Kings which he had conquered in War; but what is this to the Glory every Believer shall have at his Death, he shall be carried by the Angels of God. 3. God will put honour upon us after Death. (1.) He will put Glory upon our Bodies: We shall be foreign as the Angels, not for substance but quality, our Bodies shall be agile and nimble; now our Bodies are as a weight, then they shall be as a wing moving swiftly from place to place; our Bodies shall be full of clarity and brightness, like Christs glorious Body; Phil. 3.21. The Bodies of the Saints shall be as Cloth dyed into a Scarlet colour, made more illustrious; they shall be so clear and transparent, that the Soul shall sparkle through them as the Wine through the Glass. (2.) God will put Glory upon our Souls: If the Cabinet of the Body shall be so illustrious, of what orient brightness shall the Jewel be? Then will be the great Coronation-day, when the Saints shall wear the Robe of Immortality and the Crown of Righteousness which fades not away. O how glorious will that Garland be which p. 455is made of the Flowers of Paradise! Who then would not hallow and glorifie Gods Name, and spread his renown in the World, who will put such immortal Honour upon his People, as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive.

7. Vlt. Such as do not hallow Gods Name, but profane and dishonour it, God will pour contempt upon them; though they be never so great, and though cloathed in Purple and Scarlet, yet they are abhorred of God, and their name shall rot. Though the name of Iudas be in the Bible, and the name of Pontius Pilate be in the Creed, yet their names stand there for Infamy, as being Traytors to the Crown of Heaven; Nahum 1.14. I will make thy grave for thou art vile. It is spoken of Antiochus Epiphanes, he was a King, and his name signifie… Illustrious, yet God esteemed him a vile Person; to show how base the wicked are in Gods esteem, he compares them to things most vile; to chaff, Psal. 1.4. to dross, Psal. 119.118. and the filth that fomes out of the Sea, Isa. 57.20. and as God doth thus vilely esteem of such as do not hallow his Name, so he sends them to a vile place at last. Vagrants are sent to the House of Correction; Hell is the House of Correction which the Wicked are sent to when they dye. Let all this prevail with us to hallow and sanctifie Gods Name.

Quest. What may we do to honour and sanctifie Gods Name?

Answ. Let us get, 1. A sound Knowledge of God. 2. A sincere Love to God.

1. A sound Knowledge of God: Take a view of his superlative Excellencies; his Holiness, his incomprehensible Goodness. The Angels know God better than we, therefore they sanctifie his Name, and sing Hallelujahs to him; and let us labour to know him to be our God; Psal. 48.14. This God is our God. We may dread God as a Judge, but we cannot honour him as a Father, till we know he is our God.

2. Get a sincere Love to God: A Love of Appretiation, and a Love of Complacency to delight in him; Iohn 21.15. Lord thou knowest I love thee: He can never honour his Master who doth not love him: The reason Gods Name is no more hallowed, is, because his name is no more loved. So much for the First Petition.