Meditations Upon the Lords Prayer, Treatise
THE PREFACE OF The LORDS PRAYER.
Offering many Particulars to conſideration, pertinent to other Duties an Objects of our Chriſtian Faith; as well as to the true underſtanding and right uſe of that Prayer, without impoſing upon any, ought more then he ſhall conſcientiouſly believe▪ till convinced by better informatiion; which the Author humbly prays all his Readers to remember, for prevention of uncharitable Prejudice.
Matthew 6. 9.
After this manner pray ye; or, as it is written, Ink. 12. 2. When ye pray, ſay; Our Father which are in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name: Thy Kingdom come; thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For, thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever. Amen.
OUr bleſſed Redeemer, having in the words next preceding theſe, reprehended theſe who uſed ſuch vain Repetitions in praying, as the Heathens did (who thought to be heard for their much babling, or that God elſe knew not, or would not heed their wants) It pleaſed him for preventing ſuch practices and miſapprehenſions, to leave this Catholick Form and Pattern of Prayer and Praiſe, to his Apoſtles, and his Church for all future Generations; including therein one conditional Petition, not grantable without performance of that condition required; to wit, the forgiveneſs of our ſins; which condition is both Affirmatively and Negatively declared in theſe words next following: If you forgive men their Treſpaſſes, then will your heavenly Father forgive you: But, if you forgive not them, then will not your heavenly Father forgive you. This precaution is heedfully to be obſerved at all times, leſt our Prayers be turned into ſin, and we imprecate a Curſe upon our ſelves inſtead of a Bleſſing: For, God is Love, and whoſoever brings a Petition into his Preſence, with a malitious or implacable heart toward his Brother or Neighbour, ſhall have all his ſuits rejected, and his ſins (even his ſins formerly forgiven) recharged upon him, and be laid in priſon until he hath pay'd the utmoſt farthing of his debts. That qualification for Prayer, is in this Generation very defective in a great number: And perhaps it proceeds from a want of Charity in this kinde, (whereof their own conſciences accuſe them) that ſo many have neglected the uſe of this Prayer; even becauſe they cannot forgive as they would be forgiven; and therefore are afraid to ſpeak in that Form of words; not conſidering that God remembers that condition though they mention it not in their prayers, nor peradventure obſerve that, (though God ſets before us his Love and free forgiveneſs to be a Pattern whereto he requires conformity as near as poſſible we can) he is not ſo ſevere as to expect our forgiveneſs ſhould equal his in perfection, but onelyonly in that proportion which our finite and frail nature is capable of. This Hint is proper to the Fifth Petition, yet not impertinently here offered to remembrance, becauſe peradventure, ſome may meet it here upon the threſhold, who will never look further into the Book.
2. The Texts of Holy Scripture prefixed to this Prayer contain a Precept or Injunction, teaching how to pray it: For, the Evangeliſt Matthew ſaith, After this manner pray ye, and St. Luke ſays, When ye pray, ſay thus: Our Father, &c. whereof little more need to be ſaid, then what the words and authority of the Author ſufficiently explains and warrants, to take away all ſcruple of praying both in the ſame words, and according to their Genuine ſence in ſuch other words, as the Spirit of God ſhall dictate unto our underſtandings upon ſuch occaſions as are offered; for the two Evangeliſts by the words afore-ſpecified, the one biddding us to pray in this manner, and the other, to ſay thus, makes this aſſertion doubtleſs; and they are very ignorant, who ſhall either ſuſpect the lawful uſe of a Form ſo authorized, or that the help to Devotion thereby intended, was not as well vouchſafed to direct and inlarge our conceptions in whatſoever is pertinent to the duty of Prayer, as to reſtrain us from vain Tautologies, or other ſuperfluous impertinencies.
3. As it is hinted in my preceding Preamble, our humane Capacity is not capable of ſpiritual Objects (or to communicate them intelligibly to each other) unleſs they are imbodied in ſome ſenſible Form: Therefore, in that reſpect, this may be called the Body of Prayer; and I finde it conſiſts of a Preface, ſix Petitions, and an Epilogue or Concluſion. The Preface is comprehended in theſe words, Our Father which art in Heaven; in which there are ſeveral particulars obſervable: firſt, that this Prayer is not ſingly perſonated by this word MY, but, by the Pronoun Collective OUR, comprehending many perſons myſteriouſly incorporated; which implies that it is not to be offered up to God, by Individual perſons or congregations, with reſpect to themſelves onelyonly, or to their perſonal duties or neceſſities, but, with regard alſo to the whole Catholick Church-Militant, and to the neceſſities of every member thereof, in being, or in a potentiality of being; yea, in ſome reſpects with regard to thoſe Saints whoſe quondam viſible being is at an end for a while, conſidering their Reſurrection to life Eternal, with all the Priviledges of the Everlaſting Kingdom petitioned for in this Prayer, belonging to the Quick and Dead, and concerns their Bodies now in the Grave, no leſs then their bodies who yet live; and therefore they are to be comprehended In our Prayers, in ſuch reſpects, with thoſe alſo, who were or ſhall be, as well as on the behalf of our ſelves and of thoſe who yet live, in regard they are Objects of the Univerſal Faith, Charity, and Reſurrection as well as we; and their Reſurrections no leſs neceſſary to be pray'd for, then the Kingdom to come, though both will come to paſs notwithſtanding we pray not for them. This Doctrine will not be juſtly offenſive to any, but to ſuch as are very ignorant, or prepoſſeſſed with much prejudice: For, this intends not prayers for the Dead, according to the ſuperſtitious practice of the Church of Rome, nor upon ſuch conſiderations, nor to ſuch purpoſes, as when they pray for Souls departed out of this life. But, the Saints now at reſt from their Labours and bodily endeavours, having ſtill (potentially at leaſt) a ſpiritual Communion with us and we with them, as members of Chriſts Myſtical Body (and who having as much right as we to what appertains to the eternal Kingdom) are no more to be excluded totally out of our Prayers, who yet live, then we were out of their Prayers, and the Petitions of the Catholick Church, before we were born; it being to me doubtleſs that their Devotions were then exhibited on our behalf, by the Example of Chriſt our Head, of whom it is teſtified, John I7. I9. that, when he prayed for his Apoſtles, he ſaid, I pray not for theſe alone, but for them alſo who ſhall believe on me through their word. This Prayer extends alſo, to the preſervation of all other Creatures, which being, as it were the Sons of God by Creation, are ſaid to groan together with us, Rom. 8. 20. Even they receive benefit with us, by this prayer, toward their ſubſiſtance and perpetuity, which is metaphorically ſignified by daily bread. For, a natural Inſtinct inclines them to demonſtrate, in ſome ſort, that which is equivalent with a deſire of what is wanting, though they neither know what they lack or whence it comes: Even the vegetative Plants and Herbs evidence it by their drooping, when they have over-much or too little rain, or fair weather, and by their refreshment with ſhowres or heat; ſo do the Beaſts alſo, when none being preſent to relieve them, they bellow, and lift up their voices in their kinde, for want of meat. For theſe reſpects, the ſcope which this Prayer hath in my underſtanding, inclines my deſire in the uſe thereof, to extend it to all things and perſons, that were, are, or ſhall be, for procuring of whatſoever is therein explicitely or implicitely comprehended, as having an Univerſal Relation: For, Priviledges there are which the Saints Univerſally enjoy by a Spiritual Communion, not heeded by the world, which will be demonſtrated more at large by my Meditations upon the twelve Articles of our Faith, commonly called the Apoſtles Creed, if God gives me time and means to make it publick, and if I recover that part of it, which was taken from me, and being but ſhort notes to bring things to remembrance, will be of no uſe to thoſe who have them.
4. By the right uſe of this Prayer, every Member of Jeſus Chriſt is united in his Mediation, the whole agreeing with the Head, and with each other, in all Requeſts without contradiction; whereof I know not how we could have had an aſſurance, ſave by this Medium: For, the ſpeaking it in ſeveral Languages, Times or Places makes no eſſential difference, or material diſ-junction; nor do the involuntary miſtakes, or infirmities of the weakeſt Members render their Sacrifice unacceptable, or ineffectual; becauſe he to whom their Addreſſes are made can and doth reconcile ſuch differences; and the whole Body being ingratiated by the dignity of that Head, the moſt ignorant and inſenſible parts thereof (if they ſeparate not themſelves willfully and maliciouſly) are partakers of that Faith which is in the whole, and of whatſoever is imparted thereto, or conferred thereupon, by the merit and mediation of their Head and Mediator; yea, as truely as the Inferiour members of our Natural Bodies, whilſt they continue in their places, injoy the benefits to them pertaining; and ſo far forth, as they are capable of them, as the Tongue, Eyes, Ears and Heart, though the other can neither ſpeak, ſee, hear or underſtand as theſe do: And the knowledge of this may be a great means of conſolation to many a poor weak Member of Chriſt, who is ſenſible of his perſonal defects. It is alſo by this participation onelyonly, that we make good our affectionate deſires and verbal ingagements or promiſes, to pray for our Friends or Relations in their ſeveral neceſſities, abſent or preſent; which we cannot ſo often and ſo particularly remember as we would, if it were not done by an Univerſal concurrence in this mode of praying to our heavenly Father, before whom, that which was but once prayed for in Faith, continues always, as if we were always praying it, and as if it were the joynt-act of the whole Catholick Church; for which reſpect neither ſhould a due application of this Prayer be neglected, or the great advantages, thereby vouchſafed be unthankfully heeded. Moreover, by Chriſts teaching us in this Form of Prayer, to ſay Our Father, and not My Father, I do conceive that in all our Deſires and Petitions, we ought to have ſtill heed and regard to the neceſſities and welfare of others, as aforeſaid, as well as to our own; eſpecially, of our Brethren relating to the ſame Father, though for the preſent they be rebellious children; and that we ſhould be wary, we ſeek not the advance of a ſelf-intereſt, by a Publick detriments or, to the wrong of any private perſon; or, to the infringement of Chriſtian Charity, the want whereof makes all Prayers ineffectual to them, who ſhall ſo pray.
5. The Father, there meant to whom our Addreſſes are to be made, and ſaid to be in Heaven, is the firſt Perſon of the Holy Trinity, (the other two Perſons, to wit, the Son and Holy Ghoſt being implicitely to be understood as one with him in the ſame Deity) and we being a Brotherhood relating to the ſame Father, warrants the fore-going Interpretation. God is the Father of all corporeal and ſpiritual created Beings; and by that Appellative, we are incouraged to hope and believe that we ſhall obtain whatſoever we petition for in this Prayer, taught us by his beſt beloved Son, even to the utmoſt extent thereof; though we our ſelves neither know or can minde all that is comprehended in thoſe words; becauſe, as it is ſaid, Rom 8. 26. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, making interceſſion for us, with groanings that cannot be expreſſed. This Form containeth nothing repugnant to his Fathers Will; and Chriſt hath aſſured us, That whatſoever we ſhall ask of his heavenly Father in his Name ſhall be obtained; and doubtleſs it will be no bar to this aſſurance, when we ask according to his own direction; yet, (knowing our infirmities) to confirm us in that belief without wavering, he hath made it probable by Inferences drawn from our common experience, Luke 11. The one from that prevalency which conſtant importunity hath upon ſuch Friends, as have but little ſence of our neceſſities; and the other drawn from the good effects which proceed even from our imperfect natural affections, who are but earthly Fathers: For ſaid he, If a Son ſhall ask bread of any of you, who is a Father, will he give him a ſtone? If he ſhall ask Fiſh, will he give him a Ser…? Or, if he ask an Egg, will he give him a Se… Thereupon, he made this Inference: If then, you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more ſhall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to him that asketh it? Yea, he having given his only Son for us, when we were his enemies, why ſhould we diſtruſt that he will give us all other good things being reconciled unto him by his pretious blood? For, we have not onelyonly this GOD Almighty to our Father by Creation, as all other Creatures have (which obligeth us relatively both to him and to them) but we are his Children alſo by Adoption, admitted thereunto by Grace through his beſt beloved Son Jeſus, thereto begotten by Faith in him; and he having drawn up a Petition for us, taught us how to exhibit it, and warranted us to prefer it unto him as our Father, what ſhould diſcourage us from it? or what can reaſonably incline us to any other Form or Courſe? The tenderneſs which we know to be in a good natural Father, is a ſtrong Argument to preſerve us from deſpairing to obtain any thing in his power which he knows needful. But, GOD is more truely our Father, then our Fathers in the fleſh; for without his concurrence in our Generation, we had neither been conceived nor born into the world; or if his providence had not given us ſhape, nouriſhment, and preſervation till the birth; and he knoweth and ſtill mindeth what he begets; whereas our fleſhly fathers ſeldom minde more then the ſatisfying of their fleſhly deſires when they beget us; and know not what they beget until they ſee it brought forth: Iſaith ſaith, 63. 16. unto God, Doubtleſs then art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Iſrael acknowledge us not; Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, and thy Name is everlaſting. Theſe conſiderations with the many demonſtrations which we have had of Gods infinite Love, Wiſdom and Power, may aſſure he is neither ignorant of what is beſt for us, nor unable, nor unwilling to confer it.
6. Though this be ſufficiently demonſtrated, it may be yet further illuſtrated and aſcertained by contemplating this ſhort Preface; for to incourage us in this Duty, and to increaſe and ſtrengthen our Faith in proſecution thereof, He, whom we are to ſollicite is ſaid to be Our Father which is in Heaven. Not the Father of our Fleſh onelyonly, the beſt of which Fathers is both imperfect and partial, even in the exerciſe of natural affections toward his own children; neither equally diſtributing it among them, nor able to beſtow upon them whom he moſt loves, all thoſe things which he knows neceſſary; nor is wiſe enough to know what is beſt for them; nor ſure of his own being, ſo long as his Children may want his protection, or continuing aſſiſtance to provide for them; whereas Our Father, by this Prayer invoked, is evidenced by the relative Pronoun WHICH (conſidered with the words next preceding and following it) to have an eternal Al-ſufficiency to grant whatſoever is asked. For this word ART, being a Verb of the preſent Tenſe, comprehending all Time, paſt, preſent, and to come, denotes that Time (if Eternity may be ſo called) which is GODS Time onelyonly, and which belongs to none but to him who is Eternity it ſelf: For, we cannot ſay truely of, or to any other, He is, or Thou art; becauſe, before we can ſpeak or think out theſe words, he, of whom, or to whom, we ſpeak, is in ſomewhat changed from what he was, though it is not perceived. Therefore, when Moſes asked of GOD, what he ſhould anſwer, if Pharaoh demanded who ſent him; God ſaid, Tell him I AM, ſent thee; and when GOD ſpeaketh of himſelf, as GOD the Father in the firſt Perſon, he ſaid, I AM the Lord thy God; when he ſpeaketh to his Son the ſecond Perſon, he ſaith, Thou ART my beloved Son, &c. and when the Holy Ghoſt the third Perſon is ſpoken of, it is ſaid, He IS the Comforter, &c. all being in the preſent Tenſe, which is Eternal. This ſence being collected by me from the connection of theſe words in this Preface, Our Father which art in heaven, much fortifies my Faith in their uſe; and that which I extract from the laſt word in this Preface adds a little more thereunto.
7. For Heaven, (which is the place of our Fathers reſidence, to whom this Prayer is to be made) may ſomewhat more illuſtrate his Almightineſs, and mindes us to approach his Preſence with awful reverence, though that Appellative may embolden us alſo in our Addreſſes. Heaven is that Beauty of Holineſs, Joy and Glory, wherein GOD dwelleth: It is an Infinite Object, ſupernaturally intelligible, whereof I cannot apprehend ſo much by any natural means to me knowable, as by turning my Intellectual Eye into my ſelf, to contemplate that unbounded Heaven, which appears within me; for that receptacle, ſeems to me, infinitely more large then that Heaven, which I ſee above me and round about me, with corporeal eyes; and he, who looking that way, finds GOD to have therein an habitation, ſhall ſee more of him, and of heaven, then by any other proſpect whilſt he is in the fleſh; and thereby, know more of Hell alſo, if God be not there, as in his own place: Yet Heaven is improperly conceived to be a circumſcribed place, the better to ſuit it to humane Capacities, which cannot apprehend Objects beyond the extent of our narrow underſtandings; But, ſo much thereof as is viſible may give us intellectual Notions, in ſome degree of his glorious and inexpreſſible Majeſty to whom we pray, when we conſider, That, Heaven is his Throne, and Earth his Foot-ſtool; as alſo, That the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him: and from thence we may infallibly conclude that we can have no ſecret ſufferings, oppreſſions or afflictions whatſoever, which he cannot take notice of in his Residency; or, any Oppreſſors ſo powerful, or highly exalted, that, he cannot reach them to deliver us from them; in regard he is both Vbiquitary, and ſo Inthroned, that neither we or they can be concealed from his Eye, or ſecured from his Hand; which is manifeſted by theſe words, Pſalm 139. Whither ſhall I go from thy Spirit? or whither ſhall I free from thy Preſence? If I aſcend into Heaven, thou art there: If I deſcend into Hell, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, & dwell in the uttermoſt parts of the ſea: Even there ſhall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand uphold me. If I ſay, darkneſs ſhall cover me: even the night ſhall be light about me, &c. Which Scripture infers, that our Heavenly Father being every where, His reſidence in Heaven, is not excluſive to His reſidence in all other places at the ſame time: For, we muſt not imagine he is ſo in Heaven, as a circumſcribed Body is in a finite place, as all Created things are; or, as the ſoul is in the body, which is ſaid to be wholly in the whole, and in every part thereof: For though that illuſtrates GODS being in his whole Creation, as the ſoul thereof; and as truely as any ſimilitude can, it nevertheleſs, cometh far ſhort of expreſſing it to our underſtandings, who are ſo ignorant of our own Beings, that, moſt are doubtful whether the ſoul be in the body or the body in the ſoul. In my private Judgement, I think the ſoul contains the body; and was partly thereto induced by this accidental experience. A Gentlewoman of my Acquaintance, had her Leg cut off cloſe below the Knee, who many years after that Leg was buried, ſeemed to be ſo ſenſible of motion in her Feet and Toes, and of itchings in the Leg and Foot, that, ſometimes before ſhe was aware what ſhe did, ſhe would ſuddenly reach down her hand to ſcratch the place, as if her Leg had ſtill been there, and then laugh at her miſtake. From whence I collect that her ſoul (ſtill extended an animating Faculty, to the whole dimenſion of her body, when a part thereof had been long cut off) is rather the container of the body, then contained therein; becauſe, though that part had no being wherein that operation might be actually exerciſed, as in a part of the body, the ſoul was as intire as before. This digreſſion, I leave to be conſidered by others as their Judgement ſhall incline them, and perhaps it may be of ſome uſe.
8. Indeed our Almighty Fathers reſidence in heaven, and his univerſal Preſence is unexpreſſable; therefore, we muſt like weaned Children, in this and in all other ſuch like Myſteries, meekly ſubmit to ſuch illuſtrations as God hath vouchſafed, and makes us capable of, without admitting impertinent curioſities, contenting our ſelves with thoſe diſpenſations, which will then be rendred ſufficient for us; and make that acceptable to him, which we ſhall believe and do, upon that account: And if we be but as wary as we may be, of what he hath revealed to preſerve us from worſhipping him according to our own Fancies, we ſhall not be guilty of ſuch groſs Idolatries or Superſtitions, as they are, who make to themſelves graven Images, or ſuch ſpiritual Ideas, as may derogate from the Majeſty of God; and obſcure the knowledge of him revealed in his Word, to their own confuſion; and cauſe others, to the hazzard of their Souls and Bodies, to ſin againſt their own Conſciences, by compelling or alluring them, to diſobey God rather then men: which miſchieves cannot be avoyded by thoſe who are not at all times careful to examine and try all ſpirits by the true Standard; not onelyonly their own Light, and the Lights which are ſet up by humane Authorities, but thoſe Revelations alſo, that ſeem to be Angelically inſpired, what Infallibility ſoever ſhall be to them aſcribed: For the Devil can tranſform himſelf into an Angel of Light; and theſe later times, are ſo full of Deluſions and Impoſtures, that none ſhall eſcape them but they, who unfeignedly and diligently, endeavour thus to do; therewith imploring Gods promiſed aſſiſtance, and truſting thereupon. To theſe, are due the promiſes both of this life, and of that which is to come, and they ſhall obtain their deſire at full, in due time upon earth, or have what is here wanting, ſupplied with a ſuperabundance, upon their ſouls hereafter. Other ſpeculative Notions, I might expreſs by contemplating Heaven, the place of Gods Reſidence, and ſuch as are warrantable by his Word and Spirit; but, they cannot be yet born; and I fear I have already, or, may in what follows, expreſs ſo much more, then ſome will be pleaſed withal, that I ſhall looſe more Friends then I gain by it; but I will diſcharge my Conſcience, and Gods Will be done; Let other men do ſo, without any ſiniſter ſelf-ends, and I ſhall take no offence thereat. This is part of that which I expreſs or implicitely contemplate, when I repeat the preface to the Lords Prayer. Now I proceed to the Petitions.