arms of God-his love, and his faithfulness. | rated. Christ and his spiritual members make 3. Jesus Christ undertakes, that all God's one Christ: now, is it possible that any part children by adoption shall be preserved in a of Christ should perish? How can Christ state of grace till they inherit glory. As the want any member of his body mystical and be heathens feined of Atlas that he did bear up perfect? Every member is an ornament to the heavens from falling: Jesus Christ is that the body, and adds to the honour of it. How blessed Atlas, that bears up the saints from can Christ part with any mystical member, falling away. and not part with some of his glory too? So that by all this it is evident that God's children must needs persevere in grace, and cannot be disinherited. If they could be disin herited then the Scripture could not be fulfilled which tells us of glorious rewards for the heirs of promise, Ps. lviii. 11, “Verily there is a reward for the righteous." Now, if God's adopted children should fall away finally from grace, and miss of heaven, what reward were there for the righteous? And Moses did indiscreetly to look for the recom pense of the reward, and so there would be a door opened to despair. QUEST. How doth Christ preserve the saints' graces, till they come to heaven? ANS. 1. Influxu Spiritus. Christ carries on grace in the souls of the elect, by the influence and co-operation of his Spirit. Christ doth, Spiritu, continually excite and quicken grace in the godly; his Spirit doth blow up the sparks of grace into a holy flame; Spiritus est vicarius Christi,-the Spirit is Christ's vicar on earth, his proxy, his executor, to see that all that Christ hath purchased for the saints be made good. Christ hath obtained an inheritance incorruptible for them, 1 Pet. i. 5, and the Spirit of Christ is his executor, to see that this inheritance be settled upon them. their walking. ANS. Corrupt nature may, as the spider, suck poison from this flower; but a sober Christian, who hath felt the efficacy of grace OBJ. This doctrine of God's children persevering, and having the heavenly inheritance settled on them, may cause carnal seA. 2. Christ carries on perseveringly in thecurity, and make them less circumspect in souls of the elect, vi orationis, by the prevalency of his intercession: Heb. vii. 25, “He ever lives to make intercession for them." Christ prays that every saint may hold out in grace till he comes to heaven: can the chil-upon his heart, dares not abuse this doctrine; dren of such prayers perish? If the heirs of he knows perseverance is attained in the use heaven should be disinherited, and fall short of means, therefore he walks holily, that so of glory, then God's decree must be reversed, in the use of means he may arrive at persehis promise broken, Christ's prayer frustrated, verance. St Paul knew that he should not which were blasphemy to imagine. be disinherited, and that nothing could sepa A. 3. That God's children cannot be dis-rate him from the love of Christ: but who inherited or put by their right to the crown more holy and watchful than he? 1 Cor. ix. of heaven, is evident from their mystical 27, "I keep under my body:" and Phil. iii. union with Christ. Believers are incorpo-14, "I press towards the mark." God's chilrated into Christ; they are knit to Christ, as the members to the head, by the nerves and ligaments of faith, so that they cannot be broken off, Eph. i. 22, 23, “The church which is his body." What was once said of Christ's natural body, is as true of his mystical, A bone of it shall not be broken.' As it is impossible to sever the leaven and the dough when they are once mingled and kneaded together; so it is impossible, when Christ and believers are once united, that they should things conspire for their good; they have a ever, by the power of death or hell, be sepa-kingdom settled on them, and the entail dren have that holy fear in them, which keeps them from security and wantonness; they believe the promise, therefore they rejoice in hope; they fear their hearts, therefore they watch and pray. Thus you see what strong consolation there is for all the heirs of the promise. Such as have God for their Father are the happiest persons on earth; they are in such a condition that nothing can burt them; they have their Father's blessing, all can never be cut off. How may God's children be comforted in all conditions, let the times be what they will! Their Father is in heaven, he rules all; if troubles arise, they shall but carry God's children so much the sooner to their Father. The more violently the wind beats against the sails of a ship, the sooner the ship is brought to the haven; and the more fiercely God's children are assaulted, the sooner they come to their Father's house, 1 Thess. iv. 18, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Use 4th. Of exhortation. Let us behave and carry ourselves as the children of such a Father, in several particulars. careth for you." An earthly parent may have affection for his child, and would provide for him, but sometimes he is not able, but God can create a supply for his children, yea, he hath promised a supply, Ps. xxxvii. 3, "Verily thou shalt be fed." Will God give his children heaven, and will he not give them enough to bear their charges thither? Will he give them a kingdom, and deny them daily bread? O depend upon your heavenly Father! He hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," Heb. xiii. 5. 2. If God be our Father, let us imitate him. The child doth not only bear his Father's image, but doth imitate him in his speech, gesture, behaviour: if God be our Father, let us imitate him, Eph. v. 1, "Be ye followers of God as dear children."-1. Imitate God in forgiving injuries, Isa. lxiv. 22, “I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions." As the sun scatters not only thin mists, but thick clouds, so God pardons great offences; imitate God in this, Eph. iv. 32, "Forgiving one another." Cranmer was a man of a forgiving spirit, he did bury injuries, and requite good for evil: he who hath God for his Father, hath God for his pattern.-2. Imitate God in works of mercy; "He looseth the prisoners," Ps. cxlvi. 7. "He opens his hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing," Ps. cxlv. 16. He drops his sweet dew as well upon the thistle as the rose: imitate God in works of mercy,-relieve the wants of others,―be rich in good works,-Luke vi. 36, “Be merciful as your Father also is merciful." Be not so hardhearted, as to shut the poor out of the lines of communication. Dives denied Lazarus a crumb of bread, and Dives was denied a drop of water. 1. Let us depend upon our heavenly Father, in all our straits and exigencies; let us believe that he will provide for us. Children rely upon their parents for the supply of wants: if we trust God for salvation, shall we not trust him for a livelihood? There is a lawful provident care to be used, but beware of a distrustful care, Luke xii. 24, "Consider the ravens, they neither sow nor reap, and God feedeth them." Doth God feed the birds of the air, and will he not feed his children? v. 27, "Consider the lilies how they grow; they spin not: yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." | Doth God clothe the lilies, and will he not clothe his lambs? Even the wicked taste of God's bounty, Ps. lxxiii. 7, "Their eyes stand out with fatness." Doth God feed his slaves, and will he not feed his family? God's children may not have so liberal a share in the things of this life, but little meal in the barrel; they may be drawn low, but not drawn dry; they shall have so much as God sees is good for them, Ps. xxxiv. 10, "They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." If God gives them not ad voluntatem, he will ad sanitatem; if he gives 3. If God be our Father, let us submit them not always what they crave, he will patiently to his will; if he lay his strokes give them what they need; if he gives them on us, they are the corrections of a Father, not a feast, he will give them a viaticum, a not the punishments of a judge; this made bait by the way; let God's children therefore Christ so patient, John xviii. 11, “Shall I depend upon God's fatherly providence, not drink the cup which my Father hath give not way to distrustful thoughts, distract- given me?" He sees me need affliction, ing cares, or indirect means,-God can pro-1 Pet. i. 6; he appoints it as a diet-drink, to vide for you without your sins, 1 Pet. v. 7, purge and sanctify us, Isa. xxvii. 9, there"Casting all your care upon him, for he fore dispute not, but submit: Heb. xii. 9. "We had fathers of our flesh which corrected instrument, touch upon every string, obey us, and we gave them reverence;" they might every commandment, or you cannot make correct out of an humour, but God doth it sweet melody in religion. Obey your hea for our profit, Heb. xii. 10; therefore say, as venly Father, though he commands things Eli, 1 Sam. iii. 18, "It is the Lord, let him contrary to flesh and blood.-1. When he do what seemeth him good." What gets commands to mortify sin, that sin which hath the child by struggling, but more blows? been dear to you; pluck out this right eye, What got Israel by their murmuring and that you may see the better to go to heaven. rebelling, but a longer and more tedious-2. When he commands you to suffer for march, and at last their carcases fell in the sin, be ready to obey, Acts xxi. 13. Every wilderness? 4. If God be our Father, let this cause in us a childlike reverence, Mal. i. 6, "If I be a father where is my honour?" This is a part of the honour we give to God, when we reverence and adore him. If you have not always a childlike confidence, yet always preserve a childlike reverence. And how ready are we to run into extremes, either to despond or grow wanton? Because God is a Father, therefore do not think you may be secure and take liberty to sin; if you do, God may carry it so as if he were no Father, he may throw hell into your conscience. When David presumed upon God's paternal affection, and began to wax wanton under mercy, God made him pay dear for it, he withdrew the sense of his love, and though he had the heart of a Father, yet he had the look of an enemy. David prayed, Cause me to hear the voice of joy, Ps. li. 8. He lay several months in desertion, and it is thought he never recovered his full joy to the day of his death. Oh keep alive holy fear! With a childlike confidence, preserve an humble reverence; the Lord is a Father, therefore love to serve him; he is the mighty God, therefore fear to offend him. good Christian hath a spirit of martyrdom in him, and is ready rather to suffer for the truth, than the truth should suffer. Luther said he had rather be a martyr than a mo narch. Peter was crucified with his head downwards, as Eusebius. Ignatius called his chains his spiritual pearls, and did wear his fetters as a bracelet of diamonds. This is to carry it as God's children, when we obey his voice, and count not our lives dear, so that we may show our love to our heavenly Fa ther, Rev. xii. 11, "They loved not their lives to the death." 6. If God be your Father, show it by your cheerful looks that you are the children of such a Father. Too much drooping and despondency disparageth the relation you stand in to God. What though you meet with hard usage in the world? You are now in a strange land far from home; it will be shortly better with you, when you are in your own country, and your Father hath you in his arms. Doth not the heir rejoice in hope? Shall the sons of a king walk dejected! 2 Sam. xiii. 4, "Why art thou, being the king's son, lean ?" Is God an unkind Father? Are his commands grievous? Hath he no land to give his heirs? Why then do God's children walk so sad? Never had children such privileges as they who are of the seed. royal of heaven, and have God for their Fa ther: they should rejoice, therefore, who are within a few hours to be crowned with glory. 7. If God be our Father, let us honour him by walking very holily, 1 Pet. i. 16, 5. If God be our Father, let us walk obediently, 1 Pet. i. 14, “As obedient children." When God bids you be humble and selfdenying, deny yourselves; part with your bosom-sin; be sober in your attire, savoury in your speeches, grave in your deportment, obey your Father's voice; open to God, as the flower opens to the sun; as you expect" Be ye holy, for I am holy." A young your Father's blessing, obey him in whatever he commands, first and second table duties. A lutanist, that he may make sweet music, toucheth upon every string of the lute: the ten commandments are like a ten-stringed prince asking a philosopher how he should behave himself, the philosopher said, Memento te filium esse regis,—' Remember thou art a king's son:' do nothing but what becomes the son of a king: so remember you Oberg COM : our Father, we love to see his picture of are the adopted sons and daughters of the high God, do nothing unworthy of such a relation. A debauched child is the disgrace of his father. "Is this thy son's coat?" said od- they to Jacob, when they brought it home dipped in blood, Gen. xxxvii. 23: so when we see a person defiled with malice, passion, drunkenness, we may say, is this the coat of God's adopted son? Doth he look as an heir of glory? "Tis a blaspheming the name of God, to call him Father, yet live in sin. Such heavenly-mindedness; they who are born of as profess God is their Father, yet live un- God do set their "affections on things that holily, they will slander and defraud; these are above," Col. iii. 2. O ye children of the are as bad to God as heathens, Amos ix. 7, high God, do not disgrace your high birth by “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians to sordid covetousness! What, a son of God, me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord!" and a slave to the world! What, sprung. The Ethiopians were uncircumcised, a base, from heaven, and buried in the earth! For ill-bred people; when Israel grew wicked, a Christian, who pretends to derive his pedithey were no better to God than Ethiopians. gree from heaven, yet wholly to mind earthly Loose, scandalous livers under the gospel, things, is to debase himself; as if a king are no better in God's esteem than Pagans should leave his throne to follow the plough, and Americans; nay, they shall have a hot- Jer. xlv. 5, "Seekest thou great things for ter place in hell. O let all who profess God thyself?" As if the Lord had said, “What! to be their Father, honour him by their un- thou Barak,-thou who art born of God,spotted lives. Scipio abhorred the embraces akin to angels, and by thy office a Levite,of an harlot, because he was the general of dost thou debase thyself, and spot the silver an army: abstain from all sin, because you wings of thy grace, by beliming them with are born of God, and have God for your earth! Seekest thou great things? Seek Father, 1 Thess. v. 22, "Abstain from all them not." The earth chokes the fire; earthappearance of evil." It was a saying of liness chokes the fire of good affections, Augustus, an emperor should not only be free from crimes, but from the suspicion of them. By a holy life you would bring glory to your heavenly Father, and cause others to become his children. Causinus in his hieroglyphics, speaks of a dove, whose wings being perfumed with sweet ointments, did draw the other doves after her: the holy lives of God's children is a sweet perfume to draw others to religion, and make them to be of the family of God. Justin Martyr saith, that which converted him to Christianity, was the beholding the blameless lives of the Christians. 8. If God be our Father, let us love all that are his children, Ps. cxxxiii. 1, "How pleasant is it for brethren to dwell together in unity?" "Tis compared to ointment, v. 2, for the sweet fragrancy of it; 1 Pet. ii. 17, "Love the brotherhood." Idem est motus anime in imaginem et rem. The saints are the walking pictures of God; if God be 100% 26 10. If God be our Father, let us own our heavenly Father in the worst times,-stand up in his cause, defend his truths. Athanasius owned God when most of the world turned Arians. If sufferings come, do not deny God; he is a bad son, who denies his father. Such as are ashamed of God in times of danger, God will be ashamed to own them for his children, Mark viii. 38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." So I have done with the first part of the preface, "Our Father." II. The second part of the preface (which I shall but briefly touch on) is, “Which art in heaven." God is said to be in heaven, not that he is so included there,-that he is no where else, for the "heaven of heavens cannot be blocked up. One may have a father living in foreign parts, but the way, both by sea and by land, may be so blocked up, that there is no coming to him; but thou, saint of God, when thou prayest to thy Father, he is in heaven; and though thou art everso cannot contain him," 1 Kings viii. 27; but the meaning is, God is chiefly resident in the empyrean heaven, which the apostle calls "the third heaven," 2 Cor. xii. 2; there God doth most give forth glory to his saints and angels. QUEST. What may we learn from this confined, thou mayest have access to him. that God is in heaven? ANS. 1. Hence we learn that we are to raise our minds in prayer above the earth. God is no where to be spoken with but in I heaven; God never denied that soul his suit who went as far as heaven to ask it. A prison cannot keep thee from thy God; the way to heaven can never be blocked up. So I have done with the word 'Father: shall next speak of the pronoun "Our, Father." In the first there is an appellation, "Father;" in the second, an appropriation, A. 2. We learn from God's being in hea-"Our Father." Christ, by this word Our, ven, his sovereign power. Hoc vocabulo would teach us thus much; "that in all our intelligitur omnia subesse ejus imperio, CALVIN. PS. CXV. 3, " Our God is in the heavens, he hath done whatever he pleased." God being in heaven, governs the universe, and orders all occurrences here below for the good of his children; when the saints are in straits and dangers, and see no way of relief, he can send from heaven and help them, Ps. lvii. 3, "He shall send from heaven, and save me." A. 3. We learn God's glory and majesty; he is in heaven, therefore he is covered with light, Ps. civ. 2,—" clothed with honour," Ps. civ. 1,-and is far above all worldly princes as heaven is above earth. 66 A. 4. We learn, from God's being in heaven, his omnisciency. "All things are naked, and opened to his eye," Heb. iv. 13. Men plot and contrive against the church; but God is in heaven, and they do nothing but what our Father sees. If a man were on the top of a tower or theatre, he might thence see all the people below: God is in heaven, as in a high tower or theatre, and he sees all the transactions of men. The wicked make wounds in the backs of the righteous, and then pour in vinegar; God writes down their cruelty, Exod. iii. 7, "I have surely seen the afflictions of my people." God is in heaven, and he can thunder out of heaven upon his enemies, Ps. xviii. 13, 14, "The Lord also thundered in the heavens; yea, he sent out arrows, and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them." A. 5. We learn from God's being in heaven, comfort for the children of God; when they pray to their Father, the way to heaven it. 66 prayers to God, we should act faith." Our Father: Father,' denotes reverence; 'Our Father,' denotes faith. In all our prayers to God we should exercise faith, "Our Father." Faith is that which baptizeth prayer, and gives it a name; it is called 'the prayer of faith,' Jam. v. 15. Without faith, it is speak ing, not praying. Faith is the breath of prayer; prayer is dead unless faith breathe in Faith is a necessary requisite in prayer. The oil of the sanctuary was made up of several sweet spices, pure myrrh, cassia, cinnamon, Exod. xxx. 23. Faith is the chief spice, or ingredient in prayer, which makes it go up to the Lord, as sweet incense, Jam. i. 6, Let him ask in faith," Matt. xxi. 22, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believ. ing, ye shall receive." Invoco te, Domine, quanquam languida et imbecilla fide, tamen fide," Lord, (said Cruciger) I pray, though with a weak faith, yet with faith." Prayer is the gun we shoot with, fervency is the fire that dischargeth it, and faith is the bullet which pierceth the throne of grace. Prayer is the key of heaven, faith is the hand that turns it; pray in faith, Our Father.' Faith must take prayer by the band, or there is no coming nigh to God; prayer without faith is unsuccessful. If a poor handy-craftsman, that lives by his labour, hath spoiled his tools that he cannot work, how shall he subsist? Prayer is the tool we work with, which procures all good for us: but unbelief spoils and blunts our prayers, and then we can get no blessing from God; a prayer that is faithless is fruitless. As Joseph I |