A Prat!ical Expojitiort and t~at thoUgh ~e ~ave caR: off the Dut~ a~d Obedien:e _of ~hi!drm, yer up~n or~r Submillion he Will bid us welcotne, and mffat e us agam m bts Favour: This to rh"' ingenious Spirit of a Chrifiiari is a fweet and powerful Motive to reduce him frortl his wand.ring and fhaying, .for it will Wbrk both upon his Shame, and upon his Hope: Upon h1s Shame; that ever he lhould offend fo Gracio us a Futber. aDd upon hiS Hope, that tbofe Offences !hall be forgiyen h im through that very Mercy rhat he bath abufed. Thus we read, }er. 3· 4, S· U!zft thou not henctforrb cry unto me il1y FatlJer, tholl art the Guide ofmy 10ut5! Will be referve hi1 .Anger for ever'? ~.,Till be kup it Unto rbe end? Noting that when we plead with God unde r the winning Name of Father his Anger cannot long laft, but his BoWels of Mercy will ar tall 0~ vercome the SentimeniS of his Wrath a·nd Juftic e. And thus much concerning the en· dearing Title of Father; which our Savicur direEls us to ufe in our Prayers urito God. Secondly, The neXt Thing obfervable is the Particle Our; Our Father, which noteS ~·to us that God is not only the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifl, hue he is Farber o'faU Men. He iS the Fatber of all by Creation and Providence. And theref Ore we have the Interrogation, Mal. 2. to. Have we not all One Fdthcr ? Hatb not One God Creaud us ? But he is efpeci.ally the Ftltber of the Faithful by Ucgeneration and ..d· Joption; who are Born not of Blood, nor of th e Will of the Fkjh, nor of the Will of iUatt, but ofGod, John 1. 1~. This therefore fhould teach us , Firft, To eflcem one another at Bretbrtn. Outward Refpe&, the Grandeur and Earthly Priviledges and Advantages of the Wo rld, make no Difpariry in God's Love ro us, or in our Relation to him: ..And rherefore howfoever thou mayeft be advanced in Wealth, or Honour, or Parrs, above others , yet frill remembi;r that they are thy Bretbrtn, as they par_take of the tame com~on _Nature, and_rhucb more if they par- take of the fame fpet~al Grace. Yea, Chnft h1mfelf, who IS the Lord ofall, is not tljhdmed to call them Bretbren, Heb. 2. 1 r. And (halt thou, who .art but an Adop· red Soil, no otherwife:: than the meanelt Saint, be aibamed of the Relation, efpccially confidering there Is no Elderfhip, not Right ofF irft.born, in tbe Family, for they are all Firfi·horn, all Kings and Heirs with Chrift jefus himfelf? Secondly, If thou art mean and low in the Wodd this jbould teacb thee to be ·well Content with thy prefcnt State and Condition, for God is thy Father, and a Father ro ~flee equally With the greateft. There is not the higheft Petfon upon Earth, but, if he belong to God, preters that Relation abo\le all his other Titl~s: If he can write Prince, King, or Emperor, and can afterwards JUbjoin a Child (If God, all his other Titles iland hut for a Cypher with him. This , 0 Chriftian, how mean, how defpi· fed foever thou art, this is thy Piiviled.ge, and a friviledge it is that equals thee with. David, with Solomon, and with all the Great Ones of the Eanh, that ever laid down their Diadems and Scepters at the Feet of God. What fays the Apojlle? Gal. 3· 28. There it neither Bond nor'Free, but aJ! arc One inCiirijl Jifus. Thirdly, Since when we Pray we muft fity, Our Father!, rhis reacheth us to Intereft one another in our Prayers.. Our Fathef. ·would not liave us felfi!h fo much as in our Prayers, but in the very entrance into the(,ll we are ptit_in Mind of the Communion Qf Saints, to beg thofe Bleffings for all that belong to God which we ask for our felves; for as Cbrift bath made us all King,, fo he bath made ati Priefis to God and his Fa- ther : Now the Office of a Prieft is Jnrercellion : And therefore when·we go ro God we fhould bear upon our Breafts the Name of our Brethren, and prefent them bCf9re God, through the Intme!fion and I!Jedi~tion of Jefus Chrifi, our Great High Pri<jf, that both we and tbey may be acceptea of God. And this we ought to do b oth in Publick .and Private: It is true, in our fecret Prayers we may pray- particularly fbr our felves, . and we have frequent Intl:ances for it in Scripture> yet ought we in eVety Prayer that we make to God to be miodful of the State and Condition ofour Breth ren. Yea, and it is very LawfUl and Commendable, even in Sec ret betw!len God and our own Souls, in thofc Cafes ·that are Common to us, with the reft of GOd's Saints and People, to join theln. in our Prayers; and althou gh we are all alone, .yc:h 'rofay, 011r Fa· tbcr. For we find Daniel praying, Dan. g. 17. 0 our God, when yet be"'was in Secret, 0 o11r God, bear the Prayer of thy Servant. And this is to ihcw that near and C:ntire Communion which ought to be between all the Saints, praying with, and prayingtOr, allfhe Members of the Body ofJelils Chrift, an d eftceming their lnrereft ~sour own. FOliTthly, This !hews us likewife the high Priviledge of the Children ofGod, that they ,have a Stock of Prayers going ro Heaven for them from all 'their Fellow Sahirs throughout lite Wodd 1 yea, from thofc whom they never knew, who m•·rhey ri'e\>er IICard
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