XV. Mark 11. 25. SERM. stabitis ad orandum, "When ye stand to pray, forgive." Secondly, as we must use this sicut, so not with our lips only but with our heart, for otherwise we do imprecari nobis, we pray for vengeance against ourselves,' and Christ may say Lu. 19. 22. to us, Ex ore tuo te judicabo, serve nequam. We cannot curse ourselves more bitterly than if we say to God, "Forgive us as we forgive our debtors," unless we do indeed forgive them. [Mat. 18. 21, 22.] As we run in debt with God daily, and so need daily forgiveness, the same measure of charity we are to shew to others that offend us by forgiving them their trespasses. We must not think it enough to forgive them till "seven times," but "until seventy times seven times;" and as we would not have a counterfeit forgiveness of God so we must be careful to forgive our brethren from our heart, otherwise He Mat. 18.34. will call back His word and promise made to us touching the remission of our sins. Whereas some count it a sufficient forgiveness to forgive only though they do not forget, they must know that it is only semiplena remissio, a forgiveness by halves;' for we desire God by the Prophet, that He will not only forgive Ps. 79. 8. but forget our sins, and "remember not our old sins:" therefore we must perform the same measure of charity in this 2Cor.12.7. behalf to our brethren. And whereas "the messenger of Satan" doth so "buffet" us, and our own corruption so prevails with us, that we cannot utterly forget an injury, yet so long as we shew not a revenge in deed nor in word nor in look but strive to master our corrupt affection, we shall be accounted 2Cor.8.12. "according to that we have and not according to that we have not." Rǝm.3.31. As for that which some object, that so the law of justice Jas. 2. 13. is overthrown by this kind of mercy, it is not so, for "mercy triumpheth over justice." Mat. 18. 32, 34. Now as prayer is a means to apply Christ's benefits and mercy to our souls, as Christ sheweth, "I forgave thee, because thou prayedst Me," so that is not enough unless we use charity and mercy; to Dimitte Tu, we must add, Nos dimittimus, the want whereof caused the king to deal so severely with the unmerciful servant. Now mercy, which is the second means of application, stands in giving and forgiving: Quicquid præstatur indigenti eleemosyna est. Therefore, because these have need of forgiveness which offend, we should do a work of mercy in forgiving them when they do us wrong; and both those kind of alms and mercy are alike accepted of God, and therefore in the Law IIe ordained as well peace-offerings as meat-offerings. a 6.] 27.] [Lu. 11. That mercy is a means to us to apply this benefit unto ourselves which Christ offereth, appeareth by these places: Pro- [Prov. 16. verbs the sixteenth chapter and sixth verse," With mercy and faithfulness sins are forgiven;" Isaiah the fifty-eighth chapter [1.8.7. ] and seventh verse; Daniel the fourth chapter and twenty- [Dan. 4. seventh verse; and Luke the eleventh chapter and the forty-first verse, Date eleemosynam, et omnia sunt munda. 41.] This is that which maketh both prayer and fasting acceptable before God, and without which all prayer is rejected as hypocritical. Thus must we have oil from Ilim, and the Mat. 6. 16. vessel to receive it in us, Dimitte, et dimittitis, that is, both prayer and mercy. As we pray to God for pardon of our sins, so we must forgive others. Now Christ maketh choice of that kind of mercy which standeth in forgiving, because it is common to poor and rich, for all cannot give; but the poor may forgive as well as the rich, and therefore it is the duty of us all to forgive one another if we will be forgiven of God. Secondly, He maketh choice of this mercy as the greatest and excellentest, for nature will move us to give to him that is in need, and we cannot in such case hide ourselves from our own flesh; but when we do not only forgive him that hath done us wrong, but also offer kindness to him that did provoke us to anger, that is a supernatural work. Thirdly, it is the fittest mercy, for we desire to be remitted, and therefore the fittest means to obtain remission is that mercy which standeth in remission and forgiving of others. The mercy that we shew in this behalf is active mercy; [Isa. 58. 6. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7. "Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself [Dan. 4. 27. "Wherefore, O king, XV. SERM. that which God promiseth us, if we forgive our brethren, is a passive mercy. Mat. 5. 7. Of the active mercy our Saviour saith, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." But contrariwise, Jas. 2. 13. "there shall be judgment merciless to him that sheweth no mercy." Wherefore we must so deal with those which offend [Mat. 6. 14, 15.] Mat. 18. 27, 34. us that we may say to God, Ecce misericordiam activam, præsta mihi passivam, Behold my active mercy, perform to me Thy passive mercy.' And to show you the necessity of this duty on our parts, Christ having penned this petition upon this condition is not contented therewith, but having ended the prayer He returns to the same matter, and sheweth why we should forgive our debtors: "For if ye," saith He, "forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours, but if you will not, neither will God forgive you;" and hereof He hath given an example in the parable of the king who, to shew to us what we are to look for at God's hands, is said to have been loving and merciful at the first to him that was indebted so far unto him; but when the same party having the debt which he owed pardoned would notwithstanding have present payment of his fellow-servant, then the king's affection was turned and he became severe and rough and committed him till he had paid all that was due. THE LORD'S PRAYER. SERMON XVI. And lead us not into temptation. THIS is the petition that concerns sin to come; for "remis sion," which was the thing we prayed for last, is referred to "sins past," and we are no less to desire of God that He will Rom. 3.25. give us ability to resist sin to come, than to be gracious to us in pardoning our sins already committed. Thus much we are given to understand by this, that this petition is chained to the former with the copulative "and," as if that were not perfected without this. No more indeed is it, for as God lets go His hold so must we let go ours; and if we will have God to remit our former sins, we must beware that we do not willingly sin against His Majesty afresh, but that we strive against temptations to come; for as the Psalmist speaks, "If Ps. 66. 18. I incline to wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear me;" if I purpose still to continue in sin, I shall in vain pray, Forgive me my sins. But contrariwise, he that doth not only "confess but also forsake his sins, he shall have mercy." Prov. 29. And 13. If, accounting it sufficient that we have spent the time of our life past in sin we shall resolve henceforth to live so much time as remaineth for us in the flesh after "the will of God," 1Pet.4.2,3. then may we assure ourselves that God will be merciful unto us, and will remember our sins and iniquities no more. that which we are to perform in this behalf is the second part of remission, which is opposed both to retention and intention; that is, as we would have God not to retain our sins but freely to pardon them, so our care must be that sin be more remiss in us; for whereas in the last petition we considered a SERM. double debt, one of duty, another of forfeiture, our desire was, XVI. not to have both forgiven, but we desired to be forgiven quia non prestitimus, non ne præstemus, because we perform it not, not that we might not at all perform it.' Howsoever our prayer to God is, that He would not lay upon us the penalty which we have run into by not keeping His Law, yet we are still bound to do our duty. Now, whereas the Prophet saith, Hic est omnis fructus ut Isa, 27. 9. auferatur peccatum, we may not think that sin is taken away when God for His part doth remit the guilt of our sins past; for sin consists not only of an offence or guilt, but of an issue or inclination to sin, so that our care must be as well that we pray that this running issue may be stopped, as that punishment due to us for sins past be remitted; and to this end both parts of repentance are required of us, that is, sorrow for sins past, and a provident care to avoid sin to come; we must by prayer seek for grace of God, non modo quo deleatur debitum, sed ne contrahatur debitum, 'not only that our debt may be done away, but that it may not be contracted.' As the widow by the blessing of God had sufficient oil not only to 2Kings4.7. pay her creditors withal but also to live upon afterward, so we must seek of Christ the oil of His grace, both for the discharging of our sins and for a holy life. Lu. 7. 48. As we would be glad to hear this voice from Christ, Remissa sunt tibi peccata, so we must be content with this, Vade et Joh. 8.11. noli amplius peccare, "Go thy way and sin no more." As God on His part doth covenant with us that He “will remember our sins and iniquities no more," so that which He Isa. 30. 21. requireth of us is, Hæc est via, ambulate in eâ. For it is not Ps. 38. 18. enough for us to "confess our sins and be sorry" nor yet to Jer. 31. 34. 2 Pet. 2. 20, 22. perform our active mercy by giving and forgiving, except we have a resolute purpose to forsake the sins we have heretofore committed; for if being washed from our old sins we shall wallow in the mire like swine and return to our vomit, then shall "our latter end be worse than our beginning." This is one reason why this copulative conjunction is set before this petition. Another is in regard of the fickleness of our estate: wc may not think ourselves secure, when we have forgiveness of our sins. The Apostles of our Saviour Christ having received |