in all ages; but infallibly in the world to come, before the general assembly of men and angels.

II. 1. From works of charity or mercy, our Lord proceeds to those which are termed works of piety. "And when thou prayest," saith he, "thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."- "Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are." Hypocrisy, then, or insincerity, is the first thing we are to guard against in prayer. Beware not to speak what thou dost not mean. Prayer is the lifting up of the heart to God: all words of prayer, without this, are mere hypocrisy. Whenever therefore thou attemptest to pray, see that it be thy one design to commune with God, to lift up thy heart to him, to pour out thy soul before him; not as the hypocrites, who love or are wont, to pray standing in the synagogues," the exchange, or marke places, "and in the corners of the streets," wherever the most people are "that they may be seen of men :" this was the sole design, the motive and end, of the prayers which they there repeated. "Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."-They are to expect none from your Father which is in heaven.

2. But it is not only the having an eye to the praise of men, which cuts us off from any reward in heaven; which leaves us no room to expect the blessing of God upon our works, whether of piety or mercy. Purity of intention is equally destroyed by a view to any temporal reward whatever. If we repeat our prayers, if we attend the public worship of God, if we relieve the poor, with a view to gain or interest, it is not a whit more acceptable to God, than if it were done with a view to praise. Any temporal view, any motive whatever on this side eternity, any design but that of promoting the glory of God and the happiness of men for God's sake, makes every action, however fair it may appear to men, an abomination unto the Lord.

3. "But when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret."-There is a time when thou art openly to glorify God, to pray to and praise him in the great congregation. But when thou desirest more largely and more particularly to make thy requests known unto God, whether it be in the evening, or in the morning, or at noonday, "enter into thy closet, and shut thy door." Use all the privacy thou canst. (Only leave it not undone, whether thou hast any closet, any privacy, or no. Pray to God, if it be possible, when none seeth but he; but, if otherwise, pray to God.) Thus "pray to thy Father which is in secret ;" pour out all thy heart before him; " and thy Father which seeth in secret, he shall reward thee openly."

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4. "But when ye pray," even in secret, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do ; μη βαττολογησητε. Do not use abundance of words without any meaning. Say not the same thing over and over again; think not the fruit of your prayers depends on the length of them, like the heathens; for "they think they shall be heard for their much speaking."

The thing here reproved, is not simply the length, any more than the shortness, of our prayers;-but, First, length without meaning; speaking much, and meaning little or nothing; the using (not all repetitions; for our Lord himself prayed thrice, repeating the same words

but) vain repetitions, as the heathens did, reciting the names of their gods over and over; as they do among Christians, (vulgarly so called,) and not among the Papists, only, who say over and over the same string of prayers, without ever feeling what they speak:-Secondly, the thinking to be heard for our much speaking, the fancying God measures prayers by their length, and is best pleased with those which contain the most words, which sound the longest in his ears. These are such instances of superstition and folly, as all who are named by the name of Christ should leave to the heathens, to them on whom the glorious light of the gospel has never shined.

5. "Be not ye therefore like unto them."-Ye who have tasted of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, are thoroughly convinced, "your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." So that the end of your praying is not to inform God, as though he knew not your wants already; but rather to inform yourselves; to fix the sense of those wants more deeply in your hearts, and the sense of your continual dependance on him, who only is able to supply all your wants. It is not so much to move God, who is always more ready to give than you to ask, as to move yourselves, that you may be willing and ready to receive the good things he has prepared for you.

III. 1. After having taught the true nature and ends of prayer, our Lord subjoins an example of it; even that divine form of prayer, which seems in this place to be proposed by way of pattern, chiefly as the model and standard of all our prayers:" After this manner therefore pray ye." Whereas, elsewhere he enjoins the use of these very words, "He said unto them, When ye pray, say," Luke xi, 2.

2. We may observe, in general, concerning this divine prayer, First, That it contains all we can reasonably or innocently pray for. There is nothing which we have need to ask of God, nothing which we can ask without offending him, which is not included, either directly or indirectly, in this comprehensive form. Secondly, That it contains all we can reasonably or innocently desire; whatever is for the glory of God, whatever is needful or profitable, not only for ourselves, but for every creature in heaven and earth. And indeed our prayers are the proper test of our desires; nothing being fit to have a place in our desires which is not fit to have a place in our prayers; what we may not pray for, neither should we desire. Thirdly, That it contains all our duty to God and man; whatsoever things are pure and holy, whatsoever God requires of the children of men, whatsoever is acceptable in his sight, whatsoever it is whereby we may profit our neighbour, being expressed or implied therein.

3. It consists of three parts, the preface, the petitions, and the doxology, or conclusion. The preface, "Our Father which art in heaven," lays a general foundation for prayer; comprising what we must first know of God, before we can pray in confidence of being heard. It likewise points out to us all those tempers, with which we are to approach to God, which are most essentially requisite, if we desire either our prayers or our lives should find acceptance with him. 4. "Our Father:"—If he is a Father, then he is good, then he is loving to s children. And here is the first and great reason for prayer. is willing to bless; let us ask for a blessing. Father" our Creator; the author of our being; he. who raised us

"Our

from the dust of the earth; who breathed into us the breath of life, and we became living souls. But if he made us, let us ask, and he will not withhold any good thing from the work of his own hands. "Our Father;" our preserver; who, day by day, sustains the life he has given; of whose continuing love we now and every moment receive life, and breath, and all things. So much the more boldly let us come to him, and we shall "obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Above all, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of all that believe in him; who justifies us "freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus;" who hath "blotted out all our sins, and healed all our infirmities;" who hath received us for his own children, by adoption and grace; and, "because [we] are sons, hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into [our] hearts, crying, Abba, Father;" who "hath begotten us again of incorruptible seed," and "created us anew in Christ Jesus." Therefore we know that he heareth us always; therefore we pray to him without ceasing. We pray, because we love; and "we love him because he first loved us.'

5. "Our Father :"-not mine only who now cry unto him, but ours in the most extensive sense. The God and "Father of the spirits of all flesh;" the Father of angels and men: so the very heathens acknowledge him to be, Πάτης ανδρών τε θέων σε. The Father of the universe, of all the families both in heaven and earth. Therefore with him there is no respect of persons. He loveth all that he hath made. "He is loving unto every man, and his mercy is over all his works." And the Lord's delight is in them that fear him, and put their trust in his mercy; in them that trust in him through the Son of his love, knowing that they are accepted in the Beloved." But "if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another;" yea, and all mankind; seeing "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,' even to die the death, that they "might not perish but have everlasting life."

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6. "Which art in heaven:"-high and lifted up; God over all, blessed for ever: who, sitting on the circle of the heavens, beholdeth all things both in heaven and earth; whose eye pervades the whole sphere of created being; yea, and of uncreated night; unto whom "are known all his works," and all the works of every creature, not only "from the beginning of the world," (a poor, low, weak translation) but an' awvos, from all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting; who constrains the host of heaven, as well as the children of men, to cry out with wonder and amazement, Oh the depth! "The depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!" "Which art in heaven;"-the Lord and ruler of all, superintending and disposing all things; who art the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the blessed and only Potentate; who art strong and girded about with power, doing whatsoever pleaseth thee; the Almighty; for whensoever thou willest, to do is present with thee. "In heaven;"-eminently there. Heaven is thy throne, the place where thine honour particularly dwelleth. But not there alone; for thou fillest heaven and earth, the

whole expanse of space. "Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, oh Lord most high!"

Therefore should we 66 serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto him with reverence." Therefore should we think, speak, and act, as

continually under the eye, in the immediate presence of the Lord, the King.

7. "Hallowed be thy name."-This is the first of the six petitions, whereof the prayer itself is composed. The name of God, is God himself; the nature of God, so far as it can be discovered to man. It means therefore, together with his existence, all his attributes or perfections; -His eternity, particularly signified by his great and incommunicable name, JEHOVAH, as the apostle John translates it: To A, xa to N, αρχη και τέλος, ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος, ‚—" The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; He which is, and which was, and which is to come;"-His fulness of being, denoted by his other great name, I AM THAT I AM!-His omnipresence ;-His omnipotence; who is indeed the only agent in the material world; all matter being essentially dull and inactive, and moving only as it is moved by the finger of God; and he is the spring of action in every creature, visible and invisible, which could neither act nor exist, without the continual influx and agency of his almighty power;-His wisdom, clearly deduced from the things that are seen, from the goodly order of the universe;— His trinity in unity, and unity in trinity, discovered to us in the very first line of his written Word; : literally, the Gods created, a plural noun joined with a verb of the singular number; as well as in every part of his subsequent revelations, given by the mouth of all his holy prophets and apostles;-His essential purity and holiness;-and above all, his love, which is the very brightness of his glory.

In praying that God, or his name, may be hallowed or glorified, we pray that he may be known, such as he is, by all that are capable thereof, by all intelligent beings, and with affections suitable to that knowledge; that he may be duly honoured, and feared, and loved, by all in heaven above and in the earth beneath; by all angels and men, whom for that end he has made capable of knowing and loving him to eternity.

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8. "Thy kingdom come."-This has a close connection with the preceding petition. In order that the name of God may be hallowed, we pray that his kingdom, the kingdom of Christ, may come. kingdom then comes to a particular person, when he " repents and believes the gospel;" when he is taught of God, not only to know himself, but to know Jesus Christ and him crucified. As "this is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent;" so it is the kingdom of God begun below, set up in the believer's heart; the Lord God omnipotent then reigneth, when he is known through Christ Jesus. He taketh unto himself his mighty power, that he may subdue all things unto himself. He goeth on in the soul conquering and to conquer, till he hath put all things under his feet, till every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." When therefore God shall "give his Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession ;" when "all kingdoms shall bow before him, and all nations shall do him service;" when "the mountain of the Lord's house," the church of Christ, 'shall be established in the top of the mountains;" when "the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved;" then shall it be seen, that "the Lord is king, and hath put on glorious apparel," appearing to every soul of man as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

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And it is meet for all those who love his appearing, to pray that he would hasten the time; that this his kingdom, the kingdom of grace, may come quickly, and swallow up all the kingdoms of the earth; that all mankind, receiving him for their King, truly believing in his name, may be filled with righteousness, and peace, and joy, with holiness and happiness,―till they are removed hence into his heavenly kingdom, there to reign with him for ever and ever.

For this also we pray in those words, "Thy kingdom come:" we pray for the coming of his everlasting kingdom, the kingdom of glory in heaven, which is the continuation and perfection of the kingdom of grace on earth. Consequently this, as well as the preceding petition, is offered up for the whole intelligent creation, who are all interested in this grand event, the final renovation of all things, by God's putting an end to misery and sin, to infirmity and death, taking all things into his own hands, and setting up the kingdom which endureth throughout all ages.

Exactly answerable to all this, are those awful words in the prayer at the burial of the dead: "Beseeching thee, that it may please thee of thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom: that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy everlasting glory.

9. "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."-This is the necessary and immediate consequence wherever the kingdom of God is come; wherever God dwells in the soul by faith, and Christ reigns in the heart by love.

It is probable, many, perhaps the generality of men, at the first view of these words, are apt to imagine they are only an expression of, or petition for, resignation; for a readiness to suffer the will of God, whatsoever it be concerning us. And this is unquestionably a divine and excellent temper, a most precious gift of God. But this is not what we pray for in this petition; at least, not in the chief and primary sense of it. We prav, not so much for a passive, as for an active conformity to the will of (rod, in saying, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." How is it done by the angels of God in heaven? Those who now circle his throne rejoicing? They do it willingly; they love his commandments, and gladly hearken to his words. It is their meat and drink to do his will; it is their highest glory and joy. They do it continually; there is no interruption in their willing service. They rest not day nor night, but employ every hour, (speaking after the manner of men; otherwise our measures of duration, days, and nights, and hours, have no place in eternity,) in fulfilling his commands, in executing his designs, in performing the counsel of his will. And they do it perfectly. No sin, no defect belongs to angelic minds. It is true, "the stars are not pure in his sight," even the morning stars that sing together before him. "In his sight," that is, in comparison of Him, the very angels are not pure. But this does not imply, that they are not pure in themselves. Doubtless they are; they are without spot and blameless. They are altogether devoted to his will, and perfectly ubedient in all things.

If we view them in another light, we may observe, the angels of God in heaven do all the will of God. And they do nothing else, nothing