all" shall sit upon the throne of his glory," 5 and "reward every man according to his work;"6 when "the righteous shall shine forth, as the sun, "in the kingdom of their Father," 7 even that kingdom, which was prepared for them from "the foundation of the world ;" and "shall reign with him in it for ever and ever." 9 66 66 But then, as we pray for this time, we must prepare for it also; else we do nothing but ask our own condemnation, as the Prophet Amos hath most awfully warned us; "Woe unto you "that desire the day of the Lord. To what end "is it for you; the day of the Lord is darkness, " and not light." 1 To instruct us therefore on what it is that our share in the kingdom of God depends, our Saviour immediately subjoins another petition, expressing it very clearly; "Thy will be done in "earth as it is in heaven." "For, not every one "that saith unto him, Lord, Lord, shall enter "into the kingdom of heaven," but they only who do the will of God, shall receive his "promise." 3 Indeed what God wills to do himself, that "he "doth accordingly, both in the army of heaven, "and amongst the inhabitants of the earth; and 66 none can stay his hand." 4 But what he wills us to do, that he only requires of us, as we value his favour, or fear his displeasure; leaving us designedly that power of not doing what he bids us, without which, doing it were no virtue. But though disobedience to his will is in our power, yet obedience is not so, without the assistance of his grace; which, therefore, in these words, we desire for ourselves, and for all men; and since, (5) Matt. xxv. 31, (8) Matt. xxv. 34. (2) Matt. vii. 21. (6) Matt. xvi. 27. (7) Matt. xiii. 43. 1 by the means of prayer, we may have strength to obey his will granted us; we are certainly, with as much justice, expected to obey it, as if we had the power already of our own. Now the will of God consists in these two things: that we suffer patiently what he lays upon us, and perform faithfully what he commands us. The former of these, to bear with resignation whatever, in any kind, God sees proper to inflict; and though we may wish and pray for the prevention or removal of sufferings, yet to be content, nay desirous, that his will should "be "done, not ours;" may often prove a difficult, but is always an evident and necessary duty. For to indulge a contrary disposition, is to set up ourselves above our Maker; to rebel against his authority, deny his wisdom, and distrust his goodness. The ability therefore of submitting meekly to his pleasure, is undoubtedly one great thing that we are to request, and endeavour to obtain. But still, as the blessed inhabitants of heaven surely have little or no occasion for this kind of obedience, we have reason to think that the other, the active sort, is the point which our Saviour designed we should principally have in view, when we beg, that God's will may be done by us, as it is by them; by "his angels, that fulfil his com "mands, hearkening unto the voice of his word; "those ministers of his, that do his pleasure." Not that we can hope to equal the services of beings placed so much above us; but only aspire to such resemblance of them, that our obedience may bear the same proportion to our abilities, which that of the heavenly spirits doth to theirs. Their knowledge of God's will is clear and distinct; on which account, the highest character given of human wisdom is, to be " as an angel of (5) Luke xxii. 42. (6) Psalm ciii. 20, 21. 66 God, to discern good and bad." It should, therefore, when we make use of this petition, be our desire, that we all, in our degree, may "be not "unwise, but understanding what the will of the "Lord is ;"8" and may abound more and more, "in knowledge and all judgment." They do every thing without exception, which they know to be God's pleasure; whereas we are very apt to omit part, and perform the rest but imperfectly. They do it with alacrity and cheerfulness; whereas we too often show great backwardness and reluc tance. They do it, also, from a real principle of duty; whereas, were the truth but known, as to God it is known, a great share of the good actions, upon which we value ourselves, are, perhaps, only good appearances; proceeding, some from constitution, some from worldly prudence, some from vanity; few, it may be doubted, principally, and fewer yet, entirely, from the love or fear of God, from esteem of virtue, or hatred of sin. In these respects, then, we must earnestly pray, and diligently endeavour, to be like the holy angels; and were we but like them in one thing more, that they all, without exception, do the will of God, and have none amongst them disobedient to it; then would our earth resemble heaven, indeed. How far this is from being the case, we know too well. But, notwithstanding, let us comfort ourselves with considering, that as the time was, when even these blessed spirits had a mixture of evil ones amongst them; so the time will be, when we shall have no such mixture amongst us; but shall become, in this and all respects, "as the angels of God in heaven."1 (7) 2 Sam. xiv. 17. (8) Eph. v. 17. (1) Matt. xxii. 30. (9) Phil. i. 9. LECTURE XXXII. Give us this day, our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. THE three former of the six petitions of the Lord's Prayer, express our earnest desires, that we, and all our fellow-creatures, may attain the great end of our creation; that is, may understand, receive, and practice true religion, to God's honour and our own eternal happiness; after which we proceed, in the three last, to ask of him the means, to this end; such supplies of our wants, as will be needful for the performance of our duties. And they are comprehended under three heads more; the relief of our temporal necessities, the forgiveness of our past sins, and the assistance of his grace against future temptations. The first of these blessings we request, by saying, "give us this day our daily bread." All the good things of life, and all our capacity of receiving support and comfort from them, proceed, as every thing doth, from God's free gift; and therefore depend, as every thing doth, on his free pleasure; for, what he hath bestowed, he can, with just the same ease, at any time, take away. He hath placed things, indeed, in a regular, and what we call a natural course and order. But this order is not only of his own appointing, but his own preserving too. He it is that "maketh his 66 sun to rise;" giveth us rain from heaven, "and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with "food and gladness." Were he only thus kind to us all in general, it would certainly be our duty 66 (1) Matt. v. 45. (2) Acts xiv. 17. to acknowledge his kindness, and pray for the continuance of it. But as we learn from Scripture. further, that his providence extends, even in the minutest instance, to each of us in particular; and that not the smallest thing comes to pass but by his appointment, or wise permission; this furnishes additional reasons for applying to him, that his continual superintendency may be ever exercised towards us for our good. We know not, indeed, with certainty, in these matters, what will be good for us. But still, since he hath given us desires, inseparable from our frame, of enjoying life to its ordinary term, with a competent share of the seve ral accommodations which contribute to make it agreeable; it must be lawful to express those desires to him in a proper manner. And this our Saviour directs us how to do, when he bids us petition for "our daily bread." The word bread, as it frequently signifies in Scripture all sorts of food, so it may very naturally signify what it doth in this prayer, all sorts of things requisite in human life. This Agur meant, when he prayed, that God would "feed "him with food (in the original it is bread) con"venient for him."4 And this we mean in common discourse, as often as we speak of persons getting their bread. But, then, it must be by no means extended beyond things requisite; those, without which we are unable either to subsist at all, or, however, conveniently and comfortably. Not that desires of further advantages in the world are universally unlawful. But they are so apt to enlarge and swell into extravagant and sinful passions; into schemes of luxury, or vanity, or covetousness; that we have usually much more need to restrain and check, than to authorise them, by asking the accomplishment of them from God, (4) Prov. xxx. S. (3) Mat. x. 29, 30. Luke xii. 6, 7. |