deliverance in all our dangers for supports under all our troubles and for comfort under all our sorrows because he is Eternal and therefore the same God who hath heretofore in all Ages of the World done great things for all those who trust in him And therefore the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory which were a forcible plea with God in former times a plea to which he could deny nothing when urged in Faith have still the same efficacy and validity now For these and all other of God's Attributes are his for ever Therefore O Christian now lay hold on God's strength and plead with him what he hath done for his Children in former Ages How he hath forgiven the Penitent revived the Contrite restored Joy and Salvation to dejected and despondent Spirits how he hath wrought for the Sanctification of his great Name by what wonderful providences and wise methods he hath established and inlarged his Kingdom how he hath strengthened the weak hands and feeble knees and made those who were without Might able by his Grace to perform the hardest Duties in fullfilling his Will and Commandments how he hath provided for all their necessities rebuked the temptations of the wicked one and kept them in the World from the evil of the World And then urge Lord thou art still the same God Eternal in thy Essence Immutable in thy Attributes thy Power thy Wisdom and thy Mercy are the same that ever they were and therefore vouchsafe unto us the same Favour This plea offers an holy violence to Heaven a violence that is pleasing and acceptable unto God which he will not he cannot resist If we endeavour to be of the same dispositions and affections with the Saints of old we may be sure to obtain of God's hands the same Mercy and Salvation See how Asaph instructs the Church to make use of the Memorials of God's former loving kindnesses and the great and wonderful works that he had wrought for their Fathers Psal 78.4 6 7. We will shew to the Generations to come the Praises of the Lord and his strength and the wonderful works that he hath done that one Generation may declare them to another that they may set their hope in God And therefore the consideration of the Eternity and unchangableness of God is of vast and infinite comfort and a mighty advantage for the strengthening our Faith in pleading with God for the same Mercies which he hath formerly bestowed upon others because he is the same yesterday to day and for ever And thus I have finished the Doxology and therein considered the four Glorious Attributes ascribed unto God in it his Sovereignty his Omnipotence his Excellency and his Eternity There remains but one thing more to be spoken of in this Prayer and that is the Conclusion and Ratification of all in that short Particle Amen Of this I shall speak but very briefly and so shut up this whole Subject This word Amen is sometimes prefixed before a Speech and sometimes affixed after it When it is prefixed before it is assertory and so we find it very often in the Evangelists for wheresoever our Saviour useth the word verily it is no other but Amen Verily verily Isay unto thee i. e. Amen Amen I say unto thee which is a vehement assertion of the Truth and necessity of what he speaks And our Saviour useth it to gain the more attention and belief to what he desires Thus John 3.5 Amen Amen I say unto thee except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven So John 16.23 Amen Amen I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my Name he will give it you And so in many other places in the Evangelists How backward are we to believe since our infidelity is such that it constraineth the Son of God who is Truth it self to use asseverations and protestations to win our assent unto him Secondly As this Particle Amen used in the beginning of a Speech is Assertory of the undoubted Truth of it so when it is subjoined and used at the end of it is Precatory and signifies our earnest desire to have our Prayers heard and our Petitions granted Psal 41.13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Amen and Amen Psal 72.19 Let the whole Earth be filled with his Glory Amen and Amen Psal 106.48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the People say Amen In the former sence of the words as it is prefixed to a Speech it signifies so it is In this Latter as it is added to a Petition or Request it signifies so be it Now this teacheth us to put up all our Petitions First with understanding duly weighing and considering what it is we ask of God For when we use vain and insignificant babling how can we seal and close them up with an hearty Amen And this condemns the mockery of the Papists who because God understands what is uttered in a language to them unknown think that they may lawfully pray to him in a Tongue which they themselves understand not But with what Zeal with what affection can they close up such Prayers with an Amen This is like setting a Seal to an Instrument which they know not what it contains and is expresly condemned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.16 How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of Thanks seeing he understands not what thou sayest Secondly It teacheth us to present all our requests to the Throne of Grace with fervent Zeal and Affection Amen is a wing to our Prayers it is the Bow that shoots them up to Heaven And although every Petition as we utter them before God should be accompanied with an earnest and hearty desire to have them heard and granted yet at the close of them all we are to redouble and repeat this our desire in the word Amen Wherein we do as it were briefly and succinctly Pray over again all that we had prayed before and in one word beg of God That he would give us all that we had before asked of him And therefore whether we Pray our selves or joyn in Prayers with others and make their Petitions ours we ought to attest our understanding of our assent unto and our earnest desires after the Mercies that are begged by Sealing up the Prayers with an Amen And certainly it would be a very beseeming thing if Amens were audible and sounding unless we are ashamed to be thought to Pray when others Pray and to make use of others expressions to present our Petitions When we come to the publick Worship we are not to look upon the Minister only as Praying for the People but he is the Peoples Mouth unto God and it is or ought to be the Prayer of the whole Congregation which he presents They Pray with him and by him and every Petition that he
makes to God ought to be ratified with an Amen sent from our very hearts which if we sincerely and affectionately perform we have abundant assurance that what is confirmed by so many suffrages on Earth shall likewise be confirmed by our Father which is in Heaven And how beautiful how becoming would this be when the whole Church shall thus conspire together in their Requests St. Jerome tells us It was the custom in his days to close up every Prayer with such an unanimous consent that their Amens rung and echoed in the Church and sounded like the fall of Waters or the noise of Thunder This would be a Testimony of our hearty consent to the things we Pray for And if any two that shall agree upon Earth touching any thing that they shall ask they shall have it granted them as our Saviour hath promised Matth. 18.19 then certainly the joynt Prayers of a whole multitude of Christians must needs have a kind of Omnipotency in them and be able to do any thing with God And thus I have with God's Assistance given you a brief Exposition of this most excellent Prayer of our Saviour The Lord Sanctifie it unto you and make it a means to help you to Pray with more understanding with stronger Faith and with greater Fervency The End of the Larger Exposition A Catechistical EXPOSITION OF THE Lord's Prayer By way of QUESTION and ANSWER By the Right Reverend Father in God EZEKIEL Lord Bishop of Derry by which he examined the Youth each Lord's-Day during the whole Time he preached upon the Lord's Prayer Quest IS the Lords Prayer a Form of Prayer or onely a Pattern for Prayer Answ It is both That it is to be used as a Form appears Luke 11.2 When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. That it is a Pattern Matt. 6.9 After this Manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven c. Q. What are the Parts of this Prayer A. They are Four 1. The Preface or Introduction 2. The Petitions and Requests 3. The Doxology or Praise-giving 4. The Conclusion and Ratification Q. What is the Preface to this Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. What observe you from it A. That in the Beginning of our Prayers we ought seriously to consider and reverently to express the glorious Attributes of God as an excellent Means to compose us into an Holy Fear of his Divine Majesty Q. How many are the Petitions contained in this Prayer A. Six Whereof the three first respect God's Glory and the three last our own Good Q. What learn you from this Order and Method A. That we ought first to seek God's Glory before any Interests and Concerns of our own Q. How are those Petitions divided which immediately concern the Glory of God A. In the first of them we pray that God may be glorified in the other two for the Means whereby he is glorified Q. How divide you those Petitions which concern our own good A. One relates to our Temporal the other two to our Spiritual good Q. What observe you from placing the Petition for our Temporal good in the Midst of this Prayer A. That we are onely to bait at the World in our Passage to Heaven and onely refresh our selves with our daily Bread in our Way and Journey thither Q. What are the Petitions which relate to our Spiritual good A. They are two One whereby we beg the Pardon of our Sins the other whereby we beg Deliverance from them Q. What ascribe you to God in the Doxology A. Four of his most glorious Attributes 1. First His Sovereignty Thine is the Kingdom 2. Secondly His Omnipotence And the Power 3. Thirdly His Excellency And the Glory 4. Fourthly The Eternity and Unchangeableness of all these They are Thine for ever Q. What signifies that Particle Amen at the End of this Prayer A. It signifies two Things So be it Which notes our Desire for the obtaining of what we ask So it shall be Which notes our Assurance of being heard Q. What is the Preface to the Lord's Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. What doth this teach us A. That in our Entrance into Prayer we should seriously consider both the Mercy of God as he is our Father and likewise his Majesty as he is in Heaven That the one may beget in us Filial Boldness and the other awfull Reverence and by the mixture of both we may be kept from Despair and Presumption Q. In what Respects may God be stiled Father A. In three especially 1. First in respect of the Eternal Generation of his Son And so this Title is proper onely to the first Person of the Trinity 2. In respect of Creation and Providence and so he is the Father of all Mal. 2.10 Have we not all one Father Hath not one God created us 3. In respect of Regeneration and Adoption And so he is the onely Father of the Faithfull John 1.12.13 But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believed on his Name Which were born not of Blood nor of the VVill of Flesh nor of the VVill of Man but of God Rom. 8.15 16. For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to Fear But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Q. In what Respects do we call God Father in this Prayer A. In the two last As he hath created us and doth preserve us and as he hath regenerated and adopted us Q. When ye stile God the Father do ye mean onely God the Father the first Person of the Trinity A. No. For God the first Person is eminently called the Father not in respect of us but in respect of Christ In respect of us the whole Trinity both Father Son and Holy Ghost is our Father which is in Heaven Isaiah 9.6 For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderfull Counsellour The Mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace John 3.5 Jesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Q. What is implied in this Particle Our Our Father A. That God is the Father of all Men He is the Father of the VVicked by Creation and Providence but especially of the Godly by Regeneration and Adoption Q. Is it proper in our secret Prayers to say Our Father A. It is For so we find Dan. 9.17 Now therefore O our God hear the Prayer of thy Servant and his Supplications and cause thy Face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's Sake Q. What learn we by stiling God our Father A. First to esteem one another as Brethren
and centre of it it being encompassed round about with Petitions for Heavenly and Spiritual Blessings And this may intimate to us that we are only to bait at the World in our Passage and Journey to Heaven that we ought to begin with Spirituals and end with Spirituals but only to take up and refresh our selves a little with our daily Bread in our way Thirdly In the Doxology or Praise there are Four things contained First God's Sovereignty Thine is the Kingdom Secondly God's Omnipotency And the Power Thirdly God's Excellency And the Glory Fourthly The Eternity and Unchangableness of them and of all God's other Attributes noted to us in that Expression For ever Fourthly and Lastly Here is the ratifying Particle Amen added as a Seal to the whole Prayer and it importeth a desire to have that confirmed or granted which we have prayed for And thus Benaiah when he had received Instructions from David concerning the establishing of Solomon in the Kingdom answereth thereto Amen and explains it 1 Kings 1.36 The Lord God of my Lord the King say so too So that when we add this Word Amen at the end and close of our Prayers it is as much as if we had said the Lord God say so too or the Lord grant these Requests For the proper signification of Amen is so be it or so it is or so it shall be the former notes our Desires the latter our confidence and assurance of being heard Now of all these Four parts of which this Prayer is composed I shall speak in their order First therefore Let us consider the Preface in these Words Our Father which art in Heaven And here God is described by two of his most eminent Attributes his Grace and Glory his Goodness and his Greatness by the one in that he is stiled Our Father by the other in that he is said to be in Heaven And both these are most sweetly tempered together to beget in us a Holy Mixture of Filial Boldness and aweful Reverence which are so necessary to the sanctifying of God's Name in all our Addresses to him We are commanded to come to the Throne of Grace with boldness Heb. 4.16 and yet to serve God acceptably with reverence and with fear Heb. 12.28 Yea and indeed the very calling of it a Throne of Grace intimates both these Affections at once It is a Throne and therefore requires Awe and Reverence but it is a Throne of Grace too and therefore permits holy Freedom and Confidence And so we find all along in the Prayers of the Saints how they mix the consideration of God's Mercy and his Majesty together in the very Prefaces and Preparations to their Prayers So Neh. 1.5 Lord God of Heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth Covenant and Mercy for them that love him So Dan. 9.4 O Lord the great and dreadful God keeping Covenant and Mercy for them that love him Now this excellent mixture of aweful and encouraging Attributes will keep us from both the Extreams of Despair on the one Hand and of Presumption on the other He is our Father and this may correct the despairing Fear which might otherwise seize us upon the consideration of his Majesty and Glory And he is likewise infinitely Glorious a God whose Throne is in the highest Heavens and the Earth his Foot-stool And this may correct the presumptuous irreverence which else the consideration of God as our Father might perhaps embolden us unto Now here I shall first speak of the Relation of God unto us as a Father and then of the Place of his Glory and Residence in Heaven and of both but briefly for I must not dwell upon every particular First To begin with the Relation of God to us as a Father Now God is a Father Three ways First God is a Father by Eternal Generation Secondly By Temporal Creation and Providence Thirdly By Spiritual Regeneration and Adoption First God is a Father by Eternal Generation having by an inconceivable and ineffable way begotten his Son God Co-equal Co-eternal with himself and therefore called The only begotten Son of God Joh. 3.16 Thus God is a Father only to our Lord Jesus Christ according to his Divine Nature And whensoever this Title Father is given to God with relation to the Eternal Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ it denotes only the First Person in the ever Blessed Trinity who is therefore chiefly and especially called the Father Secondly God is a Father by Temporal Creation as he gives a Being and Existence to his Creatures creating those whom he made Rational after his own Image and Similitude And therefore God is said to be a Father of Spirits Heb. 12.9 And the Angels are called the Sons of God Job 1.6 There was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And so Adam upon the account of his Creation is called the Son of God Luke 3.38 where the Evangelist runs up the Genealogy of Mankind till it terminates in God Who was the Son of Adam who was the Son of God Thirdly God is said to be a Father by Spiritual Regeneration and Adoption and so all true Believers are said to be the Sons of God and to be born of God John 1.12 13. To as many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God even to as many as believed on his Name which were born not of the will of Man but of God So Rom. 8.17 we are said to receive the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father For the Spirit it self witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Now in these two last Significations this Expression Our Father which art in Heaven is to be understood and so they denote not any one particular Person of the Blessed Trinity but it is a relative Attribute belonging equally to all the Three Persons God is the Father of all Men by Creation and Providence and he is especially the Father of the Faithful by Regeneration and Adoption Now as these Actions of Creation Regeneration and Adoption are common to the whole Trinity so likewise is the Title of Father God the first Person in the Blessed Trinity is indeed Eminently called the Father but not in respect of us but in respect of Christ his only begotten Son from all Eternity In respect of us the whole Trinity is our Father which is in Heaven both Father Son and Holy Ghost and in praying to our Father we pray to them all joyntly for Christ the Second Person in the Trinity is expresly called the Father Isa 9.6 Vnto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and his Name shall be called Wonderful Councellor the Mighty God the Everlasting Father And we are said to be born of the Spirit John 3.5 Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit Now that God should be pleased to take this into his Glorious Style even to be called Our Father it may
Kingdom and then shew you how this Kingdom comes And lastly what we pray for in presenting this Petition to God Thy Kingdom come First We must distinguish of God's Kingdom Now the Kingdom of God is Two-fold either Universal or more Particular and Peculiar The one is his Kingdom of Power the other is his Kingdom of Grace First His Vniversal Kingdom which extends over all things in Heaven and Earth yea and Hell it self And so he is the sole Monarh of the whole World and all the Princes and Potentates of the Earth are but his Vice-Roys and Vicegerents that Govern under and should Govern for him For he is that Blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords as the Apostle Styles him 1 Tim. 6.15 and his Kingdom ruleth over all Psal 103.19 It is true in this Vniversal Kingdom there are many Rebels that would not have him to Reign over them Many that daily rise up in Arms break his Laws defy his Justice and reject his Mercy Many that were their Power equal to their Malice would Dethrone and Depose him from his Sovereignty Whole Legions of Infernal Spirits are continually mustering up all their Forces and drawing wretched sinful Men into the Conspiracy and their quarrel is for no less than Dominion and Empire who shall be King God or Satan yet all their attempts are but vain and frustrate and in spite of all their impotent rage God's Kingdom shall stand and as it was from Everlasting so shall it be to Everlasting for thine is the Kingdom and Power for ever and ever And therefore the most wicked of all God's Creatures are still his Subjects not subject indeed to his Laws for so they break his Bonds asunder and cast away his Cords from them but they are subject to his Power and Providence and that in Three respects As it grants Permission As it imposeth Restraints And as it inflicts Punishments First All are God's Subjects in that they can do nothing without his Permission Neither the Devil that Arch-Creature nor the worst of his Instruments can so much as touch an hair of our Head unless leave be granted them Yea we find that a whole Legion of Devils after they were dispossessed of their usurped abode durst not so much as house themselves in a Herd of Swine without first craving leave of our Saviour Mark 5.12 And all the Villainies and Out-rages that have ever been committed in the World have had their pass from God's Permission without which the Lusts of Men as furious and eager as they are must needs have miscarrying Wombs and dry Breasts Nor is it any taint at all to the pure Holiness of God that he doth thus permit the wickedness of Men which if he pleased he might prevent For though we are obliged to keep others from sin when it lies in our power to do it yet no such Obligation lies upon God though he can keep the wickedst Wretch on Earth from ever sinning any more yet he permits Wisely for the greater advancement of his own Glory and the Exercise of his Peoples Graces and at the last he punishes Justly Secondly His Kingdom is over all in that he can bend in and restrain his Rebellious Subjects as he pleaseth Sometimes he doth it by cutting short their Power of doing mischief He chains up those Mad Men and takes from them those Swords Arrows and Fire-brands which otherwise they might hurl abroad both to their own and others hurt Sometimes he raiseth up an opposite Power against them that they cannot break through to the Commission of their sins so the Jews would often have taken Christ and put him to Death but they feared the People whom his Miracles and Cures had obliged unto him Sometimes Providence casts in some seasonable diversion and thus he over-ruled Joseph's Brethren restraining them from killing him by the Providential passing by of Merchants that way And sometimes by removing the Objects against which they intended to sin So Herod intended to put Peter to death but that very night God sent his Angel to work his escape and prevented that wickedness Many other ways there may be of his Exercising his Sovereignty and Dominion over his most Rebellious Creatures who though they are Slaves to their Lusts yet God holds their Chain in his own hand slacking it by his permission and sometimes straitning it by his Powerful restraints And therefore we find in Scripture that God hath a certain measure for Mens sins beyond which they shall not exceed Zach. 5. There is mention made of an Ephah of Wickedness And this signifies to us that though wicked Men break the bounds of his Laws yet they cannot break the bounds of his Providence God hath set them their measure which they can neither fill without his Permission nor exceed because of his restraint Thirdly God declares his Kingdom to be over all by inflicting deserved punishments on the most stubborn and rebellious Sinners though they transgress his Laws and provoke his Holiness yet they shall never out-brave his Justice but he will certainly humble them if not to Repentance yet to Hell and Perdition Luke 19.17 Those mine Enemies that would not that I should Reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me And therefore we see how God hath erected Trophies and Monuments to the Praise of his dread Power and Servere Justice out of the Ruins of the most Proud and Insolent Sinners Pharaoh who was both the great Type and Instrument of the Devil how did God break that stubborn Wretch with Plague upon Plague and one Misery after another For to this very purpose God set him up that he might shew his Signs and Wonders upon him And thus God deals with many others in this Life by some Signal and Remarkable Punishments making them Examples to deter others from the like Crimes But thus he deals with all his Rebels in Hell for even that is one and a large part of his Kingdom It is his Prison wherein he hath shut up all his Malefactors whom his grim Serjeant Death hath Arrested It is the great Slaughter-house of Souls and the Shop of Justice Devils are there his Executioners and Fire and Rack and Torments the due Guerdon of those impenitent Rebels who shaking off his Yoke and casting of his Cords from them are crush'd for ever under the insupportable load of his Wrath and bound in Chains of massy Darkness reserved for the Judgment of the Great Day Thus we see God's Vniversal Kingdom consists of Three great Provinces Heaven Earth and Hell In Heaven only Grace and Mercy Reigns on Earth both Mercy and Justice in the various dispensations of them towards the Sons of Men in Hell pure and unmixed Justice triumphs in the Eternal Damnation of his Apostate Creatures This is God's Vniversal Kingdom But Secondly Besides this God hath a peculiar Kingdom and that is his Kingdom of Grace which though it be not so large and extensive as the
former yet is it far more excellent and the Royalty of it is God's singular Delight Now this Kingdom of Grace is his Church and may be considered Two ways First In its Growth and Progress Secondly In its Perfection and Consummation In the former respect it is the Church Militant here upon Earth and in the latter it is the Church Triumphant in Heaven for both make up but one Kingdom under divers respects First Let us a little consider God's Kingdom here upon Earth or the Church Militant and that is Two-fold Visible and Invisible The Visible Kingdom of God upon Earth are a company of People openly professing the Fundamentals of Religion and those Truths necessary to Salvation which God hath made known unto the World and joyning together in the External Communion of Ordinances The Invisible Kingdom are a company of true Believers who have Internal and Invisible Communion with God by his Spirit and their Faith The Visible Church is of a much larger extent than the Invisible for it comprehends Hypocrites and Formalists and all those who have given up their Names to Christ and listed themselves under his Banner and make an outward profession of the Truth although by their Lives and Practices they contradict and deny what they own and profess with their Lips These belong to the Kingdom of God's Grace as to the External Dispensation and Regiment of it because they profess obedience to his Laws and live under the means of Grace by which many of them through the efficacious concurrence of the Spirit of God are translated into the Invisible Kingdom of his dear Son Now this Visible Kingdom of God upon Earth is but an imperfect State and Condition for though all that are Members of it are selected and taken out of the World yet there is a great deal of Mixture and Dross and many things that do offend For First There is in it a mixture of Wicked Persons with those that are really Holy Many are of this Kingdom only because their Consciences are convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion although their Lives are not subject to the Power of it and these are taken out of the World only as they are brought into the Pale of the Church and profess the Name of Christ and his Religion as distinct from all other Religions in the World And therefore we find the Church or the Kingdom of Heaven in Scripture frequently compared to a Net cast into the Sea gathering every kind of Fish both good and bad Matth. 13.47 both sorts are embraced in the Bosom of this Net and no perfect Separation can be made until it be drawn to shore at the Day of Judgment and then the Good will be gathered into Vessels and the Bad cast away as it is there expressed Again it is compared to a Floor wherein is both Chaff and Wheat Luk. 3.17 and these will be mix'd together until the last discriminating Day and then shall the Wheat be gathered into the Garner and the Chaff burnt up with unquenchable Fire Again it is compared to a Field wherein there grows Tares as well as Corn Matth. 13.24 which must grow together until the Harvest and then shall the Tares be bound in Bundles to be burnt and the profitable Grain be gathered into the Barn This hath still been and will be the mix'd condition of God's Church on Earth wherein through Hypocrisie and gross Dissimilation many that are Enemies to the Cross of Christ will yet go under that Cognisance and keep up a Form of Godliness though they deny and hate the Power of it Secondly There is even in the Invisible Church here on Earth a great mixture too those who have a real and vital Union to Christ and maintain a Spiritual Communion with him yet even they have a sad mixture of Evil with all their Good of Sin with all their Grace and Holiness so that the Church is still imperfect not only from a mixture of Persons but from a mixture in Persons As we know but in part so we love but in part we fear we obey God but in part And with our Profession of Faith we had need also to prefer that humble Petition Mark 9.24 Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief Secondly The Kingdom of God may be considered in its Perfection and Consummation and so it is Triumphant in Heaven And this consists of such Glorious Angels as never Fell and of such Glorified Saints who are raised from their Fall and restored to a far better Condition than what they lost This is the most Glorious part of God's Kingdom here is his Throne especially established and here it is that he displays himself in the splendor of his Majesty being surrounded by innumerable Hosts of Holy Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect who continually Worship before him with a most prostrate Veneration and give Honour and Glory and Praise to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Now this Kingdom is altogether free from those former Imperfections and Mixtures There is no mixture of good and bad together neither is there any mixture of bad in the good but all are Holy and all as compleatly Holy as Creatures can be for into the New Jerusalem shall no unclean thing ever enter There are neither Temptations to try us nor Sins to defile us nor Sorrows to afflict us but perfect Joy and perfect Purity Where all Tears shall be wiped from our Eyes and all Sin the Cause of those Tears rooted out of our Hearts And yet if Heaven it self may be liable to any Defects or capable of any Additions there seems at present to be wanting in it these Two things First The Kingdom of Glory is not yet Full nor shall it be till the whole Number of the Elect shall be called and the whole Number of the Called Glorified Many as yet are conflicting here below and fitting themselves for their Eternal Reward many yet lie sleeping in their Causes unborn whom God hath Foreknown and Predestinated unto Eternal Life all of whom he will in his due time bring unto the Possession of his Heavenly Kingdom to compleat the Number of his Glorious Subjects And therefore it is said concerning the Saints that are already in Heaven that white Robes were given to every one of them and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their Fellow-Servants also and their Brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled Rev. 6.11 Secondly Those Glorified Saints that are now in Heaven though their Joys be perfect yet their Persons are not but one part of them their Bodies continue still under the arrest of Death and the Power of the Grave but yet they sleep in Hope and through that Mystical Vnion that there is between Jesus Christ and every scattered Dust of a Believer they shall obtain a Glorious and Joyful Resurrection and then shall this Heavenly Kingdom
thou canst but get an Attribute to take thy part when thou comest to the Throne of Grace and if thou canst but rightly use and fit it to thy requests thou may'st be sure of speeding for God will not nay he cannot deny himself In us there can be nothing found to move him nor any where out of himself and where we find as very often we do in Scripture that the Miseries and Afflictions of God's People are made use of as a Plea for Mercy yet this Plea it self which is usually most winning and most affecting can no otherwise prevail with God than as his Pity and Compassions engage him to relieve those that are in Misery And to speak properly they are not our Afflictions but the Glory of his Power and Mercy in delivering us from them that is a motive unto God Only it is the art of a Praying Christian aptly to represent himself as an Object for God's Attributes to be exercised about And if he can but interest any Name or Attribute of God in his behalf he may be confident of the success of his Prayer and that he shall not return ashamed These two Observations I gather from the illative Particle for For thine is the Kingdom c. Concerning the Kingdom of God I shall speak but very little now having already treated of it in explaining the Second Petition of this most excellent Prayer Thy Kingdom come Certain it is that God's Vniversal Kingdom is here understood as he is the High Creator and Supreme Lord of all things both in Heaven and in Earth yet not so as to exclude his peculiar Kingdom of the Church And this is an excellent Argument to confirm our Faith for the obtaining of those things which we pray for because the Kingdom is Gods and he is the absolute Sovereign over all and therefore all things are at his dispose As for Spiritual Blessings which we seek he hath the Power of bestowing of them for he is King of his Church and bestows the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit upon the Faithful Subjects of that his Kingdom And as for Temporal Blessings that we beg he likewise can readily bestow them upon us for he is the Universal Monarch of all the World a King to whom all other Kings are subject and all other Thrones are but the Footstool of his And therefore in the general whatsoever we want be it Protection or Provision our Faith in the Sovereignty of God may encourage us to ask it with an humble boldness and confidence for it is the Office of a King to give both unto his Subjects But let us more particularly consider how God's Kingdom may be accommodated to all the Petitions of this Prayer of our Lord as a strong Argument and Reason to prevail with God for the obtaining what we request in each of them First The Kingdom is God's therefore he will see that his Name be hallowed and glorified in it Kings are jealous of their Honour and it is a great Offence either to speak or do any thing that may redound to their discredit It is fit and decent for a King to have the highest Name and the greatest repute among his Subjects And therefore we may be sure God will maintain this in the World yea so jealous is God of having dishonour reflected upon him that he hath forbidden not only the profanation and trivial mention of his own Name but the profanation of that which doth but belong unto him Matth. 5.34 35. Swear not by Heaven for it is God's Throne neither by the Earth for it is his Foot-stool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the Great King Heaven is the Throne of his Majesty the Theatre of his Power Jerusalem and the Temple the Seat of his Worship And therefore as Kings and Princes have respect shown to their presence Chamber So God because he is the Great King of Kings and Lord of Lords requires to be reverenced in all that doth appertain unto him and he will be sanctified in all that draw near unto him Those who will not actually hallow him by their Obedience on them God will be hallowed passively by their Punishment And because he is a King he will maintain the Honour of his Majesty and Royalty And therefore we may with Faith pray Hallowed be thy Name For thine is the Kingdom c. Secondly The Kingdom is God's and therefore this Kingdom shall come it shall be maintained it shall be established it shall be enlarged and increased Is it not the highest concern of a King to look that his Kingdom be not overthrown and himself deposed and outed of it So is it God's interest and concernment to preserve his Kingdom from the incursion of Enemies and the sad consequences of the Rents and Divisions of his Subjects He hath promised that the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against it that he will enlarge the Borders of it and give all Nations unto Jesus Christ for his Inheritance and Possession And therefore when we pray Thy Kingdom come we may very well expect that our Requests should be granted for the Kingdom is God's and we do but pray that he would regard his own Interest and Concerns that he would look down from Heaven and visit this Vine which his own Right Hand hath planted that neither the Wild Boar out of the Forest may root it up nor the cunning Foxes pluck off its tender Grapes Thirdly The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may well pray That his Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven For what is Sovereignty without Obedience to it but a mere Pageantry a mock-shew of idle Royalty It is but fit and rational to pray that his Will should be done whose the Kingdom is And whilst we thus pray we may be confident of being heard and accepted since the Reason we urge is so natural and pressing Fourthly The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may with great encouragement to our Faith pray for Our daily Bread and all those Temporal Accommodations that are needful and expedient for us For it is a Kingly Office to provide things necessary for their Subjects to protect and defend them to supply and relieve them and therefore Psal 72. where we have a perfect Character of a good King it is said verse 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass and as showers that Water the Earth That is he shall be to his People as soft Showers to the sprouting Grass kindly nourishing it and making it grow and flourish And certainly God who is the greatest and best of Kings will be so much more to his People and Subjects and since he hath assumed to himself the Style and Name of King he will provide abundantly for their Peace and Prosperity Fifthly The Kingdom is God's and therefore we may well make our applications to him for Pardon and beg of him the Forgiveness of our Offences since it is the Prerogative Royal of