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DISCOURSE VI.

MATTHEW vi. 10.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

PRAYER is not only a reasonable, but a most delightful duty. It is the acknowledgment of our dependence on God. It is the cry of the poor and needy to Him who is the Fountain of all good and happiness. It is the overflowing of a grateful heart to the Author of all its mercies and privileges. It is the ladder which connects earth and heaven, and on which descend to the pious soul all needful communications of wisdom and grace. What Christian has not learned its efficacy, and felt its consolation? What Christian, too, has not often been ready to exclaim with Elihu of old, "Teach us what we shall say unto God; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness?" This difficulty it was which induced the disciples of Jesus Christ to ask him

to teach them to pray, as John did his disciples. His instruction we have on record; and it exhibits to us a guide and model of devotion alike remarkable for its comprehensiveness and simplicity. It is valuable, also, as containing an exhibition of the most prominent graces of the true disciple of Christ. For one great object of prayer is to produce those holy affections and desires which should adorn the heart that aspires to become a fit temple for the residence of the Holy Ghost. Our Saviour, therefore, teaches us to pray for those things which are most necessary to keep alive within us the temper of habitual love and obedience to God, and thus enforces the necessity of that connexion which must always be preserved between our devotions and our conduct. Alas! how prone are we to forget this truth, and to imagine, that if we perform faithfully a certain circle of what are termed religious duties, if we offer up our prayers with fervour and importunity, it is of little moment what is the character of our heart and deportment in the common concerns and transactions of life. But how great, in this respect, are our mistake and guilt? Holiness is the same, whether it glow in the devotions of the seraph, or warm the breast of him who bestows a cup of water on the humblest disciple. The spirit of prayer is the same spirit which should

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animate the Christian at all times. For he is commanded to 66 pray without ceasing;" that is, to preserve, under all circumstances, a devotional frame of mind-one which will enable him, let his pursuits and business be what they may, to raise his heart upward, and to commune with his Father who is in heaven. The nature of this devotional spirit is clearly taught us in the prayer which our Saviour gave his disciples, as the guide and model of their worship. And its essential character is sufficiently described in the words of my text:-" Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." He who always prays with this spirit, and who cherishes and preserves it as the director of all his affections and conduct, has that true holiness which will fit him for the blessed society above, whose constant delight is to do the will of God. That we may improve the words of the text to the cultivation of this spirit of prayer, let us consider, first, the meaning of these petitions: "Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven;" and, secondly, the spirit with which they should be offered.

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I. We are to consider the meaning of these petitions; "Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Although

these petitions are distinct the one from the other, they have, in fact, the same import, and are directed to the accomplishment of the same object. For were the kingdom of God fully come; that is, did it embrace and govern all men; then would his will indeed be done in earth as it is in heaven. The latter petition, therefore, may be considered as explanatory of the former. In order, then to ascertain the meaning of both, we have only to inquire what is meant in the text by the expression, "Thy will." Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

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Of the nature of God's will, as an attribute of his Divine mind, we know nothing. How far it resembles our own, and how immensely it differs from it, we must be for ever ignorant. "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know?" This should lead us to be very humble and modest in all our speculations concerning God's sovereign will and pleasure; how he truly purposes every event that takes place, and yet in such a way as to leave man's free agency and accountability entirely unimpaired. We should rest satisfied with the plain and express declarations of Scripture on this subject, and make them the ground of our faith and

confidence in God, without venturing to attempt its explanation by our own reason. "Secret

things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of his law."

But though the nature of God's will is thus concealed from us, we may know much of its effects from what his word teaches us of the great object of his will, and of the means which he uses to accomplish this object. The object of God's will is the display of his own glorious perfections, in order that the greatest happiness of his intelligent creatures may be promoted by leading them to admire and love this display. To accomplish this object, he has created beings capable of knowing, of loving, and of serving Him. He has passed before them, and will yet pass, in such manifestations of himself as are calculated to exhibit his goodness in its most attractive, and his justice in its most awful forms. He has given them, as a rule of conduct, the law of holiness, and connected with the violation of this law a most dreadful penalty. It is by the obedience of this law among some of his subjects, and by others suffering the punishment which it denounces against transgressors, that his throne will be established in the heavens, his name glorified

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