It should therefore be our first care, in all our approaches to the throne of grace, to folicit the favour of this powerful Mediator, and to procure his friendly interpofition in our behalf; and then we fhall have no cause to dread a repulfe; for his interceffion is, and must be, always prevalent. The dignity of his perfon, his relation to the Father, and especially the perfection of that facrifice upon which his interceffion is founded, effectually fecure acceptance to us: so that if once we are fully perfuaded that our requests are framed according to his will, we need have no diftrefsful anxiety about their fuccefs, for he will enforce them with all the merit of his own blood: and therefore we may confidently hope to obtain what we afk, in that time and way which unerring wifdom fees beft for us: "For this," fays the Apostle John, "is the confidence which we have in the Son of God, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth

cr

us and if we know that he heareth us, "we know that we have the petitions we de"fired of him," 1 John v. 14, 15.

This, my brethren, is an abundant fource

of

of confolation and joy; and though our defires are limited to fuch things as are agreeable to the will of our Redeemer; yet by this very limitation our comfort is extended, and prayer becomes a privilege of infinitely greater value than otherwife it would be. An unconfined liberty in our addreffes to God, would, in most cases (to fuch ignorant and unthinking creatures as we are), amount to nothing better than the choice of the means and manner of our own deftruction. (Eccl. vi. 12.) "For who know"eth what is good for man in this life:” Whereas our glorious High Priest, who is perfectly acquainted with our state, can never be at a loss to know what is good for us; and the coftly proofs he hath already given of his mercy and love, leave us no room to fufpect his concern for our welfare. The least reflection on his fufferings may eafily convince us, that he fincerely intends our happiness, and can disapprove of nothing but what is hurtful to our interest. Neither hath he left it to the uncertain conjectures and doubtful reasonings of our own minds, to find out what is agreeable to him;

this is clearly revealed to us in the holy Scriptures and to render the discovery of it still more eafy to us, he hath furnished us with a fhort but perfect model of devotion, in this comprehenfive prayer which he taught his disciples; by attending to which, we may learn from his own mouth after what manner we should addrefs the throne of grace, and what ought to be the matter and order of our defires. Hereby the fureft foundation is laid for our confidence and hope; and whatever is according to this divine pattern, we may ask with full affurance of faith, being confident that he who hath fecured for us all the bleffings which we need, will certainly listen to those defires which he himself hath excited and authorised. "And if we know that he "heareth us," we may from thence certainly conclude," that we shall have the peti"tions we desired of him."

I fhall not detain you with any account of the feveral parts of this excellent prayer, nor the particular defign for which our Lord introduced it in this fermon: Only, to make way for the inftructions I propose

to

to lay before you on this occafion, I fhall obferve in general,

That prayer is not only an acknowledgement of our dependence upon God for the bleffings we afk; but it likewife imports a fincere refolution on our part, to put ourfelves in the way of those bleffings, and to ufe all proper means for obtaining them. Thus, when we pray for daily bread, we do not mean, that God fhould indulge our idleness, and feed us in a miraculous way; but only, that he would countenance our honeft endeavours, and profper them by his bleffing, which alone maketh rich. In like manner, when we pray, as in my text, that the kingdom of God may come, we certainly intimate our own confent to be employed as inftruments in carrying on this defign, and must be understood as binding and obliging ourselves, by this petition, to do every thing in our sphere, that may contribute to promote it.

Accordingly, I fhall endeavour, in dependence upon the divine aid,

First, To explain and illustrate the petition

itself. And,

Secondly,

Secondly, To fhow what may reasonably be expected from us, in confequence of our ufing it. Or rather, indeed, what is abfolutely neceffary to prove that we are fincere, when we thus pray, "thy kingdom "come."

IT is fcarcely to be fuppofed, that any who read their Bibles, can be ignorant of what is here meant by the kingdom of God. This form of fpeech was very common among the Jews, especially about the time of our Saviour's appearance; and was used by them, to fignify that grand revolution. foretold in ancient prophecy, which was to be brought about by the Meffiah, their longexpected King. Thus we find the Pharifees (Luke xvii. 20.) inquiring" when the "kingdom of God fhould come;" that is, as the context explains it, when the reign of the Meffiah fhould commence? And John the Baptift proclaimed the approach of this glorious Perfon in the fame ftyle; faying, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matth. iii. 2.) There are feveral other paffages in the New Testament,

where