SERMON V. *། MATTHEW vi. 10th. Thy Kingdom come. ERE we but once thoroughly conW vinced of the exiftence of a God, and of the great benefits which we have received at his hands, did we but confider, know, and acknowledge him to be our Father which is in Heaven, and fuffer fuch confiderations to have their due weight and proper effect upon us, to incline us to re verence his name, and render it holy and respectable among men, the next step would be our repeating as we ought, this Peti tion. Thy Kingdom come. The great and material advantages of being under the immediate inspection and government of an allwife, powerful, juft and gracious King, are fo evident, that nothing but a degenerate and corrupted nature, nothing but a partial understanding blindly fubmitting to the irregular dictates of a perverse will could prevent our feeing, acknowledging, pursuing and praying for them. Most men, however, thus biaffed from their natural rectitude, fet up the throne of extravagant paffions in their hearts, inftead of chearfully and joyfully fubmitting to the fceptre of God; like the rebellious Jews, crying out for a King, when indeed the Lord their God was their King. As As this arifes in a great measure from a total ignorance of the nature of the Kingdom here prayed for, I shall shew what we are to understand here by the Kingdom of God, and what we mean by the coming of that Kingdom; concluding with mentioning those affections with which this Petition ought always to be attended. The Kingdom of God in Scripture is taken in several fenfes. Sometimes it means his natural or providential Kingdom, or that univerfal dominion which he exercises over all things, and which is the necessary refult of all his perfect nature. In this fenfe holy David declares, thine, O Lord, is the greatnefs, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majefty; for all that is in the Heaven, and in the Earth, is thine; thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head aboveall. Sometimes |