God's infinite knowledge, nor efcape his perfe&t juftice.

The mention of this name, at the fame time it reminds us of what God has done for us, should remind us of what we ought, in obedience to him, to do for ourfelves; and then only can we properly call God our Father, when we fincerely endeavour to approve ourselves his children.

The next part of this divine prayer which comes under confideration, prefents God to our minds as being in Heaven.

These words, which art in Heaven, are not defigned to limit or confine the divine nature, to fay here it is, and there it is not, but to breed in us a due apprehenfion and efteem of God's Majesty.

In regard of his natural or effential prefence, he fills all his works, and is prefent with the whole creation; he knoweth our down

down-fitting, and our up-rifing, he underftandeth our thoughts long before, he is about our path and about our bed, and fpieth out all our ways; if we climb up into Heaven, he is there, if we go down to hell, he is there alfo; no time or place, no action, word, or thought, are fo fecret as to exclude him; the inmoft receffes of the heart lie open to his view, and by the neceffary perfection of his nature he is intimately prefent with the minutest particle of his works.

In regard of his gracious prefence, God is faid to be present with good men, to dwell in their hearts, and to take up his refidence with them that are of an humble and contrite fpirit; in regard of this, he draws near to us when we do any thing to please him, and departs from us when we offend him.

In regard of his Majestic prefence, which we are to understand in the words under confideration, he is faid to be in Heaven, be

caufe

cause he there affords brighter manifestations of his glory; he from thence issues out the decrees of his Providence, and lays open the purpose and defign of his difpenfations; he there fhines forth in that fullness of majesty, in that brightness of perfection, which we can but faintly imagine here, and the admiration of which will be part of our happy employment hereafter.

It remains for us to enquire, lastly, For what purposes we are taught in our prayers to make mention of our Father's being in Heaven.

These are to breed in us a proper notion of his all-perfect nature, to teach us that his ways are above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts as far as is the Heaven above the earth, to give us awful apprehenfions of that Being whose throne is in Heaven, and the earth is his footstool; to deter us from measuring the arm of Omnipotence by that of humanity, to compare the eternal God by mortal man, to instruct us always to

bear

bear in mind the vast difference between our earthly parents, and our Father which is in Heaven.

This part of the prayer is most admirably calculated to infpire us with the most hearty and unfeigned fincerity, with the most full and absolute reliance on God, with the most thorough contempt of this, and ardent expectation of another life.

One man cannot look into the heart of another, but must be contented to judge by appearances; fo that a well conducted hypocrify may gain a child as great advantages from an earthly parent, as the most unfeigned fincerity.

But our Father which is in Heaven cannot be fo deceived, for the Lord feeth not as man feeth; man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Our

Our earthly parents are fo unstable in their affections, fo weak in their understanding, fo contracted in their abilities, fo fhort in their duration, that no certain dependance is to be had on them; but our Father which is in Heaven, is in his love and goodness fixt and immutable, in knowledge infinite, in power almighty, in duration eternal, fo that on him, and him only we can place a folid and reafonable confidence.

There is nothing more proper than the confideration of our Father's being in Heaven to wean our affections from this world, and make us gasp after the next; it reminds us of the fhortnefs and uncertainty of earthly things, where we have no continuing city, and that an inheritance is to be fought by us in Heaven; for our Father is in Heaven, and where he is there should we defire to be alfo.

I fhall conclude this difcourfe with fumming up the full fenfe of the words we have been confidering, according to the explication.