10 Thy kingdom come. Thy | circumstance that constitutes the will be done in earth, "as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our 'daily bread. 12 And *forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 'And lead us not into temptation, but "deliver us from evil: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you : 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. f Luke xi. 2, &c.-g ch. xxvi. 39, 42. Acts xxi. 14. A Ps. ciii. 20, 21.-i See Job xxiii. 12. Prov. xxx. 8.k ch. xviii. 21, &c. ch. xxvi. 41. Luke xxii. 40, 46. 1 Cor x. 13. 2 Pet. ii. 9. Rev. iii. 10. m John xvii. 15. n 1 Chr. xxix. 11.0 Ecclus. xxviii. 1, &c. Mark xi. 25, 26. Eph. iv. 32. Col. iii. 13.-p ch. xviii. 35. Jam. ii. 13. READER. Our Saviour, having given us some general rules concerning prayer, now prescribes a form and model of devotion, for the use of his people in all ages. How precious this portion of his great leThe more gacy to the church! faithfully and fervently we use this form of supplication, the more we shall understand its value. And let us remember that the fulfilment of the petitions it contains is the sum and substance of all our happiness on earth and in heaven. "This prayer," says Bishop Por"stands unrivalled in every teus, perfection of prayer, and the excellence of that species of composition. solemn, it is comprehensive, it is It is concise, it is perspicuous, it is adapted to all ranks, conditions, and classes of men; it fixes our thoughts on a few great important points, and impresses on our minds a deep sense of the goodness and the greatness of that Almighty Being to whom it is addressed. "It begins with acknowledging Him to be our most gracious and merciful Father; it begs that his name may everywhere be reverenced, that his religion may spread over the earth, and that his will may be obeyed by men with the same ardour and alacrity and constancy that it is by the angels in heaven. It next entreats the supply of all our essential wants, both temporal and spiritual; a sufficiency of those things that are absolutely necessary for our subsistence; the forgiveness of our transgressions, on condition that we forgive our brethren; and, finally, support under the temptations that assault our virtue, and deliverance from the various evils and calamities that everywhere surround us; expressing at the same time the utmost trust and confidence in the power of God, to grant whatever he sees it expedient and proper for his creatures to receive. "The full meaning, then, of this admirable prayer, and of the several petitions contained in it, may perhaps be not improperly expressed in the following manner :— "O thou great Parent of the Universe, our Creator, our Preserver and continual Benefactor, grant that we and all reasonable creatures may entertain just and worthy notions of thy nature and attributes, may fear thy power, admire thy wisdom, adore thy goodness, rely upon thy truth; may reverence thy holy name, may bless and praise thee, may worship and obey thee. "Grant that all the nations of the earth may come to the knowledge and belief of thy holy religion: that it may everywhere produce the blessed fruits of piety, righteousness, charity, and sobriety; that by a constant endeavour to obey thy holy laws, we may approach, as near as the infirmity of our nature will allow, to the more perfect obedience of the angels that are in heaven; and thus qualify ourselves for entering into thy kingdom of glory hereafter. "Feed us, we beseech thee, with food convenient for us. We ask not for riches and honours; give us only what is necessary for our comfortable subsistence in the several stations which thy providence has allotted to us; and, above all, give us contented minds. "We are all, O Lord, the very best of us, miserable sinners. Be not extreme, we beseech thee, to mark what we have done amiss, but pity our infirmities, and pardon our offences. Yet let us not dare to implore forgiveness from thee, unless we also from our hearts forgive our offending brethren. "We are surrounded, on every side, with temptations to sin; and such is the corruption and frailty of our nature, that without thy powerful suc cour we cannot always stand upright. Take us then, O gracious God, un- . der thy almighty protection; and amidst all the danger and difficulties of our Christian warfare, be thou our refuge and support. Suffer us not to be tempted above what we are able to bear; but send thy Holy Spirit to strengthen our weak endeavours, and enable us to escape or to subdue all the enemies of our salvation. "Preserve us also, if it be thy blessed will, not only from spiritual, but from temporal evil. Keep us ever by thy watchful providence, both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that thou being in all cases our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal as finally to lose not the things eternal. "Hear us, O Lord our Governor, from heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, have regard to our petitions. These are offered up to thee in the fullest confidence that thy goodness will dispose, and thy power enable thee to grant whatsoever thy wisdom sees to be convenient for us, and conducive to our final happiness."" HYMN. Our heavenly Father, hear Thy kingdom come, thy will On earth be done in love; As saints and seraphim fulfil Thy perfect law above. Our daily bread supply While by thy word we live; Forgive, as we forgive. Glory and power divine; § XX. CHAP. VI. 16-18. Of Fasting. 16¶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have When the mind is greatly oppressed or occupied with any subject, especially one of a painful nature, our appetite for food is diminished, or altogether lost. Hence a voluntary abstinence from food becomes a natural expression or token of sorrow; and it has been sanctioned as a religious exercise, denoting grief, contrition, or shame on account of sin. The expression of our Saviour, in this place, when ye fast, clearly implies, that believers are permitted to express their sorrow for sin before God by fasting, whenever their feelings, or sense of duty, may prompt them to this exercise. Religious fasting," says Burkitt, "is a devoting of the whole man, soul and body, to a solemn and extraordinary attendance upon God, in a particular time, set apart for that purpose, in order to the deprecating of his displeasure, and for the supplicating of his favour, accompanied with an abstinence from food and their reward. sensual delights, and from all secular 17 But thou, when thou fast-affairs and worldly business." est, "anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. q Is. lviii. 5.- Ruth iii. 3. Dan. x. 3. READER. Our blessed Lord here gives some needful instruction respecting the use of fasting, or abstinence, as a religious exercise. When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance.-Our Saviour directs his discourse against one particular abuse of this religious exercise; namely, a spirit of ostentatious and affected piety. And he instructs us that our fasting must be sincere, and unto the Lord, in order to its being in any measure successful and useful. Let us receive this heavenly lesson with all humility and spiritual obedience. Whenever we fast, or exercise any acts of religious abstinence or humiliation, "let our intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father who is in heaven; to express our sorrow and shame for our manifold transgressions of his holy law; to wait for an increase of purifying grace, drawing our affections to things above; to add seriousness and earnestness to our prayers," in which we deprecate "the wrath of God," and sue for the fulfilment of "the great and precious promises which he hath made to us in Christ Jesus." "Let us beware of mocking God, and of turning our fast as well as our prayers into an abomination unto the Lord, by the mixing of any temporal view-particularly by seeking the praise of men." Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face.-"Do as thou art accustomed to do at other times." That thou appear not unto men to fast; "let this be no part of thy intention: if men know it without any design of thine, it matters not; thou art neither the better nor the worse;" but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. "Not that we are to imagine that the performing the bare outward act will receive any blessing from God. And if we desire the reward of which our Saviour speaks, let us beware of fancying that we merit anything of God by our fasting. We cannot be too often warned of this, inasmuch as a desire to establish our own righteousness, to procure salvation of debt, and not of grace, is so deeply rooted in all our hearts." In our acts of religious humiliation, let us remember that we are waiting for God's unmerited mercy, to be freely bestowed on us for Christ's sake, and not for anything we can do. The case of the hypocrites, to whom our Lord refers, affords a proof of the lamentable fact, that many men who are able to overcome the allurements of sensual pleasure are yet held captive under the no less fatal influence of spiritual pride. In the history of the early apostasy of the Christian church, we find that acts of bodily austerity and mortification were very soon erected into grounds of false dependence; and the mistakes of some of the ancient doctors on this point became greatly instrumental in destroying the simplicity of the Christian faith. We must keep close to Scripture in all things affecting either our faith or practice. If we give heed to human speculations or fables, we shall certainly be misled. The errors of the Christian "Fathers" concerning almsdeeds, and fasting, exactly resemble those of the Jewish "Rabbies" on the same subject. May we not only apprehend the meaning, but imbibe the spirit, of "Let our Saviour's injunction ! every season, either of public or private fasting, be a season of exercising all those holy affections which are implied in a broken and contrite heart. Let it be a season of devout mourning, of godly sorrow for sin; such a sorrow as that of the Corinthians, concerning which the Apostle saith, that "it worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of." (See 2 Cor. vii. 10, 11). "Let our. sorrowing after a godly sort work in Mercy, O Lord! mercy we ask; § XXI. STERNHOLD. CHAP. VI. 19-23. us the same inward and outward re- Where our treasure is to be laid up. 19 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 'But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 "The light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! s Prov. xxiii. 4. 1 Tim. vi. 17. Heb. xiii. 5. Jam. v. 1, &c.-t Ecclus. xxix. 11. ch. xix. 21. Luke xii. 33, 34; & xviii. 22. 1 Tim. vi. 19. 1 Pet. i. 4.-u Luke xi. 34, 36. READER. Here we are mercifully warned against trusting in uncertain riches, and encouraged to |