on the Lord's Prayer. Secondly, As this Particle, Thy, may be taken emphatically, Thy Will before all others, fo likewife it may be taken.exclufively, Thy Wtll, aod not our own, be done, to teach us that hard Le£ron ofSelfdenial. Indeed, when we confider the Re~ellions of our corruEt Appetites and Defires, and ail thofe Tumulrs and Uproars they raife in our Souls agatnfl the Holy and PerfeiJ: W11l of God, the perverfe D1fputings of our Reafon againfl: his Authority, and thofe firong Propenfions that are in us towards that which is difpleafing to him, and defiruEhve to our fd ves, we fhal! find abundant Need with our gteardt Fervency to pra}', Thy Will, and not our own, be donr. And thus I have finifhed the Three Firfl Enquiries, what this VV ill of God .is how it may be fa id to bedobe, and what is imported in this Particle, Thy. The 'Fourth and lafl Thing to be enquired into is, what is meant by God's VVill being • done on f.artb. . And here briefly to refolve :his, that the VVill of God fhould be done on Earrh, fignifies, that it be done by Men living. on the Earth, the Place .here being put for the Perfons in it. And although there be feveral other Creatures befides Man, wbo do. aU ofthtm ferve him, and fulfil his VVill according to the Rank and Station which they all hold. And therefore we have it exprefs'~, Pjal. 148. 8. Fire and Hail, Snow andVopour, f/ormyWindfulfilling his Wont. Yet this his Will and lj!ord is only the Ordinance ofthe1r Creation. And the Wtll of his Purpo[e, to the efieEhng of wbrch they are of10n employed as lnflruments. It is not the fVill of God's Precept obliging them w Duty; for this can be fulfilled by none but by Rational and Intell igen t Creatures. This Petition therefOre efpecially, if not only, refpeEI:s us Men whom God bath made Lords of this Earth, putting all other Creatures in SubjeiJ:ion under us. Now here we prar, Firfl , That all Men in the VVorld renouncing the VVill of Satan, and their own. corrupt VVills, may readily fuhjeiJ: themfelve1 unto the VVill ofGod. For this Expreffion, on Ear~b, fufFtrs us nor to limit our Prayers to this or that particular Place or R<gion, "but wherefoever God bath fptead abroad all Nations upon the Face of the Earth, we are to de fire ofGod for them Grace to enable them to do his VV ill, Pjal. 67. 2. Letr'* Ways be known upon Earth, andthyfaving Health unto all Nations. Secondly, 'VVe pray that we may employ and impr0\1e th~:: few and fhon Days of this Mortal Life to the bell Advantage. For this is that Day wherein we may work · the VVorks of God; and if we oegleiJ: to do the VV ill of God while we are here on Eanh, it wi~l be too late for ever; for there is no Work, nor Operation, nor Deuice, in the Grave, whither we are going. And cerrainly, if ever we would do the VV ill of God in Heaven, we mufi accufl:o!lt OQr fd\'es w do it here on Earth. Here we are as Apprentices that muft learn rhe Trade cf Holinefs, that when our Time is out we may he fir to be made _Free Deni· :;cm of the New Jerufalem. Here we are to tune our Voices w the Praifes of God before we come w join with the Heavenly Choir. Here we are to learn what we muft there for ever praiJ:ice. And thus I have done with the Petition itfi:lf, Jby fVi/1 he done in EtJrtb. The nex t Thing ohfervable is the Proportion ofir, .At it is in lfeavcn. But you will fay, Is it not utterly impofliblewhilewe are here on Earth, and cl ogg'd with Earthly Bodies, and encompaff'erl about with manifold Infirmities, is it nor impoff1ble ever to attain unto a Celefiial and Heavenly PerfeEt:ion in our Obedience? 1 Anfwer, true, it is fo, hut yet thls Prayer is not in vain, for ir reacherh ar:d engageth us roaim at and endeavour after the perff8: Holinefs of .Jlngds, and the Spirits of 'Juflil'len made Prrfeil. We are commanded to be Holy,. tU .God i< Holy; and to be P"jea, tU our Heavenly Fathrr ts Perjra, whofe PerfeiJ:wn rs impoffible for us to equalize: ~t thefe excdlive Commands have their Ufe, to raife up our Endeavours to a higher Srrain and Pilch than if .we were commanded fomewhat wirhio our own Power. As he that aims ac a Star is likely to £hoot much higher than he that aims at a Turf. Thus though it be a Thing altogether impoffible for us in this Life to attain to an Ange\ical Perfeaion in our Obedience. yet rhe Command that obligerh us to it, an<i our Pr:syers fOr ir, are not in vain, becJufe by our utmofl Endeavours afrer further Meafuresand Degrees ofHolinefs we may very much affimilate our Obedience to that Obedience that is yielded to God's Will in Heaven itfelf; and therefore this Par· ticle, .tls, is rather a Note of Similitude than of Equality. But though our ObedieQce on Earth cannQt ~e equal !O !~• Obedie~cc; that is yie\ded to God in !;leaven; yer
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