· on the. Lord's Prayer; dotllapper<ain unto him, and he will be fanilified in all that drew near un_to him. Thofo who will not ailually hallow htm by their Obedtence, on them God wtll be hallowed paffively by their Punifhment. And becaufe he is a Ki~g he -yill maintain the Honour of his Majejly and Royalty : And therefore we may wtth Fatth pray, Hallowed be thj Name: f<Or thine h the Kingdom, &c. Secondly, The Kingdom is God's, and therefore this Kingdom foal/ come; it fh1ll be maintained, it !hall be ellablifhed, it fhall be enlarged and encreafed. Is it not the bighefl: Concern ot a King to look that his Kingdom. be not overthrown, and himfclf depofed and outed of it ? So is it God's lnterefl: and Concernment to preferve his King· dom -from the lr.curfion ofEnemies, and the fad Confequences ofthe Rents andDivilions ·of his Subjefls. He barb promifed that the Gates of fidlfholfnever prevail again[/ it, that be will enlarge the Borders of it, and give all Nations· unto _Jefus Cbrifl for his Inheritance and Poff'effion. And therefore whe_n we pray, Thy Kzngdom come, we may very we[! expeil that our Requells fhould be granted ; for the Kingdotn is God's, ~nd we do but pray tha_t he would regard his own ·Interefi and. Concerns, ,that he would look down from He oven and vijit thu Vine wbicb his fwn Right Hand bad planred; that neithu tbi:,Wild Boar out ofthe f'orejf may root it up, nor the Cunning f'oxes pluck off its under Grapes. , Toirdly, The Kingdoi/J is God's, and therefore we may well pray, That kis Will may he done on Eartb a$ it is in Heaven: For whu is Sovereignty wi.rhout Obedience to it but a meer Pageantry, a Mock fhew of/die Royalry ? It is bot fir and rational to pray that his Will thould he done whofe rheKingdom i~ And whilfl we thus pray we may be confiden t of being heard and accepted,fince tbeReafon we urge is fo naruraland Jlreffing: Fourthly, Tbe Kingdom U God)s , and therefore we may with great Encouragement to our Faith pray for Our Daily Bread, and all .thofe Temporal Accommodations that are m:edful and expedient for us; for it is a Kingly Office to provide Things neteffary for their Subjeflr, to protect and defend them, to fupply and relieve them ; and rherdbre, Pjal. 72. rvhere we have a perfea Cbarailer of a Good King, it is faid, Verfe 6. He fha/1 come down like Rain upon the Mown Grafs) and as Shower.t that Warer the Earth : That is, he !hall be to his People as foft Showers to the fprouting Grals, kindly nourifbing ir, and making it grow and Hourilh: and certainly God who is the Grearefl and Befl of Kings, will be fo much more to his People and Sub~ jells; and lince he bath affumed to himfelf the Stile and Name of King, he will provide abundamly fort heir Peace and Profperity. • Fifihly, The Kingdom is God's, and therefore we may well make our Applications to him tOr Pardon, and beg of him tbeForgivenifsof our Offences, fince it is the Prerogarive Royal of Kings to forgive Offenders. Hence our Saviour defcribing tha: Procels of the GeneralJndgmenr, when he comes to fpeak of pronouncing the Sentence of Abfolut ion upon Believers fiiles bimfelf King; fo we read, Martb. 2). 34· Tben foal/ the King.fay to them on his Rrght Hand, Come ye Bleffid of my Father inherir the Kingdom. So that here our Faith bath a very firong Plea to urge with God for the Pa1·don of our Sins, Forgive us our TrefpaD(s: For thine is the Kingdom; and it belongs to the Royalty of thy Kingdom to forgive humble and penitent Suppliants. Sixrhly, The Kingdom is God's, therefore we may well pray in Faith that he would Ddivcr us from Evil; fOr this is one Great End of Government, to proteE't their Subjells from the Affaults of their Enemies: And God, who is our King, will not neglett this Care when we do with an humble Faith urge h'im to it, by reprefenting to him that the Kingdom is his; for his Intereft is involved in the Safety and Welfare of his People. And rhus! have briefly fhewn you in general that all ourPrayets ought to be en· , forced with llrong and cogent Reafons, which although they are not ~operly Mo· tives unto God, yet are they good Grounds for our Faith to build upon, and· therefore a good Evidence when we ufe them that our Petitions fhall be heard and granted. And l hove likewife pmicolarly accommodated this Firjl Motive and Argumenr, taught us by our Saviour, Thine is the Kingdom, to each of the Six Petitions, which lte bath infiruE\ed us to prefent to God. 'rhe Second Attribute that we are to copfider, as a Reafon and Motive urged in this Prayer, is the Power ofGod : Thine is the Power, No~. Power, according to theufual Acceptafion of the Word, is nothing elfe but ln Abrltty ro work thofe Changes and Mutations upon created Beings which were nor In them before ; 1 fpoak only of llflive Power, and the Two Terms of it are, either · Qq q 2 tbo
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