there must of necessity naturally and freely follow, without any industrious concern of ours, joy, peace, salvation, and every delight. And hence Christ, to turn into another direction that eye which is evil and always fixed upon its own advantage only, admonishes us to seek after and desire, not those things that accompany the kingdom of God, but the kingdom of God itself. Whereas, the characters abovementioned, seek first after that which is posterior and consequent, and regard not that which holds the first place: or, if they do seek that which holds the first place, they do it for the sake of getting that which holds the second place: and therefore, they attain unto neither: for those who do not rightly desire the first, will by no means attain unto the second.

THIRD PETITION.

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

This Petition also works those two things which we mentioned under the preceding head. Namely, it humbles, and lifts up it manifests the ungodly, and makes the godly. For the Word of God at all times works both judgment and righteousness; as it is written, 'Blessed are they who always do judgment and righteousness. Judgment is nothing else, than a man's knowing, judging, and condemning himself. And this is true humility, inasmuch as it is not a feigned humbling of ourselves.And righteousness is nothing else than a man's truly desiring and seeking (after having been thus brought to a knowledge of himself) the grace and help of God, by which things he is lifted up and exalted before God.

By a view of these two things in this Petition we see, FIRST, that we judge and condemn ourselves by our own words, and confess that we are disobedient unto God, and do not his will. For if we were in that state that we did the good will of God, this Petition would be given us in vain. And therefore, this is a thing terrible to be heard, when we say, 'Thy will be done.' For what can be more awful, than that the will of God is not done in any of our actions, and his commands not regarded? Yet this is what we confess openly against

ourselves in this Petition. do not, and never have done, the will of God, seeing that we pray that it may now be done. Since therefore this Prayer is to be used by us even unto the very end of our lives, it follows, that we are found, even unto our death, to be transgressors of the divine will. Who then can here take pride unto himself, or have a vain confidence in the merit of his prayers, by which he finds himself to be, and in which he confesses himself with his own mouth to be, guilty of disobedience: for which he may justly, should God judge him according to the strictness of his judgment, be reprobated and damned every moment of his life! Thus does this Petition work the deepest humility, the fear of God, and self-condemdation, so as to bring a man to rejoice when he is delivered from this judgment of God, and saved by grace and mercy only. This is for a man to judge himself, to exercise judgment upon himself in the sight of God, to know himself, and to accuse himself of those things which are comprehended in this Petition.

For it must be true, that we

:

Secondly, we see what is righteousness.-That, after we have in this manner deeply examined and judged ourselves, we should not despair on account of the judgment of God, (which we find by this Petition we justly deserve,) but rather, flee unto the grace of God, and most firmly believe and trust in him, that his will is to deliver us from disobedience and the transgression of his will. For he is righteous before God who humbly acknowledges that his rebellion and transgression have merited the strictest judgment of God; and who, on that account, seeks grace with all his heart, and doubts not that he shall receive it. And thus, the apostle also teaches us, that he is a righteous man who can stand before God in the faith and trusting confidence, not of another, but of himself: and whose refuge and comfort are, not his own works, but the mere mercy of God. Only observe, therefore, what a powerful blow the present Petition gives to this frail and miserable life;—that this same life can be considered as nothing else but a state of rebellion against the will of God, and

therefore, a state of the most certain damnation; our only hope lying in our acknowledging this, grieving on account of it, and pouring out prayers in sincerity from our heart. He that in this way diligently meditates on this Petition, together with the rest, and deeply revolves them in his mind, will not be much taken with the numerous pleasures of this life; and he who is still entangled in and carried away with those pleasures, plainly manifests, that he neither understands any thing of the Lord's Prayer, nor of the perils with which his life is surrounded.

If it be asked what it is do the will of God. To do the will of God is undoubtedly nothing else than to keep his commandments, for it is by them that God has made known his will unto us.-Here therefore we must consider what the commandments of God are, and how they are to be understood; which is a subject that may employ a very extensive explanation. But, to express the matter in few words, all these commandments enjoin nothing else than that the "old Adam" be killed in us: as the apostle teaches us in many places. And, the "old Adam" is nothing else than those inclinations to wrath, hatred, lust, pride, ambition, and other things of the same kind, which we feel working in us. For these wicked motions and affections are hereditary evils, and were transmitted to us from our first parent, and engéndered in us from our mother's womb: from which evil motions and affections, arise all crimes, impieties, murders, adulteries, thefts, and the like transgressions of the commandments of God: and thus by disobedience the will of God is not done.

ed Hence then learn, with what great, necessary, and serious perseverance, and, in a word, with what feeling sense of heart, this Petition is to be put up! And how great a thing it is for our will to be mortified and the will of God done! It is in this way that thou must know thyself, and confess that thou art a sinner, who resistest such and so great a will of God; and thou must beg help and grace that God would forgive thee that wherein thou hast failed, and give thee help to do what

he requires of thee. For it must of necessity be, that if the will of God be done, our will must come to nought; because these two are contrary the one to the other.See an example of this in Christ our Lord, who, when he prayed unto his heavenly Father in the garden, that the cup may pass from him,' yet added, "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." And if the will of Christ is to be disregarded, (which without doubt was good, nay, ever the most perfect,) that the divine will may be done; how shall we poor miserable worms attempt to maintain and have our own will, which is never free from sin, and always such as ought to be prevented?—But to enter into this more fully, it must be understood, that our will is evil in two ways,

First, When we openly, without any cloak, and with our whole will, are carried on to the commission of that which is in the sight of all an offence and scandal: such as being filled with rage, deceiving, lying, injuring our neighbour, indulging lust, and doing any thing of the same kind. This ready inclination of the will to evil discovers and manifests itself in every man, and especially when in the act of the perpetration or commission. Against this will we have to pray, that the will of God may be done; who wills, that all should be peace, truth, purity, and kindness.

Secondly, When we do it secretly and under the appearance of good. As James and John did, Luke ix. when they said, against the Samaritans who would not receive Christ, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."-This is the spirit of which all men are; who, under the unrighteousness or folly which comes upon them or others, rush on headlong (as we say) and want to have whatever they have presumptuously planned in their own minds done immediately. For they complain, saying, O how good, faithful, and upright, was my intention! O how I wished to help the whole city by

my counsel; but the devil would not permit it! Thus they imagine that they act righteously and justly, because they are wrath and morose, and because they put themselves and others in a tumult, and thus spread abroad the report that their good intention is hindered and prevented. Whereas, if they saw the matter in its true light, they would find that all was mere pretence, and that they, by that good intention of theirs, sought nothing but their own profit and honour, or at least, the pleasing of themselves. For it cannot be possible that any good will or intention, if it be good in truth, should be disturbed by any wrath or disquietude, if it should meet with hinderance or prevention. Do thou therefore diligently observe this-that it is an undoubted proof of an evil will or intention, when it is indignant that any impediment should be thrown in its way: for this indignation is that very fruit whereby you may know that this good will was full of pretence, deceit, and innate depravity. Because, when any really good will meets with impediments and is resisted, it always prays thus from the very heart, 'O God, I thought that this good intention which I had conceived would have been accomplished, but since it is not to be so, thy will be done.' For wherever this indignation of a chafed mind boils up, there, to a certainty, is no good, how good soever it may seem.

But above and besides these two-fold wills, there is another lawful and good will; but yet, even that must not be done.--Of this kind was the will of David when he attempted to build a temple unto God; for which he was praised from above, though God did not permit his will to be accomplished. Of the same kind was also the will of Christ in the garden, when he prayed that the cup may pass from him; yet, it was necessary that even this good will should be disregarded.

And thus, if thou couldst convert the whole world, raise the dead, and mount up thyself, and carry others, into heaven, and do all miracles, yet, thou oughtest to wish to do none of these things, till thou hast first found out and preferred the will of God to thine own will, hast