Verfe 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.

Verse 14. For if ye forgive Men their Trespasses, your beavenly Father will alfo forgive you.

Verle 15. But if ye forgive not Men their Trefpaffes, neither will your Father forgive your Trefpaffes.

A fhort Form, and but few Words, but of excel. lent Compofition. And truly happy are thofe, who live fo in their Conversation, that they may, when they use them, do it without Falfhood, or Deceit; enjoying the Answer of Peace in the Practice of them, and the Senfe of Grace influencing the Soul.

Ift. Our Father which art in Heaven. The great Creator is indeed our univerfal Father, hath made us all, and all Nations, of one Blood; but there is another, a nearer Relation than this, to be a Child of God by Regeneration; for otherwife, if we live in an unregenerate State, in our natural Sins and Lufts, all which are of Satan, then Chrift fays, Ye are of your Father the Devil; and the Lufts of your Father ye will do; a strong Reafon! But in another Place, Whosoever shall do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven, the fame is my Brother, and Sifter, and Mother. It is into this Relation that the Soul ought to come, that can truly and religiously fay, Our Father, &c.

2dly, Hallowed be thy Name. Do we fanctify the holy Name of the God of the whole Earth? Do we religiously obferve to fear and ferve him? Do we prophane his awful Name, by taking it in vain, and living in Sin and Vanity? Which instead of hallowing and fanctifying his Name, is to difhonour and reproach it on our Part, though he will hallow and honour his own Nam in Juftice and Judgment, on prophane and ungodly Livers, at the laft Day, when he fhall come to judge the Quick and the Dead by Jefus Chrift; God will not be mocked; fuch as every one fows,

fuch

uch fhall they reap, whether Sin unto Death, or Righ- 1718. teousness unto Life.

3dly, Thy Kingdom come. His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Righteoufnefs. Happy Souls! who feek the Righteoufnefs of it betimes, and continue in it to the End. If this Kingdom comes, Satan's (which is a Kingdom of Sin and Unrighteoufnefs) muft needs fall.

Oh! that the rifing Generations might be strong to overcome the Wicked one, and to be Inftruments to pull down his Kingdom, and promote the Kingdom of God, and his Chrift; and if we do not believe that Satan's Power and Kingdom may and ought to be deftroyed in us, How can we pray without Hyprocrify for the Coming of God's holy Kingdom? Believing we must live and die in Sin, is a great Support to Satan's Kingdom, and a great Hindrance of the Coming of the Kingdom of the dear Son of God.

4thly, Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. Moft certainly the Will of God is punctally and perfectly done in Heaven; hardly any who makes ufe of this bleffed Form but believes it; but this is the Mifery of many Souls, to believe it not poffible for them to do God's Will here on Earth, as it is done in Heaven. So that fuch pray in Unbelief, or without a true Faith; and the Apostle fays, What is not of Faith is Rom. 14 Sin. Is it not alfo a kind of charging Chrift with 23commanding that which cannot be done? It is wor

thy our fedate Confideration. He hath fown Grace, Mat. 13 and ought in Juftice to reap it from all Mortals. The 3 great Sower, Chrift, fows in all Sorts of Men or Titus 3. Grounds: The Grace of God appears to all Men, " and teaches them to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lufts, and that they fhould live foberly, and righteoufly, and godly, in this prefent World. But Antichrift teaches, that it cannot be done here on Earth as in Heaven.

5thly, Give us this Day our daily Bread. We not being capable without his Bleffing of procuring our

H 4

Bodies

1718. Bodies or Souls Bread, either natural or fupernatural; Wand because our Souls cannot live without the laft, no

more than our Bodies without the firft, therefore we ought to pray to our heavenly and most holy Father for both, without Doubting; and this should be done daily, either in Words, holy Sighing, or spiritual Groans; the Almighty knowing the Language of the Soul in the one, as well as the other.

6ibly, Forgive us our Debts, as we forgive our Debtors. Or (as one of the Evangelifts hath it) our Trefpaffes, as we forgive them that trefpafs against us which is to the fame End and Purpofe; for if a Debtor is indebted to us, and happens, through fome Accident or other, to be infolvent, and have not wherewith to pay, we are to forgive him, elfe how can we expect God to forgive us. For we are all his Debtors, and have nothing (that we can call our own in a religious Senfe) to pay that great Debt, which we owe to him, our Mighty Creditor; who might lawfully caft us into an Eternal Goal. But Oh! his infinite Mercy and Love is very great to us, poor Mortals; and he would have us to imitate him, and forgive one another, as we expect he should forgive us. And fince Offences and Trefpaffes will come, we must forgive, and the more freely, when the Perfon offending fues by humble Petition to the Offended for it; then if we forgive not, neither will our heavenly Father forgive us our Trefpaffes.

7thly, And lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from all Evil; for thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever. Amen.

That is, to lead us into Truth and Righteousness, which is the fame with leading us out of Sin, and out of Temptation: For we pray to be led out of it, by praying not to be led into it; feeing we are not to underftand that the Almighty will tempt any Man to Evil. James 1. If (fays the Apoftle) any Man is tempted, let him not fay be is tempted of God, for God tempteth no Man, but

13.

be

be is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Luft. 1718. Though he doth fometimes permit and fuffer us to be tempted, and when we fall into divers Temptations, and escape them, we have Caufe to be joyful, and thankful that we are delivered out of them, and to give the Glory to God, who is the great Preferver of Men. Whofe is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever.

Amen.

Verfe 16. Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the Hypocrites, of a fad Countenance, for they disfigure their Faces, that they may appear unto Men to faft; verily I fay unto you, they have their Reward.

Verfe 17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine Head, and wash thy Face,

Verfe 18. That thou appear not unto Men to falt, but unto thy Father, which is in Secret, and thy Father which feeth in Secret, fhall reward thee openly.

Christ would have all our Works of Piety, Virtue, and Charity, all our religious Duties, done in the Divine Love and filial Fear of God, and not for vain Glory, or Oftentation: And truly, without we expect our Reward from Men, there is no Need of an outward hypocritical Shew, in fuch extraordinary Duties, as is that of Fafting, when truly called to it, and truly performed; which the Jews were much in Practice of; and being but formal Hypocrites (many of them) in it, our Lord reprehends them, and wants his own Hearers to fhun the like Deceit; and tells them, if they faft fecretly, their heavenly Father will reward them openly; yet we must not be open Sinners, nor private Ones neither; for open or publick Sin is Damning, if not repented of and forfaken, as well as private Deceit.

Verfe, 19. Lay not up for yourselves Treasure upon Earth, where Moth and Ruft doth corrupt, and where Thieves break through and steal.

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and

Verfe 20. But lay up for yourselves Treasure in Heaven, where neither Moth nor Ruft do corrupt, where Thieves do not break through nor fteal.

Verse 21. For where your Treasure is, there will your Heart be alfo.

Earthly Treasures are very apt to take up the Mind, and to draw it from Heaven, and because Christ would have his Children to be in Heaven with him, în tender Love he adviseth them not to lay up for themfelves Riches or Treasure on Earth. If it be faid we Jay it up for our Children, it may be faid alfo, it is the fame Snare to them, as to the Parents, and fometimes a greater; and when it is gotten, it is liable to many Cafualties, and creates a great deal of Care and Trouble; wherefore Chrift tenderly adviseth to feek after, and lay up another Treasure, of another Nature, in another, and a safer, and better Place, which will not be liable to the like Cafualties of the former Treasure and Place, and urgeth us to it, with this great Reason; For where your Treasure is, there will your Heart be alfo. Oh! may every true Chriftian's Treafure and Heart be there for ever.

Verse 22: The Light of the Body is the Eye; if therefore thine Eye be fingle, thy whole Body fhall be full of Light. Verfe 23. But if thine Eye be evil, thy whole Body fhall be full of Darkness: If therefore the Light which is in thee be Darkness, how great is that Darkness.

It is not Good to look on Men nor Things, with an evil Eye;, but fingly to look on One's Self and others, in the Fear of God, having a fingle and fingu lar Eye to his Glory; and then being enlightned by his Divine Light, we fhall difcern between Good and Evil; whereas if there be any double Dealings, or looking or thinking; or if ungodly Self be in the Bottom, and not the Glory of God; then our Light is turned into Darkness, and that Darkness will be veJames 1. ry great; as it is faid in the holy Scriptures, a Double minded Man is unftable in all bis Ways: So that our

Saviour's