i. e. Christ, may be daily given us; that we who live at present and abide in Christ, may go on to do so, may not lose those sanctifying influences which flow from his body, when received by such as are duly entitled to a participation of it.

12. There is yet another interpretation to be made of this petition; and we may with propriety enough be understood to mean by it, a request to God, that he would furnish us with food convenient or sufficient for us; which is a very becoming desire from those, who in their solemn profession of the christian faith, have renounced the world, with all its pomps and riches, according to that declaration of our Lord: "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." He therefore who upon these terms enters into the service of Christ, and follows his Master's direction in forsaking all that he hath, should not extend his desires nor his cares beyond a provision for his daily bread, our Lord having in another passage of his gospel thus admonished us: "Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." A disciple of Christ doth therefore ask for the food of a single day, as being forbidden to take any thought for the morrow: And it is indeed quite out of rule, and a direct repugnancy to our professions, who beseech Almighty God that his kingdom may come, to express at the same time any fondness for this

world, or any desires of living a great while in it. Thus the apostle hath advised and instructed us, and thereby hath given great assistance to our faith and hope, saying: "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." In which words he intimates, that riches are not only improper objects of desire, but that they are dangerous too; that they are at the root of many flattering and delusive mischiefs, through which advantage is taken of our ignorance to deceive and hurt us Wherefore we find God rebuking the foolish rich man in the gospel, who boasted of his great abundance, and vaunted much upon a view of his plentiful fortune: "Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" Great joy he had conceived to himself from the reflections he had made upon his wealth and substance, when he was yet to die that very night, and the provision he was so fond of could be no longer serviceable, when the life they were to sustain was just upon the point of failing him.

Our Lord hath recommended a quite contrary practice, and taught the man who would "be perfect, to go and sell what he hath and give it to the poor, that he may have treasure in heaven." Such a man, he saith, may follow him, and at an humble distance may share, to some degree, in the honour of his sufferings, who is freed from the trouble of worldly incumbrances, expedite and ready for any motion, and so follows his treasure, which he hath sent before him, to his heavenly master; which that we may all be prepared for, we are taught thus to pray, and from the tenor of our prayer, are instructed what we ought to be. For indeed it is impossible that a good man should be in want of his daily bread. It is expressly promised, "the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish." And again it is written : I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread." And our Lord hath thus encouraged our dependence upon him in the following words: "Take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." He promiseth, we see, that every thing else of this kind and nature shall be added

to those who seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. For since all things are God's, he who hath God will have all things with him, if he on his part be not wanting in his duty to God. Thus when Daniel was shut up in the den of lions, by the command of the king, he was preserved amongst hungry beasts, which had no power to hurt him. Elijah, we find, was miraculously supported in his retirement; the ravens supplied him with food, and birds ministered to him when the storm of a persecution had driven him into solitude; which suggests to us a fit occasion of observing with astonishment and abhorrence those excesses of cruelty which men exercise towards men like themselves; they savagely lie in wait for each other's lives, which even wild beasts have spared, and the birds of the air supported.

13. After this we go on to deprecate the vengeance of God against our sins, saying: "and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors." Next after the necessary refreshments of food and sustenance, we ask the pardon of our sins, that he who is fed by God, may also live in him; and that a due provision may be made, not only for the life which now is, but for that eternal life to which access for us is open, upon the remission of our sins. Great is the wisdom, the necessity, and the advantage of being directed to beg pardon for our sins, and thereby to acknowledge ourselves sinners since whilst we thus ask forgiveness, our

consciences are very profitably awakened into a sense of guilt. That no man may flatter himself with any pleasing notions of his own innocence (which is indeed no man's privilege, and by pretending to it he would really merit the greater damnation) therefore every man is here admonished and instructed to pray daily to God for mercy, which is a strong intimation to us all that. we daily stand in need of it. St. John accordingly in his epistle thus advised us: "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Both the points of privilege and of duty are herein comprehended; we are here directed to pray for the pardon of our sins, and we have the promise of forgiveness upon our thus asking it. And therefore he hath added, God is faithful, and so will forgive us, i. e. he will be just and true to the promise he hath made us of so forgiving us. For he who hath taught us to implore the mercies of God for the debts we have contracted to, and for the sins we have committed against him, hath likewise undertook, that those mercies shall not fail us, and that the pardon shall be granted upon our humble petition.

14. But to all these promises there is affixed a condition, which binds us to performance, and we can no otherwise ask the forgiveness of our debts, with any hope of a favourable audience, than as