not our interest, as the Jews have done, in this kingdom of heaven; of whose case, with its consequences, our Lord hath pronounced in the following manner: "Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." In which passage he plainly intimates, that the Jews were once the children of the kingdom, viz. so long as they continued to be the children of God; but, as soon as ever they forfeited their filial relation, they forfeited with it their title to the kingdom. Wherefore we christians, who in their place and stead apply to God as our Father, pray to him likewise, that his kingdom may come.

8. We add in the next place our desire to God, that his will may be done in earth as it is in heaven; by which we mean not to express any inclination that God may do his own, but that we may do his will; since there is no one who can hinder God from doing what or how he pleases: But since the devil is always throwing in his obstacles to prevent the obedience of all our powers to the will of God, we intreat and beseech him, that his will may be done in us, and by us; and for this purpose the concurrence of his will, viz. of his help and protection is necessary to us, because no man of himself is sufficient to help himself, but his preservation and safety must be all ascribed to the mercy

and grace of God. Thus our Lord hath given us a specimen of the infirmities of that human nature which he put on, saying, "Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me." But that he might likewise bequeath to his disciples an example of resigning their will to God's, he presently subjoined, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." And again he hath elsewhere declared to the same purpose: "I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Since therefore the Son of God was thus exactly obedient to his Father's will, how much more should the servant be so to his master's will? Thus St. John hath also advised us to do the will of God: "Love not the world, neither the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." And hence it appears that if we would abide for ever, we must do the will of God, who himself abideth for ever."

9. Now the will of God is legible in the doctrine and example of Christ our Saviour, viz humility in our deportment, a steady perseverance in our faith, a reserve and modesty in our words, justice and charity in all our actions, strictness and

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exactness in our whole behaviour; to have no notion of doing an injury, and patiently to bear one when done to us; to maintain peace and unity one towards another; to love God with all our hearts; to love him, I say, as our Father, and at the same time to fear him as our God; to prefer nothing before Christ our Saviour, who preferred nothing before us; to abide in his life immovably, and to bear his cross with fidelity and courage; when the honour of his name is the thing disputed, then to confess it with constancy, as we have occasion to speak of it; to stand by it with confidence when put to the torture for it; and to bear the most cruel death with patience when called to it, in view of the crown held forth to such our perseverance. This is indeed to manifest our desire of being joint-heirs with Christ. is truly to perform the commandments of God, and to fulfil the will of our Father which is in heaven.

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10. Now we desire of God that his will may be done, as in heaven, so likewise on earth; both which are of great importance to our advantage and salvation; for we ourselves do in some manner constitute that heaven and that earth, since our bodies are of a terrestrial, and our souls of a celestial extract; and our petition bears that the will of God may be done in both, viz. in our souls and in our bodies. For there is indeed a perpetual war, and a daily struggle between our flesh and spirit,

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insomuch that we do not what we would do; our spirit aspiring after those things which are above, whilst our flesh hankers after the things on earth. Wherefore our earnest request to God in this case is, that by his favourable assistance these two jarring principles may be brought to some agreement with each other; and the soul, which through his grace is regenerate, may by these means be saved, whilst his will is done both in our bodies and in our spirits. This is at large declared by the apostle, where he tells us: "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other ; that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Wherefore we make it the subject of our instant and daily prayer to God, that the will of God, with respect to our own actions and dispositions, may be done both in heaven and earth; since it is the will of God that earthly things should give place to heavenly; that things of a divine and

spiritual nature should always have, as they well deserve. the pre-eminence.

11. We proceed yet farther in our prayer, and say, "Give us this day our daily bread." Which may be understood either in a figurative or a literal sense; and in which way soever of these, we take it, we may find our account in either acceptation. For Christ is indeed the bread of life, and he is not so to all, but to us only; wherefore, as we say "Our Father," because God is the Father of such as know and believe on him; so we call this bread "our daily bread," inasmuch as Christ is our bread; ours, I say, who stand so nearly related to him by a participation of his body. Our Lord himself hath told us, saying, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." When therefore he saith, that "if any man will eat of this bread, he shall live for ever," as it is evident that they are actually living whose faith entitles them to a participation of the holy eucharist, and who in that awful rite receive into their hands his sacred body; so it is a fit subject of our prayer and caution that we may not be separated from the body of Christ; since our Lord has warned us in his gospel, saying, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." We desire therefore that our bread,