2. Comfort in death. Here is that which may take away from God's children the ter- ror of death, they are now entering into the kingdom. Indeed no wonder, if Avicked men be appalled and terrified at the ap- proach of death, they die unpardoned. Death carries them to the gaol, where they must lie for ever without bail or mainprize ; but why sliould any of God's children be so scared and half-dead with the thou£:hts of death ? What hurt doth death do to them, but lead them to a glorious kingdom ? Faith gives a title to heaven, death a possession ; let this be a gospel antidote to expel the fear of death. — Hilarian, that blessed man, cried out, TLgredere, anima ! egredere ! quid times ? ' Go forth, my soul ! go forth ! what fearest thou ?' Let them fear death who do not fear sin ; but let not God's children be over much troubled at the grim face of that messenger, Avhich brings them to the end of their sorrow, and the beginning of their joy. Death is yours, 1 Cor. iii. 22., it is a part of the believer's inventory. Is a prince afraid to cross a narrow sea, who shall be crown- ed when he comes to shore? Death to the saints shall be an usher to bring them into the presence of the King of glory. This puts lilies and roses into the ghastly face of death, and makes it look amiable. Death brings us to a crown of glory which fades not away ; the day of death is better to a believer than the dav of his birth : death is additus ad gloriam, — an entrance into a blessed eternity. Fear not death, but ra- ther let your hearts revive when you think these rattling wheels of death's chariot are but to carry you home to an everlasting kingdom.
OF THE THIRD PETITION IN THE LORD'S PRAYER,
Mat. vi. 10. Thy will be done on Earthy as it is in Heaven.
WE come next to the third petition, "Thy wiill be done oii earth, as it is in heaven." This petition consists of two ])arts.
L The matter, " Doing of God's will."
II. The manner, " As it Is in heaven." I. The matter of this petition is, " The doing of God's will." " Thy will be done." Quest. What is meant by the iviil of God ?
OF THE THIRD PETITION IN THE LORD'S PRAYER.
483
^ns. Tliere is a twofold will. 1. Volun- tas decreti, God's ssecret will, or the will of liis decree ; we pray not tliat God's secret will may be done by us. This secret will cannot be known, it is locked up in God's own breast, and neither man nor anjj^el hath key to open it. 2. J^uluhtas rcvc/ata, God's revealed will. This revealed will is writ- ten in the book of scripture; the scripture is a declaration of God's will, it discovers what he would have us do in order to our salvation.
Quest. JVhat do we pray for in these words, " Thy will be done ?"
Ans. We pray for two things : 1st. For active obedience ; that we may do God's will actively in what he commands. 2d. For passive; that we may submit to God's will patiently in what he inflicts. We pray, that we may do God's will actively, sub- scribe to all his commands, believe in Je- sus, the cardinal grace, lead holy lives. So Austin upon the petition, Nobis a Deo pre- camnr obedientiam, — we pray that we may actively obey God's will. This is the sum of all religion, the two tables epitomiz- ed, the doing of God's will : " Thy will be done." We must know God's will before Ave can do it; knowledge is the eye which must direct the foot of obedience. At A- thcns there was an altar set up, " To the unknown God," Acts xvii. 23. It is as bad to offer the blind to God as the dead. Know- ledge is the pillar of fire to give light to practice; but though knowledge is requi- site, yet the the knowledge of God's will is not enough without doing his will : " Thy will be done." If one had a system of divi- nity in his head ; if he had ' all knowledge,' 1 Cor. xiii. 2., yet, if obedience were want- ing, his knowledge were lame, and would not carry him to heaven. Knowing God's will may make a man admired, but it is do- ing God's will makes him blessed ; knowing God's will without doing it, will not crown us with happiness.
1. The bare knowledge of God's will is inefficacious, it doth not better the heart. Knowledge alone is like a winter-sun, which hath no heat or influence ; it doth not warm the aff'ections, or purify the conscience. Ju- das was a great luminary, he knew God's will, but he was a traitor.