Mat. VI. 9.] the lord's rrvAYER, 57
Eedeemer. The weak should not despise nor disdain the strong, nor the rich he ashamed to own the poor as hrethren. We should never be ashamed to own him as a brother whom God will own as a son.
IVhich art in heaven.
We have considered the title given to God with respect to his good- ness and mercy : He is a Father — ' our Father.' Now, let us consider the titles given to him with respect to his greatness and mnjesty : * Which firt in heaven,' From thence note : —
Doct. It is an advantage in prayer to look upon God as a Father in heaven.
By way of explication, to show : —
First, What is meant by heaven. There are three heavens in the computation of the scripture. There is, first, the lowest heaven, that where the fowls of the air are, whence the rain descendeth ; therefore the fowls are called the ' fowls of heaven,' Job xxxv. 11 ; and, James V. 18, ' Elijah prayed, and the heaven gave rain.' Secondly, the luminary heaven, where the sun, moon, and stars are: therefore it is said, Mark xiii. 25, ' The stars of heaven shall fall.' Thirdly, there is the highest heaven, or the heaven of the blessed, spoken of Mat, vii, 21 : ' Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; ' that is, into the third heaven, the glorious heaven, the blessed presence of God. Mat. xviii. 10 : ' In heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven : ' in heaven, that is, ' the third heaven.' So it is called by Paul, 2 (Jor. xii. 2, which was the highest part, because he saw and heard things which it is not lawful for a man to utter. In this heaven God is.
Secondly, How is God there, since he is everywhere ?
Negatively ; It is not to be understood so as if he were included in heaven, or locally circumscribed within the compass of it ; for * the heaven of heavens cannot contain him :' 1 Kings viii. 27. In regard of his essence, he is in all places, being infinite and indivisible. He is not included within the heavens, nor excluded from earth, but filleth all places alike : Jer. xxiii. 24, ' Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord.' But yet in an especial manner is God present in heaven. That appears, because there is his throne : Ps. ciii. 19, ' He hath prepared his throne in the heavens.' Earthly kings, they have their thrones exalted higher than other places, but God's throne is above all, it is in heaven. He hath a more universal and unlimited empire than all the kings of the earth ; so he hath a more glorious throne. Heaven is the most convenient place to set forth his majesty and glory to the world, because of the sublimity, amplitude, and purity of it. And so, Isa. Ixvi. 1, ' Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.' Heaven is his throne, because there is his majestical presence, more of his glory and excel- lency is discovered : and the earth is his footstool, because there, in the lowest part of the world, he manifesteth his powerful presence among the lower creatures.
58 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. i).
Briefly, to conceive how Grod is in heaven, we must consider : —
[1.] The several ways of his presence. He is in Christ, hypostatically, essentially, or (as the apostle speaks) bodily : Col. ii. 19, ' The ful- ness of God dwells in him bodily.' In the temple, under the law, there God was present symbolically, because there were the signs and tokens of his presence. The Jewish temple was a sacramental place and type of Christ, in whose name, and by whose merit, worship was acceptable to God. But now, in Christians, he is present energeti- cally, and operatively, by his Spirit. And in heaven, he there dwells by some eminent effects of his wisdom, power, greatness, and good- ness. God hath showed more of his workmanship in the structure of the heavens than in any other part of the creation, that being the most glorious part of the world : Ps. xix. 1-3, ' The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament showeth his handiwork,' &c. Certainly it is meet God should dwell in the most glorious part of the world ; now heaven is the most glorious part of the creation. Hea- thens in their straits would not look to the capitol where their idols were ; but to heaven, where God hath impressed his majesty and greatness. Whenever we look upon these aspectable heavens, the vast expansion, the glorious luminaries, the purity of the matter, and sub- limity of its posture, it cannot but raise our hearts to think of a glo- rious God that dwelleth there. When we come by a poor cottage, we guess the inhabitant is no great person ; but when we see a mag- nificent structure, we easily imagine some person of account dwells there. So, though the earth doth declare the glory of God, and show much of his wisdom and power, yet chiefly the heavens, whenever we look upon them, we cannot choose but have awful thoughts, and be struck with a religious horror, at the remembrance of the great God, which has stretched out these heavens by his wisdom and power.