Mat, VI. 9. J the lord's prayer. 09
be glorified, that we should be to tlie praise of his glorious grace. Grace wrought in us is but a creature, aud not to be preferred before the Creator. See how the apostle pra3's: 2 Thcs. i. 11, 12, ' We pray- always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power : that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.' That is a regular prayer, when all our spiritual interests are swallowed up in God, and we beg that his name may be glorified in us and upon us.
[4.] There is glorified self, which standeth in the eternal fruition of God. Man was made for two ends — to glorify God, and to enjoy him. Now our crown of glory must be laid at God's feet ; as the elders, Rev. iv. 10, ' Saying, Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power.' All our desires must give place to this, that he may be glorified in our eternal happiness ; and we are to beg it no further than as it may stand with his honour. Man's chief end, and so his chief request, in respect of himself, is, to enjoy God ; but with respect to God, so it is the highest only of subordinate ends ; for the highest, chiefly and absolutely, is the glorifying of God.
Well then, therefore, this is put first, to show that our chiefest care and affection should mainly run upon the glory of God, and that God might be advanced and lifted up on high.
Secondly, To give you some reasons why those things which con- cern the glory of God must be sought in the first place, and with the greatest affection : —
1. As we are reasonable creatures, it is fit it should be so. In all regular desires the end is first intended, and then the means. But now the glory of God, that is the end of all things : Prov. xvi. 4, * The Lord hath made all things for himself ; ' that is, for his own glory, for the manifesting of his excellency. And so our redemption : Luke ii. 14, ' Glory be to God on high,' When God came to show his good- will in Christ, it was to make way for his glory : as it begins in good- will, so it must end in glory. This is the end of all the privileges we have by nature and grace. Now God's glory is the end of our being and service, and therefore must be first taken care of in our prayers ; first his glory, and then our profit, for the end is the first thing in- tended by any rational agent.
2. As we are the children of God by adoption. The great duty of children is to honour their parents. God pleads for honour upon this account : Mai. i. 6, ' If I be father, where is my honour ? ' So that if you consent to the preface, and say, ' Our Father ; ' then the next request will be, ' Hallowed be thy name.' If we would own ourselves in such a relation, then we must make it our chief desire and care that God might be glorified by ourselves and others. Every kind of honour will not serve our heavenly Father. He must not be honoured as an ordinary father, in a common notion, but as an infinite and eter- nal Majesty ; and to prefer anything to his interest or glory, or to equal anything to him, it is to make an idol of it, and to renounce him to be our father. The case of earthly parents is not always so. But now you renounce God when an idol is set in the throne ; when
70 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 9.
any interest or concernment of yours is preferred before God, and before his interest and concernment.
3. That which is of most value and consideration should be sought first. Now God's glory it hath an infinite excellency above all other things. The glory of God is of more worth than all creatures, — than their being and happiness. The end is more worthy than that which serveth and conduceth to the end. Meats and drinks they were made for the body, therefore are not so good as the body. Who would dig for iron with mattocks of gold ? The means or instrument is better worth than the purchase. Now no matter what becomes of us, so God may be glorified. As it is said of David, ' Thou art better than ten thousand of us ;' therefore, though they exposed their bodies to hazard, they thought it not safe for him. So is God better than the whole world of men or angels. Our first care must be that he may be glo- rified, then let other things succeed in their place.
4. The example of Christ shows how much the glory of God should be cared for, and preferred before the creature's good : John xii. 27, 28, ' Father, save me from this hour.' There was the innocent and sinless inclination of his human nature. ' But for this cause came I unto this hour ; Father, glorify thy name.' He doth not so earnestly insist upon that, but submits all his human concernments, though exceeding precious, that they might give way to the glory of God ; and he had nO respect to his own ease, or to the innocent inclination of his human nature, or to the felt comforts of the Godhead. Now Christ's example it is the best instruction. He taught us how we should behave ourselves to our heavenly Father ; and, therefore, we should learn to prefer the honour of God before our own ease ; and if God but get up, though we be kept low and poor, yet we should be contented. Look, as all natural things will act against their particu- lar inclination for a general good ; as to avoid a vacuity, the air will descend, and the water ascend, that there may not be a confusion or dissolution of the frame of nature : so hath Christ taught us still to prefer a general good. ' Father, glorify thyself ;' that is it we must insist upon, though it be with our loss, suffering, trouble, yea, some- times with our trouble of conscience, we must be content.