VOL. I. I
130 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 10.
US ? A merchant, though he owns the ship, and hath stored it with goods, yet because he hath no skill in the art of navigation, he suffer- eth the pilot to guide it. Certainly we shall but shipwreck ourselves unless we give up ourselves to be guided by the Spirit of God accord- ing to his will.
4. The benefit that accrueth to us by doing his will — we shall have his favour here and his glory hereafter. His favour here, which is that which endeareth us to God : Acts xiii. 22, ' I have found a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.' These are men after God's own heart, that do his will. And though we have great infirmities, yet because we are bent to do his will, they will be passed over ; as David had his infirmities, yet because it was in his heart to do the will of God, therefore this is a man after mine own heart. And you shall have the glory of God hereafter : 1 John ii. 17, ' The world passeth away and the lusts thereof : but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.' Those things that our wills carry us to they perish. The inclination of our heart carrieth us to the world, riches, honours, pleasures ; but the will of God carrieth us to an ever- lasting estate. ' The world passeth away, and the lusts thereof.' There will a time come when those things we will, and are so strongly addicted to and lust for, will be gone — we shall have no relish, no savour in them, no appetite to them. When men are leaving the world, then they cry out how the world hath deceived them ; but now ' he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.' Never any repented of doing the will of God ; this will stick by us to all eternity, and bring us to everlasting happiness.
Use 1. To show how far they are from any sincere respect to God, that upon the least occasion transgress his will, and break through bonds and restraints God hath set to them. The heart is never right but when it lieth under the awe of a command. Many will fear a punishment ; but it is said, Prov. xiii. 13, ' He thatfeareth the com- mandment : ' if the commandment stands in his way he dares not break through, it is more than a hedge of thorns, or if lions stood in the way. But on the other side, -when men make no bones of a com- mandment, when they will ' transgress for a pair of shoes ' (as the prophet saith), when every small temptation is enough to draw them off from God, it showeth how little sincere respect they have to God.
Use 2. It serves to press us to a more tender regard to the will of God. To this end consider these motives : —
1. His absolute authority to command : 1 Tim. vi. 15, ' Who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; ' his will is enough — I am the Lord, you shall do thus and thus.__
2. Consider the equity of what he hath commanded : Eom. vii. 12, * The commandment is holy, and just, and good.' Nothing God commandeth but what is agreeable to his own nature, and what is suited to our benefit. It is no burden to live justly, soberly, and holily in communion with God ; it is not a burden, but a great ad- vantage. The yoke of Christ is a bountiful yoke. Our service and duty hath its own reward in the very mouth and bosom of it. It is no great wrong to us to govern our affections, to live soberly, chastely, and in the exercise of holy services ; here is nothing but what raiseth
Mat. VI. 10.] the lord's prayer. 131
and sublimates the nature of man. If the commandment of God had been to offer our children in sacrifice, or any of those barbarities which were practised among the Gentiles, yet this had been enough, ' I am the Lord;' but when he hath given such holy and good commands, which makes you live more like men, like reasonable creatures, you should be tender of the Lord's will.
3. To be given up to our own will is a great judgment. When the Lord hath a mind to destroy a people, he gives them up to their own will : Ps. Ixxxi. 12, ' Israel would none of me ; so I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust ; and they walked in their own coun- sels.' It is the greatest judgment which can be laid upon any creature, that he may have his own will. A man may be given up to Satan, yet recover : 1 Cor. v. 5, ' Deliver such an one to Satan for the destruc- tion of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.' He may be given up to Satan for his exercise and trial ; but when he is given up to himself, to the sway of his own heart, to be besotted with his own counsels, and to have his own lusts, what a heavy judgment is this ! When Balaam would not be satisfied, God said to him, ' Go,' Num. xxii. 35. He had his answer before, again and again, but he would be inquiring still ; ' Go/ and that was his punishment.