r John vi, 27. ^ 2 Thess. iii. 12.
t Matt. vi. 33. Ps. xxxiv. 10. " Prov. xxii. 2.
X Prov. X. 22. VOL. XI. o
the Father's love is not to be judged of by his external dis- pensations, or his children's happiness materially affected by them. Are any of you then under circumstances of trial ? Be of good cheer : it is a small matter : it is a small matter for your bodies to be in wajit, provided " your souls be satis- fied with the plenteousness of your Father's house." Only " eat abundantly " of " the living bread," " which is meat in- deed ; " and then the scantiest pittance that you can subsist upon shall be sweet as honey or the honeycomb. Feed richly, I say, on that; and "you shall never hungei'," as long as the world shall standi. As it respects your body, " your bread shall be given you, and your water shall be sure ;" and, as it respects your soul, you shall evermore " delight yourself in fatness ^"
y John vi. 35, 55. ^ Isai. xxxiii. 16. and Iv. 2,
THE lord's prayer.
Matt. vi. 12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
THE petitions of men to the Supreme Being will be presented in a different order, according to the general state of their minds, or according to the particular circumstances in which they are placed. A person just awakened to a sense of his guilt and danger, would most probably assign the first place in his petitions to that which, at such a season, would press most forcibly upon his mind — the obtaining of reconciliation with an offended God. But when he has obtained peace with God, and is enabled to come to him as a child unto his father, his slavish fear gives way to an ingenuous concern for his father's honour, and his own personal safety occupies a less prominent situation in his prayers. Not that he is less interested in the welfare of his soul than before ; but he is more interested in other concerns, which, at the first, had no place in his thoughts. Accordingly we find, in that form of prayer which our Lord himself has pre- scribed as the most perfect,. this order is observed. The devout soul is first led to express its concern for the universal establishment of the Redeemer's
131(>.] THE lord's prayer. 195
kingdom ; and then, after one petition for the preserva- tion of its existence in the body, it is taught to implore the pardon of all its multiplied transgressions. This is the portion of that prayer which we are at this time to consider: and in it we shall notice,
I. The petition itself —
To pray for the forgiveness of our sins is,
1. Universally necessary —
[Sins are here spoken of under the notion of debts : for as by the preceptive part of the law we are bound to obedience, so by the sanctions of the law there is laid upon us an obliga- tion to suffer punishment in case of disobedience. Our sins therefore are debts which we owe to divine justice for our vio- lations of the laws of God. And who is there among the chil- dren of men that has not many debts to be forgiven ? That there is a great difference between different persons in respect to the guilt they have contracted, we readily acknowledge ; but " there is no man that liveth and sinneth not :" " in many things we all offend :" " if any say that they have not sinned, they make God a liar, and his word is not in them :" for his testimony respecting the whole race of mankind is, that " all have sinned and come short of the glory of God ;" and, conse- quently, that " every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before him."
What then must be done ? Can any one discharge his own debt ? If any will attempt it, what method will he pursue ? If he will obey the law in future, that will no more satisfy its demands for past disobedience than the ceasing to increase a debt will discharge a debt that is already contracted. If he will endeavour to atone for his sins by tears of penitence, rivers of tears will never suffice to wash away one sin. There is but one possible remedy remaining for him ; and that is, to cast him- self upon the mercy of God, and to implore forgiveness for the Redeemer's sake. In this respect all are upon a level : whether our sins have been greater or less, this is the only way in which we can return to God with any hope of acceptance. The proud self-justifying Pharisee will be dismissed with abhor- rence ; and those only who come in the spirit of the self- abasing publican will obtain mercy at his hands.