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thou governest all things in thy everlasting kingdom, whereby thou dost whatsoever pleaseth thee, in all places of thy dominion. "And the glory;" the praise due from every creature, for thy power, and the mightiness of thy kingdom, and for all thy wonderous works which thou workest from everlasting, and shalt do, world without end, for ever and ever! Amen! So be it!

I believe it will not be unacceptable to the serious reader to subjoin

A PARAPHRASE

ON

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

1 FATHER of all, whose powerful voice,
Call'd forth this universal frame;
Whose mercies over all rejoice,

Through endless ages still the same:
Thou, by thy Word, upholdest all,
Thy bounteous Love to all is show'd;
Thou hear'st thy every creature's call,
And fillest every mouth with good.

2 In heaven thou reign'st, enthron'd in light,
Nature's expanse beneath thee spread;
Earth, air, and sea, before thy sight,
And hell's deep gloom are open laid;
Wisdom, and might, and love are thine:
Prostrate before thy face we fall,
Confess thine attributes divine,

And hail Thee Sovereign Lord of All.

3 Thee, Sovereign Lord, let all confess,
That moves in earth, or air, or sky;
Revere thy power, thy goodness bless,
Tremble before thy piercing eye.
All ye who owe to Him your birth,

In praise your every hour employ:
JEHOVAH reigns! Be glad, O earth!

And shout, ye morning-stars, for joy.

4 SON of thy SIRE'S eternal love,

Take to thyself thy mighty power;
Let all earth's sons thy mercy prove,
Let all thy bleeding grace adore.
The triumphs of thy love display,
In every heart reign thou alone;
Till all thy foes confess thy sway,
And glory ends what grace begun.

5 SPIRIT of Grace, and health, and power,
Fountain of light and love below;
Abroad thine healing influence shower,
O'er all the nations let it flow.

Inflame our hearts with perfect love,

In us the work of faith fulfil;

So not heaven's host shall swifter move
Than we on earth to do thy will.

6 Father, 'tis thine each day to yield

Thy children's wants a fresh supply: Thou cloth'st the lilies of the field,

And hearest the young ravens cry. On thee we cast our care; we live Through thee, who know'st our every need; O feed us with thy grace, and give Our souls this day the living bread.

7 Eternal, spotless LAMB of GOD, Before the world's foundation slain, Sprinkle us ever with thy blood,

O cleanse and keep us ever clean. To every soul (all praise to thee!) Our bowels of compassion move: And all mankind by this may see God is in us; for God is Love.

8 Giver and LORD of Life, whose power
And guardian care for all are free;
To thee in fierce temptation's hour,
From sin and Satan let us flee.
Thine, Lord, we are, and our's thou art,

In us be all thy goodness show'd;

Renew, enlarge, and fill our heart

With peace, and joy, and heaven, and God.

Blessing and honour, praise and love,
Co-equal, Co-eternal THREE,
In earth below, in heaven above,

By all thy Works be paid to thec.
Thrice holy, thine, the kingdom is,
The power omnipotent is Thine;}
And when created nature dies,

Thy never-ceasing Glories shine.

SERMON XXIX.

ON OUR LORD's sermon ON THE MOUNT.

DISCOURSE VII.

"Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

"But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; "That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret and thy Father who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." MATTHEW vi. 16-18.

1. IT has been the endeavour of Satan from the beginning of the world, to put asunder what God hath joined together: to separate inward from outward religion, to set one of these at variance with the other. And herein he has met with no small success, among those who were "ignorant of his devices."

Many, in all ages, having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, have been strictly attached to the "righteousness of the law," the performance of outward duties, but in the meantime wholly regardless of inward righteousness, "the righteousness which is of God by faith." And many have run into the opposite extreme, disregarding all outward duties, perhaps, even "speaking evil of the law, and judging the law," so far as it enjoins the performance of them.

2. It is by this very device of Satan, that faith and works have been so often set at variance with each other. And many who had a real zeal for God, have, for a time, fallen into the snare on either hand. Some have magnified faith to the utter exclusion of good works, not only from being the cause of our justification (for we know that man is "justified freely by the redemption which is in Jesus") but from being the necessary fruit of it, yea, from having any place in the religion of Jesus Christ. Others, eager to avoid this dangerous mistake, have run as much too far the contrary way; and either maintained, That good works were the cause, at least the previous condition of justification; or spoken of them as if they were all in all, the whole religion of Jesus Christ.

3. In the same manner have the end and the means of religion, been set at variance with each other. Some well-meaning men, have seemed to place all religion, in attending the prayers of the

church, in receiving the Lord's supper, in hearing sermons, and reading books of piety: neglecting, meantime, the end of all these, The love of God, and their neighbour. And this very thing has confirmed others in the neglect, if not contempt of the ordinances of God, so wretchedly abused, to undermine and overthrow the very end they were designed to establish.

4. But of all the means of grace there is scarce any concerning which men have run into greater extremes, than that of which our Lord speaks in the abovementioned words, I mean, religious fasting. How have some exalted this beyond all Scripture and reason! And others utterly disregarded it! As it were, revenging themselves, by undervaluing, as much as the former had overvalued it. Those have spoken of it, as if it were all in all; if not the end itself, yet infallibly connected with it: these, as if it were a fruitless labour, which had no relation at all thereto. Whereas it is certain the truth lies between them both. It is not all; nor yet is it nothing. It is not the end, but it is a precious mean thereto; a mean which God himself has ordained; and in which therefore, when it is duly used, he will surely give us his blessing.

In order to set this in the clearest light, I shall endeavour to show, First, What is the nature of fasting, and what the several sorts and degrees thereof: Secondly, what are the reasons, grounds, and ends of it: Thirdly, How we may answer the most plausible objections against it: and, Fourthly, In what manner it should be performed.

I. 1. I shall endeavour to show, First, What is the nature of fasting, and what the several sorts and degrees thereof. As to the nature of it, all the inspired writers, both in the Old Testament and the New, take the word, to fast, in one single sense, for not to eat, to abstain from food. This is so clear, that it would be labour lost, to quote the words of David, Nehemiah, Isaiah, and the Prophets that followed, or of our Lord and his Apostles; all agreeing in this, that, to fast, is not to eat for a time prescribed.

2. To this, other circumstances were usually joined by them of old, which had no necessary connexion with it. Such were the neglect of their apparel, the laying aside those ornaments which they were accustomed to wear: the putting on mourning, the strewing ashes upon their head, or wearing sackcloth next their skin. But we find little mention made in the New Testament, of any of these indifferent circumstances. Nor does it appear, that any stress was laid upon them, by the Christians of the purer ages; however some penitents might voluntarily use them, as outward signs of inward humiliation. Much less did the Apostles, or the Christians cotemporary with them, beat or tear their own flesh. Such discipline as this, was not unbecoming the priests or worshippers of Baal. The gods of the heathens were but devils; and it was, doubtless acceptable to their devil-god, when his priests, (1 Kings xviii. 28;) "cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner, till the blood gushed out upon them:" but it cannot be pleasing to Him, nor become his followers, who "came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

Yea, and all mankind, seeing "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," even to die the death, that they "might not perish, but have everlasting life."

6. "Which art in heaven:" high and lifted up; God over all, blessed for ever. Who sitting on the circle of the heavens, be holdeth all things both in heaven and earth. Whose eye pervades the whole sphere of created being; yea, and of uncreated night: unto whom "known are all his works," and all the works of every creature, not only "from the beginning of the world" (a poor, low, weak translation) but ar av from all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting: who constrains the host of heaven, as well as the children of men, to cry out with wonder and amazement, O the depth! "The depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!" "Which art in heaven;" the Lord and ruler of all, superintending and disposing all things: who art the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the blessed and only Potentate: who art strong and girded about with power, doing whatsoever pleaseth thee! The Almighty; for whensoever thou willest, to do is present with thee. "In heaven;" eminently there. Heaven is thy throne, the place where thine honour particularly dwelleth. But not there alone; for thou fillest heaven and earth, the whole expanse of space. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord most high!

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Therefore should we "serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto him with reverence.' Therefore should we think, speak, and act, as continually under the eye, in the immediate presence of the Lord, the King.

7. "Hallowed be thy Name." This is the first of the six peti tions, whereof the prayer itself is composed. The name of God is God himself; the nature of God, so far as it can be discovered to man: it means therefore, together with his existence, all his attributes or perfections; his eternity, particularly signified by his great and incommunicable name, JEHOVAH, as the apostle John translates it, το Α, και το Ω, αρχή και τελίω· ο ων, και ο ην, και ο ερχομενα, σε The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; he which is, and which was, and which is to come:" his fulness of being, denoted by his other great name, I AM THAT I AM! his Omnipresence; his Omnipotence: who is indeed the only agent in the material world: all matter being essentially dull and inactive, and moving only as it is moved by the finger of God: and he is the spring of action in every creature, visible and invisible: which could neither act nor exist, without the continued influx and agency of his almighty power. His wisdom, clearly deduced from the things that are seen, from the goodly order of the universe. His trinity in unity and unity in trinity, discovered to us in the very first line of his written word, literally, the gods created, a plural noun joined with a verb of the singular number: as well as in every part of his subsequent revelations, given by the mouth of all his holy Prophets

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