the world: hence, it ought to be remarked, that although our Lord is more particularly speaking of private prayer, yet that we may be led to consider all men as our brethren, and feel it our duty to pray for them, we are directed to say, even in our closets, not My Father, but Our Father. When we use this prayer, then, we intercede for all mankind. How weighty therefore is each petition! with what feeling, faith and fervour ought we to utter every word! with what reverence and devotion ought the whole to be offered! 1. Almighty God has a peculiar right to the title of Father, from all his creatures, inasmuch as he is the author of their existence. Have we not all one Father?" saith the prophet: "hath not one God created us?" He first fashioned the human body: He "created man in his own image, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." We are therefore "his offspring." He hath made of one blood all nations of the earth," and "in him we live, and move, and have our being." He is emphatically "the Father of the spirits of all flesh." And he has a right to the title of Father, because he is the "preserver of men," and gives to his creatures " life, and breath, and all things." The eyes of all wait upon him, and he gives them their meat in due season; he opens his hand, and fills all things living with plenteousness. But he is, in a still higher sense, the Father of his believing and obedient people. These are adopted into his family, regenerated by his grace, and restored to his image; and partaking of his nature, they become his dear children, and can with humble boldness call him Father by the Holy Ghost, he having sent his spirit into their hearts, crying Abba, Father! Being now reconciled unto him through Jesus Christ, they become heirs of all things, and are admitted to the privileges and inheritance of sons; so that they can with confidence say, "Our Father." 2. Now whatever a kind and good father can be to his children, that our Father who is in heaven is to his people in an infinitely greater degree. "But It is the part of a father to love his children. God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! and if children, then heirs, heirs with God, and joint-heirs with Christ." It is the part of a father to take care of his children. And doth not our heavenly Father care for the righteous ? Yea, verily, and hath therefore told them to " be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to let their requests be made known unto God." He hath commanded his ministers to take care of his church, and hath given his angels charge concerning those who shall be heirs of salvation ;" and as if this were a light thing, he hath told his children to cast all their care upon him, for he careth for them. A kind father also provides food for his children. And the Lord supplies the wants, temporal and spiritual, of those who trust in him. I have been young," saith the Psalmist, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." I am the bread of life, saith the Lord: he that cometh unto me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst ;" and again, If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" It is the duty of a father to defend his children. And the Lord defends his people as with a shield. He is as a wall of fire on their right hand and on their left. The Lord of Hosts is their defence, and the God of Jacob their refuge. He, who was with the three Hebrews in the furnace, and with Daniel in the lions' den, is still a place of defence for his people; yea, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Through faith in Him, his people overcome the world; by his power they are saved from sin; by his grace they are delivered from the evils of their own hearts; and by his armour they can vanquish and overcome principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places." It is the part of a father to correct and instruct his children. And "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son 66 66 peace whom he receiveth;" and frequently while under his chastening hand they receive instruction. He chasteneth them for their profit, that they may "be partakers of his holiness," and his correction often yieldeth the able fruits of righteousness.' A kind father pities the infirmities of his children. "And like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” is the part of a father to give portions to his children. "The Lord will give grace and glory; and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' It 3. But our Father is in heaven. The expression, “ Our Father which art in heaven," is most sublime and significant. It distinguishes him from our fathers according to the flesh, and it exalts him above the gods of the heathen, which are but the works of men's hands, or the productions of their imaginations. But this expression does not by any means confine the presence of Jehovah to heaven. "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. For thus saith the High and Lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." 4. The phrase is descriptive of the majesty, dominion and power of Jehovah. "The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee: they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." The Lord reigneth in heaven with the effulgence of his glory. Angels and archangels adore him! The glorious company of the apostles praise him! The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise him! The noble army of martyrs praise him! The Father of an infinite majesty. The Lord reigneth in earth, with the excellency of his power, wisdom, mercy, goodness and truth. "He hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Clouds and darkness are round about him; judgment and justice are the habi tation of his throne." The Lord reigneth-in hell with the inflexibility of his justice, reserving the fallen angels, and wicked spirits, "in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the Great Day." And " this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even unto death." "This awful God is ours, Our Father and our love; He will send down his heavenly powers 5. If our Father be in heaven, then he will receive his children to himself, that where he is there they may be also. Father," saith the Redeemer, speaking of his disciples, and of those who should at any time believe in him, "I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." John, xvii, 24. See also, John, xiv, 2; 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17, and Rev. vii, 14-17. I Hallowed be thy name." 1. By the name of the Lord we are to understand the Lord himself. The expression is often used, particularly to denote his attributes and perfections. See Exodus, iii, 13, 14; vi, 2, 3; xxxiii, 19; Psalm viii, 1; and Proverbs, xviii, 10. 2. To sanctify or hallow a thing, is to entertain the highest veneration for it, as true, and great, and good, and holy; and to manifest that veneration by suitable dispositions, words and actions. Thus saith the prophet Isaiah, 66 Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Thus the apostle Peter, Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready also to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." 3. The meaning of this petition therefore is,-May thy existence be universally believed, thy perfections revered, loved and imitated; thy works admired; thy supremacy over all things acknowledged; and thy providence trusted in. May the excellency of thy Divine attributes, words. and works, be so impressed upon the hearts of all men, that they may be induced to fear, honour and obey thee. Amen. THE SOLITARY ONE. GENESIS, Xxviii, 10, to the end of the chapter. And Jacob went up from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set: and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached unto heaven," &c. It will be known by all those who are acquainted with Scripture biography and history, that the patriarch Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. These children were twins; but as Esau did breathe the vital air before his brother, he was of course the older, and to him appertained all the rights and privileges of birthright. As they grew up, they began to develop a great dissimilarity of inclination and disposition. Esau," we are informed, was a cunning hunter, but Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents." It appears, that in early life Jacob looked with an envious eye at the preeminence of his brother, and was ever on the alert to deprive him of his birthright, which ambitious purpose he at length fully accomplished. It happened one day, that Jacob had provided for himself a plain dish of pottage, made of lentiles, and was about to partake of them, when his brother returned hungry from the field. Esau entreated him to give him a portion of this provision; but Jacob, taking advantage of his brother's hunger and eagerness, proposed, as an equivalent for his pottage, no less a price than the object of all his ambition and desire-the birthright; and Esau, either unconscious or regardless of its value, and in haste to satisfy the cravings of the moment, inconsiderately parted with that which nature had given him in vain, and which a father's fondness had so assiduously striven to secure for him. Jacob cannot be justified in thus taking advantage of his brother's need; but Esau certainly acted a most unworthy part, in thus despising and selling his birthright for the gratification of so low an appetite. Surely, a conduct so profane" and 66 |