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those who are of the works of the law, and place not their whole dependence for salvation on the Lord Jesus, are under a curse and must expect no favourable allowances. Heaven is freely bestowed through Jesus alone; but the believer will find it furnished more or less, when he shall arrive there, as he has more or less abounded in the work of the Lord. "He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." 2 Cor. ix. 6.

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites. are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

It is here supposed that all do pray; and our Saviour gives two important directions concerning it. 1st. To avoid all ostentation in prayer, or public performance of it, on purpose to draw the eyes of men upon us, which is rank hypocrisy. 2ndly. Not to make worldly things the chief matter of our prayers, which is downright heathenism. And 3rdly. He prescribes a form of prayer, weighty in words and sense, as the ground-work of all our petitions, and therein pointing out our greatest wants.

6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Enter into thy closet, but, withal, be sure to enter into the depth of thy heart.

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Pray to thy Father in secret ;" as if there was no other being in the world, but God and thyself. Oh! it is an awful work, and an awful time! Do we, can we pray, and pray thus?

The great day will be the happy time to have our prayers known, and publicly proclaimed.

7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speak

ing.

:

8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

They were not to pray with heathenish hearts, and for heathenish ends; plainly, for worldly things, and chiefly, if not solely, for them. I conceive that neither all repetitions, nor length in prayer are here condemned; but the matter of them, as if we should be heard for our importunity, or much speaking, when we ask amiss. Our temporal wants are known to God, and will all be provided for in such a manner as is best for us. They must not engage our desires, and engross our souls, so as to be made the burden of our prayers; and we shall hear more in this chapter of a fruitless anxiety about them but about spiritual blessings we may, and must be anxious; and if we know the value of them, we cannot be too earnest in prayer for them. Let us pray for these with a feeling heart, and then we have Christ's example for saying the same words.

SECTION XII.

Chap. vi. ver. 9—23.

CHRIST'S PRAYER.

9. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.

Not seldom in these very words, and always according to the spirit of them. Drawing nigh to God in faith and filial trust, as to a gracious Father; but, with reverential awe as to a Father in heaven, where our home and inheritance are, and where our hearts should be-giving him the honour due unto his name," which is great, wonderful, and holy," in thought, word, and work, in worship, heart, and life-praying for the enlargement and prosperity of

his kingdom of grace; that it may come in our souls, and in all the world-desiring to do his will with the cheerfulness and love of the blessed angels, and to suffer it with humble resignation-forgiving, loving, and living in charity with all men-flying to him for strength in the hour of temptation—and for deliverance from the power and malice of the devil, and from the evil of our own hearts-ascribing all we do, and all we are, to him only, whose is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory; and as for the concerns of this life, leaving them in the hands of God, and being content with, and thankful for, such things as we have.

10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11. Give us this day our daily bread.

What! No more? Only food and raiment? If any think this hard, let him put his prayer for more into some such form as this, and then see whether he will not be ashamed of it. "Lord, thou givest, and wilt give me from time to time, what is needful for the body, and the support of those who depend upon me; but I cannot be content with this; I must have superfluities to feed vanity, or to pamper the flesh."

12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The petitions for the pardon of our sins, and deliverance from future temptations, admonish us of our need of daily mercy, and God's kind attention to preserve us from evil. The doxology is a kind of confession of our faith in God, as being able to grant all the things for which we have prayed.-Ed.

14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you :

15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It should be carefully remarked what stress Christ himself lays upon this when it is the only article of his own prayer, which he thought fit to repeat, and enforce with a particular caution.

16. 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.

This direction concerning fasting is needless, if men might choose whether they will fast or not.

"For they disfigure their faces," putting on forced looks, as if they were not the same men.

17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face.

Appear as at other times, or rather more cheerful than usual, and as keeping a feast instead of a fast.

18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

How much of our religion, and of all the good we do, has no better foundation than a regard to men, will one day be known. We should do well to think of the matter now; not only because everything so done is hypocrisy, and worse than lost; but because, all the while, we are kept in wretched ignorance of our state.

But

Observe, "Thy Father which seeth in secret," is thrice repeated. Perhaps there is not any one truth better known, and more forgotten, than that God seeth in secret. when we give alms, pray, and fast aright, is our own religious character complete? No, the heart must be right in its deepest ground, and our Lord is now going to search it farther in the great point of its earthly or heavenly bent.

19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth

and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Lay not up superfluous treasures. Whatever men do themselves, I am persuaded they cannot help thinking that those are the best Christians who come the nearest to this command. Let us beg of God to explain it to us.

What treasure we lay up in this world is liable to accidents, and so far as we trust in it, our happiness is built on a wave of the sea.

20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

What makes the Christian, but a steady aim for heaven, and an utter contempt of everything in comparison of it? For this end Christ came from heaven, and is now speaking to us. Let us pray, pray, pray that it may not be in

vain.

21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be

also.

The assertion is evident. Would it were as evident to us, that whatever has our heart, is our God!

22. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness !

We all know the blessing of sight, and what follows upon the loss of it. The soul, too, has its eye, and is, as that is, all light or all darkness. Now when is that eye clear, and fit to do its office? When it is singly fixed upon God and heaven. Prevailing love of the world, in a high or low condition, puts it out; and then how great is our darkness! We are blind in the worst sense, and cannot

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