and fo it bids thee look within thee: It may be God is pleafed to ufe this crofs to ftir thee up to dependance upon him, to feek him by prayer, to difcover his power and mercy in delivering thee in fome eminent way, and fo it bids thee look above thee. Learn therefore the meffage of the cross, and improve it to that end for which he fent it, and by this means thou fhalt be delivered from the evil of the evil. 3. Deliver us from evil, that is, from the very incumbency of the evil upon us. And this is a thing that we may lawfully afk, fo it be with fubmiffion to the Will of God, who best knows what is fit for us: only of this we may be fure, that though the thing be not granted, yet thy petition is not loft: when Paul befought God thrice against an Affliction, though he had not deliverance from it, yet he had fufficient grace given him to bear it; when our bleffed Lord befought that that cup might pafs from him, though he muft drink of the cup, yet he was heard in the thing which he feared, and thy prayer for deliverance thall be anfwered either with a way to efcape it, or with ftrength comfortably to bear

it 3.

3. Deliver us from Evil, that is, the evil one, who goeth about as a roaring lion feeking whom he may devour, the Prince of Darkness, the Prince of this World, the Prince of the Power of the Air; an invifible Prince, that could he but get commiffion from the Great Lord of Heaven and Earth, would fift us as wheat, would shake our faith, and bring us under his own rule; a creature, but yet of that power, wif dom, fubtilty, and malice, that he would be easily able to feduce, or at least to diforder and fhatter the ftrongest man, as once he did Jcb: therefore we have caufe to pray, that as the Son of God came to deftroy the works of Satan, to judge the Prince of this World, to bruife his head; fo he would continually affift us with his grace • to refift him, to difcover him, even when he transforms himfelf into an Angel of Light; that if he fhall go

2 Cor. Xil. 9.

?

Heb. y. 7. 31 Cor. x, 13.

about

about to feduce us from the truth by Signs and Wonders, as once he did Pharaoh; by predictions, as fometimes he did in the heathen oracles; by Mifapplications even of the very Word of Truth, as he endeavoured to do by our Saviour; by fucceffes and events of things; that we may remember the caution that Mofes gave unto the Ifraelites: The Lord your God * proveth you, whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your foul. That if go about to feduce us into fin, or denying of the Truth, by propofals and promises of honours, preferments, temporal advantages, or to affright us from the Truth, by menaces, perfecutions, difgraces, death, yet we may not be allured or affrighted into fin, but may keep clofe to the fure Truth of God revealed in his Word, whatever the event be.

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he

For thine is the Kingdom, Power and Glory.

In the beginning of this Prayer, our Saviour teacheth us to strengthen our faith in the Mercy of God, by teaching us to call him Father; and, in the Power of God, by teaching us to call him our Heavenly Father; that under both thefe confiderations we may look upon Almighty God in the entrance into our Prayers: and because our thoughts are eafily taken off from thefe confiderations; and, like Mofes's arm, our faith foon declines, and our light foon burns out; and because there is an equal neceffity of intention of spirit, as well in our laft requeft as in our firft, our Saviour teaches us to remind thofe confiderations that may fupport and fortify our fouls in the clofe of our prayers, as well as in the beginning; that fo the confideration of Almighty God, his Power and Goodness, who is the beginning and the end, the firft and the laft, may be alfo the beginning and the end, as of our prayers,

fo of all our fervices.

Thine is the Kingdom. 'Thou art the only, and ab. folute, and rightful Sovereign of all thy creatures;

1 Deut. xiii. 3.

' and

and to Thee do all the creatures in the world owe an infinite fubjection; for by thy power and goodness they were created and are preferved. And yet if it 'were poffible that infinitude could admit of degrees, the children of men owe a more infinite fubjection 'unto Thee, than any of the reft of thy creatures; for thou yet fpareft unto them that being, that by fin they have forfeited unto Thee. And yet more than this, 'those whom thou haft redeemed by the Paffion of thy 'Son, and fanctified, owe Thee yet a more infinite debt of fubjection, than the reft of the children of men: And because thou art our King, whither fhould we go to make our requcfts but unto our King, in whom all authority is jufily placed? And if thou art our King, it is but reafonable for me to defire, that thy Name may be glorified, that all the fubjects of thy Kingdom, according to their feveral conditions, may magnify and glorify the Name of their King; that thy Kingdom may come with evidence and demonftration of itself; and that all thy creatures, as they owe a juft fubjection to Thee, fo they may duly perform it; that thofe that have rebelled against Thee may ❝ return, and be brought into fubjection to Thee; that though other Lords have had an ufurped dominion over us, yet that thy Kingdom may break in pieces all ufurpations, and recover thy revolted fubjects unto their juft allegiance. That thy Will, the only rightful law and rule of justice, may be done in all places of thy dominion, in Earth and Heaven; and that all thy creatures may fubmit freely to this thy Will, which is the only rule and measure both of their "fection and obedience: the wills of earthly Kings are fubject to error, oppreflion, and injuftice, and there'fore thy Providence hath regulated their adminiftrations by laws and rules; but thy Will is the only rule, exemplar, and foundation of Juftice; therefore let thy Will be done. That thou wouldst give us our Daily Bread. When the feven years of plenty had ' filled Pharaoh's flore-houfes, and were after enter'tained

per

tained with feven years of famine, the Egyptians * cried unto their King for bread. And whither fhould we go for bread for our bodies, but to our King, who is Lord of all the flore of the world, and gives meat to all his creatures in their feafons, and feeds the young ravens when they cry? And whither fhould we go for bread for our fouls, but to Thee our King, 'who hath intrufted this bread of life under the hands of our Jofeph, our Saviour? That thou wouldst forgive us our fins; for our fins are as fo many treafons against thy Majefty, and thou alone canft remit, against whom alone we can offend. The pardoning of fins, as it is thy peculiar prerogative, (for who can forgive fins, fave God only ?) fo it is thy property, a part of thy name, pardoning iniquity, tranfgreffion, and fine. That thou wouldít deliver us from temptation, the caufe of fin; and from evil, the fruit of fin; 'from the incurfions of that rebel against thy Majesty, 'the Prince of Darknefs; for whither fhould the fubjects fly for protection, but to their King? and though that Prince hath a kingdom too, yet it is regnum 'fub graviore regno 2: The very kingdom of Hell is fubject to thy authority; and therefore as thou art our King, we befeech Thee protect and deliver us.'

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And the Power: There may be a lawful and a juft authority, where yet there wants power to act it: but as thou haft a juft fovereignty and authority over all thy creatures, fo thou haft an infinite power to do whatsoever thou pleaseft: nothing is too hard for Thee: evil men and evil angels, though they refift thy authority, cannot avoid thy power. My requests that I have here fent up unto Thee, they are great requests, but yet they are all within thy power to grant: fin hath drawn a cloud and darknefs over our understandings, that we cannot fee Thee; it hath infufed a malignity into our wills, that we cannot abide Thee; and how then fhall 1 Gen. xli. 55. Exod. xxxiv. 7. * a kingdom subject to a still greater.

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we fanctify that name which we know not; or if we know, yet we hate it? But thou haft infinite power to scatter this darkness, that we may fee Thee; and to conquer this perverseness, that we may love and glorify Thee. The Prince of Darknefs hath fet up his ufurped power, and is become the Prince of the World, and fets up ftrong holds in our hearts, and mans them with principalities, and powers, and fpiritual wickednefs, but thou haft infinite power, even by a poor defpifed Gofpel, to pull down thefe ftrong holds, to fubdue those principalities and powers, to bind the ftrong man that keeps the house, and to set up thy Throne and thy Kingdom, even where Satan's feat is. The ftate of our nature is fo changed, that we, that were once fitted for an obedience to thy Will, are now become enemies to it, refifters of it, dead to the obedience of it; but thou haft infinite power by thy very word of command to quicken us, as well as to create us; to change our natures, to conform our will to the obedience of thine, that fo thy Will may be done in Earth as it is in HeaSin hath put a curfe into the creature, that it hath loft much of that effectual power to fupport ⚫ and to preserve our nature that once it had; and it hath put a diforder into the whole creation, fo that it is a wonder to fee that fuch a world of men and creatures, amongst whom fin hath fown fuch ⚫ a disorder and enmity, fhould be one able to live by another; yet thou haft power to remove that curfe, to provide for the feveral exigencies of all thy creatures, according to their feveral conveniencies; to feed us in times and places of neceffity; ' to make a raven our purveyor, a cruise of oil or a • barrel of meal to be a fupply for three years famine. Our daily fins committed fo often against so great a duty, against fo many mercies, fo much patience, fo much love, fo much bounty received from one that owes us nothing, are enough to fin away any

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ftock