diation of the fame Jefus Chrift; who when we pray taught us, how we should address our felves to God.

Now to him with the Father, and the Holy Ghoft, be all Praife, Honour and Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

H

SERMON VIII.

MATT. VI. 9.

Our Father which art in Heaven.

The Second Sermon on this Text.

AVING at the laft Occafion difcourfed to you of fome general Obfervations from the Lord's-Prayer; I come now to confider it more particularly in the feveral Parts of it. In the Prayer we have these three Things.

I. The Invocation; Our Father which art in Heaven.

II. The Petitions, being Six in Number, of which the three first relate to God; and the three laft to our felves.

III. The Conclufion, or Doxology, intimating the Reason why we beg thefe Things of God.

I begin with the Invocation. Our Father which art in Heaven. In which we may obferve these three Things; which I fhall endeavour first to explain, and then to draw fome practical Inferences from them.

1. In this Invocation we may observe that God is the fole Object of divine Worship.

2. We

may observe under what Notion God

would have

us to addrefs our felves to him, namely, under the Notion of An heavenly Father. obferve that in our Prayers we 3. We may are not to content our felves with particular Regards; but ought to extend the Charity of our Prayers to all Mankind; faying, Our Father, &c.

I. The first Thing I obferve in this Invocation is, that God is the fole Object of divine Worship: For that it is he who is meant by these Words, Our Father which art in Heaven, there is no Manner of doubt. But it may be objected that though this Prayer is addreffed to God, yet there is no direct Prohibition here, of our addreffing our Prayers to Saints and Angels, or the Virgin Mary, as is done in the Church of Rome. I answer, that this being a Form or Model of Prayer, prefcribed for our Ufe and Imitation, with this exprefs Precept, After this Manner therefore pray ye; we are to take thefe firft Words, as a Direction to whom our Prayers are to be addressed: Efpecially if we confider the Context, in which we are required To pray to our Eather in Secret. For granting that it was not the principal Defign of the Prayer to teach this; the principal Defign of it, as I fuppofe, being to guard against Prolixity, Superfluity, and Oftentation, the Vices of the Scribes and Pharifees, as appears by the Context; yet it seems plain enough that our Saviour undertook here to teach his Difciples a right Model of Prayer, which he would have failed in, if he had not directed to whom our Prayers are to be addreffed. It is certain,. If we addrefs our Prayers to any other than to him, we do it without the leaft Warrant from the Word of God, and

without

without any Colour or Shadow of Reafon. But this is taught more exprefly in many other Paffages of Holy Scripture: That which our Saviour quoted to the Devil, when he tempted him to fall down and worship him, Matt. iv. 10. may be fufficient to mention at this time. It is written, fays he, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only fhalt thou ferve. The Sin of Idolatry here guarded againft was formerly a very reigning Sin in the World; and the Devil deluded Men by his doubtful Refponfes, which he gave from his pretended Oracles in feveral Places; but God be thanked these all are filenced, wherever the Gofpel of our Saviour Chrift is preached. There were two great Evils confequent upon this Practice. One was the Dishonour done thereby to Almighty God; and the other the Unprofitablenefs of all these Devotions to Men; for as they forfook God the Fountain of living Waters, (a) They hewed out to themfelves Cisterns, broken Cifterns that could hold no Water. But though the heathenish Idolatry is fuppreffed by the Gospel; it is to be feared it is brought in again at the back Door, by the Worship of Saints and Angels practifed in the Church of Rome. For though their learned Men diftinguish between the highest Degree of Worship, which they acknowledge to be due only to God, and the inferiour Degrees, which they pay to Saints and Angels, yet there is fo great a Refemblance both in Words and Geftures between the one and the other, that the common People cannot diftinguish them. And

(a) Jer, ii. 13.

if they could, do they think That will excufe them from the Sin of Idolatry, that the Worship they pay to Saints is not the highest fort of Worfhip? If this would do, the Heathens might have been excused upon the fame Account, for all the Worship they payed to the inferiour Deities; for they acknowledged but one Supreme, though they payed divine Honours to many inferiour Deities. And it is plain from the Writings of Origen and Arnobius, that the Heathens defended their worfhipping of many Gods by this very Argument, by which the Papifts defend their worship of Saints and Angels. The Scripture has taken fo much Care to guard us against Idolatry, that it has not only confined us to worship one God, but to address him by one Mediator Jefus Chrift, on purpose, as it were, to cut off all Application to Saints or Angels. But I leave this, and go on to

II. The fecond Thing I obferved from the Words, under what Notion we are to address ourfelves to God, namely, under the Notion of our Father which is in Heaven. There are many Compellations of God in the holy Scriptures, and many Notions under which he is reprefented to us, fometimes as a King and Lord, fometimes as a Judge, fometimes as a Rewarder of the Good, fometimes as a Revenger of Wickedness; but it is very remarkable here, that God is represented to us under that Notion, which is aptest to invite and encourage our Addreffes to him, and to feed our Love of him, and our Truft and Affiance in him. But before I fpeak of the Ufe we are to make of this Obfervation, I must first briefly explain in what Senfe God is our Father, and our Father in Heaven.

1. Firft

1