God and for the doing the will of God as in Heaven and on Earth as is further to be made out in the Explaining that Petition And It does assure us the Intention of the Petition is not that there may be only such a doing the Will of God as was before Jesus Christ came in the Flesh and since Christ came universal among the Saints viz. with that Sincerity and in that doing it that is of the same kind with that in Heaven such indeed there hath been but alas It hath been but in so very low degrees as bear no Proportion so that except there be a new State of things such a doing the Will of God can never arise to any Perfection seeing it hath not done it in 1600 years and we can have no Reason except such a Kingdom Come to expect it in 1600 or 16000 more if Time could so long continue All which makes it beyond all doubt that this Petition can never be Fulfill'd but by such a Kingdom as shall bring Heaven and Earth to such a Parallel And therefore as shall be shewn in the Explaining the Petition it self The Prayer is most strictly and yet most Intentionally for an exact Paralellism between the new Heaven and the new Earth as shall be in the Kingdom of Christ and wherein Righteousness shall Dwell alike It is therefore a Prayer not only for the doing the will of God on Earth but also in Heaven viz In that New Heaven and that such an Heaven and Earth may be in a Parallel one to another according to the Promise so that the Prayer if we speak sincerely of the matter is not directly that the will of God may be done in this Earth as it is now done in the Third Heaven above us where God and Christ and Holy Spirits of Angels and Saints are But that there may be such a Parallel New Heaven and New Earth although it is most True the present Sanctification of the Name Kingdom and will of God done in the Highest Heavens is the Original Exemplar of all And therefore the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of Heaven into that New Heaven of the Air and so there is a parallel on the New Earth betwixt that New Heaven and New Earth And this is of great concernment that we understand it aright on these two Accounts 1. Because the present Heaven of the Air hath not the Will of God done in it now any more than in this Earth 2. Because in full Sense The will of God shall not be done in the New Earth as it is now in the highest Heaven by way of Parallel 1. Becaose the present Heaven or Air is by Scripture made the Habitation and Residence of Spiritual Wickednesses for they are Spiritual Wickednesses in Heavenlies That must be in Heavenly places for they are nor can be in any other Sense in Heavenlies nor can they be in any other Heavenly place but the Air The Heaven of the Divine presence can be no Residence for Bad Spirits Sathan with his Armies and Hosts of Bad Spirits is call'd the Prince of the Power of the Air that is he hath under Divine Permission a Residence in the Air and when ever God hath use for his Sathanick Ministery he hath undoubtedly great Command there So there is now a Parallel betwixt the Will of God not done by those Spiritual Wickednesses in the Air or the Heavenlies and the not doing the Will of God by the Seed of the Wicked One on Earth But when the Kingdom of Christ shall Come these Wicked Spirits shall be under an Obligation to Dislodg from their Heavenlies and whether there is not a Force upon them by the Fire of that Day I will not Dispute But it is most certain they are Lay'd hold of bound and Chain'd and Lock'd up in the Bottomless Pit and cannot come out to Deceive the Nations for those 1000 years of the Kingdom of Christ Thus it may be very well understood there may be a Prayer for a Parallelism betwixt the New Heaven and the New Earth in doing the Will of God Taught us by Jesus Christ as in the New Heaven and in the New Earth to be effected and brought to pass by his Kingdom And this is the most true and proper Sense of this Petition as in Heaven and upon Earth 2. The Will of God shall not be done at all in the New Earth as it is now in the Highest of Heaven by way of Parallel for though it is True the Will of God done now in the Highest Heaven by Angels and Saints is the first Exemplar yet it is not the Parallel to which it Answers but the New Heaven is the Parallel And the Reason is this The Angels and Saints doing the Will of God are out of Bodies and in a state of Spirits and so cannot be an Agreeable Parallel Jesus Christ is so Transcendent He in his own Person can be nâ— parallel But betwixt Holy Spirits and Spirits in so mean and sinful a State there are so great Odds there can be no parallel But betwixt Christ as the Head and his Saints of the First Resurrection in Incorruptible Bodies in the New Heaven and the Saints the Living the Remaining on the New Earth in Changed Bodies that shall not die there shall be though not a perfect Equality yet so great a Likeness in the doing the Will of God as in the New Heaven by one and in the New Earth by the other as shall fill out the Paralellism to great Glory of doing the Will of God as in Heaven and upon Earth And thus whether we take this Petition in the more General Sense and as it is Universally Expounded viz. That the Will of God may be done on Earth as it is now in the Highest Heaven Or whether we take it in the more True Near Strict Sense wherein there is so great Evidence our Lord defign'd it it is very evident it is a Petition that must be Answer'd in some State on Earth and not in the Heaven of Eternity only in Perfection and here only in some Degrees or Likeness of Kind in Regard of Sincerity And further it is most evident upon a New Argument there is a parallel betwixt the Heaven and the Earth in this Prayer It is not said therefore on Earih as in Heaven but as in Heaven and upon Earth But such a parallel cannot be in either the Bodies of Saints now on Earth so unfit for the doing the Will of God nor in an Earth so under the Curse as This is that yields nothing but Briars and Thorns except at least upon the Expence of the Sweat of the Brows and with the greatest Vanity and Vexation of Spirit There must be therefore the New Earth that the Coming Kingdom of God by Jesus Christ brings with it Having now dispatch'd this first and greatest Argument That this Prayer is indeed the Prayer of the Kingdom I come to a Second Argument Argum. 2 That
Servants Angels and Men is their Holiness and Glory and this he doth by no other than himself by the Eternal Word in our Nature and by his Spirit in and through him If this then be the Notion of the Essential Holiness of God Sanctification of God or of his Name can be no other than the Manifestation of God as thus Infinitely Holy For there can be no Addition to the Holiness seeing it is Infinite Men are therefore said to Sanctify God when they declare and Speak of and Treat with God as Infinitely Holy So God is said to Sanctify himself when He Lays Obligations on Creatures to See him and Speak of him as so Holy Now it is Certain none can Sanctify God as himself As his own Purity Power Wisdom Truth Goodness is Seen Acknowedg'd Adored in his Great Works and Word So the more Immediate the Appearance is the Greater is the Sanctification The Works of Immediate Power and Presence Sanctify God more than his General Works as Moses Sings to him Glorious in Holiness Fearful in Praises doing Wonders When God had Appeared so Immediately at the Red Sea Never was God so Sanctified as by Jesus Christ whom to that so great End He Sanctified is Sealed and Sent into the World to Glorify him by shewing and Setting out his own Holiness and declaring his Name No way therefore can God be so Sanctified as in that Kingdom wherein God and the Lamb Christ will have his Throne and his Tabernatle shall be with men Then shall God be known to be the Holy Holy Holy and the Fullness of the Earth his Glory For when Esay saw this Glory of Christ Then was this Acclamation Isa 6. â—ohn 12. to his Holiness And as it was then by Serophs so when the Kingdom of Christ is shall it be by all his Saints as in the New Heaven so on the New Earth and his Servants shall see his Face and his Name shall be in their Foreheads And so They in their Sphere are in a perpetual Sanctification of the Name of God as with a Plate on their Foreheads inscribed with Holiness to Jehovah Seeing then as hath been already Argued and it can no way be denied This Prayer Ascends to the very Heighth of Things that are to be prayed for and to the highest Senses the Words it uses can be expounded into and that there is such a State and Kingdom wherein the Name of God shall be thus Sanctified to the Highest by Saints by Christ who is Himself even in so immediate a Kingdom Certainly This Prayer at its highest Elevation must be a Prayer for the State of that Kingdom and that Sanctification of the Name of God And seeing it must be a Stâ—te as in a Parallellism and as in Heaven and upon Earib as hath been Argued from the Will of God Donè as in Heaven and upon Earth The Glory of God in the Holiness of his Name must shine as in Heaven and upon Earth that is from the New Heaven upon the New Earth I come now to the Second Petition Thy Kingdom come And whether it be taken in the strict Sense of the Words or in the Connexion with the Petitions before and after it it will be every way evinced That this Prayer must be the Prayer of the Kingdom For when we pray That the Kingdom of God may come what Kingdom can it be that should come The Kingdom of God's Universal Power and Dominion cannot be pray'd for that it should because it is alway it hath been alway and it cannot but be for ever The Kingdom of the Gospel it might be till the Universal Preaching of it by the Apostles and First Ministers of the New Testament But then the Coming of it was Accomplished except as there shall be a more Full and Glorious Coming at the more Universal Preaching of it as this Prayer must needs import Or else to pray That the Kingdom may come as it is the Kingdom of the Gospel must be as to pray that Messiah might come who is already come And That would be a Secret Denial That Christ is come in the Flesh and that This is the True Gospel or Grace of God wherein we stand If therefore it be the Kingdom of the Gospel that is as it is indeed here to be understood It must needs be That as the Messiah is to have an Vniversal Glorious Kingdom so there shall be yet a much more Vniversal and Effectual preaching of the Gospel even the Everlasting Gospel Declaring and Introducing that Kingdom There is I acknowledge yet remaining a Kingdom of Glory in Eternity introduc'd by the Day of Judgment according to the General Notion that might be intended in this Prayer And though this Kingdom could not properly be said to come in regard of Place seeing it is to be in the Highest Heaven where it already is yet that the Time of it might come might be prayed and that in the mean Time the Will of God might in Degree and in Sincerity be Done on Earth as in Heaven But because as hath been already and shall still be Argued There is a Glorious Kingdom before that and that stands in a Parallel betwixt the New Heaven and the New Earth and that prepares for and Issues into that Greatest Kingdom of Eternity and is indeed One with it in all Substantials It must needs be most Directly in the Eye of this Prayer which reaches the highest sense that the Words can possibly be supposed to contain Seeing then the Gospel in the Vniversal preaching in that It is to bring forth the Great and most Illustrious Kingdom of God and of Christ is call'd the Kingdom of God and that Our Lord continually call'd it so in that Time of his Ministry wherein he gave this Prayer and wherein He Teaches to pray Thy Kingdom come This Kingdom must needs be understood to be the Highest State of the Gospel most Vniversally and most Efficaciously preach'd so that it shall indeed most conspicuously and illustriously bring forth that Kingdom in its Glory And that is the Kingdom here prayed for And it is a Kingdom that shall never end and therefore is One Kingdom with the Eternal Kingdom of God into which it is Delivered up From All which it follows The Preaching of the Gospel is not that Kingdom in the meer Administration or Preaching of it but as it is to produce the Kingdom of God and of Christ in its Glory For Christ Left the Gospel in preaching when He went into a Far Countrey to Receive a Kingdom and to Return with it when that Gospel should have its full Effect and he shews That though the Preaching of the Gospel did immediately Appear yet the Kingdom did not immediately Appear there was a Dawn of it in that Preaching which is therefore in a General Way call'd the Kingdom of God But it was not to bring forth the Kingdom till a Second more Universal and Effectual Publication Luke 19. compar'd with Revel 14.
far from being Able to Grant such Things that they cannot in the least understand Them No more in the main is any Power Able below His whose is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory to bring forth these Petitions in their Complement 2. In regard that He whose is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory will Take to Himself his Great Power and Reign These Petitions are well Grounded and well Address'd to him For seeing the Things are so high that though the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory are always God's yet These Petitions have not yet been Answered nor these Great Things come into Effect The Petitions would not be well Grounded if there were not a Time He would thus Take to himself his Great Power and Reign For if the World continued never so long and that the Kingdom and Power and Glory were in all the Right of them Gods yet these Things Pray'd for would for all that never be fullfill'd So that they must have been either laid lower or have been in vain As therefore as Scripture hath fully declar'd there is a Time God will Take to Himself his Great Power and Reign so these very Petitions are fram'd to such an Altitude to such a Supreme Pitch And because they close with this as an Argument That God's is the Kingdom and the Power and Glory and that for Ever and Ever They become a certain Assurance That these Petitions are well Grounded and well Address'd and that though they do not Appear so yet in Regard of their being Fullfill'd yet that they shall Appear so at the Time of the Kingdom and of God's taking to Himself the Power and the Glory And that certainly there shall be such a Time wherein the Kingdom of God shall be and All These Things Fullfill'd in it 2. As These Things cannot be till the Kingdom be so on the other side the Kingdom cannot be till these Things are A Kingdom and a Power and a Glory God always hath But this Kingdom cannot Appear nor the Power and the Glory be seen to be God's till his Name be Sanctified his Will done as in Heaven and upon Earth Till he shews his Grace to his Servants in giving them the Supersubstantial Bread according to the Day or in a Perpetuity Till he Reconciles All to Himself in Heaven and Earth by Him even by Him and till he sets wholly free from Temptation and Delivers from Evil all the Subjects of his Kingdom And All these are the Coming of his Kingdom 3. Therefore by the way of so Close a Conjunction and Union of these Two our Saviour declares this Prayer to be the Prayer of the Kingdom And that as the Kingdom is the Great Sense Mind and Spirit of this Prayer so that it can never be aright prayed nor is heard so as to be Answer'd till this Kingdom come So that the Kingdom shall certainly come in Answer to this Prayer and in Answer to every Petition of it Every Thing in it shall be done because God's is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for Ever and Ever 2. This Doxology is most immediately Linck'd with that Last Petition Deliverance from Evil to shew both the Inconsistency of the Divine Kingdom in its Glory and Coming with a State of Evil even of the Evil of Affliction Pain and Misery So that it is the Last Enemy subdued by the Divine Kingdom that is the Divine Kingdom Alone can subdue it and only when it Appears and not before But when it Appears it shall be perfectly remov'd And our Lord takes the Advantage at that very Time and in that Order to press and follow home the whole by the Argumentative Doxology For thine is the Kingdom And therefore Thou art Able and wilt Deliver from Evil by that Kingdom and Power which is thy own and at the Appearance of thy own Glory 3. Under the Doxology conveyed by way of Argument This is to be Acknowledg'd That a constant Offering up to God in a way of Praise and Adoration this Confession That His is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory is most due to Him from us in all our Prayers and Supplications to him But yet the highest Sense of this Doxology is proper to the Kingdom and Argues the Prayer to be the Prayer of the Kingdom For seeing our Lord hath put this Doxology into our Mouths That His is the Kingdom and yet at the same Time Teaches us to pray Thy Kingdom come It signifies plainly and necessarily That it hath not yet so come as to Appear to be His And that His is the Power and yet at the same Time Taught us to pray Thy Will be done as in Heaven and upon Earth in the same plain manner he signifies The Power does not yet Appear to be his For wherein is Power seen but in the having the Will of Him done who hath that Power And that his is the Glory and yet at the same Time Teaches us to pray Sanctified or Glorified by Thy Name This shews very manifestly the Glory is not His as it shall be By All This it Arises clearly to our Notice That Our Lord hath in putting this Doxology into our Mouths put a Prophecy into our Mouths That the Time is coming according to the Measures Given us in his Word of Prophecy when the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory shall in full and highest Sense be Ascrib'd to God and as at a very present Time in that fullest Sense So that this Doxology of the Prayer Leads us to that Revel 4. 11. Thou art worthy Oh Lord to Receive Glory and Honour and Power For thou hast created All Things and for thy pleasure they are and were created And c. 5. 13. And every Creature which is in Heaven and on the Earth and under the Earth and such as are in the Sea heard I saying Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever c. 11. 17. We give Thee Thanks Oh Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy Great Power and hast Reigned and the Nations were Angry as at a thing not done before c. 15. 3. Great and marvellous are thy Works Lord God Almighty Just and True are thy ways Oh King of Saints Who shall not Fear thee Oh Lord and Glorifie thy Name For thou only art Holy For All Nations shall come and Worship before thee For thy Judgments are made manifest c. 19. 5. Hallelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God For True and Righteous are his Judgments And a Voice came out of the Throne Praise Our God All ye his Servants and ye that Fear Him both Small and Great And I heard as it were the Voice of a Great Multitude and as the Voice of many Waters and as the Voice of mighty Thunderings saying Hallelujah For the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth When
Entring in they hinder as our Lord Censuring the great Rabbies and Masters of the Jewish Law speaks concerning the Key of Knowledg Luke 11. 52. I will therefore first lay down several Arguments that the true Elevation of this Prayer in its Exposition must be as it is the Prayer of the Kingdom and accordingly I will Aime to give it when I have first Established this main Position by these Proofs of it Argum. 1 The first Argument I draw from the express and plain Words of the Prayer Thy Will be done as in Heaven and upon Earth Now taking the Words according to the plain Sence of them and as we generally understand them it is evident this Prayer Teaches us to rise to the utmost of our desires that the Will of God may be done And seeing there can be no higher Example of its being done then the doing of it as it is done in Heaven we therefore pray it may be done on Earth as it is in Heauen now the same Holiness Zeal and Spirituallity or Heavenly design must move us to pray that the Name of God should be Sanctified to the same height that we pray His Will should be done unto And that utmost is that it may be on Earth as it is in Heaven Sanctified And if we are Taught to pray that the Will of God may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and by Analogy and proportion that his Name may be Sanctified on Earth as it is in Heaven our Lord hath by Admirable Wisdom set the Kingdom of God between these Two Petitions even the Petition that His Kingdom may come between those Two Petitions that undeniably ought to be prayed to the height viz. the Name Sanstified as in Heaven so on Earth and the Will done as in Heaven and so on Earth that what otherwise we might doubt of whether His Kingdom ought to be prayed to come on Earth as it is in Heaven Because we are ready to think that its only to be in Heaven might be ascertain'd to us That we ought to pray for the Kingdom coming even on Earth as it is in Heaven and that we should not be able to wrench out what is so Rivetted into the midst And the very Analogy and Proportion of Heavenly Affection to the Glory of God equally looks to all if there be a possibility They may All be now to shew that They may All be even the Kingdom coming on Earth as in Heaven as well as the Name Sanctified on Earth as in Heaven and the Will done on Earth as in Heaven of which we make no doubt we ought so to pray the Prayer hath so placed that the most to be doubted of in the middle that we may pray for all together and alike Again there is such a concatenation of the things they cannot be divided For the Will of God is that His Name should be Vniversally Sanctified as innumerable Scriptures testify If then His Will be done on Earth as in Heaven His Name must be Sactified on Earth as it is in Heaven seeing that it is so Supream a manifestation of His Will that His Will cannot be done if that be not done and if His Will be so done on Earth as in Heaven His Kingdom must so come For what is a Kingdom but that he who hath the Kingdom should have His Name Highest most Celebrated Honoured and Ador'd which is the Sanctifing the Name of God when it is set at Infinite heights and distances above all other Names and this in Christ who hath a Name above all other Names to the glory of God the Father and that he should have His Will obeyed when ever therefore the Will of God is obeyed the Name of God is so Sanctified on Earth as it is in Heaven His Kingdom must needs come on Earth as it is in Heaven and so His Kingdom will come when ever that is thus when one is the other is also when one is not the other cannot be the things are perfectly convertible and turn on the same Poles when one is all are together with it and if so much as one be not It is certain neither of the other can be But that we may know both the Time when each of the other may be and shall be and that we may also know the Grand Expedient or mighty Instrument when each of the other shall be effected The Kingdom coming is set in the midst of each when the Kingdom comes the other Two shall be For that Kingdom shall certainly effect and bring the other Two to pass viz. the Name shall be so sanctified and the VVill so done But these things are impossible to come to pass according to the Experience of so many Thousand Years that the World hath already had or to be hoped for or expected without Bowing the Heavens Rending the Heavens the Heavens coming down as it were to the Earth in such Glorious Manifestations as the Kingdom of Christ is describ'd to appear in And if these so Fundamental Points of Glory and Happiness in that Kingdom be established how great will be the Consequences There shall certainly be the constant Table of the Kingdom in the Bread of Life and the most abundant Sufficiency of All Things the State of Reconciliation betwixt God and Man betwixt Man and Man betwixt Man and the whole Creation betwixt the lower Creatures and themselves and throughout the whole Frame of the Creation of God All things in Heaven and Earth being Reconciled in him even in him and then most certainly there will be no more Leading into Temptation but a perfect Deliverance from Evil For the Cause of all the Indigencies of that Life that is to be supported by that Epiousious or Supersubstantial Bread according to the Day of all the Anger of God and the Mutual Enmities in the World and of the Curse upon the Creation is That the Will of God is not done on Earth as it is in Heaven and his Name sanctified and because the present State is not the State of the Kingdom of Christ But then shall it be Acknowledg'd with Hallelujahs That the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory is his throughout Eternity of Ages Seal'd with an Unchangable and everlasting Amen Now I would appeal to any one whether our Lord Teaching his Disciples then and successively in All Ages to pray that the Will of God may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and that All Things that must in Necessary Consequence fall out together should come to pass also whenever his Will is so done whether I say our Lord would Teach so to pray if he had not known it was the Will of God Things should be so or if there were not a promise of God for such a Kingdom of Christ wherein All these Things should be so as a Ground of Faith they should be so And because God hath so promis'd and resolv'd they should be so and that he will yet be enquir'd of by
the Prayer of his Servants to do it for them Therefore hath our Lord Jesus Christ taught us so to enquire by Prayer in and according to this Great Rule of Prayer he hath given There are Three Things the Word of God hath made necessary to our Receiving any Mercy in the Nature and Order of a Mercy 1. That we should pray unto and enquire of God for it 2. That the Thing we pray for should be within the Decree and Determination of God it should be and so according to his Will 3. That it should be ask'd in Faith or upon a Promise declaring to us that Will and Determination of God Now in these Great Points Christ hath taken a certain Care 1. That there should be Prayer for those things by giving this Prayer for them 2. Seeing he gave this Prayer by an Infallible Spirit knowing the Mind of God it is certainly squared according to the Will and Promise of God As therefore this Prayer is every way prepared for being heard so Jesus Christ most certainly sends out his Spirit to all his Servanrs to give Faith and to move holy Desire according to this Prayer that God may be cried to Day and Night agreeably with it And when his Saints may be short in either the Understanding it or in the Faith or Desire that it should be Pray'd with the Spirit makes Intercession according to the will of God with Groans that cannot be Vttered wherein God understands the Mind of his Spirit because it makes Intercession according to his will so this Prayer must be a certain Prediction that all these things shall be so For God cannot Fail of his will and promise Christ cannot Fail of having Taught to Pray according to this will and promise of God nor can Christ Fail to give his Spirit to his Servants to Excite them to Faith and Holy Desire according to this Prayer From all which it uncontestably Follows That this Prayer must be a certain Prediction That the will of God shall be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and the whole Concatenation of Things be according to it and therefore that the Kingdom of Christ must come on Earth as it is in Heaven so that this Prayer must be a Prayer for the Glorious Appearance of Christ's Kingdom according to the highest Elevation of the Sense of the Prayer and so the Prayer to be Expounded as the Prayer of the Kingdom For what is more Visible than that this hath not yet been nor is like to be in the Present State upon Earth but even to Horror and Amazement the contrary hath been ever since the general Profession of Christianity by Nations and in all the Prospect we can have of Things Humanly speaking it will continue so There must be therefore a peculiar State Created for the Answer of this Petition and what can that be but that New Earth according to promise wherein Righteousness shall Dwell even at and in the Kingdom of Christ And so this Prayer must be the Prayer of the Kingdom enquiring of God for the Accomplishment of that Promise I can therefore by no means allow the Abatement of the Force of this Petition upon a compare of it with such Expressions be ye Holy as I am Holy be ye Perfect as your Faâ—her in Heaven is Perfect or by comparing it with the Apostle's vehement Emotion of forgetting things that are behind and pressing forward for the mark of the price of the High Calling of God in Jesus Christ if by any means he might attain the Resurrection of the Dead or the State of Perfection in this Life if we should so Expound it Now to Interpret these Expressions either as gracious Desires though not Answer'd in this World or as setting up to our selves the highest and most perfect Mark to Shoot at though we cannot reach it in this World or that such Expressions of being Holy and Perfect as God is shew that excellent Kind and Alloy of Holyness though we cannot rise up to the Perfection of Degrees and then to suppose this Sense to be all the Sense of this Petition and that it cannot be fully and compleately Answer'd till we come to Heaven this Explication I affirm cannot agree 1. Because all these gracious both Endeavours and Designs have a Time and and a State of coming to their Complement and Perfection even to a Perfection of Degrees so far as Created Nature is Capable of such a Perfection and therefore neither those Commands nor Desires are in vain though they do not obtain their desired Effect in this State Because there is a State on purpose for that Perfection But for the doing the will of God on Earth as it is in Heaven that can never come to its Perfection except there be a State on some very Earth where it may come into its Perfection For there is so Direct and Perpendicular a Fixing the Petition upon some Earth That it must come to its Perfection on such Earth or not at All Seeing then there are such Promises to the Earth That Knowledg shall cover it as the Waters do the Sea That Righteousness shall dwell in it That the Sinners shall be Consumed out of it That the Meek shall Inherit it and then such a Prayer Taught by Christ for the Doing the Will of God on Earth and according to so great an Exemplar as in Heaven There must be a Perfection of it on Earth or else this Petition cannot be Heard For Personal Qualifications follow Persons and may be Perfected in their Perfection how ever they change their Place But Local Priviledges adhere to the place and except Earth it self were carried up to Heaven there cannot be a Perfecting of what is proper to the Holy State of Earth but it must be on Earth For else there must be a Confounding Heaven and Earth 2. It is duly to be observ'd and it is very plain it is so that Heaven and Earth are Parallell'd as two places one where the Will of God is done and the other where it is prayed It may be done The words are therefore most exactly Framed to express a Parallel It is therefore Prayed That as the places stand in Parallel one to another so that the State of the Will of God done in one may be made Parallel by the doing the Will of God in the other And as the doing the Will of God is the Glory of the one Place so that it may be also the Glory of the other and therefore except that Glory Fill the Earth according to so many Promises foremention'd as it now Fills the Heaven this Petition cannot be heard 3. The Kingdom comming is as it were the Key of the Sanctifying the Name of God and the doing the Will of God Now the very words Thy Kingdom come do enough Explain It is a State on Earth that is desir'd and shew both the Time and the High Efficacy which will then be at work for the Sanctifying the Name of
to this his Promise New Heavens and a New Earth wherein Righteousness shall Dwell and so his Name should be Sanctified his Kingdom come and His will be done as in Heaven and in Earth And in our Father not only the Father but the Eternal Word who is One with the Father is Prayed unto So that in a more proper Sence of the Prayer we beseech his Comming down in our Nature For the Heavens Receive and so Contain Him but till the Times of the Re-En-Livening and Restitution of All Things the Re-En-Livening them as by a Resurrection and New Vigor of the whole Creation Then they shall no longer Receive or Contain Him but He shall Descend even that Jesus now Preached God will send Down from the Heavens that now Receive Him Acts 3. 20. c. And thus there is nothing more suitable to Scripture then to Describe God in the Heaven when he is to Manifest Himself as Comming down from Heaven and out of Heaven Thus God Dwelling with the Humhle and Contrite Heart is prefaced with his Dwelling in the High and Holy Place and Inhabiting Eternity and with the Heaven being His Throne and the Earth His Foot-Stool and together with this Description of the Grandieur of God in Heaven is joyned the Creation of New Heavens and a New Earth c. 65 c. 66. to shew how Great the Power of Him that Dwelleth in the Heavens is And the Dwelling of God and of Christ in the Heavens now is no Barr to His Tabernacle being with Men in the Kingdom of Christ but the Infinite Power therein Imployed produces it in its own Time At the New Jerusalem it is Proclaimed therefore out of Heaven with a Loud Voice The Taberacle of God is with Men and he will Dwell among them Not they with Him as in the Heaven of Heavens but He with them as in the New Heaven and New Earth The Voice is from Heaven and the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of Heaven Thus we see how fitly the Address to God as our Father and as our Father who is in Heaven agree with the Scriptures Relating to the Kingdom of Christ I Come therefore to the First Petition and to Observe how agreeable it is to the Elevation of the Prayer as it is the Prayer of the Kingdom The Words of this First Petition are these great ones Hallowed or Sanctified be thy Name And it is to be Remarked that they sustain the Place of the First Petition of so Great a Prayer and These Consist of Two Parts viz. the Grand Object in the Eye as I may so speak of the Petition and that is the Name of God and That which is Prayed or Desired concerning it that it may be Sanctified and further the Form or Manner of the Petition is greatly to be Considered It is not declared how or by whom the Name is to be Sanctified but absolutely that it should be Sanctified till we come to that Common Modification of these Three Petitions as in Heaven and upon Earth as hath been set out Let us then Enquire for the Highest Senses of the Name of God and of the Sanctification of His Name for it is certain this Prayer taught by Christ Reaches those Highest Senses and those Highest Senses must Issue themselves when ever the Petition is Answered into a State as in Heaven and upon Earth All which Laid together will Absolutely evince and make Good that no Lower State than that of the Kingdom of Christ can be the Answer of this Prayer If we then First Research the Name of God it can be no other in its Highest Sence but his Nature in its Highest Manifestation For His Name is I am that I am that is His Being is His Name and His Name is His Being When God therefore says to the Israelites he was not known unto their Fathers by his Name Jehovah It signifies he was not known unto them by those Essential Manifestations of himself he was now about to make himself known to themselves the Children of those Fathers by before Egypt and the Cananites and in those Glorious Appearances from Heaven at his Giving of the Land and in the Tabernacle of Testimony And Generally where ever there are Extraordinary Appearances of Divine Power and Glory and Wondrous Works there his Name is said to be near as many Scriptures do shew When God gave Moses a sight of his Glory he is said to Proclaim his Name Exod. 33 c. 34. Now there is no Manifestation or Divine Dispensation what ever wherein the Divine Glory so Appear'd as in and by our Lord Jesus Christ in whom his Name is said to be and who is said to come in his Name and to declare his Name So there is no Manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ so great as that of his Kingdom when the Lord shall be One in all the Earth and his Name One and that One Name is in Christ to whom God hath given a Name above every Name that is Named in Heaven or Earth And all shall confess Him to be Lord to the Glory of God the Father Because the Name of God the Father is Essentially in him as he is the Eternal Word and in him by way of Highest Manifestation as he is the Son of Man or the Eternal Word in Human Nature Seeing then It can no way be denied but that every Word of this Prayer is to be understood in the Highest Sence The Name of God must be understood in the highest Sence both as to the Manifestation of his Essential Eternal Increated Glory And That is by the Eternal Word And as to his Manifestation of himself in a Created Glory and ' it s highest Elevation That is in the Glory of the only Begotten Son of God beheld in the heighth of his Glory and of his Kingdom And thus we see in Regard of the Name of God this Prayer must be the Prayer of the Kingdom Let us now Consider the Thing that is Desired touching this Name of God And that is That it may be Sanctified and Absolutely Sanctified Sanctified be thy Name so expressed as to signifie an Absolute Sanctification That we may then understand the Sanctifying of Gods Name Holiness it self is to be sought out in the true Notion of it now Holiness is that so Supream Atribute of God that the Seraphims Rest not Day and Night saying Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts The fulness of the Earth is his Glory That is it properly is so and ought to be so So this is said by way of highest Exaltation in the Song of Moses the Servant of God Glorious in Holyness Now the Essential Notion God gives us of Holiness in his Word is Separation to God is Holiness to Jehovah The Contrary to this Holiness is Commonness to other Uses The Holiness of God is then his Eternal Separation to himself in the perfection of his own Being and Glory the Receiving into Union with which his own Saints and
what we call strictly Debts or are Reall and Substantial Wrongs Who comes up to Forgive as They desire to be Forgiven of God That All should be Blotted out and Forgiven as if it had never been And that it is so Perfectly Taken away by Forgiveness that tho it be Sought for it cannot be Found And not only so but the Offending and Indebted Person Received into Especial Favour According to the State of Things now even to those we Account Good Men this Petition were rather an Imprecation than a Petition If we should endeavour to Qualify the Petition as It seems to suspend Gods Forgiveness upon ours with the Sence in our Degree and with Sincerity tho not to Perfection Even as we are Commanded to be Merciful as God is Merciful I do Acknowledg It may give some Satisfaction as to the Time being and till that great Reformation of All Things even that of Restitution Or else we were All most Miserable But seeing there is a State much Higher both of our Pardon from God and Forgiveness to one another And that I have so often Asserted and it cannot but be yeilded That this Prayer that Jesus Christ hath Taught must Reach to the very Heighth of Things in every Part of it And it is to be Expounded according to the whole Word of God Let us therefore inquire by the Second Particular for that much Higher State of Gods Forgiveness and of the Saints Forgiveness one of anothor wherein these Things shall be Convertible and Turn Round upon one another we shall Forgive one another to that Perfection that Gods Forgiveness Reserving to it only the difference between a Finite and an Infinite Forgiver and Reserving to Gods Forgiveness also the Exemplariness and also the Efficiency of our Forgiving and Gods Forgiveness shall be according to the Forgiveness the full Forgiveness of the Saints Forgiveness one of another That is the Gâ—ory and perfection of Gods Forgiveness shall be seen in our Perfection of Forgiveing one another as in this Mirror and Reflection And therefore the Petition is so Framed on purpose to Leade us to that State of the Kingdom For that very End the Lower and the Lesser Thing the Copy and the Reflection is given as the Measure of the Higher and the Greater and the Original For if that be so Glorious as to be made as it were the Exemplar and Original how much more Glorious is that Exemplar and Original it self And that the Reflection and Mirror of Gods Forgiveness viz. our Forgivness of one another is so Dark now It assuers there shall and must be a Time that the Original shall be more Glorious in the Manifestation of it self that the Mirror and Reflection may be more Glorious And because it shall be so Glorious therefore the Manifestation of the Original shall be more Glorious also First All which I will Represent in these Two Particulars 1. The State of the Saints shall be a State of the most perfect Purity from all Remaining Stains of Sin in Regard of the Fulness of Divine Pardon and Forgiveness Then to the Height of all Understanding Their Sins shall be Blotted out when these Times of New Life and Restitution shall come from the Presence of the Lord and They shall be Presented before the Eyes of His Glory without Fault Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing Their Robes being washed White in the Blood of the Lamb and being Arrayed in Linen White and Clean and Cloathed in Change of Raiment all which express the Righteousness of the Saints That State therefore Commensurate hereunto is inwardly full of all Joy and Peace in Righteousness and outwardly of all Glory and Happiness when the effects of Righteousness shall be Peace and Assurance for ever 2. That this may be There cannot be any thing upon the Breasts of Saints Remaining one towards another that shall Recall or give any Remembrances of their former Transgressions or Mutual Resentments one towards another For this must need be a Shade and Cloud upon that Glorious and Happy State altogether both Unbeseeming and Unsuitable to it For the Infinite Riches of Grace in the Pardon of Sin through the Blood and Redemption of Christ so fully set out in Glory Operates both as an Exemplar to which the Saints are Conformed in Relation to one another and by way of Sweetest Efficient Attempering them in Highest Love to and Vnion one with another and that Sence they have of the Full Absolute Forgiveness Love to and Vnion one with another is an Inward Pledg and Experiment of the Power of Forgiveness in God and of the High Nature of it So that the Sainte have Knowledg of Divine Forgiveness in themselves by their own Forgiveness One of Another And therefore Christ was pleased so to put it Forgive us as we Forgive 3. As a further Lustre of that State As the Angels shall be Full of Love and the Amnesty and Acts of Supream Grace shall take all our Former sins out of their Remembrances So the very Enmity of the Creatures towards us and among themselves of the Wolf and of the Lamb of the Lyon and of the Kid of the Child and of the Asp shall be Reconciled and the Antipathies and Offensiveness of their Natures and all Obnoxiousness Cancell'd And Dust alone shall be the Serpents Meat For as the God of Peace and Order will Reconcile All Things in Heaven and Earth by Christ even by Christ to Himself So will He Reconcile them All one to another Yea the very Elements and most Insensible Creatures the Heavens shall Hear the Earth and the Earth all that is upon it and the Stones of the Field shall be in the Covenant and League of Amity that shall not be Violated Infringed or Dissolved And all this we Pray for in the Highest Sence of this Prayer which must needs therefore be because these are the Highest Expressions of Scripture concerning this Forgivenesi so Universal And therefore they must be within the Prayer the Great Mediator hath Taught And therefore It must needs be the Prayer of the Kingdom when there shall be no Hurting nor Destroying in all the Holy Mountain of God For Knowledg of God and of Christ shall Cover the Earth as the Waters do the Sea Let us now move on to the Sixth Petition Lead us not into Temptation And here again I Premise I Derogate nothing from the Holy Wise Serious and Spiritual Discourses upon the General Sence of the Words Lead us not into Temptation But seeing the Fundamental Rule I have laid Down in t he Expounding this Prayer is that it takes in the Whole Sence of Scripture so far as it can Fall into Prayer and especially the Highest Sence of it whatever we can find to be the Highest Sence of Scripture Concerning Freedom from Temptation must needs be also the Highest Sence of this Petition Now the Highest Freedom from Temptation the Scripture declares to us must lie in the Considering the things wherein the
Necessities might with Earnestness Remonstrate His own Counsels our Hearts and Affections being every way prepared and disposed thereunto And God Graciously giving and bringing things to pass as at our Defires and Petitions Oh how great is the Indearment As David says I will Love the Lord because he hath Heard my Supplication He Inclined to me and heard my Cry and upon this Account I will call upon Him as long as I Live And because Prayer is according to His own Counsels and thus prepared to the indearing our Hearts to God Therefore he Stiles Himself a God hearing Prayers that to him all Flesh may come And He is nigh to them that call upon him that call upon Him in Truth He will fullfill the Desire of them that Fear Him He also will hear their City and save them And they that thus Hope in His Mercy more then in all Created Leggs He takes Pleasure in as those that will be most Moov'd to Fear and Love Him But it may be still Urged Either the giving of this Prayer may Excuse our Looking into the VVord and we may be most secure in praying this Prayer only as most certainly according to the VVord or this Prayer can do us no Service For still our business is to Look into all the VVord of God and then how are we helped by this Prayer To this the Answer Lies in Two Things giving account of the Reason of this Prayer Taught by Christ notwithstanding it is our Duty to Look into the Whole VVord and to Pray this Prayer according to it with the most Enlarged Understandings Affections and Expressions 1. This Prayer and the Several Petitions of it are as Sea-Marks and Land-Marks in the vast Compass and Ocean of the VVord of God Guiding us to the Great Fundamentals of Prayer and setting Just and Due Bounds to us therein 2. It does Especially Winde up our Hearts Thoughts and Affection in all Spirituall VVisdome and Prudence and Intellectual Sence to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ when it is Fully understood as I have now made out and which is the highest Flight of Prayer And seeing it is only thus as I have shewn to be used even when it is Repeated and not by way of meer Form and Languid Repetition It shews the Necessity of the word of God dwelling Richly in us in all VVisdom that we may without such Forbidden Repetition or Thinking to be heard for our much Speaking Continue in Prayer and Abound therein with Thanksgiving And if we make the Repetition of this Prayer only to Sum up our Prayers To do it when we find our hearts Enflamed and Running out of Choise into these Words with most Elarged Understandings and Affections And this is indeed an Admirable Communion with God in Prayer and frees it from the Ignorance of a Blind Devotion and from all the Fopperies of Superstition or the possible Unreasonableness of Thinking to Inform or Change God And it shews us Prayer is not for God as if He any way wanted it But it is for us to Conform us to God and to the highest Conspiring with His Will with His Glory and to draw up the Faith Love Obedience Reverence and highest Honour of our Spirits upon Him And so we Observe the True Ends of our Lords giving this Prayer in our either Praying according to it out of the whole Word of God or making a Recital of it as we find our hearts carried on so to Recite it at Some Time more than Another and not in a Ritual maner Infer 9 Seeing the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness of it the Peace and Glory of Christ is the highest Counsel of God for the Glory of God and of his Saints and even for the Glory and Happiness of His Creation Therefore This must needs be the highest Point of Prayer and therefore this Prayer the Standard and Examplar of Prayer In this then we according to the Nature and Duty of Prayer should Conspire with the Counsel of God and Cry Day and Night to Him for it But alass as Christ said when the Son of Man Comes shall He find Faith on the Earth Even those who Continually Roll over this Prayer by Affected Repetition least penetrate and Enter into the Sence of it in their Eyes and hearts upon the Kingdom of Christ as it is Intended and designed in it And even those who have understood and desire'd it more yet have understood it only in the General notions of the Coming of Christ to Judgment and of the Resurrection This hath been the Slumber of the Apostacy upon the Christian World even upon the VVise Virgins so that the Comming of Christ will be a Surprize upon them That is His Comming in another sort of a Kingdom then they expected in their Slumber and in the Time of the Bridegrooms Delay Yet notwithstanding All that are indeed VVise who have Oyl in their Vessels and not in their Lamps only that is Grace in their Hearts not in Profession only shall go with Christ in to the Wedding Although in this true Explained Notion of His Kingdom He will not when He Cometh Find Faith on Earth But it is very Observable that tho this Prayer hath not been Awakenedly Understood as is ought to be Yet by the Secret Guidance of Providence and Government of the Church Either the Form of this Prayer hath so Prevaled in the Church of Christ Or the Sence of the Kingdom of Christ in the General and Vertual or in the Particular and more Express Notions of it according to the Gospel of the Kingdom have so derived from and Fallen into this Prayer that there hath been always a Generation of the Sincere Servants of God and of Christ that have Cryed to Him Day and Night for His Kingdom and according to this Praayer Infer 10 However The Foundation of God Remaineth Sure In this Kingdom The Promises of God are Yea and Amen And in this Prayer To the Kingdom of Christ is the Great and True Amen and Yea of it set On which Account as I have said The Amen of this Prayer is of an Elevated Note and in Harmony with All the Promises that are Yea and Amen in Him Therefore after the declaring His Coming in the Clouds Rev. 1. 17. It is Added Yea Amen and after His own saying When He had Testified His Coming in His Kingdom in the Four Chapters before Behold I come quickly It is Rejoyned by His Servants in their Prayers Comprehended in this Prayer Amen Yea Come Lord Jesus And therefore it is Certain He will come to His Servants in and according to this Prayer Crying to Him Day and Night 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Constant Notice of His Kingdom Speedily Quickly Yea and Amen Amen and Yea Even So Even So Be It Let him who is the Amen the Fatihful Witness the Amen of all the Promises in His Kingdom Come according to the Amen of this Prayer Comprehending the Prayers of All Saints Amen Yea. Revel 22. 12. 20. FINIS