may be the children of your father, who is in heaven ;; for he maketh his fun to rife on the evil and on the: 46 good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For

if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye ? 47 Do not even the publicans the fame ? And if ye falute your friends only, what do ye more than others? 48 Do not even the heathens fo? Therefore ye fhall be: perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. VI. Take heed that ye practise not your righteousness› before men, to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no

V. 46. The Publicans were Officers of the revenue, farmers.or receivers of the public money: men employed by the Romans to gather the taxes and customs, which they exacted of the nations they had conquered. These were generally odious for their extortion and oppreffion, and were reckoned by the Jews as the very fcum of the

arth.

•V. 47. And if you falute your friends only-Our Lord probably glances at thofe prejudices, which different fects had against each other, and intimates that He would not have his followers imbibe that narrow fpirit. Would to God this had been more attended to, among the unhappy divisions and fubdivifions, into which his church has been crumbled! And that we might at least advance fo far, as cordially to › embrace our Brethren in Chrift, of whatever party or denomination they are!

V. 48. Therefore ye shall be perfect, as your Father who is in heaven. is perfect-So the original runs, referring to all that holiness, which is defcribed in the foregoing verfes, which our Lord in the beginning of the chapter recommends as happiness, and in the close of it. as perfection..

And how wife and gracious is this, To fum up, and as it were, feal all his commandments with a promife! Even the proper promife of the gofpel, That He will put those laws in our minds, and write them in our hearts! He well knew, how ready our unbelief would be, to cry out, This is impoffible! And therefore ftakes upon it all the power, truth, and faithfulness of Him, to whom all things are poffible.

V. 1. In the foregoing chapter our Lord particularly defcribed the nature of inward holiness. In this He defcribes that purity of intention without which none of our outward actions are holy. This chapter contains four parts, 1. The right intention and manner in giving alms, ver. 1-4. 2. The right intention, manner, form, and pre-requifites of prayer, ver. 5-15 3. The right intention and manner of fafting, ver. 16-18. 4. The neceflity of a pure intention in all things, unmixed either with the defire of riches, or worldly care and fear of want, ver. 19-34

This verfe is a general caution against vain-glory, in any of our good works; all these are here fummed up together, in the comprehenfive word righteousness. This general caution our Lord appies in the fequel to the three principal branches of it, relating to our neighbour, ver. 2-4 to God, ver. 5-6: and to ourselves, ver. 16-18.

To be feen-Barely the being feen, while we are doing any of these things, is a circumftance purely indifferent. But the doing them with this view, to be seen and adinired, this is what our Lord condemns.

V. 2. Ass

There

2 reward from your Father who is in heaven. fore when thou doft alms, do not found a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the fynagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. 3 Verily I fay unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doft alms, let not thy left-hand know what 4 thy right-hand doth: That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who feeth in fecret will reward thee 5 openly. And when thou prayeft, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray, standing in the fynagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may appear unto men: verily I fay unto you, they 6 have their reward. But thou when thou prayeft, enter into thy closet, and having fhut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in fecret, and thy Father, who feeth in fecret, fhall reward thee. But when ye pray, ufe not vain repetitions, as the heathens; for they think they fhall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not therefore like them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye afk him.

7

V. 2. As the hypocrites do-Many of the scribes and pharisees did this, under a pretence of calling the poor together. They have their rewardAll they will have; for they fhall have none from God.

V. 3. Let not thy left-hand know what thy right-hand doth—A proverbial expreffion, for doing a thing fecretly. Do it as fecretly as is confiftent, 1. With the doing it at all. 2. With the doing it in the most effectual manner.

V. 5. The fynagogues-Thefe were properly the places where the people affembled for public prayer, and hearing the Scriptures read and expounded. They were in every city from the time of the Babylonin Captivity, and had fervice in thein thrice a day on three days in the week. In every Synagogue was a council of grave and wife perfons, over whom was a Prefident called the Ruler of the fynagogue. But the word here, as well as in many other texts, fignifies, any place of public concourse.

V. 6. Enter into thy clofet-That is, do it with as much fecrefy as thou canst.

V. 7. Ufe no vain repetitions-To repeat any words without meaning them, is certainly a vain repetition. Therefore we fhould be extremely careful in all our prayers to mean what we fay; and to fay only what we mean from the bottom of our hearts. The vain and heathenifh re-. petitions which we are here warned against, are most dangerous, and yet very common; which is a principal caufe why fo many who still profefs religion, are a difgrace to it. Indeed all the words in the world are not equivalent to one holy defie. And the very beft prayers are but vain repetitions, if they are not the language of the heart.

V. 8. Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of We do-not pray to inform God of our wants. Omnifcient as He is, He cannot be informed of any thing which He knew not before: and He is always

willing

9 * Thus therefore pray ye, Our Father who art in 10 heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; 11 thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us

12 this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as willing to relieve them. The chief thing wanting is, a fit difpofition on our part to receive his grace and blelling. Confequently, one great office of prayer is, to produce fuch a difpofition in us: to exercife our dependence on God; to increase our defire of the things we ask for; to make us fo fenfible of our wants, that we may never ceafe wrestling till we have prevailed for the blefling.

V. 9. Thus therefore pray ye-He who beft knew what we ought to pray for, and how we ought to pray, or what matter of defire, what manner of address would most please himself, would beft become us, has here dictated to us a moft perfect and univerfal form of prayer, comprehending all our real wants, expreffing all our lawful defires; a compleat directory and full exercife of all our devotions.

Thus-For thefe things; sometimes, in these words, at least in this manner, fhort, close, full.

This prayer confills of three parts, the preface, the petitions, and the conclufion. The preface, Our Father, who art in heaven-Lays a general foundation for prayer, comprising what we must first know of God, before we can pray in confidence of being heard. It likewife points out to us that faith, humility, love of God and man, with which we are to approach God in prayer,

I. Our Father-Who art good and gracious to all, our Creator, our. Preferver: the Father of our Lord, and of us in Him, thy children by adoption and grace: not my Father only, who now cry unto Thee, but the Father of the Univerfe, of angels and men: Who art in heaven-Beholding all things, both in heaven and earth; knowing every creature, and all the works of every creature; and every poffible event from everlafting to everlafting: the almighty Lord and Ruler of all, fuperintend ing and difpofing all things: In heaven-Eminently there, but not there alone, feeing Thou filleft heaven and earth.

II. 1. Hallowed be thy name-Mayeft Thou, O Father, be truly known by all intelligent beings, and with affections suitable to that knowledge: mayeft thou be duly honoured, loved, feared, by all in heaven and earth, by all angels and all men.

2. Thy kingdom come-May thy kingdom of grace come quickly, and fwallow up all the kingdoms of the earth: may all mankind, receiving thee, O Christ, for their king, truly believing in thy name, be filled with righteoufnefs, and peace, and joy; with holiness and happinefs, till they are removed hence into thy kingdom of glory, to reign with

Thee for ever and ever.

3. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven-May all the inhabitants of the earth do thy will as willingly as the holy angels: may thefe do it continually even as they, without any interruption of their willing fervice; yea and perfectly as they: mayeft Thou, O Spirit of grace, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make them perfect in every good work to do thy will, and work in them all that is wellpleafing in thy fight.

4 Give us Ŏ Father (for we claim nothing of right, but only of thy free mercy) this day-(for we take no thought for the morrow) our daily bread-All things needful for our fouls and bodies: not only the meat

that

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

14 *For if ye forgive men their trefpaffes, your hea 15 venly Father will alfo forgive you. But if ye forgive.

not men their trefpaffes, neither will your Father for16 give your treipalfes. Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a fad countenance; for they diffigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to faft verily I fay unto you, they have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash 18 thy face, That thou appear not unto men to fast, but.

to thy Father who is in fecret, and thy Father who feeth in fecret fhall reward thee.

that perifheth, but the facramental bread, and thy grace, the food which endureth to everlafting life.

5. And forgive us our debts, as we alfo forgive our debtors-Give us, O Lord, redemption in thy blood, even the forgiveness of fins: as Thou enableft us freely and fully to forgive every man, fo do Thou forgive all our trefpaffes.

6. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil-Whenever we are tempted, O Thou that helpeft our infirmities, fuffer us not to enter into temptation; to be overcome or fuffer lofs thereby: but make a way for us to escape, fo that we may be more than conquerors through: thy love, over fin and all the confequences of it. Now the principal defire of a Chriftian's heart being the glory of God, (ver. 9, 10.) and all he wants for himself or his brethren, being the daily bread of foul and body, (or the fupport of life, animal and fpiritual) pardon of fin, and deliverance from the power of it and of the devil: (ver. 11, 12, 13.) There is nothing befides that a chriftian can wifh for; therefore this prayer comprchends all his defires. Eternal life is the certain confequence, or rather completion of holiness.

III. For thine is the kingdom-The fovereign right of all things that are or ever were created: The power-The executive power, whereby thou governeft all things in thy everlasting kingdom: and the gloryThe praife due from every creature, for thy power, and all thy wonderous works, and the mightiness of thy kingdom, which endureth through all ages, even for ever and ever. It is obfervable, that though the doxology, as well as the petitions of this prayer, is threefold, and is directed to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft diftin&tly, yet is the whole fully applicable both to every perfon, and to the ever-bleffed and undivided Trinity.

V. 16. When ye faf-Our Lord does not enjoin either fafting, alms-.. deeds, or prayer: all thefe being duties which were before fully eftablifhed in the church of God. Disfigure-By the duft and afhes which they put upon their head, as was ufual at the times of folemn humiliation.

V. 17. Anoint thy head-So the Jews frequently did. Dress thyself as ufual.

19

+ Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and ruft confume, and where thieves break thro' 20 and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor ruft doth confume, and 21 where thieves do not break thro' nor fteal. For where 22 your treasure is, there will your heart be alfo. *The

eye is the lamp of the body: if therefore thine eye be 23 fingle, thy whole body fhall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darknefs: if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, 24 how great is that darkness? No man can serve two, mafters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cleave to the one and neglect the Ye cannot ferve God and Mammon. Therefore I fay unto you, Take not thought for your life, what ye fhall eat, or what ye fhall drink, nor for your body, what ye fhall put on.

25 other.

Is not the life more than Behold the birds of the air: they fow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth 27 them. Are ye not much better than they? And which of you, by taking thought can add to his age. 28 the smallest measure ? And why take ye thought

26 meat, and the body than raiment ?

V. 19. Lay not up for yourselves-Our Lord here makes a transition from religious to common actions, and warns us of another fnare, the love of money, as inconfiftent with purity of intention, as the love of praife. Where ruft and moth confume-Where all things are perishable

and tranfient.

He may likewife have a farther view in these words, even to guard us against making any thing on earth our treasure. For then a thing properly becomes our treafure, when we fet our affections upon it.

V. 22. The eye is the lamp of the body-And what the eye is to the body the intention is to the foul. We may observe with what exact propriety our Lord places purity of intention, between worldly defires and worldly cares, either of which directly tend to destroy it. If thine eye be fingle-Singly fixed on God and heaven, thy whole foul will be full of holinefs and happiness. If thy eye be evil-Not fingle, aiming at any thing else.

V. 24 Mammon-Riches, money; any thing loved or fought, without reference to God.

V. 25 And if you ferve God, you need be careful for nothing, Therefore take not thought-That is, be not anxiously careful. Beware of worldly cares; for thefe are as inconfiftent with the true fervice of God as worldly defires. Is not the life more than meat ?—And if God give the greater gift, will He deny the smaller?

V. 27. And which of you-If you are ever fo careful, can even add a moment to your own life thereby? This feems by far the most easy and natural fenfe of the words.

V. 29. Solomon

+ Luke xii. 33. * Luke xi. 34. § Luke xvi. 13. Luke xii. sa.