own views, and then presented them to his followers as a manual of devotion. It was in conformity to this usage, that John the Baptist is supposed to have given a directory to his disciples; and that Jesus Christ taught his apostles to offer those admirable petitions which are to be the ground-work of the ensuing discourses.

Some persons, from a very laudable attachment to this prayer, think proper to use it in all their devotions; while others, who have no less reverence for it, regard it only as a plan for a more extended prayer, an outline, which we are at liberty to fill up agreeably to our feelings, or to the nature and variety of our

wants.

The arguments which are urged by the advocates of either of these opinions deserve consideration; but, to enter into the controversy, here, would answer no valuable end. Indeed, on a question of this nature, which has no connexion with any principle of vital importance, it is incumbent on Christians, of different persuasions, to exercise liberality, and to cultivate with each other that spirit of union and fellowship which ought ever to accompany an agréement in the grand essentials of inspired truth. The great consideration is this, that neither a studied address, however correct, nor an ex

temporaneous address, however eloquent, constitutes acceptable prayer, if our petitions ascend not from our hearts, accompanied with faith, humility, contrition, and fervour.

Our meditations, at this time, are to be restricted to the invocation,-the first sentence of this Divine model,-"Our Father, who art in heaven." To encourage our approaches to the throne of grace, these words supply us,

I. With a very tender and interesting view of the Supreme Being; and,

II. With some important notices of his perfections, which are particularly calculated to strengthen our affiance in his paternal good

ness.

I. Our attention is to be directed to a very tender and interesting view of the Supreme Being.

There is something in the parental relation, which awakens a much higher interest than any other; because it is the spring of that unabating solicitude, and of that resolute guardianship, which diffuse order, and a feeling of security and comfort, through all classes of the animal world. The law by which the numerous kinds

of sensitive beings are continued, would have left their welfare in a worse than doubtful state, had it not been associated with another law,the law of affection, so powerful in the parent's breast. The eagle stirreth up her nest, and fluttereth over her young; the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings; and the fierce inhabitants of the forest wander through the tempests of midnight, to procure food for their offspring. But this principle is not to be regarded as peculiar to irrational creatures; it is also a constituent part of human nature. The affection which we feel for our children is not produced by long and laboured reasonings; it rises spontaneously in our bosoms; it clings to the beloved objects as soon as they begin to exist; it guards their infancy with sleepless anxiety; observes the first efforts of their minds with inquisitive partiality; shares in their joys; weeps over their sorrows; exults in the indications of amiableness, and bleeds for their faults. It is by this instinctive passion,-this feeling which is entwined with every chord of a parent's heart, that the High and Holy One expresses his regard for his people. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."

The mode of invocation which our Saviour recommends in this prayer, different

is very

from what might have been expected from One who had "seen the Father." He had heard the Divine Majesty pronounce the curse on an apostate world; and had witnessed the manifestation of his purity and justice in the punishment of the antediluvians; and had seen his glories burning on the top of Sinai; and had contemplated, with perfect knowledge and complacency, the depths and mysteries of the Eternal Mind; and yet, when he condescends to put the language of prayer into our lips, he says; "After this manner pray ye,→ Our Father." He does not advise the use of those epithets which are calculated to impress the mind with dismay; but, anticipating the efficacy of his atonement, and that act of stupendous grace by which God would reconcile all things to himself, he encourages us to approach the eternal throne with filial confidence, and to address the Sovereign of heaven and earth as "Our Father." Let the condescension of this exalted Being induce you, my brethren, to pour out your desires before him; - let the thought of his paternal character suppress your fears, confirm your hopes, and excite you to affectionate obedience; and may "God, even our Father, who hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts,

and stablish you in every good word and work!"

There is one sense in which God is the Father of all men. He is "the Father of the spirits of all flesh;"-" In him we live, and move, and have our being;" and therefore are not improperly denominated "his offspring." As a kind Parent, he extends his regards to the whole human family. Among the myriads of which that family is composed, there is no individual so insignificant as to escape his observation; and, amidst the multifarious concerns in which they are engaged, and the various events which relate to them, there is no circumstance so minute as not to be under his immediate control. "The bounds of our habitation" are determined; and "the very hairs of our head are all numbered."

But there is another, and a still more endearing acceptation of this term. I allude to that relation which the Supreme Being sustains towards those whom he has chosen, and called, and sanctified. He is their Father in a superior sense; he regards them as a portion of his spiritual family; supplies and protects them as his children; and reserves for them, as the heirs of life, an unfading and unalienable possession.

The majority are, indeed, utterly estranged