affections at once. It is a Throne, and therefore requires awe and reverence; but it is a Throne of Grace too, and therefore permits holy freedom and confidence.

And so we find all along in the prayers of the saints, how they mix the consideration of God's mercy and his majesty together, in the very prefaces and preparations to their prayers. So Neh. i. 5. Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him. So Dan. ix. 4. O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping covenant and mercy for them that love him.

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Now this excellent mixture of aweful and encouraging attributes will keep us from both the extremes, of despair on the one hand, and of presumption on the other. He is our Father and this may correct the despairing fear, which might otherwise seize us upon the consideration of his majesty and glory. And he is likewise infinitely glorious, a God whose throne is in the highest heavens, and the earth his footstool: and this may correct the presumptuous irreverence, which else the consideration of God, as our Father, might perhaps embolden

us unto.

Now here I shall, first, speak of the relation of God unto us as a Father; atid, then, of the place of his glory and residence, in heaven : and of both but briefly; for I must not dwell upon every particular.

i. To begin with THE RELATION OF GOD TO US, AS A

FATHER.

1. Now God is a Father three ways.

(1) God is a Father by Eternal Generation:

(2) By Temporal Creation and Providence.

(3) By Spiritual Regeneration and Adoption.

(1) God is a Father by Eternal Generation : having, by an inconceivable and ineffable way, begotten his Son, God coequal, co-eternal with himself; and therefore called, the only begotten Son of God: John iii. 16. Thus God is a Father, only to our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his Divine Nature. And whensoever this title, Father, is given to God, with relation to the Eternal Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ, it

denotes only the First Person in the ever Blessed Trinity; who is, therefore, chiefly and especially called the Father.

(2) God is a Father by temporal Creation, as he gives a being and existence to his creatures; creating those whom he made rational after his own image and similitude. And, therefore, God is said to be a Father of spirits: Heb. xii. 9. And the angels are called the sons of God: Job i. 6. There was a day, when the sons of God came to present themselves, before the Lord. And so, Adam, upon the account of his creation, is called the son of God: Luke iii. 38. where the Evangelist runs up the genealogy of mankind till it terminates in God, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.

(3) God is said to be a Father by Spiritual Regeneration and Adoption. And so all true believers are said to be the sons of God, and to be born of God: John i. 12, 13. To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed on his name: Which were born, not of the will of man, but of God. So, Rom. viij. 15, 16. we are said to receive the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. For the Spirit itself witnesseth with our spirits, that we are the children of God.

Now in these two last significations, this expression, Our Father which art in heaven, is to be understood: and so they denote, not any one particular Person of the Blessed Trinity; but it is a relative attribute, belonging equally to all the Three Persons. God is the Father of all men, by Creation and Providence; and he is especially the Father of the faithful, by Regeneration and Adoption. Now, as these actions of creation, regeneration, and adoption, are common to the whole Trinity, so likewise is the title of Father. God, the First Person in the Blessed Trinity, is indeed eminently called the Father, but not in respect of us, but in respect of Christ, his Only Begotten Son from all eternity. In respect of us, the whole Trinity is our Father which is in heaven, both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: and, in praying to our Father, we pray to them all jointly; for Christ, the Second Person in the Trinity, is expressly called the Father: Isa. ix. 6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. And we are said to be born of the Spirit: John iii. 5. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit.

Now that God should be pleased to take this into his glorious style, even to be called Our Father, it may teach

us,

First. To admire his infinite condescension, and our own unspeakable privilege and dignity: 1 John iii. 1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

Indeed, for God to be a Father by Creation and Providence, though it be a mercy, yet is no privilege: for, in that sense, he is parens rerum, "The common parent of all things;" yea, the Father of Devils themselves, and of those wretches who are as wicked and shall be as miserable as Devils. But, that God should be thy Father by Regeneration and Adoption, that he should make thee his son through his Only Begotten Son; that he should rake up such dirt and filth as thou art, and lay it in his bosom; that he should take aliens and strangers near unto himself, and adopt enemies and rebels into his family, register their names in the book of life, make them heirs of glory, co-heirs with Jesus Christ his Eternal Son, as the Apostle admiringly recounts it, Rom. viii. 17. this is both mercy and miracle together.

Secondly. It should teach us to walk worthy of this high and honourable relation into which we are taken; and to demean ourselves as children ought to do, in all holy obedience to his commands; with fear and reverence to his authority, and an humble submission to his will.

This God challengeth at our hands, as being our Father: Mal. i. 6. If I be a Father, where is mine honour? and, 1 Pet. i. 17. If ye call on the Father, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. And, likewise, by giving thee leave to style him by this name of Father, he puts thee in remembrance, that thou shouldest endeavour, by a holy life and conversation, to be like thy Father; and so approve it to thine own conscience and to all others, that thou art indeed a child, a son of God.

Thirdly. Is God thy Father? This then may give us abundance of assurance, that we shall receive at his hands what we ask, if it be good for us; and, if it be not, we have no reason to complain, that we are not heard, unless he should turn our prayers into curses.

And this very consideration seems to be the reason, why our Saviour chooseth this among all God's titles and attributes to

prefix before this prayer. And, indeed, it is the most proper name by which we can style God in our prayers unto him: for this name of Father emboldens faith; and is as a pledge and pawn beforehand, that our requests shall be heard and granted : and, therefore, our Saviour, for the confirmation of our faith, argues very strongly from this very title of Father: Mat. vii. 9, 10, 11. What man is there of you, whom if his son ask him for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good things when your children ask them, how much more shall my Father give good things to them that ask him? Indeed, it is a most encouraging argument: for, if the bowels of an earthly parent, who yet many times is humorous, and whose tenderest mercies are but cruelties in respect of God, if his compassions will not suffer his children to be defeated in their reasonable and necessary requests; how much less will God, who is love and goodness itself, and who hath inspired all parental affections into other fathers, suffer his children to return ashamed, when they beg of him those things which are most agreeable to his will and to their wants!

What dost thou then, O Christian, complaining of thy wants, and sighing under thy burthens? Is not God thy Father? Go and boldly lay open thy case unto him: his bowels will certainly roll and yearn towards thee. Is it Spiritual Blessings thou wantest? Spread thy requests before him : for, as he is thy Father, so he is the God of all Grace, and will give unto thee of his fulness; for God loves that his children should be like him. Or is it Temporal Mercies thou wantest? why, he is thy Father, and he is the father of mercies and the God of all comfort and why shouldest thou go so dejected and disconsolate, who hast a Father so able and so willing to relieve and supply thee? Only beware, that thou askest not stones for bread, nor scorpions for fish; and then ask what thou wilt for thy good, and thou shalt receive it.

Fourthly. Is God thy Father? This then may encourage us against despair, under the sense of our manifold sins against God, and departures from him: for he will certainly receive us upon our repentance and returning to him.

This very apprehension was that, which wrought upon the Prodigal: Luke xv. 18. I will arise, and go to my father. The consideration of our own guilt and vileness, without the

consideration of God's infinite mercy, tends only to widen the breach between him and us: for those, that are altogether hopeless, will sin the more implacably and bitterly against God; like those the prophet mentions, Jer. ii. 25. that said there was no hope, and therefore they would persist in their wickedness. But, now, to consider that God is our Father; and that, though we have cast off the duty and obedience of children, yet, upon our submission, he will bid us welcome and instate us again in his favour; this, to the ingenuous spirit of a Christian, is a sweet and powerful motive, to reduce him from his wandering and straying. For it will work, both upon his shame and upon his hope: upon his shame, that ever he should offend so gracious a Father; and upon his hope, that those offences shall be forgiven. him through that very mercy, that he hath abused. Thus we read, Jer. iii. 4, 5. Wilt thou not henceforth cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it unto the end? noting, that, when we plead with God under the winning name of Father, his anger cannot long last; but his bowels of mercy will, at last, overcome the sentiments of his wrath and justice.

And thus much concerning the endearing title of Father, which our Saviour directs us to use in our prayers unto God.

2. The next thing observable, is the particle Our, Our Father: which notes to us, that God is not only the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but he is the Father of all men.. He is the Father of all by Creation and Providence. And, therefore, we have the interrogation, Mal. ii. 10. Have we not all One Father? Hath not one God created us? But he is especially the Father of the faithful, by Regeneration and Adoption: who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God: John i. 13.

This, therefore should teach us,

(1) To esteem one another as brethren.

Outward respects, the grandeur and earthly privileges and advantages of the world, make no disparity in God's love to us, or in our relation to him: and, therefore, howsoever thou mayest be advanced in wealth, or honour, or parts above others; yet, still, remember that they are thy brethren, as they partake of the same common nature, and much more if they partake of the same special grace. Yea, Christ himself, who is the Lord of All, is not ashamed to call them brethren: Heb. ii. 11: and