Our Father which art in heaven. · Part 1

Our Father which art in heaven.

I HAVE insisted upon the foregoing verses, which do concern the duty of prayer; let me now come to the Lord’s Prayer itself. This prayer was formed and indited by Christ, and therefore to be highly esteemed by Christians: Jesus Christ, who was the wisdom of God, he knew both our necessities and the Father’s good-will towards us; and therefore surely he would give us a perfect form and directory. We are not absolutely tied to this form. We do not read that it was ever used by the apostles, though we have many of their prayers upon record in the Acts and in the Epistles; yet they plainly differ as to the construction of the words; and this very prayer is diversely set down by the evangelists themselves: Mat. vi. 11, ‘Give us this day our daily bread;’ it is in other words, Luke xi. 3, ‘Give us day by day our daily bread;’ and ver. 12, ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;’ in Luke xi. 4, it is, ‘And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.’ But, however, though we are not tied to this form, yet I think it may be humbly used; for Christ taught his disciples how to pray while as yet they were in their ignorance and tenderness, and had not received the Spirit. And God usually puts words into sinners’ mouths: Hosea xi. 2, ‘Take with you words, and say unto him, Receive us graciously.’ Look, as Joseph is said to feed his father and his brethren as a little child is nourished (as it is in the margin), there is not only food provided, but it is put into their mouths, Gen. xlvii. 12; so did Christ teach his disciples to pray, not only as directing them what they should pray for, but putting a form of words into their mouths.

In this prayer there are three parts observable:—

1. The preface.

2. The petitions themselves.

3. The conclusion.

In the preface we have a description of God, as always we should begin prayer with awful thoughts of God. God is described partly from his goodness and mercy—Our Father; and partly from his greatness and majesty—which art in heaven.

I. His goodness and mercy: Our Father; where is set forth:—

1. The relation wherein God standeth to his people, in the word Father.

2. Their propriety and interest in that relation, wherein, not the particular interest of a single believer is asserted, My Father, but the general interest of all the in Christ, Our Father.

I shall waive all which may be said concerning prayer in general; concerning the lawfulness or unlawfulness of a form in prayer; the disputes concerning the use of this form; as also all the disputes concerning the object of prayer, which we learn from hence to be God alone. Surely prayer is a sacrifice, and belongeth only to God; it cannot be made to any other but to him, who knoweth all the prayers that are made in the world at the same time, and the hearts of all those that pray. I will also waive what might be spoken concerning preparation before petition; for here there is a preface before the prayer itself. Neither shall I speak concerning the necessity of conceiving right thoughts of God in prayer; how we may conceive of his goodness, to beget a confidence; of his majesty, to beget an awe and reverence.

That which I shall insist upon is, the notion and relation under which God is here expressed, which is that of Father—Our Father.

Observe, those that would pray aright must address themselves to God as a father in Jesus Christ.

Hypocrites, at the last day, will cry, ‘Lord, Lord;’ but Christ hath taught us to say, ‘Our Father.’

Here I shall:—

I. Inquire in what sense God is a father.

II. What encouragements we have from in prayer, when we can take him up under this notion and appellation.

I. In what sense God is a father. This title may be given to God, either essentially, or with respect to personal relation.

1. Essentially; and so it is common to all the persons in the Godhead—Father, Son, and ; all three are God, and our Father. And thus, not only the first Person, but the second, is called ‘the Everlasting Father:’ Isa. ix. 6. And the , being author of our being, is called our Maker. But,

2. It may be ascribed to God personally. And so the first Person is called God the Father; and that either with relation to Christ or to us.

[1.] With relation to Christ, as the Son of God. So the first Person is called the Father, as he is the fountain of the Deity, communicating to and with him the divine essence: Ps. ii. 7, ‘Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.’ The personal property of the Father is to beget; and of the Son, to be begotten. There is an, eternal now, wherein God is said to beget him. Thus he may be called the Father of Christ, as he is the second Person, and not only as and . Though God be Christ’s Father, as second Person, yet they are all equal in power, dignity, and glory; but as , God is his Father in another respect. So it is said, John xiv. 28, ‘My Father is greater than I’—not as God, for so he was equal; ‘He thought it no robbery to be equal with God:’ Phil. ii. 6. But ‘greater than I;’ that is, consider him as man and , in the state of his humiliation; for it is notable to consider upon what occasion Christ speaks these words: ‘If ye love me ye would rejoice because I said I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I;’ that is, You admire me and prize my company exceedingly, because you see the power which I put forth in the miracles which I do; ye would rejoice if you understood it aright; he is infinitely more glorious than I appear in this state of abasement and humiliation. Thus, with respect to Christ, God, the first Person, may be called the Father.

[2.] With respect to us; for the first person is not only the Father of Christ, but our Father: John xx. 17, ‘I go to my Father, and your Father.’ We share with Christ in all his relations. As God was his God by , so he is our God. And in this sense, personally, it may be taken here; for our business lieth mainly with the first Person, with whom Christ intercedeth for us: 1 John ii. 1, ‘We have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.’ Before whom doth he appear? Before the Father. And it is to him to whom we direct our prayers, though not excluding the other persons: Eph. iii. 14, ‘I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Though it be not unlawful to pray to Christ, or to the , for that hath been done by the . Stephen saith, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;’ and Jacob saith, ‘The angel of the bless the lads.’ And all baptized persons are baptized in the name of the Son and , as well as in the name of the Father. But usually Christian worship is terminated upon God the Father, as being chief in the mystery of ; and so it is said, Eph. ii. 18, ‘Through him, by one Spirit, we have access to the Father.’ We come to him through Christ, as the meritorious cause, who hath procured leave for us; and by the Spirit, as the efficient cause, who gives us a heart to come; and to the Father, as the ultimate object of Christian worship. Christ procureth us leave to come, and the Spirit gives us a heart to come: so that by the Spirit, through Christ, we have access to God. So that now you may see what is meant by the Father—‘Our Father.’

But now let me distinguish again. God is a father to mankind, either:—

1. In a more general consideration and respect, by creation; or,

2. In a more special regard, by .

First, By creation God is a father. At first he gave a being to all things; but to men and angels he gave reason: John i. 4, ‘And this life was the light of man.’ Other things had life, but man had such a life as was light; and so by his original constitution he became to be the son of God. To establish the relation of a father, there must be a communication of life and likeness. A painter, that makes an image or picture like himself, he is not the father of it, for though there be likeness, yet no life. The sun in propriety of speech is not the father of frogs and putrid creatures, which are by its heat; though there be life, yet there is no likeness. We keep this relation for univocal generations and rational creatures. Thus, by creation, the angels are said to be the sons of God: Job xxxviii. 7, ‘When he was laying the foundations of the earth, the sons of God shouted for joy;’ that is, the angels. And thus Adam also was called the son of God: Luke iii. 38. Thus, by our first creation, and with respect to that, all men are the sons of God, children of God. And (mark it) in respect of God’s continual concurrence to our being, though we have deformed ourselves, and are not the same that we were when we were first created; yet still, in regard of some sorry remains of God’s image, and the light of reason, all are sons of God, and God in a general sense is a father to us; yea, more a father than our natural parents are. For our parents, they concur to our being but instrumentally, God originally. We had our being, under God, from our parents: he hath the greatest hand and stroke in forming us in the belly, and making us to be what we are. Which appeareth by this: Parents, they know not what the child will be, male or female, beautiful or deformed; they cannot tell the number of bones, muscles, veins, arteries, and cannot restore any of these in case they should be lost and spoiled; so that he that framed us in the womb, and wonder fully fashioned us in the secret parts, he is our Father: Ps. cxxxix. 14. As the writing is rather the work of the penman than of the pen, so we are rather the workmanship of God than of our parents; they are but instruments, God is the author and fountain of that life and being which we still have. And again, consider, the better part of man is of his immediate creation, and in this respect he is called ‘the Father of spirits:’ Heb. xii. 9. They do not run in the channel of generation or fleshly descent, but they are immediately created by God. And it is said, Eccles. xii. 7, ‘The spirit returneth to God which gave it.’

Well, then, you see how, in a general sense, and with what good reason, God may be called our Father. Those which we call fathers, they are but subordinate instruments; the most we have from them is our corruption, our being ; but our substance, and the frame and fashion of it, our being, and all that is good in it, that is from the Lord.

Now, this is some advantage in prayer, to look upon God as our father by virtue of creation, that we can come to him as the work of his hands, and him that he will not destroy us and suffer us to perish: Isa. lxiv. 8, ‘But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we are all the work of thine hand.’ There is a general mercy that God hath for all his creatures; and, therefore, as he gave us rational souls, and fashioned us in the womb, we may come to him and say, Lord, thou art our potter and we thy clay, do us good, forsake us not.

What advantage have we in prayer from this common interest or general respect of God’s being a father by virtue of creation?

[1.] This common relation binds us to pray to him. All things which God hath made, by a secret instinct they are carried to God for their supply: Ps. cxlv. 15, ‘The eyes of all things look up to thee.’ In their way they pray to him and moan to him for their supplies, even very beasts, young ravens, and fowls of the air. But much more is this man’s duty, as we have reason, and can clearly own the first cause. And therefore upon these natural grounds the apostle reasons with them why they should seek after God: Acts xiv. 17.

[2.] As this common relation binds us to pray, so it draweth common benefits after it: Mat. vi. 25, 26, ‘Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.’ Where God hath given a life, he will give food; and where he gives a body, he will give raiment, according to his good pleasure. He doth not cast off the care of any living creature he hath made, as long as he will preserve it for his glory. Beasts have their food and provision, much more men, which are capable of knowing and enjoying God.

[3.] It giveth us confidence in the power of God. He which made us out of nothing is able to keep, preserve, and supply us when all things fail, and in the midst of all dangers. are able to make use of this common relation. And therefore it is said, 1 Pet. iv. 19, that we should ‘commit our souls unto him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.’ The apostle speaks of such times when they carried their lives in their hands from day to day. They did not know how soon they should be haled before tribunals and cast into prisons. Remember, you have a Creator, which made you out of nothing; and he can keep and preserve life when you have nothing. Thus this common relation is not to be forgotten, as he gives us our outward life and being: Ps. cxxiv. 8, ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’ As if the psalmist had said, as long as I see these glorious monuments of his power, these things framed out of nothing, shall I distrust God, whatever exigence or strait I may be reduced to?

Secondly, More especially there is a particular sort of men to whom God is a father in Christ, and that is, to believers: John i. 12, ‘To as many as received him, to them gave he power to be called the sons of God.’ Those which in their natural state and condition were children of wrath, and slaves to sin and Satan, when they come, and are willing to welcome and receive Christ into their hearts, in a sense of their misery, are willing to make out after God and Christ; they have an allowance to call God Father, and may have child-like communion with him, and run to him in all straits, and lay open their necessities to him. 2 Kings iv. 19, When the child cried unto his father, he said, ‘Carry him to his mother:’ so when we are ill at ease and in any straits, this is the privilege of our , that we have a God to go to; we may go to our Father and plead with him, as the church: Isa. lxiii. 16, ‘Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, Lord, art our father, our redeemer.’ It is good to know God under this special relation of a father in Christ; and this is that which is the of . is an act of free , by which we that were aliens and strangers, servants to sin and Satan, are, in and by Christ, made sons and daughters of God, and accordingly are so reckoned and treated with, to all intents and purposes. It is a great and special privilege, given to God’s own children, by virtue of their interest in Christ; and therefore it is said, 1 John iii. 1, ‘Behold, what love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!’ That is, behold it as a certain truth, and admire it as a great privilege. This second relation is a very great privilege, and it will appear to be so, if we consider:—

[1.] The persons that receive it. We that were aliens, and enemies, and bond-slaves; that were of another line and stock; that might ‘say to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister:’ Job xvii. 14. We that were cousin-germans to worms, a handful of enlivened dust, that we should be taken into such a relation to God! We that might say indeed to the devil, Thou art our father, and the lusts of our father we will do: John viii. 24. Satan is the sinners’ father, and God disclaims them. The Lord disclaims the people which were brought out of the land of Egypt, when they rebelled against him: Exod. xxxii. 7, ‘The Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down, for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.’ Thy people, which thou hast brought, in scorn and disdain, as if God did disavow them from being his. And so it was with us all. When Adam had rebelled against God, God executed the law of the rebellious child against him, which was this, that he should be turned out of doors. So was Adam turned out of paradise, and lost his title and heritage; and we were reckoned to the devil. Now, ‘behold, what manner of love was this, that we should be called the sons of God!’

[2.] You will wonder at it, you will behold it as an excellent privilege, if you consider the nature of the privilege itself, to be sons and daughters of God, to be able to call God Father. This was Christ’s own title and honour. When God had a mind to honour Christ, he proclaims it from heaven: Mat. iii. 17. ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Surely, if our hearts were as apprehensive of heavenly privileges as they are of earthly, we would admire it more. Earthly alliance, how is it prized! If a great man should match into our blood and line, what an honour and glory do we reckon it to us! 1 Sam. xviii. 23, ‘Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law?’ Do we account this a small matter, to be related to kings, and princes, and potentates? No, no; we have high thoughts of it. And is not this an excellent thing, to be sons and daughters of God? In all other cases, if men have children of their own, they do not adopt. God had a Son of his own, in whom his soul found full delight and complacency; yet he would adopt and take us wretched creatures, he would invest us with the title of sons; and shall it be said of this and that believer, here is the son of God? O behold what manner of love! &c.

[3.] Then do but consider the consequents of it, both in this life and the life to come. In this life, what immunities and privileges have we! Free access to God; we may come and treat with him when we please, as children to a father, when we stand in need of anything. ‘We have received the spirit of , whereby we cry, Abba, Father:’ Rom. viii. 15. If we ail anything, we may go to our Father and acquaint him with our case and grief. And we shall have a child’s allowance here in the world. The heirs of glory are well provided for in their nonage; they have aright to a large portion; all the good things of the world, meat, drink, marriage, such things they have by a son’s right. They have a right to the creature, in and by him who is heir of all things, so they are established in their right which Adam lost: 1 Tim. iv. 3, 4. And they are under the ministry of angels; the angels are sent forth to be their guardians, and to supply and provide for them.

And then, in the life to come (for we are not only sons, but heirs), we have a right to the glorious inheritance! Rom. viii. 17, ‘If children, then heirs, heirs of God.’ Here all the children are heirs, male and female, every son and daughter an heir and joint-heirs with Christ. We do as it were divide heaven between us; we have a great, blessed, and glorious inheritance; poor despicable creatures, ‘chosen heirs of a kingdom:’ James ii. 5.

[4.] You will see it was a very great privilege, if you consider how we come to be entitled to it: Eph. i. 5, ‘Having us unto the of children, by Jesus Christ, to himself.’ We come to it in and by Jesus Christ. Christ was fain to come down, and to take a mother upon earth, that we might have a Father in heaven. He comes down, and was made a man; he became our brother, and so layeth the foundation for the kindred: Heb. ii. 11. Nay, not only , but he died to purchase this title for us. When the business was debated in the council of the , how lost man might be restored in blood, and have a right and interest in God; and when justice put in exceptions against us, Jesus Christ was content to be ‘made under the law, that we might receive the of sons:’ Gal. iv. 4, 5. There could be no , no amity, no alliance, until sin was expiated and justice satisfied; therefore Christ was not only ‘made of a woman,’ but ‘made under the law;’ first our brother by , and then our redeemer by his death and suffering. As under the law, if a man had waxen poor, the next of kin was to be his redeemer: Lev. xxv. 25; or if he had sold himself, ver. 47, one of his brethren was to him. Christians, there was a kind of sale and forfeiture on our part of the inheritance and right and title of children; therefore Jesus Christ, when he became a man, jure propinquitatis, by virtue of his kindred and nearness to us, came to his people, and purchase us to God. And this is the relation which is mainly intended in this place; for mark, Christ taught his disciples to pray, ‘Our Father;’ others, they cannot speak of this relation; and in them all that believe, and all that walk in the Spirit, these alone can come to God as a father.

II. What advantage have we in prayer by taking up God under this notion and relation, when we can come to him and say, ‘Our Father’?

1. It conduceth to our confidence in prayer.

2. It furthereth our duty.

First, It conduceth to our confidence in prayer: for it is not an empty title or a naked relation; but this is the ground of all that favour and which we stand in need of, and receive from God. It is notable, 2 Cor. vi. 18, saith God, ‘I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.’ In other places it is said, Ye shall be called my sons; but here, You shall be my sons; you shall not only be called so, but be so. He will really perform all the parts of a father to us; yea, no father like God. The outward father is but a shadow; as in all comparisons, outward things are but the shadow and similitude , the reality is in inward things. A servant is not always a servant, there may be a release; a husband is not always a husband, there may be a separation by divorce; but a father is always a father, and a child a child. ‘I am the true vine.’ The outward vine is but a shadow, but Christ himself hath the true properties of a vine. So the outward father is but a shadow and similitude, the reality is in God; none so fatherly and kind as he: Mat. vii. 11, ‘If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?’ There is a how much more upon the fatherly care of God. Natural parents, whose affections are stinted and limited, nay, corrupt and sinful, when a son comes for a fish, will not give him a scorpion, when he comes for bread, will not give him a stone. That were a monstrous thing, vile and unnatural. So Isa. xlix. 15: ‘Can a woman forget her sucking-child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.’ Passions in females are more vehement; the mother hath stronger affections. If the mother could do so as totally to forget that ever she had such a child, yet she would not forget her sucking-child—a poor, shiftless, helpless babe, that can do nothing without the mother, a child which never provoked her,—she would not forget such a child. They may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Certainly, God which hath left such an impression upon the hearts of parents, hath more of pity, bounty, and goodness in his own heart; for whatsoever of God is in the creature, is in God in a more eminent manner.

But particularly, How will God perform the parts of a father?

[1.] In allowing them full leave to come to him in all their necessities: Gal. iv. 6, ‘Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.’ There is a spirit that attendeth upon this state. They which are sons shall have the spirit of sons, and God will incline their hearts to come and call to him for supplies. This is a great advantage. When he gives a spirit of prayer, then he will be ready to hear and grant our requests; not only to give us a heart to ask them, but to incline his ear: Luke xi. 13, ‘How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?’ When we ask for the highest blessing; when we come and are with him, and will take no nay.

[2.] In supplying all our wants: Mat. vi. 12, ‘Your Father which is in heaven knoweth you have need of these things.’ A father will not let his child starve—certainly none so fatherly as God. You have not such a father as is ignorant, regardless of your condition, but takes an exact notice of all your wants and pressures. It is notable to observe how God condescendeth to express the particular notice he taketh of the : Isa. xlix. 16, ‘Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.’ As we use to tie things about our hands, that we may remember such a work and business; so God doth, as it were, put a print and mark upon his hands; to speak after the manner of men. Nay, Mat. x. 30, ‘The hairs of their heads are numbered.’ God hath a particular notice of their necessities; and Jesus Christ, he is his remembrancer, one that ever appeareth before him to represent their wants: Heb. ix. 24. As the high priest in the law was to go in with the names of the tribes upon his breast and shoulder when he did minister before God: Exod. xxviii.; which is a type how much we are in the heart of Christ, ever presenting himself before the Lord on the behalf of such and such a believer.

[3.] Pitying our miseries. As he taketh notice of them, so he will pity their miseries, as a father pitieth his children when he seeth them in an afflicted condition: Ps. ciii. 13, ‘Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.’ Nay, he will pardon their sins: Mal. iii. 17, ‘And I will spare them as a man spareth his own son which serveth him.’ An only son needs not fear much if his father were to be his judge, though he hath done unworthily. They may exhaust and draw up all their pity, their bowls may shrink when they meet with multitude of provocations. Now, God will spare us as a man spares his only son—nay, not only his only son, but his dutiful son which serves him. Many times we forget the duty of children, but God will not forget the mercy of a father. ‘I will go to my father,’ saith the prodigal. He had forgotten the duty of a child, he went into a far country and wasted his patrimony, and that basely and filthily upon harlots; yet, upon his return, when he was a great way off, the father runs to meet him half-way, and kisseth him.