where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes; and all sin, the cause of those tears, rooted out of our hearts.

And, yet, if heaven itself may be liable to any defects, or capable of any additions, there seems at present to be wanting in it these two things.

1st. The Kingdom of Glory is not yet full: nor shall it be till the whole number of the elect shall be called; and the whole number of the called, glorified.

Many, as yet, are conflicting here below; and fitting themselves for their eternal reward. Many yet lie sleeping in their causes, unborn; whom God hath foreknown and predestinated unto eternal life: all of whom he will, in his due time, bring unto the possession of his heavenly kingdom, to complete the number of his glorious subjects. And therefore it is said, concerning the saints that are already in heaven, that white robes were given to every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled: Rev. vi. 11.

2dly. Those glorified saints, that are now in heaven, though their joys be perfect, yet their persons are not; but one part of them, their bodies, continue still under the arrest of death and the power of the grave: but yet they sleep in hope; and, through that Mystical Union that there is between Jesus Christ and every scattered dust of a believer, they shall obtain a glorious and joyful resurrection. And then shall this heavenly kingdom be every way perfect: perfect in the full number of its subjects, and every subject perfect in his entire and complete reward his soul made for ever blessed in the beatifical vision of God, and his body made unconceivably glorious by the redundancy of that glory that fills his soul; and both shall remain for ever with the Lord.

And thus you see what the Kingdom of God is; both universal and peculiar, the Kingdom of his Power, and the Kingdom of his Grace: and that, as it is Militant here on earth, both Visible and Invisible; and as it is Triumphant in heaven.

2. The next thing in order is, to shew How this Kingdom of God is said to come.

This word, come, implies that we pray for a Kingdom, that is yet in its progress; and hath not yet attained the highest pitch of that perfection, which is expected and desired: for that,

which is yet to come, is not as yet arrived to that state in which it is to be. And, therefore, we do not so properly pray, that the Universal Kingdom of God should come; for his dominion over the creatures is actually the same, and shall be so for ever: but, more especially, we pray that the Peculiar Kingdom of God should come; and that, as to both parts of it, Militant and Triumphant.

Now this Peculiar Kingdom is said to come in three respects.

(1) In respect of the Means of Grace and Salvation: for where these are rightly dispensed, (I mean the Holy Word and Sacraments) there is the Kingdom of God begun and erected; and therefore we find it called the word of the kingdom: Matth. xiii. 19.

(2) In respect of the Efficacy of those Means: when all ready and cordial obedience is yielded to the laws of God, then doth this Kingdom come, and the glory of it is advanced and increased.

(3) In respect of Perfection: and so it comes when the graces of the saints are strengthened and increased; when the souls of the godly, departing this life, are received into heaven; and when the whole number of them shall have their perfect consummation and bliss, in the glorification both of soul and body, after the General Resurrection.

And thus we have seen how the kingdom of God may come. 3. In the next place, we must enquire, What it is we pray for when we say "Thy kingdom come.”

(1) I answer, there are various things lie couched under this petition: as,

[1] We pray that God would be pleased to Plant his Church, where it is not: according to his promise, giving all the nations of the world to his Son for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession :

That the dark places and corners of the earth, that are yet the habitations of cruelty, may be illustrated with the glorious light of the Gospel shining into them: that God would reveal his Son to those poor wretched people, that sit in darkness and in the region of the shadow of death; and would rescue them from their blind superstitions and idolatries, and from the power of the Devil, who strongly works in the children of disobedience, and would translate them into the kingdom of his dear Son: especially, that he would remove the veil from the heart

of the Jew, upon whom a sad judicial hardness hath long lain; that they, at length, may be brought into the unity and fulness of Christ's body: we pray that all the world, both Jews and Gentiles, may be gathered into one sheepfold, under Christ Jesus the great Pastor and Shepherd of Souls; so that, as God is one, so his name and service may be one throughout all the

earth.

And thus we pray that Christ's Kingdom may come, in respect of the means of grace and salvation.

[2] This petition, Thy kingdom come, intimates our earnest desire that the Churches of Christ, where they are planted, may be Increased in the Numbers of the Faithful: that those, who are as yet enemies to the name and profession of Christ, may be brought into the Visible Church and that those in it, who are yet strangers to a powerful work of grace, may, by the effectual operation of the Holy Ghost, be brought in to be members of the Invisible Church.

And thus we pray that God's Kingdom may come, in respect of the efficacy of the means of grace.

[3] We pray that all the Church of Christ, throughout the world, may be kept from ruin. That they may not be overrun with superstition or idolatry: that God would not, in his wrath, remove his candlestick from them; as he hath, in his righteous judgment, done from other Churches, which were once glorious and splendid: we pray, likewise, that God would make up all breaches, and compose all differences, and silence all controversies; and cut off all those, who trouble the peace and rend the unity of the Church, breaking it into factions and schisms, which are the most fatal symptoms and portenders of God's withdrawing himself, and carrying away his gospel, and giving of it to another people, who will better bring forth the fruits of it, which are peace, meekness, and love; and, if in any thing Christians be diversely minded, that God would be pleased to reveal it unto them; and that whereunto they have attained, they may walk by the same rule, and mind the same things. And thus we pray that Christ's Kingdom may come, in respect of its perfection and entireness.

[4] It intimates our humble requests to God, that his or dinances may be purely and powerfully dispensed.

* The former editions read, but erroneously, "members." EDITOR.

Hence, as I noted before, the Word is called the word of the kingdom: Matth. xiii. 19. that is, the Word, whereby we are brought into the Kingdom of Christ here on earth, and fitted for his Triumphant Kingdom in heaven. It is the means of our new birth; the seed of our spiritual life. And, as a kingdom cannot be well established or governed without good laws; so, for the government of his kingdom, Christ hath established laws, which are contained in the records of the Holy Scriptures. And, as his word is the law, so his sacraments are the seals of his kingdom; for, to every believing partaker, God doth, under his seal, confirm the grant of heaven and eternal salvation.

And, therefore, in this petition we pray also,

That God would give his Church able Ministers of the New Testament, that may know how rightly to divide the word of truth, and to give every one his portion in due season: and that he would be pleased to accompany the outward administration of his ordinances with the inward operations of his Spirit, which alone can make them effectual to turn men from darkness to light, and to bring them from the power of Satan unto God: that the whole number of God's elect may, in his due time, be brought in by the means, which he hath appointed and sancti. fied for their conversion and salvation.

These are the chief and principal things, that we beg of God for the Church Militant, when we say, Thy kingdom come, viz. that it may attain a perfection of extent: and be planted, where it is not, to a perfection of number: and may gain more proselytes and converts, where it is planted to a perfection of establishment; that they may not be rooted out by the violence of men, nor abandoned through the judgment of God: and to a perfection of purity and holiness, by the powerful dispensation of gospel-ordinances, attended by the efficacious concurrence of the Holy Spirit. But,

(2) This petition likewise respects the Church Triumphant in heaven.

Nor is this praying for the dead; a thing, justly condemned of superstition and folly: for we pray not for them to alter their state, which is impious and ridiculous, and a foppish consequent upon the figment of purgatory; but we pray for the Church Triumphant only in general, that those things, which are as yet defective in it, may be supplied: for, certainly, wheresoever

there is any kind of imperfection, we have ground to pray for the removal of it; especially, when God hath encouraged us to it by promise that he will remove it.

And, therefore,

[1] We may well pray, that the whole Body Mystical of Jesus Christ, and every member of it, may be brought to the full fruition of heaven and happiness; that daily more may be admitted into the heavenly fellowship, till their numbers as well as their joys be consummate.

And,

[2] We may pray, that the bodies of all the Saints, that have slept in their beds of earth from the beginning of the world, may be raised again out of the dust, and united to their souls, and for ever made glorious in the kingdom of heaven.

For both these things are absolutely promised: the one Rom. viii. 29, 30. that those, whom God hath called and justified, he will likewise glorify: and the other is, 1 Thessal. iv. 16. the dead in Christ shall arise. And, certainly, whatsoever may be the object of our faith and hope may be the subject of our prayers. And this every true Christian longs and breathes after, that these days of sin and misery may be shortened; that Christ would come in his glory; that, his Mediatory Kingdom being fulfilled, it might be delivered up unto the Father; and that we all might be one, as the Father is in him, and he in the Father. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

And thus I have finished the Second Petition, Thy kingdom

come.

iii. The THIRD follows: Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

This now follows upon the former, in a most rational and admirable method: for, as, before, we pray that the Kingdom of God might come, as the best adapted means to Hallow his Name; so, now, we pray that his will may be done by us, as the clearest declaration that we are the subjects of his kingdom. Now here are considerable,

1. The petition itself; thy will be done in earth.

2. The measure and proportion of it: as it is in heaven. 1. I shall begin with the Petition, in which every word car, ries great weight and moment.