Sermons for the Times Part 4

SERMON VIII. SONSHIP

John v. 19, 20, 30. Then answered Jesus, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth.

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of my Father which is in Heaven.

This, my friends, is why man should walk humbly and obediently with his G.o.d; because humility and obedience are the likeness of the Son of G.o.d, who, though He is equal to His Father, yet to do His Father's will humbled Himself, and took on Him the form of a slave, and though He is a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered; sacrificing Himself utterly and perfectly to do the commands of His Father and our Father, of His G.o.d and our G.o.d; and sacrificing Himself to His Father not as a man merely, but as a son; not because He was in the likeness of sinful flesh, but because He was The Everlasting Son of His Father; not once only on the cross, but from all eternity to all eternity, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This is a great mystery; we may understand somewhat more of it by thinking over the meaning of those great words, Father and Son.

Now, first, a son must be of the same nature as his father,--that is certain. Each kind of animal brings forth after its kind: the lion begets lions, the sheep, sheep; the son of a man must be a man, of one substance with his earthly father; and by the same law, the Son of G.o.d must be G.o.d. Take away that notion: say that the only- begotten Son of G.o.d is not very G.o.d of very G.o.d, of one substance with His Father, and the word son means nothing. If a son be not of the same substance as his father, he is not a son at all. And more, a perfect son must be as great and as good as his father, exactly like his father in everything. That is the very meaning of father and son; that like should beget like. Among fallen and imperfect men, some sons are worse and weaker than their fathers: but we all feel that that is an evil, a thing to be sorry for, a sad consequence of our fallen state. Our reasons and hearts tell us that a son ought to be equal to his father, and that it is in some way an affliction, almost a shame, to a father, if his children are weaker or worse than he is. But we cannot fancy such a thing in G.o.d; the only-begotten perfect Son of the Almighty and perfect Father must be at least equal to His Father, as great as His Father, as good as His Father; the brightness of His Father's glory, and the express image of His Father's person.

But there is another thing about father and son which we must look at, and that is this: a good son loves and obeys his father, and the better son he is, the more he loves and obeys his father; and therefore a perfect son will perfectly love and perfectly obey his father.

Now, here is the great difference between animals and men. Among the higher animals, the mothers always, and the fathers sometimes, feed, and help, and protect their young: but we seldom or never find that young animals help and protect their parents; certainly, they never obey their fathers when they are full grown, but are as ready to tear their fathers in pieces as their fathers are to tear them: so that the love and obedience of full-grown sons to their fathers is so utterly human a thing, so utterly different from anything we find in the brutes, that we must believe it to be part of man's immortal soul, part of G.o.d's likeness in man.

And in the text our Lord declares that it is so; He declares that His obedience to His Father, and His Father's love to Him, is the perfect likeness of what goes on between a good son and a good father among men; only that it is _perfect_, because it is between a perfect Father and a perfect Son.

Father and Son! Let philosophers and divines discover what they may about G.o.d, they will never discover anything so deep as the wonder which lies in those two words, Father and Son. So deep, and yet so simple! So simple, that the wayfaring man, though poor, shall not err therein. 'Who is G.o.d? What is G.o.d like? Where shall we find Him, or His likeness?'--so has mankind been crying in all ages, and getting no answer, or making answers for themselves in all sorts of superst.i.tions, idolatries, false philosophies. And then the Gospel comes, and answers to every man, to every poor and unlearned labourer: Will you know the name of G.o.d? It is a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit of love, joy, peace; a Spirit of perfect satisfaction of the Father in the Son, and perfect satisfaction of the Son with the Father, which proceeds from both the Father and the Son. It needs no scholarship to understand that Name; every one may understand it who is a good father; every one may understand it who is a good son, who looks up to and obeys his father with that filial spirit of love, and obedience, and satisfaction with his father's will, which is the likeness of the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, and can only flourish in any man by the help of the Holy Spirit which proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Father and Son! what more beautiful words are there in the world?

What more beautiful sight is there in the world than a son who really loves his father, really trusts his father, really does his duty to his father, really looks up to and obeys his father's will in all things? who is ready to sacrifice his own credit, his own pleasure, his own success in life, for the sake of his father's comfort and honour? How much more fair and n.o.ble must be the love and trust which is between G.o.d the Father and G.o.d the Son!

I wish that some of those who now write so many excellent books for young people, would write one made up entirely of stories of good sons who have obeyed, and worked for, and suffered for their parents. Sure I am that such a book, wisely and well written, would teach young people much of the meaning of the blessed name of G.o.d, much of their duty to G.o.d. And yet, after all, my friends, is not such a book written already? Have we not the four Gospels, which tell us of Jesus Christ, the perfect Son, who came to do the will of a perfect Father? Read that; read your Bibles. Read the history of the Lord Jesus Christ, keeping in mind always that it is the history of the Son of G.o.d, and of His obedience to His Father. And when in St. John's most wonderful Gospel you meet with deep texts, like the one which I have chosen, read them too as carefully, if possible more carefully, than the rest; for they are meant for all parents and for all children upon earth. Read how The Father loves The Son, and gives all things into His hand, and commits all judgment to The Son, and gives Him power to have life in Himself, even as The Father has life in Himself, and shows Him all things that Himself doeth, that all men may honour The Son even as they honour The Father.

Read how The Son came only to show forth His Father's glory; to be the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person: to establish His Father's kingdom; to declare the goodness of His Father's Name, which is _The_ Father. How He does nothing of Himself, but only what He sees His Father do; how He seeks not His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him; how He sacrificed all, yea even His most precious body and soul upon the cross, to finish the work which His Father gave Him to do. How, being in the form of G.o.d, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with G.o.d, He could boldly say, 'As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. I and my Father are one:' and still, in the fulness of His filial love and obedience, declared that He had no will, no wish, no work, no glory, but His Father's; and in the hour of His agony cried out, 'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pa.s.s from me: nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.'

My friends, you will be able to understand more and more of the meaning of these words just in proportion as you are good sons and good fathers; and therefore, just in proportion as you are led and taught by the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, without whose help no man can be either a good father or a good son. A bad son; a disobedient, self- willed, self-conceited son, who is seeking his own credit and not his father's, his own pleasure and not his parent's comfort; a son who is impatient of being kept in order and advised, who despises his parent's counsel, and will have none of his reproof,--to him these words of our Lord, the deepest, n.o.blest words which were ever spoken on earth, will have no more meaning than if they were written in a foreign language; he will not know what our Lord means; he will not be able to see why our Lord came and suffered; he will not see any beauty in our Lord's character, any righteousness in His sacrificing Himself for His Father; and because he has forgotten his duty to his earthly father, he will never learn his duty to G.o.d.

For what is the duty of the Lord Jesus Christ is our duty, if we are the sons of G.o.d in Him. He is The Son of G.o.d by an eternal never- ceasing generation; we are the sons of G.o.d by adoption. The way in which we are to look up to G.o.d, The Holy Spirit must teach us; what is our duty to G.o.d The Holy Spirit must teach us. And who is The Holy Spirit? He is The Spirit who proceeds from The Son as well as from The Father. He is The Spirit of Jesus Christ, The Spirit of the Son of G.o.d, the Spirit who descended on the Lord Jesus when He was baptized, the Spirit which G.o.d gave to Him without measure. He is the Spirit of The Son of G.o.d; and we are sons of G.o.d by adoption, says Saint Paul; and because we are sons, he says, G.o.d has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of His Son, by whom we look up to G.o.d as our Father; and this Spirit of G.o.d's Son, by whom we cry to G.o.d, Abba, Father, St. Paul calls, in another place, the Spirit of adoption; and declares openly that He is the very Spirit of G.o.d.

Therefore, in whatsoever way the Spirit of G.o.d is to teach you to look up to G.o.d, He will teach you to look up to Him as a Father; the Father of Spirits, and therefore your Father; for you are a spirit.

Whatsoever duty to G.o.d the Holy Spirit teaches you, He teaches you first, and before all things, that it is filial duty, the duty of a son to a father, because you are the son of G.o.d, and G.o.d is your Father.

Therefore, whatsoever man or book tells you that your duty to G.o.d is anything but the duty of a son to his father does not speak by the Spirit of G.o.d. Whatsoever thoughts or feelings in your own hearts tell you that your duty to G.o.d is anything but the duty of a son to his father, and tempt you to distrust G.o.d's forgiveness, and shrink from Him, and look up to Him as a taskmaster, and an austere and revengeful Lord, are not the Spirit of G.o.d; no, nor your own spirit, 'the spirit of a man,' which is in you; for that was originally made in the likeness of G.o.d's Spirit, and by it rebellious sons arise and go back to their earthly fathers, and trust in them when they have nothing else left to trust, and say to themselves, 'Though all the world has cast me off, my parents will not. Though all the world despise and hate me, my parents love me still; though I have rebelled against them, deserted them, insulted them, I am still my father's child. I will go home to my own people, to the house where I was born, to the parents who nursed me on their knee, I will go to my father.'

Fathers and mothers! if your son or daughter came home to you thus, though they had insulted you, disgraced you, and spent their substance in riotous living, would you shut your doors upon them?

Would not all be forgiven and forgotten at once? Would not you call your neighbours to rejoice with you, and say, 'It is good to be merry and glad, for this our son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found?' And would not that penitent child be more precious to you, though you cannot tell why, than any other of your children? Would you not feel a peculiar interest in him henceforth?

And do you not know that so to forgive would be no weak indulgence, but the part of a good father; a good, and n.o.ble, and human thing to do? Ay, a human thing, and therefore a divine thing, part of G.o.d's likeness in man. For is it not the likeness of G.o.d Himself? Has not G.o.d Himself, in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, declared that He does so forgive His penitent children, at once and utterly, and that 'There is more joy among the angels of G.o.d over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance?' So says the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of G.o.d. Let who dare dispute His words, or try to water them down, and explain them away.

And why should it not be so? Do you fancy G.o.d less of a father than you are? Is He not _The_ Father, the perfect Father, 'from whom every fatherhood in heaven and earth is named?' Oh, believe that He is indeed a Father; believe that all the love and care which you can show to your children is as much poorer than the love and care G.o.d shows to you, as your obedience to your earthly parents is poorer and weaker than the love and obedience of Jesus Christ to His Father. G.o.d is as much better a Father than you are, as Jesus Christ is a better Son than you are. There is a sum of proportions; a rule-of-three sum; work it out for yourselves, and then distrust G.o.d's love if you dare.

And believe, that whatsoever makes you distrust G.o.d's love is neither the Spirit of G.o.d who is the spirit of sonship, nor the spirit of man: but the spirit of the Devil, who loves to slander G.o.d to men, that they may shrink from Him, and be afraid to arise and go to their Father, to be received again as sons of G.o.d; that so, being kept from true penitence, they may be kept from true holiness, and from their duty to G.o.d, which is the duty of sons of G.o.d to their Father in heaven.

Believe no such notions, my friends; howsoever humble and reverent they may seem, they are but insults to G.o.d; for under pretence of honouring Him, they dishonour Him; for He is love, and he who feareth, that is, who looks up to G.o.d with terror and distrust, is not made perfect in love. So says St. John, in the very chapter wherein he tells us that G.o.d is love, and has manifested His love to us by sending His Son to be the Saviour of the world; and that the very reason for our loving G.o.d is, that He loves us already; and that therefore He who loveth not knoweth not G.o.d, for G.o.d is love.

Yes, my friends, G.o.d is your Father; and G.o.d is love; and your duty to G.o.d is a duty of love and obedience to a Father who so loved you and all mankind that He spared not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for you. 'Our Father which art in heaven,' is to be the key-note of all your duty, as it is to be the key-note of all your prayers: and therefore the Catechism is right in teaching the child that G.o.d is his Father, and Jesus Christ the perfect Son of G.o.d his pattern, and the Holy Spirit of the Father and of the Son his teacher and inspirer, before it says one word to the child about duty to G.o.d, or sin against G.o.d. How indeed can it tell him what sin is, until it has told him against whom sin is committed, and that if he sins against G.o.d he sins against a Father, and breaks his duty to his Father? And how can it tell him that till it has told him that G.o.d is his Father? How can it tell him what sin is till it has told him what righteousness is? How can it tell him what breaking his duty is till it has told him what the duty itself is?

But the child knows already that G.o.d is his Father; and therefore, when the Catechism asks him, 'What is his duty to G.o.d?' it is as much as to say, 'My child, thou hast confessed already that thou hast a good Father in heaven, and thou knowest as well as I (perhaps better) what a father means. Tell me, then, how dost thou think thou oughtest to behave to such a Father?' And the whole answer which is put into the child's mouth, is the description of duty to a father; of things which there would be no reason for his doing to anyone who was not his father; nay, which he could not do honestly to anyone else, but only hypocritically, for the sake of flattering, and which differs utterly from any notion of duty to G.o.d which the heathen have ever had just in this, that it is a description of how a son should behave to a father. Read it for yourselves, my friends, and judge for yourselves; and may G.o.d give you all grace to act up to it--not in order that you, by 'acts of faith,' or 'acts of love,' or 'acts of devotion,' may persuade G.o.d to love you; but because He loves you already, with a love boundless as Himself; because in Him you live, and move, and have your being, and are the offspring of G.o.d; because His mercy is over all His works, and because He loved the world, and sent His Son, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved; because He is The Giver, The Father of lights, from whom comes every good and perfect gift; because all which makes this earth habitable--all justice, order, wisdom, goodness, mercy, humbleness, self-sacrifice-- all which is fair, or honourable, or useful, in men or angels, in kings on their thrones or in labourers at the plough, in divines in their studies or soldiers in the field of battle--all in the whole universe, which is not useless, and hurtful, and base, and d.a.m.nable, and doomed (blessed thought that it is so!) to be burned up in unquenchable fire--all, I say, comes forth from the Father of the spirits of all flesh, the Lord of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working; who spared not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for us, and will with Him freely give us all things.

SERMON IX. THE LORD'S PRAYER

Matt. vi. 9, 10. After this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven.

I have shown you what a simple account of our duty to G.o.d and to our neighbour the Catechism gives us. I now beg you to remark, that simple and everyday as this same duty is, the Catechism warns us that we cannot do it without G.o.d's special grace, and I beg you to remark further, that the Catechism does not say that we cannot do these things well without G.o.d's special grace, but that we cannot do them at all. It does not say that we cannot do all these things of ourselves, but that we can do none of them. But I want you to remark one thing more, which is very noteworthy: that in this case, for the first time throughout the Catechism, the teacher tells the child something. All along the teacher has, as I have often shown you, been making the child tell him what is right, calling out in the child's heart thoughts and knowledge which were there already.

Now he in his turn tells the child something which he takes for granted is not in the child's heart, of which, if it is, has been put into it by his teachers, and of which he must be continually reminded, lest he should forget it; namely, that he cannot do these of himself; that, as St. Paul says, 'in him,' that is, in his flesh, 'dwells no good thing;' that he is not able to think or to do anything as of himself, but his sufficiency is of G.o.d, who works in him to will and to do of His good pleasure, who has also given him His Holy Spirit.

The Catechism, in short, takes for granted that the child knows his duty; but it takes for granted also that he does not know how to do that duty. It takes for granted, that in every child there is as St. Paul says, 'a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin' (literally, of short coming, or missing the mark) 'which is in his members.'

Now man's natural inclination is to suppose that good thoughts are part of himself, and therefore that a good will to put them in practice is in his own power. I blame no one for making that mistake: but I warn them, in the name of the Bible and of the Catechism, that it is a mistake, and one which every man, woman, and child will surely discover to be a mistake, if they try to act on it. Good thoughts are not our own; they are Jesus Christ's; they come from Him, The Life and The Light of men; they are His voice speaking to our hearts, informing us of His laws, showing us what is good. And good desires are not our own: they come from the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, who strives with men, and labours to lift their hearts up from selfishness to love; from what is low and foul, to what is n.o.ble and pure; from what is sinful and contrary to G.o.d's will, to what is right and according to G.o.d's will.

This is the lesson which you and I and every man have to learn: that in ourselves dwells no good thing; but that there is One near us mightier than we, from whom all good things do come; and that He loves us, and will not only teach us what is good, but give us the power to do the good we know. But if we forget that, if we take any credit whatsoever to ourselves for the good which comes into our minds, then we shall be surely taught our mistake by sore afflictions and by shameful falls; by G.o.d's leaving us to ourselves, to try our own strength, and to find it weakness; to try our own wisdom, and find it folly; to try our own fancied love of G.o.d, and find that after all our conceit of ourselves, we love ourselves better, when it comes to a trial, than we love what is right; until, in short, we are driven with St. Paul to feel that, howsoever much our hearts may delight in the Law of G.o.d, there is a corrupt nature in us which fights against our delight in G.o.d's law, and will surely conquer it, and make us slaves to our own fancies, slaves to our pa.s.sions, slaves to ourselves, ay, slaves to the very lowest and meanest part of ourselves: unless we can find a deliverer; unless we can find some one stronger than us, who can put an end to this hateful, shameful war within us between good wishes and bad deeds.

And then, if we will but cry with St. Paul, 'Oh, wretched man that I am, _who_ shall deliver me from the body of this death?' we shall surely, sooner or later, hear a voice within our hearts, a voice full of love, of comfort, of fellow-feeling for us,--'_I_ will deliver thee, my child; _I_, even I thy Father in heaven; I will teach thee, and inform thee in the way wherein thou shouldest go; and I will guide thee with mine eye.' And then with St. Paul we shall be able to answer our own question, and say, 'Who will deliver me? I thank G.o.d, that G.o.d Himself will deliver me, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

This, then, is the reason why we need to pray: because we need to be delivered from ourselves. This is the reason why we may pray, because G.o.d is willing to deliver us from ourselves, if we be willing.

But every human being round us needs to be delivered from themselves, just as much as we do. Without that deliverance we cannot do our duty, neither can they. And just in proportion as men are delivered from themselves, will mankind do its duty, and the world go right.

Now their duty is the same as ours; and therefore the prayer which is right and good for us is equally right and good for them. And what is more, we cannot pray rightly for ourselves unless we pray for them in the very same breath; for the Catechism tells us that there is one duty for all of us, to love and obey and serve our heavenly Father, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, because they are our brothers, children of one common Father, members of the same G.o.d's family as we are, and their interest and ours are bound up together. Yes, to love all mankind as ourselves; for though too many of them, alas! are not yet in G.o.d's family, and strangers to His covenant, yet G.o.d's will is that they too should come to the knowledge of the truth; and therefore for them we can pray hopefully and trustfully, 'Lord have mercy on all men, on Jews, Turks, Infidels, and heretics; and bring them home, blessed Lord, to Thy flock, that they may be saved and made one fold under one Shepherd, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom Thou hast declared Thy good will to all the children of men.'

This is the right prayer. That all men may do their duty where G.o.d has put them. That those who, like the heathen, do not know their duty, may be taught it; that we who do know it, may have strength to do it.

And therefore it is that the Catechism teaches us the need of prayer, immediately after making us confess our duty; and therefore it is that it begins by teaching the Lord's Prayer, because that prayer is the one, of all prayers which ever have been offered upon earth, which perfectly expresses the duty of man, and man's relation to Almighty G.o.d.

It is throughout a prayer for strength. It confesses throughout what we want strength for, to what use we are to put G.o.d's grace if He bestows it on us. Our delight in the Lord's Prayer will depend on what we consider our duty here on earth to be.

If we look upon this earth princ.i.p.ally as a place where we are to pray for all the good things which we can get, our first prayer will be, of course, 'Give us this day our daily bread.'

If we look at this earth princ.i.p.ally as a place where we have a chance of being saved from punishment and torment after we die, then our first prayer will be, 'Forgive us our sins.' And, in fact, that is all that too many of our prayers now-a-days seem to consist of,-- 'Oh, my Maker, give me. my daily bread. Oh, my Judge, forgive me my sins.' Right prayers enough, but spoilt by being taken out of their place; spoilt by being prayed before all other prayers; spoilt, too, by being prayed for ourselves alone, and not for other people also.

But if we believe, as the Bible and the Catechism tell us, that we and all Christian people are G.o.d's children, members of G.o.d's family, set on earth in G.o.d's kingdom to do His work by doing our duty, each in that station of life to which G.o.d has called us, in the hope of a just reward hereafter according to our works, then our great desire will be for strength to do our duty, and the Lord's Prayer will seem to us the most perfect way of asking for that strength; and if we believe that we are G.o.d's children and He our Father, we shall feel sure that we must get strength from Him, and sure that we must ask for that strength; and sure that He will give it us if we do ask.

But if His will is to give it us, why ask Him at all? Why pray at all, if G.o.d already knows our necessities, and is able and willing to supply them?

My friends, the longer I live, the more certain I am that the only reason for praying at all is because G.o.d is our Father; the more certain I am that we shall never have any heart to pray unless we believe that G.o.d is our Father. If we forget that, we may utter to Him selfish cries for bread; or when we look at His great power, we may become terrified, and utter selfish cries to Him not to harm us, without any real shame or sorrow for sin: but few of us will have any heart to persevere in those cries. People will say to themselves, 'If G.o.d is evil, He will not care to have mercy on me: and if He is good, there is no use wearying Him by asking Him what He has already intended to give me: why should I pray at all?'

The only answer is, 'Pray, because G.o.d is your Father, and you His child.' The only answer; but the most complete answer. I will engage to say, that if anyone here is ever troubled with doubts about prayer, those two simple words, 'Our Father,' if he can once really believe them in their full richness and depth, will make the doubts vanish in a moment, and prayer seem the most natural and reasonable of all acts. It is because we are G.o.d's children, not merely His creatures, that He will have us pray. Because He is educating us to know Him; to know Him not merely to be an Almighty Power, but a living, loving Person; not merely an irresistible Fate, but a Father who delights in the love of His children, who wishes to shape them into His own likeness, and make them fellow-workers with Him; therefore it is that He will have us pray. Doubtless he _could_ have given us everything without our asking; for He _does_ already give us almost everything without our asking. But He wishes to educate us as His children; to make us trust in Him; to make us love Him; to make us work for Him of our own free wills, in the great battle which He is carrying on against evil; and that He can only do by teaching us to pray to Him. I say it reverently, but firmly. As far as we can see, G.o.d cannot educate us to know Him, The living, willing, loving Father, unless He teaches us to open our hearts to Him, and to ask Him freely for what we want, just _because_ He knows what we want already.

If I have not made this plain enough to any of you, my friends, let me go back to the simple, practical explanation of it which G.o.d Himself has given us in those two words--father and child.

Should you like to have a child who never spoke to you, never asked you for anything? Of course not. And why? 'Because,' you would say, 'one might as well have a dumb animal in one's family instead of a child, if it is never to talk and ask questions and advice.'

Most true and reasonable, my friends. And as you would say concerning your children, so says G.o.d of His. You feel that unless you teach your children to ask you for all they want, even though you know their necessities before they ask, and their ignorance in asking, you will never call out their love and trust towards you.

You know that if you want really to have your child to please and obey you, not as a mere tame animal, but as a willing, reasonable, loving child, you must make him know that you are training him; and you must teach him to come to you of his own accord to be trained, to be taught his duty, and set right where he is wrong: and even so does G.o.d with you. If you will only consider the way in which any child must be educated by its human parents, then you will at once see why prayer to our Heavenly Father is a necessary part of our education in the kingdom of heaven.

Now the Lord's Prayer, just this sort of prayer, is man's cry to his Heavenly Father to train him, to educate him, to take charge of him, daily and hourly, body and soul and spirit. It is a prayer for grace, for special grace; that is, for help, daily and hourly, in each particular duty and circ.u.mstance; for help from G.o.d specially suited to enable us to do our duty. And the whole of the prayer is of this kind, and not, as some think, the latter part only.

It is too often said that the three first sentences are not prayers for man, but rather praises to G.o.d. My friends, they cannot be one without being the other. You cannot, I believe, praise G.o.d aright without praying for men; you cannot pray for men aright without praising G.o.d; at least, you cannot use the Lord's Prayer without doing both at once, without at once declaring the glory of G.o.d and praying for the welfare of all mankind.