A practical exposition of the Lord's-Prayer

(2) With respect to Us; for the first Person is not only the Father of Christ, but our Father; John 20. 17. I go to my Father, and your Father. We share with Christ in all his Relations: As God was his God by Covenant; 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 2. 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, tho not excluding the other Persons. Eph. 3. 14. I bow my Knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesu• Christ. Tho it be not unlawful to pray to Christ, or to the Holy-Ghost; for that hath been ⟨p. 78⟩done by the Saints. Stephen saith, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit; and Jacob saith, The Angel of the Covenant bless the Lads. And all baptized Persons are baptized in the Name of the Son and Holy-Ghost, 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 Redemption; and so it is said, Eph. 2. 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 an 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.

(2) With respect to Vs; for the first Person is not only the Father of Christ, but our Father; John 20. 17. I go to my Father, and your Father. We share with Christ in all his Relations: As God was his God by Covenant; so he is our God. And in this Sence, personally, it may be taken here; for our Business lieth mainly with the first Person, with whom Christ intercedeth for us: