Page:Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.djvu/30

 goodness and truth do thus constitute heaven, and have in them so great happiness, is because they constitute, as before shown, the nature of the Lord himself, who is the life and soul of heaven, and the source of all true happiness.

This, then, in the most general sense, is the meaning of the words, "Hallowed be thy name,"—namely, to revere goodness and truth, to regard them as holy, to love them, and to prefer them to all other things. When, then, we utter these words, we pray that we may be enabled to love goodness and truth more ardently, that we may seek them more constantly and more steadily, that we may have strength to resist the temptations and overcome the evils within and without us, that hinder their progress in the soul, and that we may at length become established in that state of love and faith which is heaven in essence here, and which will be heaven in existence and in blessed experience hereafter.

This is the prayer for ourselves. And at the same time, we should, in uttering these words, lift up a prayer for others also. Our thoughts and interest extending to the world around us, we should feel and express the hope and prayer, that the Lord's name may be more hallowed on the earth, that goodness and truth may be more loved and more valued by mankind, and that their influence may extend more and more widely, carrying light, life, and blessing wherever they go. And while uttering this hope and prayer, we should make it practical, by adding to it the secret resolution of doing something ourselves towards this