Page:Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.djvu/57

 sense, forbids not only all blasphemy or levity in speaking of God, but also all thought or feeling of irreverence towards him or of murmuring at his providences,—in a word, all that stands opposed to the love and worship of him. He, then, who keeps this commandment, by resisting every such evil feeling, thought, or word, when tempted to give way to it, will have such evil removed from his heart by the Lord, and the opposite good implanted in its stead. So, the commandments, "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not bear false witness," and the rest,—forbid, in their full comprehension, every kind of hatred and ill-will, every evil act, word, or thought in regard to the neighbor. Whoever, then, keeps these commandments, by resisting all such evil deeds, thoughts, or feelings, when temptations to them arise in the heart, will have those evils removed by the Lord, and in their place will find a spirit of love and kindness towards the neighbor implanted and continually increasing, till he comes at length into that full state of love which constitutes heaven in the soul: and then, after death, he will enter into heaven and into the full enjoyment of its eternal delights.

Thus it may be seen, how keeping the Divine commandments tends to bring man into that state of love and goodness, which is the essence of the heavenly state. Since therefore, it is the Lord's will that man should come into that state of love, it must be his will that he should keep the Divine commandments, which is the means and the only means of attaining that state. This, then, in fine, is the Lord's will, namely, that