versation with all men. preserve.

These we are to pray for, and to

First, Heavenly, to enjoy the favour of God, and to be in covenant with him: for if he be our enemy, all the creatures are his soldiers: he can set in order the stars, hiss to the fly, muster up caterpillars and canker-worms, arm frogs, animate dust, turn the hands of his enemies to destroy one another. Above all things, therefore, we must keep peace with God; for if he be not with us, all other helps will fail. (Isa. xxxi. 3)

You will say, we are sure of this; for God hath promised to be with his church, and never to fail it; the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. (Mat. xxviii. 20, and xvi. 18)

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It is true, the catholic church, and the lively members of his body, shall never totally fail. But particular churches and nations never had a patent of perpetual preservation. Rome boasts of it; but the apostle hath entered a caveat against that boast. (Rom. xi. 20, 21) But all God's promises of not failing us, are made to those who keep covenant with him; otherwise he also will break with us. "The Lord" (saith the Prophet unto Asa) "is with you while you be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you." (2 Chron. xv. 2) said" (saith the Lord unto Eli)" that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me, I will honour; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Sam. ii. 30) The Lord married his church for ever; (Hos. ii. 19) but when she committed adultery, he gave her a bill of divorce. (Jer. iii. 8) He said he would dwell in his Temple for ever; (Psal. cxxxii. 14) yet he threatened to forsake it; (Jer. vi. 8) and accordingly did so. (Ezek. x. 18)

We should consider this, and tremble at it, (and Josiah did) lest our mighty sins, unthankfulness, unfruitfulness, animosities, heresies, blasphemies, contempt of the Lord's messengers (the sin for which the Lord departed from Judah, when there was no remedy, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16) should provoke him to depart from us; to take away his peace, as he threatened, Jer. xvi. 5; to shew us the back and not the face. (Jer. xviii.

• Vid. Whit. con. 2. quest. 3. et Gerar. loc. de Eccles. c. 8.

17) And what a case is God's own heritage in, when he forsakes and hates it! (Jer. xii. 7, 8) If the way, and the joy, and the name of the Lord be the strength of his people; what strength is left to them, when they are gone out of his way, and deprived themselves of his joy, and cannot lay hold, or lean upon his name? As, therefore, when men see the walls of their houses crack and open, they hasten to repair them, and set up props and buttresses to support them; so when we see such vicissitudes of distractions, war by land, and then war at sea; again war at sea, and we know not how soon by land again; shaking, shivering, convulsion fits in the church of God,-many a breach and hiatus' in the walls thereof,-truth corrupted,-vanity dissolved,--the foundations out of course; it is high time to think of making up breaches, repairing the waste places, and raising up the tabernacle of David; to beg of God that he will lay our foundations, and make our windows, and set up our gates, remove our fears, rebuke our enemies, calm our tempests; that, after so many shakings and concussions, the Lord may, at last, be pleased to speak in a soft still voice unto us.

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Secondly, We are to pray for brotherly peace in the church, amongst the members thereof; that as Christ is one, so they may be one'; (John xvii. 22) knit by faith to him, and by love to another, as the curtains of the tabernacle were by loops and taches: that as we are one city, household, family, assembly, (Ephes. xxi. 9, and iii. 15. Heb. xii. 22) so we may have one heart, and one soul. (Acts iv. 32) In the body, the head hath not one heart, and the hand another; the eye hath not one soul, and the foot another; but one heart doth warm the whole, and one soul doth quicken the whole So should it be in the church of God; we should have one heart, and one way; (Jer. xxxii. 39) walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing; (Phil. iii. 15) gather up the stones, remove every thing that offendeth; (Isa. Ixii. 10) not prefer ends or interests above the public peace of the church of God; apply ourselves, in all sweet ways of Christian correspondence, and mutual condescension, to make up the breaches, and to pour oil into the wounds of the church of Christ. It cannot be but a joy to our adversaries, a

f Prov. x. 29. Neh. viii. 10. Prov. xviii. 10.

blemish to our profession, a grief to good men, a stumblingblock to evil men,-to see brethren fall out in the way,—to see the church crumbled into divisions and subdivisions, and like a body that hath the itch, to see one member tear and scratch, and rub and gall the rest; and must needs give unspeakable advantage to our subtile and vigilant adversaries both to reproach and undermine us. "

one.

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Thirdly, We are to pray for external peace with all men, i which, as much as in us lies, we are to follow; walking wisely, meekly, humbly, charitably, obligingly towards every And inasmuch as the church is as the ark on the waters, waves and winds ready still to beat upon it, we should pray for it, that it may be delivered from the hands of strange children; and that the Lord would still the raging of the sea, rebuke the enemy and the avenger, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, and scatter those that delight in war. We have tasted of war both domestic and foreign, but the Lord hath mingled it with much mercy. If our eyes had seen the fruits thereof, as other people have felt, cities burned with fire, children wallowing in blood, virgins perishing under the lust of villains, widows mourning for the dead, and dying for daring to mourn; towns turned into heaps, a garden of Eden into a wilderness, no cattle in the field, no flocks in the fold, no herd in the stalls, no inhabitant in the city, no child to the father, no husband to the wife, no money to the rich, no clothing to the delicate, no mercy in the enemy, no liberty in the miserable to bewail his misery; children howling for bread, the honourable embracing dunghills, death creeping in at windows, overtaking them that fly, and finding out those that hide themselves; we would learn to prize a recovered peace, and to pray for the continuance of it.

Weighty are the reasons in the text, to demonstrate and

In the case of religion, every subdivision is a strong weapon in the hand of a contrary party: Hist. of the Counc. of Trent. p. 49.-Vid. Calv. Opus de scandalis. h Dissidia inter Christianos fovet Julianus. Baron. An. 362. sect. 285.-Dissidia nobis passim objiciunt Pontificii. Barclaii parænes. 1. 1. c. 5, 6. Fitzsim. Britannom. 1. 1. c. 5, 6, 7.-Breerby Apolog. p. 679.-Stapleton. tom. 2. p. 429.-See White's conference with Fisher, p. 583.-Vid. Baron. An. 448. sect. 74.-Phil. Camerii Medit. Hist. part. 3. p. 21.-Orat. H. Zanch. oper. tom. 8. part. postr. p. 241.—Crakenthorp. cont. Spalat. cap. 43. 1 Rom. xii. 18, and xiv. 19. Col. iv. 5. Psalm cxliv. 7. viii. 2. lxviii. 30.

press this truth upon us. First, The condition of the church, a city compacted, and knit together by many strong bands, one father, one head, one family, one rule, one faith, one love, one baptism, one spirit, one common salvation. No where is peace so natural, so amiable as in the church.

Secondly, The celebrity of God's worship, which is the glory of a people. Let the Ark be gone, and the glory is departed. No so doleful a sight as the desolations of the Temple. (Psal. lxxiv. 3, and lxxix. 1. Isa. lxiv. 10, 11, 12) All our foundations and springs are here; (Psal. Ixxxvii. 1, 7) the wells of salvation, the fountain of the gardens, the graces and comforts of God's spirit, which make our souls. like a watered garden.

Thirdly, The thrones of David, the towers, bulwarks, and seats of judgements, in which things stand the external happiness of a nation. Laws and judges are the foundations of the earth. (Psal. lxxxii. 7) When they were corrupted with injustice and violence, the Lord threatened that Jerusalem should become heaps. (Mich. iii. 11, 12) Great reason therefore to pray for Jerusalem, that it may be a city of righteousness, a faithful city. (Isa. i. 26)

to

Fourthly, The benefits of this peace. 1. To ourselves, they shall " prosper, that love it." God will not only hear the prayer by giving peace to the church, but by giving prosperity to him that made it. Such a prayer is like to Noah's dove, turns back again him that sent it out, with an olive branch in the mouth. Yea, if the prayer should be denied as to the body of the people, yet such a man should be heard for himself. He should be marked for safety. (Ezek. ix. 4, 5, and xiv. 14) There should be a hiding-place provided for him; (Isa. lxii. 20) and a book of remembrance should be written for him. (Mal. iii. 16) He shall have peace, though the Assyrian be in the land. (Mic. v. 5. Isa. xliii. 2)

2. To our brethren: Such a prayer shall be like the beams of the sun, which diffuseth light and heat upon thousands at once. God's people have public hearts and aims, look after general and public interests. Moses was offered to be the father of a great nation himself; (Exod. xxxii. 10) "O no,

1 Ephes. iv. 4, 5, 6. Gal. vi. 16. Phil. iii. 16. Tit. i. 4. Jude ver. 3. 1 Sam. iv. 21.

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not so, Lord;" Lord, think upon thy people. The afflic tions of Joseph more wound, than any such promise can comfort him. He dares not so unman, so unbrother himself, as to look upon his posterity, and forget Abraham's.

3. To the house of God. The conversation and propagation of his holy doctrine and worship, is so dear to all that are of David's mind, that they are willing not only to purchase it with their prayers, but with their blood. "I count not my life dear unto me," saith the apostle," so I may fi nish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus." And again; "I am ready not only to be bound, but to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts xx. 24, and xxi. 13) They prefer Jerusalem above their greatest joy. And this is a high honour, that God doth confer upon the prayers of his servants, that whereas all their good and comfort flows from the house of God, the very house of God itself doth reap benefit by their prayers. Though it be his rest, the place wherein he delighteth, the place which he filleth with his glory; yet the glory of his own house shall be bestowed upon it, in answer to his servants' prayers.

We have considered the duty: before we make application, let us consider the root and ground of the duty, which is love. "They shall prosper, that love it." The love of the church, is the foundation of all our prayers and endeavours, for the prosperity of the church. A man will not very hastily seek the good of those whom he doth not love and therefore when Christ requireth that we should love our enemies, he addeth as a fruit of it, that we should pray for them. (Matth. v. 44) Love made Jonathan intercede with his father for David, even when he knew his displeasure against him-much more will it move us to intercede with God for his beloved people, the spouse of his own son.

1. Love is a fundamental passion, the fountain of all the rest: prayer is nothing else but the affection of desire

m Loquitur planè parentis affectu, quem nulla possit delectare felicitas, extorribus quos parturivit. Verbi gratià, si dives quispiam mulieri pauperculæ dicat, 'Ingredere tu ad prandium meum, sed quem gestas infantulum, relinque foris, quoniam plorat et molestus est nobis,' nunquid facict? Nonne magis eliget jejunare, quàm, exposito pignore caro, sola prandere cum divite? Ita Moses, &c. Bern, in Cant. Serm. 12.