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SERMON XIX.

FROM TAYLOR.

PART II.

JOHN ix. 31.

Now we know, that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

In prosecution of the subject of my morning's discourse, we are next to inquire, what degrees and circumstances of piety are requisite to make us fit to be intercessors for others, and to pray for them, with probable effect. I say with PROBABLE effect; for when the event depends on what is not within our own election, (such as are the lives and actions of others,) all that we can consider is, whether we are fit to pray for those who are within the limits and possibility of present mercy.

God threatened the rebellious Israelites that he would break their staff of bread, and even the

righteous should not be prevailing intercessors-even though they were Noah, Job, or Daniel, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. If there had been ten righteous in Sodom, God would have spared it for their sakes. But four only were found; and they only delivered their own souls: neither their righteousness, nor Abraham's prayer, prevailed farther. And it is also mentioned in the New Testament, If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto DEATH, he shall ask, and He (that is, God,) shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. The sinner, at his prayer, shall receive pardon. And God, through him, shall grant life to such as sin not unto death; for we are informed immediately afterwards that there is a sin unto death; and St. John continues, I do not say that he shall PRAY for it. Thus are his commission and his power confined: for there are sins so great, and of such a nature, as God will never pardon. We are, therefore, not encouraged to pray because, as they cannot receive the benefit of Christ's intercession, much less can they of ours; since ours can only prevail by virtue of his mediation.

But, supposing him for whom we pray to be capable of receiving mercy, and to be within the covenant of repentance; yet no prayers of others can farther prevail, than to raise him (according

as he is himself disposed) the next step only towards the attainment of felicity.

The prayers of the good, in behalf of a sinner, first prevail that he shall be invited; that he shall be reproved; that he shall have his heart opened; and then that he shall repent. Their prayers follow him through the several stages, of pardon, of sanctification, of grace, of perseverance, and a holy death. And as even the sun itself can never enlighten the blind, so the prayers even of the good cannot prevail in favour of those who are indisposed to their attainment.

But, as the persons for whom they pray must be capable of receiving benefit, so they who thus pray for others must be more than ordinary persons. This was the case with respect to Job. When the wrath of God was kindled against Eliphaz and his two friends, God commanded them to offer a burnt sacrifice, saying, My servant Job shall pray for you, for HIM will I accept. And, in the case of the prevaricating Israelites, God was full of indignation against them, and smote them; then stood up Phineas and prayed, and the plague ceased.

A thirsty land drinks all the dew of heaven that falls on it and the heaviest shower fills not the channels of the torrent, nor even forms so much as a little furrow, that its stream might contribute to the fulness of the rivers, or renovate the verdure of the adjacent country. But when the earth is al

ready full, then, if God blesses it with a gracious shower, it divides it into portions, and sends it abroad in free and equal communications; that all the plains around may participate the blessing. So is a good man's prayer. His own cup is full. It is crowned with health, and overflows with blessings. And all that drink of his cup and eat at his table, are refreshed with his joys, and share with him his holy portions.

Consider, therefore, how great is our obligation to lead a strict and holy life. If we would support kings, and relieve the necessities of kingdoms; if we would be effective in the stopping of a plague, or in the success of armies-a great and an exemplary piety, a zealous and a holy prayer, can do all this. Every man who is in a state of grace, every man who can pray without a sinful prayer, may intercede for others; and it is a duty for all men to do it-all whose prayers are acceptable to God. I WILL, therefore, that prayers and supplications, and intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.

But he that would work effectually towards a great deliverance, can be confident of his success but in the same degree in which his person is gracious. Hence, a holy man whose poverty perhaps is such that he possesses no more than a ewelamb, that eats of his bread and drinks of his cup, and is unto him as a daughter, and indeed is all his portion in this world; this poor man is ministered

to by angels, and attended to by God; and the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for him, and Christ, as his advocate in heaven, presenteth his prayers in unison with his own at the throne of grace, This man, then, by his prayer, shall save a city, and destroy the fortune of a tyrant's army, when God sees good to grant it. For God will deny him nothing, but when it is no blessing; and then, his prayer is most heard when it is most denied.

In order to prevail in our intercessions for others, we should act not only in our individual, but in our social capacity. We should have recourse not only to acts of piety and repentance, but to acts of kindness and of charity; praying together in public with united hearts, and above all, in the communion of the Holy Sacrament: the beneficial effects of which we do not sufficiently estimate, because we do not immediately perceive. God never refuseth to hear a holy prayer. And our prayers can never be so holy, as when they are offered up in the union of Christ's sacrifice: for Christ, by that sacrifice, reconciled God unto the world. And, since our wants and necessities continue, therefore are we commanded to continue a perpetual remembrance and representation to God, of that which was done to satisfy all our wants. Then it is that we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us; we are one with Christ, and Christ with us. If, then, God giving us his Son could not but give us all things else, how shall he refuse us when we are

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