louder than the cry of mine against them After all this some perhaps may ignorantly alledge that of our blessed Saviour John 17.9 for a dispensation in this case if not for a contrary practice I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me But we are not by these words to understand that our Saviour did wholly leave wicked men out of his prayers but he preferred his Apostles and faithful servants before them these were nearest his heart and peculiarly dear to him and as there are degrees in Gods kindness so may and ought there to be in our prayers whilest we pray for all men we are to pray more especially for some 1. For our kindred near relations and intimate friends With what ardency and transports of zeal Moses and St. Paul prayed for such we read Exod. 32.31 32. Rom. 9.3 2. For the Church of God for the whole congregation of Christian people The City of Jerusalem was heretofore honoured above all the Cities of the world by Gods placing his name there and by that solemn worship which was there performed to him when the Tribes came up thither thrice a year c. Upon which account it was a Type of the true Church and the whole company of Gods faithful people are called Zach. 12.1 Heb. 12.22 the house of Jacob and the inhabitants of Jerusalem The Heavenly Jerusalem And therefore they were to pray for the Church under this title Pray for the peace of Jerusalem Psalm 122.6 7. Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy Palaces c. The Lord would not have them hold their peace Isa 62.6 7. for Jerusalems sake nor give him any rest till he made it a praise in the earth And it was a most fervent and pathetical Prayer Dan. 9.16 that of Daniel's O Lord according to all thy righteousness let thine anger and fury be turned away from thy City Jerusalem thy holy Mountain because for the sins and the iniquity of our Fathers Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us And doubtless we under the Gospel have all reason to own the same or greater obligations to pray for the Peace and prosperity of the Church of God and if we are not wholly devoid of the spirit of Christianity we shall express a sympathy with our fellow members rejoycing with those that rejoyce and weeping with those that weep praying most affectionately for those of the same holy communion with our selves that God would be pleased to confirm them in his truth keep them sound in the faith succour them by his grace defend them by his power Ephes 1.17 18 19. Epes 1.3 4. deliver them from every evil work and preserve them to his heavenly Kingdom For this among others we have the example of our Apostle praying for the Churches Col. 4.3 1 Thes 5.25 as well as desiring their prayers for himself upon all occasions particularly when he foresaw that he should meet with enemies in Judea Rom. 15.30 31. This is left upon record as an honourable testimony of Epaphras his zeal for the Church and people of God That he laboured fervently for them in prayer Col. 4. 12 13. that they might stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God Obj. But it may be objected against this part of our discourse that there is no such need of praying for the Church because God hath undertaken to secure it promising Mat. 16.18 That the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Answ It is true Christs Church shall never totally fail but no particular Churches ever had a Patent of perpetual preservation The decays and ruins of the Eastern Churches are a deplorable instance of the contrary and what hath been done to one Church may certainly be done to another what hath been done in Asia may be done in Europe Nor is that Church exempt which calleth her self the Mother and Queen of the rest but as she is fallen already in a sad degree from her first love from her truth and purity so may she soon be cast down from her pomp and glory And indeed when we consider her Apostasie from the Primitive Faith in many particulars we understand what great need there was of that early caution of the Apostle Be not high minded but fear Rom. 11.20 But to say no more of that now All Gods promises of not fayling and forsaking his people are made with this reserve that they do not wilfuly depart from him As the Prophet said unto Asa The Lord is with you while you are with him and if ye seek him he will be found of you 2 Chron. 15.20 but if you forsake him he will forsake you In which respect without naming any others at present we see there is great reason that in our prayers and supplications for all men we intercede especially for the Church of God in some such words as those of the Prophet Spare thy people Joel 2.17 O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach 3. We must pray more especially for that part of the Church of God among our selves because a natural and a civil added to the Christian relation strengthens our obligation to this duty Psal 122.7 For my brethren and companions sake I will now say Peace be within thee We that are united in the same civil as well as religious interests must needs suffer or prosper together and therefore ought to unite in mutual intercessions to pray most affectionately for one another and the whole body of the kingdom Jere. 14.9 Zach. 2.5 Psal 147.3 That the God by whose name we are called would not leave us but be a wall of fire round about us and the glory in the midst of us that he would strengthen the bars of Sions gates and bless all her children within her That he would protect his ordinances maintain his truths among us and continue his gracious presence with us that he would preserve the beauty and stability of religious government that errours and heresies may not infest the Church nor injustice treachery rebellion disorder the State but that the Tabernacle and the Tribunals religion and policy may mutally support and adorn each other That our Jerusalem may be a City compacted and at union within it self that we may not by any trifling or peevish differences among our selves open a breach for the common enemy to enter in at but that we may stand fast in one-spirit Phil. 1.27 and with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel that we may contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints that by all honest and orderly endeavours we may joyn together to defend and promote the religion of Christ and his Apostles the religion of the first and purest ages the religion which the Church of Rome hath so grosly corrupted the religion which the Church of England with others hath
A SERMON Preached in a Country-Audience On the late Day of Fasting and Prayer JANUARY 30. By a Priest of the Church of England 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. contra Celsum lib. 8. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry Psal 34.15 LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St Paul's Church-yard 1679. IMPRIMATVR Feb. 20. 1678 9. Guil. Sill. A SERMON Preached in a Country-Audience On the late Day of Fasting and Prayer JANUARY 30. 1 TIM li. 1 2. I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty I Know no time more seasonable to recommend to you this great and general Duty of Prayer Prayer for our selves and others Prayer for the whole body of the Nation prayer for all men than upon this day of Solemn publick Fasting and Prayer I know no time more seasonable to recommend to you the especial duty of Prayer for Kings and Magistrates than upon this day which gives us so sorrowful a remembrance of the fatal fall of the best of Princes and therein too evident a proof of the great dangers that even such are exposed to and consequently of the great need they stand in of our Prayers And I know no words more proper to mind you of the duty of Prayer in general or of this particular duty of Praying for Kings and Governours than these of our Apostle which contain a fatherly admonition of Paul the aged to his Son Timothy That in the oversight of his Diocess he would take special care that solemn-Prayers be duly put up to Almighty God in the several assemblies of Christians 1. For all Men not only for Believers but for Infidels not only for Friends and Relations but for Enemies and Persecutors 2. For Men of Place and power for Kings and all that are in authority After which 3. He propounds a motive to procure Prayers for such especially viz. that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty That holiness and righteousness may be so encouraged and promoted by the religious care and zeal of those that are in authority Isa 32.17 that we may enjoy the fruit of righteousness which is peace and the effect of righteousness which is quietness and assurance for ever I exhort therefore that first of all supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty These several words Supplications Prayers Intercessions are generally understood to signify several sorts of Prayer The first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deprecations of evil whether of sin or punishment The second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 petitions for all those good things which respect either this present life or that which is to come The third 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intercessions or Praying for other Men. To be sure under them with that other of Thanksgiving our Apostle comprehends all kinds of Prayer which he would have used in its proper place for its proper ends and purposes We need not distinguish nicely of the different sense of each word because the Apostle might well use three words of the same or very near the same signification the more throughly to commend to us and the more earnestly to press upon us the necessity and benefit of devout fervent and constant Prayer I exhort therefore that supplications prayers intercessions be made and I exhort it before all other things as the principal duty of Religion which is to take place of all the rest I exhort to it first of all c. In my discourse upon this subject I shall speak 1. Of the duty of Praying for all Men. 2. Of our particular obligation to pray for Kings and Magistrates 3. I shall make use of the motive in the Text together with some others to enforce this expression of our Loyalty by praying for the King and his Ministers 1. It is a Christian duty to Pray for all Men for all sorts and conditions of Men for Heathen and Jewish Infidels as well as for believing Christians for all that err and are seduced as well as for those that are sound in the Faith for our enemies and persecutors as well as for our friends and relations We are to pray for the conversion of the one as well as the confirmation of the other for reconcilement to our Enemies as well as for the continuance of amity with our Friends St. Chrysostom upon this place laments not only the narrowness and contraction of this charitable devotion but also the total defect of it in many Men and the contrary vice in some Some upon all occasions pray against and curse their Neighbours wishing evil may befal them others think they do very well if they pray for their friends and acquaintance for those that have done them good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or are like to do so The first sort pray like Heathens the second but like Jews at best 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us learn to pray like Christians not only forgiving our enemies but beseeching God to forgive them too That we may say with the Apostles Being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being desamed we intreat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 4.12 We endeavour to pacify them by mild and soft answers say some Interpreters we pray to God for them we beg that he would pardon them and turn their hearts say others The good Christian practiseth both He is gentle towards all men and prays for those who despightfully use him and persecute him This is the Glory and excellency of the Christian Spirit by this it bore up and maintained its reputation and renown when the world was most bent to blast and destroy it By this it got ground of the Heathen Philosophy made its way through all the opposition of Arms and Arts and took possession of Greece and Rome the most powerful and the most learned parts of the world For nothing ever gained a greater esteem or procured better entertainment for the Gospel of our Saviour than the patient sufferings of its primitive professors and their unparalleled kindness to their most malicious and bloody Persecutors and it hath been observed throughout all ages that Patience Prayers and Tears have been the Churches most serviceable weapons Great professors of Religion 't is true have conquered by other Arms but these alone make Religion it self victorious These keep the Crown upon its head maintain its Royalties uphold its Honour and Dignity in the World These set Christ upon his throne indeed and establish his Kingdom in the hearts of Men. And what did ever more shake and weaken the interest of Religion than the zealous endeavours
the Emperours by submitting to Christianity suffer any diminution in this part of their Royalty witness Constantine who honoured Bishops very highly and yet he reserved to himself the power of purging the Church from Idolatry and establishing the worship of God Enseb l. 2. de vit Constant c. 1. Theod. l. 5.20 by his own Imperial Edicts Witness Jovinian and Theodosius who by their own immediate Acts restored and reformed the pure religion which Julian and Valens had so much corrupted and destroyed Witness Justinian Novel Constit 131. who established the Code of the Universal Church consisting of the Canons of the four first General and five ancient Provincial Councils and commanded them to be kept as Laws I cannot stay here to give more instances of this nature seeing what hath been said already doth sufficiently shew that Kings and Magistrates have a great influence upon the Church upon our living godlily and therefore are to be pray'd for as such who may and do contribute very much either to the destruction or to the defence of the Faith the true Religion I need not tell you what a necessary dependance all the civil interests of a Nation have upon their Head and Governour nor have I time to shew you what glory the honour of a Prince reflects upon his people what protection and security they have in his power his Wisdom his vigilance and his goodness I can only tell you that his good is a common good and therefore to be prayed for as well for our own sake as his that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty That is the first motive to pray for Kings because the general safety peace prosperity and piety of a Nation depends so much upon them A further encouragement to this duty 2. In a second place may be this viz. That the prayers and piety of Subjects do very much contribute to the procuring and preserving of good Kings and Magistrates As for the iniquity and irreligion of a people God many times justly deprives them of a good Prince by suffering him to fall into sin and mischief which was the case of the incomparable Josiah 2 Kings 23.25 So by religion and righteousness is a Nation exalted and a Throne established If the wicked be taken from before the King his Throne shall be established in righteousness Prov. 25.5 If the prayers of single persons are so prevalent for themselves and their friends what great things may we expect from the united devotions of many good men in behalf of a person whose good redounds to many and whose happiness is a publick benefit As you have heard If prayer in such a case do not move God to convert a King from all sin and make him do all the good which is in his power yet we may hope it will at leastwise obtain that restraining grace for him which will keep him from being worse and hinder him from doing that evil to himself or the publick which before he was inclined to We are apt to impute the ill management of things and the evils that ensue thereupon to the weakness or wickedness of Kings which perhaps may more justly be charged upon the sins the profaneness and indevotion of the subject which very often provokes God to withdraw his guidance and direction his grace and assistance from Princes giving them up to be swayed by ill counsel to be overpowered by temptation to be drawn by their own lusts and passions to commit such folly and wickedness as becomes a plague and a scourge to a sinful people Psalm 106.32 For the peoples sake it went ill with Moses when he spake unadvisedly with his lips Davids sin in numbering the people was but a judgment executed on them for their own wickedness 2 Sam. 24.1 The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel for their sins no doubt and he moved David against them to say Go number Israel and Judah To instance in the case which was too much our own It was the peoples sin and not his surely which provoked God to deliver up the best of Kings into the hands of bloody and deceitful men to be abused and vilified and afterwards murthered by them If his good subjects had spent as much time in serious prayer for him as those hypocritical Traytours did in their mock devotions we might happily have enjoyed him longer 3. We are to pray for Kings because it is the only way the generality can do them service in Those that cannot help them by their counsel nor their Purses may by their prayers This way the charity and kindness of the poorest Cottage may visit and relieve the Court it self and the greatest King may be indebted for his preservation his life his health the success of his affairs to the prayers of his meanest Vassal 4. Christian prudence directs and Christian charity inclines us to pray most for such as most need it Now there are none in many respects more indigent and necessitous than the greatest Princes and Potentates none that need prayers and intercessions more than they and that 1. In respect of their great duties 2. Their manifold temptations 3. Their numerous enemies some in one way and some in another projecting against them 1. Their duties are great and difficult It is a very hard matter to rule well a great deal of Wisdom a great deal of study and care of strength and industry is required to make a good Governour The Master or Ruler of a Family a little Commonwealth as Aristotle calls it hath a great deal more to do a great many more solicitous thoughts about him a great many more troublesome businesses upon his hands than one of a single though a dependent capacity ordinarily hath The Governour then of a Kingdom which contains not only many Families but many Corporations and Cities will find the cares and troubles of provision and protection to encrease and multiply proportionably Epicurus who would by no means deny the being of a God yet disowned his providence and he did it with some shew of complement and civility pretending that it must needs be a great interruption of his ease and tranquillity to concern himself in the government of the World the ordering guiding controuling disposing of things so much below himself In this indeed he bewraies a very erroneous a very unworthy conception of the Supream Ruler of the World as if the ways and actions of the most perfect Being were subject to the same streights confinements and fatigues as ours are whereas his wisdom knows all things without so much as the labour of discourse and his power can do all things without Stratagem or contrivance But the Gods of the Earth 't is true Kings and Magistrates who in many things not only represent but resemble the God of Heaven in this are very unlike him They do not attain their Wisdom without diligent search experience and observation nor employ either it