united to his person, when our souls are joined to his soul, our body nourished by his body; when we are sanctified by his blood, and sealed with his Spirit, and adopted to his inheritance? When we represent his death, and pray in virtue of his passion, and imitate his intercession, and do that which God commands, and offer unto him that which he essentially loves, can we think it possible that God will deny such fervent addresses, such pressing importunities? Try it often; and, if all things else be answerable, you cannot have greater reason for your confidence.

But, in our importunity for others, we should recollect that we cannot hope to succeed by a multitude of words, and by long prayers; but by the measure of the spirit, by the justness of the desire, the usefulness of the request, the sincerity of our heart, and the charity of our wishes.

It is another great advantage towards a prevailing intercession for others, that he who prays be a person of superior dignity, employment, or designation. For God hath appointed certain persons and descriptions of men to pray for others such as fathers for their children, kings for their subjects, and the priesthood for all the the members of the Christian Church. The whole order of the Clergy are appointed by God to pray for others, to be ministers of Christ's priesthood, to stand between God and the people, and to present to God all their

wants and all their desires. That this God hath ordained and appointed, and that this he will bless and accept, appears by the testimony of God himself. It was this which caused the confidence of Micah Now KNOW I that the Lord will do me good, seeing that I have a Levite to my priest : meaning that in his ministry, in the ministry of priests, God hath established the alternate returns of blessing and of prayer-the intercourse between God and his people. And through descending ages, it came to be transmitted from the Synagogue to the Christian Church, that the ministers of religion are advocates for us under Christ, by the ministry of reconciliation, by their dispensing the holy sacraments, by the word of God and prayer: and therefore says St. James, If any man be sick among you, let him send for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him: meaning that God has specially appointed them, and will accept them in ordinary as well as extraordinary cases and this is what is meant by blessing. A father blesses his child, and Solomon blessed his people, and Melchisedec the priest blessed Abraham, and Moses blessed the sons of Israel, and God appointed the Levitical priests to bless the congregation. God has appointed the priest to pray for the people; and since he has made it his ordinary office and employment, he intends him to be efficient in that to which he is appointed. His

prayer, therefore, if it be FOUND IN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, is the surer way to prevail in his intercessions for the people.,

Here, then, is the greatest difficulty of the text: for if God heareth not sinners, it is of infinite necessity that the ministers of religion should be holy ; since the whole of their ministry consists in preaching and praying-for thus the Apostles summed up their employment, But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. The prayers and offices of the ministry are of great advantage for the interest of the people : but if they be administered by evil men, this advantage is lost; the people are left to stand or to fall solely by their own actions. Yet God has not put the salvation of any man into the power of another : and therefore he will never exact the sacraments of us by the measure of him by whom they are administered; but by the piety of the communicant, by the prayers of Christ, and the mercies of God. But though the greatest interest of salvation depends not upon this ministry; yet as by this we receive many advantages, if the minister be holy; so if he be vicious, we lose all that which would be conveyed to us by his part of the holy ministration.

Lastly, I proposed to consider what are the signs by which we may judge that our prayers are heard. This, however, requires little particular observation for if our prayers be according to the warrant of God's word, and if we ask according to

God's will what is right and profitable; we may rely upon the promises; and we may be sure that our prayers are heard.

I shall therefore sum up all in the words of God by the Prophet. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof if ye can find a man, if there be any that EXECUTETH JUDGMENT, that SEEKETH the TRUTH-and I will PARDON it. God offered to pardon all Jerusalem for the sake of one righteous person and in our days, surely, there still are frequent causes and opportunities for mercy.

Prayer can appease God's wrath, and drive away temptation. Prayer procures the ministry and service of angels. It rescinds the decrees of God. It cures sicknesses, and obtains pardon. It arrests the sun in his course, and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon. It rules over all God's creatures, and opens and shuts the storehouses of rain. It quenches the violence of fire, and stops the mouths of lions. It reconciles us to the anguish of torture, and the sharpness of persecution. It pleases God, and supplies all our necessities. But prayer, that can do all this, can do nothing without holiness: for God heareth not SINNERS; but if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth his will, HIM he heareth.

SERMON XX.

FROM TAYLOR.

"

HEBREWS xii. 28, 29.

Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

ST. PAUL enumerates in this epistle, the great advantages which the Gospel possesses over the Law. The Law was given amid the terror and amazement of all present, by Him, at the sound of whose voice the whole earth was shaken : whereas the Gospel was given to us by the Prince of Peace, a meek and benignant Saviour.

Yet the Apostle proceeds to declare to us the terror of the Lord, who, after being our law-giver on earth, now that he has ascended into heaven, shall speak to us from thence. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if THEY escaped not who refused him that spake on EARTH, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from HEAVEN.