to Die Because I have newly fallen into a Sin and the Lord I see is offended at it and it is worse than Death to me to be taken away in the Lords Displeasure Jacob had newly fallen into the Sin of Distrust upon his Fear of Esau and his Faith was shaken And for this he saw God was come forth against him in Anger And how terrible was it to him to be cut off by God in Anger He wept So did David Psal. xxxix 12 Hold not thy Peace at my Tears And he made Supplication And his Supplication was much to the like Tenor with that of David in the Verse after O spare me a little that I may recover Strength i. e. That I may recover the Strength of my Faith and the Assurance of God's Favour X. An Inquiry into the Reason of Hezekiah's Tears upon God's Message to him that he must Die EZEKIAH is Sick of the Plague and hath Tidings from God that he must Die of it He receives the Tidings with much Bitterness and Passion He turns his Face to the Wall he Prays he weeps he weeps sore And though it be not exprest yet it may very well be conceived out of his Carriage and the Issue upon it that the Tenour of his Prayers and Tears was that God would spare his Life Esa. xxxviii 2 3. Then Hezekiah turned his Face to the Wall and Prayed unto the Lord and said Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy Sight And Hezekiah wept sore Why Hezekiah why weepest thou Art thou so unwilling to part with the World No his Mind hath never been upon the World but upon Religion and God Art thou not fitted to Die and meet the Lord Why He was never unprepared Was he afraid of Judgment and that his Lot in the other World would not be good He was secure against that for he fears not to Appeal to God Remember Lord how I have walked before thee Why What ailes the Man that he Weeps so sadly Many and many a Thousand Men of a less gracious Temper than Ezekiah have taken the Tidings of Death with a great deal more Patience and less Passion And what ails him to take it so bitterly Certainly no bare Concernment of his own either in fear of his Soul or of his Body In truth the main Concernment that moved him was the Concernment of God Our Saviour once said Weep not for me but Weep for your selves Ezekiah weeps not for himself but as I may say he weeps for Christ he weeps for God for the Cause Interest and Concernment of God For I. It was sad for him to think that he must Die of the Plague a dreadful Disease that destroys suddenly and fearfully that separates from the Comforts of Friends and that seems to carry with it Tokens of the Anger of God And it might very well be bitter to him to think of being taken away with a stroke that sounded somewhat of God's Anger But this was not all Wicked and Profane Ones would be ready to scoff at his Piety and Reformation if he were taken away by so fatal a Stroke See this is he that hath kept such a Coil in pulling down Altars purging the Temple and setting up of Religion and now behold what is become of him He has God's Tokens upon him Signs of his Anger and dies not the Common Death of all Men but by the fearful Stroke of the Plague It is no wonder if the horror of such Blasphemy as this against Religion set very sadly upon the Heart of the good Man And he was afraid ungodly VVretches would take occasion of such Blasphemings from the fatal manner of his Death And thus it is the Concern of God and his true Religion and not fear of his own Carcase that did stick so much upon this Holy Man's Thoughts under his dangerous condition A very pertinent and needful Desire for every Christian to beg of God that his Death may not be such as to open the Mouths of Wicked Men to Blaspheme God and Religion II It was sad to Hezekiah to Die before he could see Jerusalem and the People of God intirely delivered from their Danger If you well compute the Times of this King you will find that that very Year that Senacherib was so busie and cruel against the Cities of Judah and Jerusalem was the Year of Ezekiah's Sickness And observe that Passage of Esay to him foretelling him of his Recovery and of Fifteen Years added to his Life Esa. xxxviii 6 I will deliver thee and this City out of the Hand of the King of Assyria It appears there was danger abroad and it grieved the good Man to the Soul to be taken away before he saw any Deliverance A very just Cause to beg of God to spare Life And it shews that a Man does it not out of bare love of Life or of the World if he Pray to God with Submission to his Will to prolong his Life that he may See the Good of his Afflicted Chosen and may rejoice with the Gladness of his Nation and Glory with his Inheritance as is the Psalmist's Petition Psal. cvi 5 III. Ezekiah was now but Nine and Thirty Years Old in his Strength and Prime Young in Comparison of the Ages at which divers then Died. And certainly you can hardly fancy a more probable Reason of his Unwillingness to Die that related to him than this that he thought he had not done enough for God He desired to be yet spared that he might Reform more set up Religion more do more for God and his People A Holy and Blessed desire that aimed at God and his Honour and his Peoples Good regarding nothing the bare Life of this World or his own Carcase in comparison of this Much like is that Psal. lxxi 18 Now Lord when I am Old forsake me not until I have shewed thy Strength to this Generation That I may more Praise thee more impart the Knowledge of thee and thy Power to this Generation and those to come DECAD II. I. An Inquiry what Strength that was David requested when he prayed to God to spare him that he might recover STRENGTH Psal. xxxix 13 WHAT David's present Affliction was we cannot tell whether Sickness of Body some Dejection of Spirit or some sore Trouble from his Enemies It seems most likely to be some sore Sickness of Body at which his Enemies would rejoice and so add to his Trouble Imagine it his deadly Palsie in his old Age when he could feel no Warmth either from his wearing Cloaths or Bed-Cloaths Be it which it will do we think he prays heartily for the Recovery and Strength of his Body Doubtless more especially for refreshing and strengthning in Soul before God should take him That which is rendred Recover Strength in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Word is translated by
And so they maintain it is lawful to Excommunicate Depose Murder Princes out of Zeal to Religion And so they made it lawful nay laudable to murder so many innocent Souls in that Massacre in France Against Transubstantiation I hope every one laughs at the Doctrine of Transubstantion that will fetch Christ from Heaven at every Sacrament The Master-piece of Delusion Satan shews here how much Delusion he can practice in the greatest Ignorance For a Man against Sense and Reason Philosophy and Divinity to believe a Priest can calâ— Christ out of Heaven and turn a piece of Bread into his very Body The strangest Madness in the World I see it feel it Bread and yet must believe it Flesh. I know it was made yesterday by the Baker yet now I must believe it turned into my Creator I know Christ is in Heaven and yet must believe that he is here on Earth The Heathen were never more blind And against the immoral Doctrine of Equivocation Whereof he thus vehemently express'd himself I cannot but admire the Impudency as well as abhor the Wickedness of the Jesuits Doctrine of Equivocation A Doctrine that hath put on a Whore's Forehead a brazen Face and the Devil's Impudency it self before Men as well as it hath clothed it self with horrid Abominableness before God It is a Doctrine that teacheth Men to Lye and yet will maintain they Lye not And by their Doctrine there can be no Lying Forswearing or Deceiving in the World though they Lye Forswear and Deceive never so deeply A Trick beyond the Devils He turns Truth into a Lye These can turn a Lye into Truth A Popish Priest or Jesuite is brought before a Protestant Magistrate He puts him to his Oath Are you a Popish Priest or a Jesuite They will Swear NO roundly and make no Bones of it having this Reserve in their Mind I am not a Priest to you or I am not a Priest of the English Church or I am not a Jesuite to tell you or be your Confessor or some such lurking reserved Thought in his Mind This Man hath not told a Lye tho' he speaks not a Word true He hath not taken a False Oath though he hath Sworn Falsly As the Devil changeth himself into an Angel of Light so these a Lye into a Truth But as he is a Lyar still and is most dangerous when he seems a good Angel so is their Lye when they thus Cloath it with the pretence of Truth Into their secret let not my Soul come and with their Counsil my Glory be not thou united Finally He shewed them the Preference of the Protestant Religion before that of the Papists This is the Reason saith he that so many Protestants turn Papists This he spake in the Year 1674. Because Popery opens an easier way to Heaven a Thousand fold than the Protestant doth Add to this the Viciousness of the Times And the more Viciousness abounds the more will such Apostacy abound according to the intimation of our Saviour Matth. xxiv Because Iniquity shall abound the Love of many to God and his Truth shall wax cold Men would fain enjoy their Pleasures here and yet go to Heaven too They would fain have their Paradise here and have Paradise hereafter This Popery helps them too almost with a wet Finger Hath a Man committed Whoredom Adultery been Guilty of Deceit Luxury Uncharitableness let him go and Confess himself to a Priest and the Priest absolves him and those Sins are gone and there is no more danger of them Or Oh! For how many Thousand Sins for how many Thousand Years can the Pope Pardon him How may Pilgrimage to such a Saint fetch him off How may so many Fastings so many Ave Maries so often lying in Hair-cloth so many Masses make all well and out of Danger That it is as easie almost with them to get to Heaven as for a Man to do his ordinary Days Work But the Protestant Doctrine makes obtaining Salvation a harder Task according to the Truth of the Scripture John vi you read of divers that went away from Christ because they thought his Doctrine a Hard Saying So doth the poor Protestant Religion lose Followers upon the same account None is of poor Michaiah's side because he speaks Truth and Home But let Ahab have the Four Hundred false Prophets for they will be sure to make all well for him let him do what he will There are Four Hundred and Four Hundred false Prophets in the Popish Cause that will warrant the veriest Ahab that ever was Heaven If he have but Money to fee them well will Pray him to Heaven Sing him to Heaven Pardon him to Heaven and he shall never see Hell and it may be not Purgatory It is easie to see by this Comparison which is the truer and better Religion of the Two By these and such like sound and sober Discourses he built up his People committed to his Charge in Truth and Godliness So that it is reported he had not a Dissenter in his Parish The People of his Flock Honest Quiet and Industrious his Church constantly and conscientiously repaired to every Lord's Day with due Devotion And thus I have at length dispatched what I had to say both of our Author and these Remains of his which are now made Publick And I who have once more revived the Memory of this great Ornament of Literature and of our Church of England shall I hope not only be Pardoned but merit some Thanks from the Piously Learned and Sober-Minded Rank of Men. I had some inclination to have added a Fourth Tract of this Author's Namely A Chronicle of Events and Occurrences in the World under the Kings of France and the Ottoman Emperour made by one Joseph a Priest who lived about the Times of Henry VIII Being a Fair Translation out of Hebrew into English done by the Doctor 's own Hand Which he seemed to have taken all this pains about because the History is interspersed with what befel Jerusalem after the Destruction of it by Titus the Emperor and with the Wars waged by divers Kings and Princes for the Gaining and Possession of that Place once so famous for being the Spot of all the Earth appointed for God's Holy Temple to be built on and for the Son of God to Converse and Die and Redeem the World in And also because here is set forth by the Pen of a Jew himself the State and Condition of the Jews in the latter Times and particularly the sad Persecutions and Calamities that befel them by the just Judgment of God in these Western Parts of the World as well as in other Parts by the German and French Nations Whereby might be seen some History of that Desolate Forsaken People and of the Scourge of God upon them in successive Generations ever since they Rejected and Crucified their Messiah and took the Guilt of his Blood upon themselves and their Children The State of which People from Age to Age
sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He had a Remnant according to Election among them Rom. xi 5 It was then for the sake of their Fathers and for his own Name 's sake too Ezek. xxxvi And that is the second Reason Secondly He spared them for his own Name 's sake Consider we a little God's Covenant with Abraham Gen. xii 1 2. Now the Lord had said unto Abram get thee out of thy Country and from thy Kindred and from thy Father's House and I wilt bless thee and make thy Name great and thou shalt be a Blessing 1. Messiah must take Flesh of Abraham God appointed it that the Messiah should be of this Seed Heb. ii 16 He took not on him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham and the rest of the Seed of Abraham God chose for the visible Church 2. Having chosen it tho' perverse yet it had two Tyes upon him to shew Mercy First His Covenant and Secondly the Glory of his Name This Moses pleads in Behalf of Israel Upon this it is that God wisht Psal. lxxxi 13 O! that my People had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my Ways And Deut. v. 29. O! that there were such a Heart in them c. That is that his Covenanted People for the Honour of his Name would walk in his Ways and be obedient that he might not destroy them From hence we make two Observations First What a Canker stuck to this People in the beginning and yet they lasted a long time after This Sin and God's Doom laid on them and yet they remained a People Now wherein lyes the proper Cause of a sinful Peoples prospering enjoying of the Gospel and all good things Let England be the Example How many profane People in it How many that mind not God What Sins are among us And yet England lives Wherein lyes the Cause God's Covenant With whom VVith a peculiar People that fear him How God's Covenant God's Covenant is God's VVord of Promise and the Conditions thereof that be brought to a People And why does this Covenant procure us this Good from God Because there are some that do embrace it For their sakes God doth well to a Nation and yet they are commonly despised and persecuted So Lot was in Sodom VVhy does the VVorld stand That the Elect may be gathered Secondly A Generation may sin to that height as to bring a Guilt and Punishment upon succeeding Generations God threatens I will visit the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children This oft proves true in whole Nations As the Jews Idolatry with the Golden Calf had a sad Influence upon their Posterity And so also had that Saying of theirs long after His Blood be on us and on our Children VI. The Case of Widows marrying again considered CERTAIN VVidows were shrewdly taxed by S. Paul for marrying again in 1 Tim. v. 11 12. But the younger Widows refuse for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ they will marry Having Damnation because they have cast off their first Faith And the Rhemists hereupon make second Matriages a Fault little less if any thing at all than Adultery I shall speak something of such a VVoman's Case The Matter here at first Sight is obscure VVe will therefore take up first the general Scope of the Apostle at this Place and then particularly unfold the several Clauses of these Verses Writing to Timothy Minister of the Church at Ephesus he gives Rules for ordering the Church there as Chap. iii. 14 15. These things I write unto thee â—â—ping to come unto thee shortly But if I tarry long that thou mightest know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the House of God And First in the Third Chapter Rules for ordaining of Ministers and appointing Deacons and what Persons they ought to be And in this Chapter Rules concerning poor Widows to be taken to the Charge and Maintenance of the Church and to be in some Office and Employment in it They had their Xenedocheion i. e. Hospital and Widows in it to look to the Poor to get Strangers Meat to take Care of their Lodging c. Rom. xvi 1 will illustrate this I commend unto you Phoebe our Sister which is a Servant of the Church which is at Cenchrea In ver 9. they are not to be taken in under Threescore Years old So that the Apostle allows Maintainance for Widows poor Widows and Aged Widows because they had not Familes to care for as the Married had Poor that they might be relieved by the Church and do the Church some Service And Aged because such would be grave prudent and sober But the younger Widows refuse for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ they will marry c. The Rhemists brag here for the Vow of single Life such as of Priests and Nuns Because the Apostle saith not They wax wanton and play the Whore but wax wanton and Marry Therefore they conclude it means the Vow of Chastity and single Life and they extol that Vow and cry out of the Marriage of such who have made such rash Vows First Observe that Rev. ix 8 The Locusts have the Hair of Women that is long Hair as Nazarites pretending Vows Secondly We may say Wo to them that call Evil Good and Good Evil. What is their Doom that call Vowing single Life so great a Piece of Religion which is in it self evil Chastity is good and single Life good in some Respects 1 Cor. vii 34 but to vow either is Evil because it is to vow what is not in our own Power Jer. iv 2 we are to vow in Judgment as well as in Righteousness Not only to vow that which is lawful but what is in our own Power to do For a Man to vow he will fly in the Air walk on the Sea c. is a sinful Vow because impossible so to vow a single Life is for ought he knows as impossible for him and to live chastly And God hath evidenced his Curse upon this their wretched Vowing by giving them up to horrid Uncleanness and to the Murther of their Children But we will not insist on this we are taught that Marriage is Honourable and that all cannot attain to live single and that it is better to marry than to burn But in the Case before us there is no Vow at all but another Matter A poor young Widow if taken in to be sustained by the Stock of the Church and do some Service in it as tending the Sick c. will be ready to hearken after being married and so will be careless of the Charge committed to her will be ready to be wanton and so be a Scandal Nay may be ready to be wanton against the Religion of Christ and marry to an Infidel and so cast off her first Faith The Apostle makes Supposal what young Widows may be incident to Their Age may incline them to marry their Inclination to marry
Scriptures upon that Account But he reads studies meditates on them finds the Divine Excellency Sweetness Power of them And then he believes they are the VVord of God And that now is not for the Churches sake but for themselves The Church of England in the Thirty-nine Articles hath determined such Books Canonical VVhy Because the Church hath ever held them so That is some Furtherance to their Belief but not the cause of it They first believed the Church held them so but they saw Cause and Reason in the Books themselves to believe they were so As the Samaritans believed not at first that Christ was Christ for the VVoman's Relation but they believed she thought so and believed he might be so but that he was so they believed upon his own Words So we believe the Church owns the Scriptures but he is but a poor Christian that believes the Scriptures are the Scriptures upon no other Account He may believe the Canons of the Council of Trent about Scripture upon such an Account But he is a right Christian that believes the Scripture is the Word of God upon Proof and Trial. II. The Communion of Saints THIS Article harps upon the String of that before I believe the Holy Catholick Church and I believe that Church is in a Communion It is a Church of Saints for it is a Holy Church and tho' it be Catholick dispersed in divers Nations yet there is a Communion of those Saints But to what is this Article material What is it to me whether there be a Communion of Saints or no It is material in it self and if thou beest a true Christian it is material to thee And there is no true Saint but he blesseth God that there is such a Communion and he rejoyceth to be of that Communion as in the opening of the thing you will see the Cause If I should say there is a Communion of Devils or a Communion of ungodly Wretches Devils incarnate I doubt it would prove too true and it might not be unprofitable to observe such a fearful Communion to avoid it But when I say there is a Communion of Saints it is not only a Truth in Divinity but it is a Comfort in Religion and a Perswasive in Reason that Men would strive to be of that Communion if they did but understand what it meant It is not only I believe there is a Company of Saints for the Article before speaks that but I believe there is a Sacred Union Communion common Interest among that Company what is advantageous to every Member and to the whole What this Communion is and wherein it consists we must find out by these Considerations I. That Saints are very thin in the World Here one of Christ's little Flock there another but very rare Jer. iii. 14 And I will take you one of a City and two of a Family and I will bring you to Zion There were many Thousands in the City and but One of so many and many Cities in a Tribe and but Two of all these the Lord 's picked ones to bring to Zion Take the Character of a true Saint of God as David pictures him Psal. xv and how rarely is such an one to be found Day was when in all Jerusalem among Thousands of Persons such a Person was not to be found Jer. v. 1 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 and seeketh the Truth and I will pardon it Cast out the Chaff and Refuse that is in the World and how very little Wheat is to be found Openly prophane and close Hypocrites carnal Gospellers and lukewarm Christians covetous Worldings and voluptuous Epicures set these aside by themselves and look at those that truly fear God and eschew Evil that deny themselves and dare not break any Command of God and how small is that Number But Three Hundred in Gideon's Army fit to do the Work of God of Thirty-two Thousand If there be Three Hundred of Three Hundred Thousand that prove true Saints it is well if there be so many as it is sad there be no more Let me pose any one or let every one pose their own Heart Dost thou think thou art a true Saint of God Every one will be ready to assume the Title but sift thy Heart to the Bran and what saith it Is there no Love of the World No Malice Pride Self-seeking Coldness in Religion Carelesness of Duty there I tell thee a Saint's Heart is a rare Jewel we may go a great way before we find one Oh! that all the Lord's People were Prophets as Moses said so I say Oh! that they were Saints But it proves not so A Saint is a rare Creature and they grow very thin in the World here and there a Berry in the Top of a Bough here and there a Plant of the Lord 's planting but very rare Therefore when the Creed speaks of the Catholick Church meaning true Saints that serve God in Truth it speaks not Multitude tho' it mean Universal But it speaks that such are scattered up and down the World here some in one Nation there some in another here One in One City there another in another II. Therefore Communion of Saints cannot mean Personal or Local Union or Communion Saints in one Place or in one Lump together Not a College of all Saints in one Place but a Communion 'twixt them as scattered here and there all the World over As there is a Communion 'twixt two Friends one in Turky another in England one in New England another in Old The Jews little understand the Communion of Saints when they construe Hos. i. 11 Then shall the Children of Judah and the Children of Israel be gathered together and they shall appoint themselves one Head c. and such other Places Literally of their Meeting together and going to Canaan together and dwelling there together Whereas the Words mean their gathering into Communion of another Nature How would you understand that Mat. xxiv 31 And he shall send his Angels with a great Sound of a Trumpet and they shall gather together his Elect from the four Winds from one end of Heaven to the other By the Angels he means his Messengers the Ministers by the Sound of a Trumpet he means the Gospel by the whole he means that after the Destruction of Jerusalem of which the Speech is in the Verses before God by the preaching of the Gospel would fetch in his Elect among all Nations or call home the Gentiles But how gather them together What Into any one Place or Country or City No but into such a Communion as we are speaking of in the several Nations or Countries where they lived One Saint in Judea another in Assyria another in Greece All staying in the Place where they receive the Gospel and yet all gathered together into one
Particulars I. There is a Communion of Converse and Communion of Affection There may be the former where there is not the latter English Merchants have Communion of Converse with Outland Merchants when they come among them Buy Sell Eat Drink together When the Communion 'twixt them is meerly of Civil Converse rather than of near Affection And there may be Communion of Affection where there is no Converse Nay there is as it were planted in Morality an Affection of one Excellent Person to another A Valiant Man loves a Valiant Man though he never came near him A Scholar loves a Scholar that he hath only heard of Much more is such an Affection planted in true Christianity in an Heart truly Religious be he who he will where he will though he never saw him As Psal. xvi 3 My delight is in the Saints and Excellent on the Earth be they far off or near II. There is Communion in Common Interest where it may be there is not Communion in Common Converse Those that never saw or heard of one another to Converse together yet may have Communion in Common Interest Englishmen meeting beyond Sea that never saw each other before yet will take parts and side together as in the Common Interest of being Countrymen There is a Common Interest of all the Saints in the World though at their never so great Distance and Separation viz. Glorifying God and Loving the Lord Jesus As the Apostle saith 1 John i. 3 Our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. So the Fellowship of the Saints among themselves meets in this Centre of Loving the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. And ask the same Apostle the Exposition of his Words in the same Epistle Cap. ii 14 We know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren He would tell you It is a sign we Love God and so are passed from Death to Life because we Love the Brethren that Love God This is the special Centre in which Saints meet be they never so far asunder And in this Sense Their Gathering together is to be understood of which there is so frequent mention not into one place but into this one Circle of Loving Fearing Serving God Zeph. iii. 9 That they may call upon the Name of the Lord and serve him with one Consent In the Hebrew it is With one Shoulder As if many were together shouldring up the same weight or burden All in their places jointly putting to their endeavour to bear up the Name Glory and Honour of God East West North South every Saint joyning in this great Work and Meeting in this Holy Point As the Twelve Oxen under the Brazen Sea their Faces to the Four Quarters of Heaven but their Bodies all Meeting to bear up the Weight Now III. They that are all of the same mind all meet in this Common Interest toward God cannot but love one another though they knew not one another Judg. v. 9 My Heart saith Deborah is toward the Governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the People Did she know all their Faces and Persons Could she call them by their Names No but she could not but Love them be they whom they would that put to their Hands and Shoulders to that Common Cause We see how Men are ready to Affect any that they hear to be of their Opinion Humour and Mind though they never saw them Much more does a Saint love a Saint that is Partner with him in this Holy Work Though he knew not where to find him or Name him yet if he be for God he must have his Heart and loving God he cannot but love whosoever loves him IV. Accordingly they sympathize one with another 1 Cor. xii 26 Whether one Member suffer all the Members suffer with it or one Member be Honoured all the Members rejoice with it They weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice They bear one another's burdens It grieves a Saint if it be ill with any Saint in the World and he rejoiceth if it go well with him His Heart is touched with his Case as with his own As we are affected with the well or ill doing of any Englishman in any part of the World for Common Interest of Country sake Neh. i. 4 And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain Days and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven Why Nehemiah thou art well enough thou art in place of Honour Pleasure Preferment Oh! but it is ill with the People of God And Psal. cxxxvii 5 6. saith the Psalmist If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my Right Hand forget her cunning If I do not remember thee let my Tongue cleave to the Roof of my Mouth if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy I can never forget Jerusalem V. Answerably they have one another's Prayers There is not a Saint in the World but hath the Prayers of all the Saints in the World Any Child of God makes it Conscience to Pray for every Child of God on Earth One Member cannot but do its best for another Gal. vi 16 And as many as walk according to this Rule Peace be on them and Mercy and upon the Israel of God Pray for thy self Paul and for thine own Churches Nay but every Saint where-ever is a Member of the same Body that I am of and therefore I must Pray for them also So Ephes. vi 24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity Why pray so for them Because of that Common Interest that is betwixt all Saints I love Christ and cannot but love and pray for all that love him We may say as Psal. cxxxiii 1 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in Unity So how blessed how happy to be thus joyned together in this Common Union If thy Prayers be weak all the Saints in the World pray thee if thy Estate be miserable if thou beest tempted still thou hast the Prayers of all good Men through out the World Oh! happy condition of a true Saint Christ mediating for him in Heaven and all the Saints on Earth Praying for him as Acts xii 5 Peter was kept in Prison but Prayer was made without ceasing of the Church of God for him Chear up poor Child of God why walkest thou so heavily Why The Children of Belial curse me revile me Oh! but all the Saints of God pray for thee And this is the true Communicating of Saints one to another And so much for the Communion of Saints with God and one with another FINIS Advertisement There are in the Press and will all be Published about Midsummer EXpository Notes with Practical Observations upon the Four Holy Evangelists wherein the Sacred Text is at large Recited the Sense Explained Doubts Resolved seeming Contradictions Reconcile and the Instructive Example of the Holy Jesus to our Imitation Recommended Designed for the Instruction of Private Families By William Burkitt M. A. Vicar of Dedham in Essex Folio A Catechetical Course of Sermons for the whole Year Being an Explanation of the Church-Catechism in 52 distinct Discourses on so many several Texts of Scripture wherein are Briefly Contained the most necessary Points of Christian Doctrine Recommended especially for the use of Famimilies By Peter Newcome M. A· Vicar of Aldenham in Hertfordshire In 2 Volumes in Octavo As also the Works of William Bates D. D. in a large Folio and good Paper containing all he Printed in his Life-time To which are now added two Discourses never before Published viz. 1. On Divine Meditation and 2. On the Fear of God Price 25 s. a single Book Unbound They that will Buy Six shall have a Seventh Gratis provided they send in the first Payment some time before Midsummer next