God is to be seen, and seen especially: so with Judas and many others. It is written of Julian the Apostate, who raised an army against the Persians; in the fight he was stricken, whether with an arrow or otherwise I say not, but being sorely wounded, he took a handful of his own blood, and flung it into the air, saying, Vicisti Galilei! Thou hast overcome me, O Galilean. You have many stories to this purpose in the Book of Martyrs, recorded by Master Fox, I will name but that one of that vile wretch who dealt so injuriously with the martyr James Abbes, who, after all his base usage of that good man, was taken with a strange kind of frenzy, and cried out, James Abbes is saved and I am damned; James Abbes is saved and I am damned; and so died. Others were not privy to all his injuries, but his own guilt made him his own blab; so, now, when a man's sin cometh and arresteth him, and his heart and conscience is upon the rack continually, he bursting out into hideous outcries, being his own accuser, his own condemner, or his own executioner, there God is seen, and seen apparently.

When the work of the Lord is carried with such a strong hand as cannot be resisted, there God is seen: "I will work and who shall let," saith God. Isaiah xliii. 13.

A judgment cometh in way of a judgment when it maketh way to a further judgment: as when God giveth in mercy, he giveth that he may give; so when he smiteth in judgment, he smiteth that he may smite: he maketh way to his anger when he is angry indeed: and when you see this, then say, Here is God seen, and seen especially; now God is risen; blessed are all they that trust in him.

But how shall we raise God that he may be seen in the world for the good of the churches?

The next point telleth us: viz. Our prayers do excite, raise and stir up God to the scattering and destruction of our enemies. I will not spend much time in the proof of this; you all know the parable of the unjust judge, and you all know the promise of the just God to hear prayer. Brethren, is God able to scatter his enemies; is God mighty; is God all-sufficient; hath God power enough to do it? God is pleased to make over his power, his wisdom, his mercy to our prayers: who doth not know what credit prayer hath in heaven and what strength in earth? The truth is, prayer may do any thing that

is reasonable with God; and if you ask prayer by what authority it doth all, it will shew you its commission in that place, 2 Chron. vii. 1, 2, compared with 2 Chron. vi., where God wrought a miracle to shew that he would answer prayer. But you will say, Can any prayer do this: excite, stir up and awaken God?

No, but it must be a crying prayer. If violence be offered to a man in his house, and he doth not cry for help, help cometh not in presently; but if there be thieves in the house, and he putteth his head out at a window and doth cry, Murder, murder! men will break up the doors and come in presently.

Besides, they must be self-awakening prayers: that prayer will never waken God that doth not waken yourselves, and that prayer will never stir and raise God that doth not stir and raise your own soul.

It must be a self-denying prayer. You know the case between Moses and Israel: Israel had provoked God, God says to Moses, Exod. xxxii. 10, 14, that he "would consume Israel, and raise up him to be a great people." Moses lays by all that, and he goes to God in prayer; and what arguments doth he use? His prayer was but short, and all the arguments were fetched from God and the covenant: "Remember thy covenant with Abraham," &c; and, “Thou art a merciful God, slow to anger," &c. Not a word of himself; it was a self-denying prayer, and was heard presently. In prayer those arguments take most with God that are from God.

Besides, it must be a continued prayer, as Col. iv. 2. Prayers are the saints' factors and negociate for them in heaven, therefore they must lie by it.

Again, It must be when the man abideth in Christ and Christ in him: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you,' John xv. 7. He doth not say, If you abide in a tavern, or in an alehouse, or in such a vile course; but, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, then ye shall ask."

Reforming prayers are most prevailing. Virtutes sunt orationis fundamenta; there is no energy in those prayers that are not strengthened with reformation; either your prayers will eat up your sins, or else your sins will make a hand of prayers. Isa. lviii. 6, "Loose the bands of wickedness, &c.,

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then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer, thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here am I, if thou," &c. Though the lesson be never so good, yet if the instrument be out of tune there is no harmony, and harmonious prayer is very speeding, therefore,

It must be joint prayer. When the church prayed, Peter was delivered. It is true that their prayer was very urgent in itself, for, according to the original, it is, they continued in outstretched prayer: it was holding prayer, for they continued; it was seasonable, for it was the night before his appointed death: yet withal the church prayeth and Peter cometh. One string doth not make the harmony, and the word is, "If two or three of you shall make a symphony, it shall be done for you," Matt. xviii. 19. God who is overcome by none suffers himself to be overcome by prayer ;* but your prayer must be full of himself, pressing and a close leaguer; wherefore you that lie perdue, keep centinel, or to speak in scripture phrase, Isa. lxii. 6, 7, all you that are watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem, all the day and all the night continually cease not: ye that are mindful of the Lord keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he repair, and until he set up Jerusalem the praise of the Lord.

Will prayer do it? Will prayer raise God for the scattering of the enemies of the churches? I beseech you, in the name of God, let us consider where to lay the fault and the blame of much of that evil which is come upon the churches in these latter times. When the defeat was lately before Antwerp, there was fault laid on such a man, and such a man. When we consider the afflictions of Germany, we are ready to say, If such a king or country had stepped in, all this evil had been prevented, the Palatinate restored and peace settled; but may we not rather say, If our prayers had stepped in. This word telleth us that our prayers do awaken God, and when God is awakened, then the enemies are destroyed; we see then, in truth, where the fault lieth, our prayers have not come in full enough; wherefore the less we have prayed before, the more let us pray now; pray in your closets, pray in your families, pray in the assemblies, pray alone, pray in company, pray for all the churches, pray for Germany the first place of reformation, pray for Holland your hiding-place, * Deus qui nullis contra se superari potest precibus superatur.-Hierom.

and in all your prayers forget not England, still pray for England. Take some motives:

You are unnatural if you pray not. It is reported of Croesus's son, that he was dumb, and seeing one about to kill his father, though he had been always dumb before, yet then he burst forth into this speech, What, will you kill Crosus? If you be in Christ, the church of Christ is more to you than many Croesuses; your grace doth not extinguish nature, but advance it; help, and not hinder. A gracious heart cannot be unnatural though it loveth to be supernatural. Again, It is the property of a good christian, and of true grace, to observe what work God is doing, and to help on that work: what God is doing in the world, and to help that on; what God is doing upon his own heart, and to help that on. O Lord, saith the soul, help me! I will help thee, I will put my shoulder unto thy work as thou art pleased to put thy hand to my duty. Now the great work which God is doing in these times is the pouring out of the seven vials, Rev. xvi.; and if you look into Rev. v. 8, you shall find that the saints' prayers are their vials: help forward, then, God's vials with your vial; vial doth call for vial.

Either good and deliverance will come unto the churches, or else it will not. If it do not, you had need pray that your hearts may be supported in all and settled. Prayer is a composing duty, and fully settling. If it do come, you had need pray that you may have the comfort of it when it cometh, or else that you may not envy at those that have prayed, for it is a hard thing for one that standeth idle not to envy at him that worketh.

You do not love the churches if you do not pray for them : "He that loveth Jerusalem, prayeth for the peace of Jerusalem." Do you love England; do you love Germany; do you love Holland; do you love the churches, and your friends? He that loveth Jerusalem prayeth for it, and if you do not pray for them, you have no love to them. You cannot prosper if you do not pray; They shall prosper that love thee." How love thee? In praying for thee. You cannot prosper if you pray not for the churches : will you not pray then?

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Again, You are not God's servants, if you do not pray for his servants; you are not God's children, if you pray not for

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his children; if you mark that of the psalmist, it is made an act of service, and a sign of a servant, to "pity the dust and stones of fallen Jerusalem." Saith he, thy servants pity the dust thereof;" as if they were not servants that have no pity. I know you would not have your livery taken from you. All things of the like nature sympathize with one another; if you have the same nature with the saints, you shall, you will, you must sympathize with them in all conditions; you cannot but pray.

You cannot have a part in the prayers of the churches, unless you pray for the churches. Think upon this argument. Can you be contented to lose your share in all the prayers of the saints? An action there, is better than an action in the East India Company; their stock is great, if your stock go not in, you cannot have a part with them, and that is evil.

If you pray not for the churches, your own selfish prayers will be bootless. When a man shall pray much for his own family, his own name or estate, his own child that lieth a dying, and will not pray for the dying churches; this is a selfish duty. A carnal, selfish spirit, is very loathsome in what is spiritual; and what are you the better for your rich cabin, your warm cabin, your neat cabin, if your ship sink.

Consult with Neh. xiii. 1, 2; there you find it written, that "the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever." What was the reason? "Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water." He that will not meet with distressed Israel with such relief as he may, is an unfit man to have a name in a church of Christ, and it is unfit he should come into the house of God for ever. Wherefore as ever you desire to have a name in God's house, pray, pray, oh now pray; you may with this bread and water meet with Israel, meeting with them you do meet with Christ.

The price of the welfare, peace, and good of the churches is now rising; the time may come it may not be purchased or bought in by prayer.* I remember I have read of a man that brought the book of the sybils unto the emperor or king of the Romans, and desired a great price for those books.

*Fugientia sequimur.