An Expojition of the Epifilc ~ fayshe, Cbap.t,7.) thofe,I fay, whom God hathfpecially fet upon a man's heart, Sermo11 and whom the Holy Ghoft in Prayer bringeth to his remembrance, a man lhould XVllf. in a fpecial manner make mmt1o1t of. ~Ius from the figmficauon ofthe word, ~both remembrm1ce andmmtion. And wtthal know, to encourage you m the Pra– ctice hereof;That theparticular, expre/tmmtion,(elpecially in private Prayers,) of perfom that are in our he~rt, and of whom theHoly Ghoft bringeth the .re– membrance to us in Prayer, IS that whtch IS exccedwg acceptable to God,as bemg conformable to the mind of the Holy Gho!l, who guides us in praying. The A– po(\le doth not only pray thus for, and make mention of Churches by 1111me; but youlhall find, he makes mention of particular perfons in his Pra}ers by name, as of Philemon, v. 3+ I thmtk my God, faith he, makittg mmtio11 of thee a!waies iu my prayrs, heari11g of tby love and faith. The like he did of Timothy, 2 TJm.to3• Obfervatiolt lJ. Secondly, Obferve the largue(J of Paul's heart in his private Prayers, as he had the care of all the Churches. ,Read all his Epi(\\es,and you lhall fee almo(\ every Church that he writeth unto, he telleth them he prayed for them. And he telleth fome fpecial, particular perfons fo too, whom he had in his heart: And not only he, but other Mini!lers did the fame. Thus he tells the Thejf:tlotJialls, that Ti– •nothms and S7lvamu likewife,made mmtiotJ of them iu their prqyers,t Theff,,. Paul, my Brethren, was neare!l to Chrifi of any Saint that ever was, and near unto Chri!l in this; for Jefus Chri!l m Heaven hatl1 the names of all Saints in his brea!l, (as the High.-Prieft had,) and makes intercellion for them. Paul maketh Intercellion for all the Churches, and for many particular perfons ; he was abun– dant this way ; and what a large time did he then fpend in private·Prayer l Oh, think of the largenefs of Chri!l's heart for us in 'his Interceffion~; as he k~tows hi&jheep by twme, fo every one that comes to God6y him, he ceafeth not alwaies to intercede for them, evea every one of them in particular; as it follgws there, He ever lives to make l11te~cejJiot1. Since I heard ofyotlr Faith and Love, I havnwt aafed, e§c.] From this Coherence, Obferve, The remembrance of eminent Faith and Love in Chrifiians, or in Churches, lhould provoke us to give thanks to God for them, and to pray much for them : And withal,it is a great encouragement to every Saint to be very holy. For then God will (\ir up the hearts of many, to pray for them that are fo, and the Holy Gho(\ will bring them to remembrance. Paul makes an Argument for himfelf, Heb,I 5.18. Pray for m, why? for we trujl we have a good Conji:iei1ce in at! thi11gs, wi /Ji11g to live hotu{I!J·. Seeing"in all things we have a good Con– fcience for the time pa!l', ~ut willing for the 'time to corn~ to. pre~erve it, you l11all not lofe your Prayers m your ·praymg for me. And m Ius Ep1(\]e to Timo– thy, he telleth him,that this moved him to pray for himwitho11t aaji11g; remem– /;rillg, faith he, thy tears, a11d thyfaith, 2 Tim, '·1•4• Thofe that have much, lJJa!l have much added to them, and that by the Prayers of others for them. And to that end God will (\ir up many to pray for them. This, among other,is a great motive and encouragement to Holinefs, Thou defireft many Prayers for thee, this is the way to procure them. Second Duty. [ Givi11g of Thm1ks.] By Prayer, we fhew our dependance upon God for what we want: InThanks, we return an acknowledgment to God, of what we have already received. Tb,mks, is for Mercies bc!lowed, nod pa(\ : And Pt·ayrr is a feeking of God for Mercies to come, Now
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