5. By the example of Christ we should embrace them, and show special love to them, that are chosen out of the world. Christ saith, ' I pray for these ; I pray not for the world ; ' we should specially remember them in our prayers. The apostle saith concerning alms, Gal. vi. 10, ' As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them that are of the household of fliith.' Christ saith, Ps. xvi. 3, 4, ' My goodness extendeth to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied, that hasten after another God; their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer ; nor take up their names into my lips.' Christ will not mention them. Some think it is to be applied to the idols ; rather to the persons ; the whole psalm is applied to Christ.
But here ariseth a doubt : Are we not to pray for wicked men, yea, the impenitent, the persecutors of the church, contemners of the word ? I answer —
1. Yea ; partly because we know not the secret purposes of God's grace. Christ, in the hght of his divinity, knew the elect and the reprobate ; but we know not, therefore we are to ' pray for them that persecute,' Mat. v. 44. Paul once breathed out threatenings against the church ; Christ received gifts for the rebellious. Partly because many wicked men are considerable in their station, therefore, at least, we pray for temporal blessings for them, though we have little hopes that ever they shall be gained to the knowledge of the truth. Thus we are to pray for wicked rulers, for the conversion of human society ; they may serve as a thorn hedge about a garden of roses. Thus it is said, Ezra vi. 10, ' That in the temple they should pray for the life of the king, and of his sons ; ' meaning the king of Babylon, Darius, at least for temporal favours.
252 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XII.
2. We have not i^nch encouragement to pray for them as for tlic saints. For the saints we jiray out of the unity of the spirit ; for wicked men, out of common cliarity ; for the saints, we pray out of a cleh'ght in their graces ; for wicked men, out of a loose possible hope : Heb. xiii. 18, ' Pray for us, for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.' These should have the greatest share of our prayers ; we have the more encouragements and hopes of them, which should be an engagement to us to pray for them.
3. Conditionally we may pray against the obstinate, and them that sin of malicious wickedness. There are many imprecations in Psalm cix., whicli are not to serve our private revenge, but by us to be con- ceived conditionally. Those curses are uttered against Judas in a prophetical spirit, and therefore not to he drawn into example, to justify any heats of revenge and private passion: 1 John v. 16, 'If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death ; I do not say that he shall pray for it.' It is a tempting of God to intercede for that sin, seeing he hath declared his will ; the irre- missible sin is that sin, though it be hard to be found out. Therefore it is good to keep to the conditional form. When a man, after the profession of religion, falleth to an utter revolt and deadly liatred of it, it is a shrewd presumption they have committed that sin.
4. We feel sometimes a restraint upon our prayers. God by oracle forbade the prophet to pray for the people : Jer. vii. 16, ' Therefore jiray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me, for I will not hear thee.' When he was resolved to put his wrath in execution, he would not have his people's prayers lost ; and still the same spirit that stirreth up to prayer searcheth out the deep counsels of God. So that there is a kind of i)ro- phetical light in prayers ; God suspendeth the fervency and actual assist- ance, by which Ave are carried on at other times. I would not justify every private j^assionate conceit ; but yet we must look upon the Spirit of God as the interpretei' of God's counsel, and that he will not stir up prayers to no purpose. Yea, sometimes Ave feel that, after much striv- ing, we have no heart to pray for them, Avhich is a very great mark of God's displeasure upon any person, Avlien God's people, yea, even after much struggling with themselves, have no heart to pray for him.
Thirdly, The reasons why he prayed for them.
1. Because they were giA^en him by the Father.
2. Because he could say to the Father, ' They are thine.'
HoAv they are given unto him of the Father we showed before. I shall only now consider the last reason, Avhich is more formally ex- pressed, ' For they are thine.'