we both live and walk in The SPIRIT. Gal. v. 16, 22, 23. -In the spirit of Christian charity, we are then encouraged to pray for Those of our Fellow Creatures, who, through the perverseness of their own hearts, or the misguidings of Others, have left the service of The True GOD, and, by infidelity or fanaticism, have endangered the Salvation of their Immortal Souls-the Minister saying, That it may Please Thee to Bring into the Way of Truth All Such as have erred and are deceived; And the People conclude, We beseech Thee to Hear us, Good LORD! As the prayer of the righteous Man availeth much; and as the highest act of benevolence and charity that Man can perform for Man is, fervently and effectually, by precept, by example, by encouragement, and by prayer to GOD, to influence to the conviction and conversion of his Fellow-Immortal; drawing him from the broad road that leadeth to destruction, unto the narrow way that leadeth unto Life Eternal: such is the object of this Prayer. And as they are the most criminal, who, having been once Enlightened with the Rays of DIVINE Wisdom, the Gift of the Grace of The HOLY SPIRIT, have quenched Its Mild and Salutary Power, and given up their hearts to pride and self-righteousness; or have been led to do so by the artful instigations of Others, seconded by their own want of zeal for the true faith: so to turn Such to a belief in DIVINE Revelation, and such contrition of heart and amendment of life as to conform Thereto, is to do the work indeed of an Evangelist—a work Well-Pleasing in the Sight of GOD, and upon which we may reasonably hope His Favour will Eternally Rest.Feeling, from the frequent occurrence of our own infirmities, and the necessity we are under of having the continual Help of The HOLY SPIRIT in our Spiritual and carnal warfare, we naturally sympathize with and compassionate the like infirmities in Others, and properly therefore are led, in the best spirit of Brotherly love and Christian charity, to seek to obtain for them the Same Indispensable Guidance and Succour from On HIGH.- That it may Please Thee to Strengthen Such as do stand, and to Comfort and Help the Weak-Hearted; and to Raise up them that fall; and finally to Beat down Satan under our feet; And the People add, We beseech Thee to Hear us, Good LORD! The word 'stand,' as here used, is a figurative expression, implying the abiding in the true faith; and since it behoves every One, who thinketh he so standeth, to take heed lest he fall, (1 Cor. x. 12), so is it incumbent on us not to presume on our own strength, nor on the Countenance or Protection of GOD, unless sought for in holy fear and lively faith. And not for ourselves only, but for our Christian Brethren, does it behove us to seek for that Sustaining and Abiding Spirit of Christian confidence. To them, who are Advocates for the faith as it is in JESUS, and who strive, by their Lives and conversation, to adorn the Doctrine of GOD in all things, let us implore The ALMIGHTY to Grant an Increase of that faith, and of all righteousness, and that It may be also Extended to ourselves; that having done all things in conformity to The DIVINE Will, both they and we may stand, in the latter day, with hopeful hearts, in the Visual Presence of The LORD of Hosts. The same Prayer, in its spirit at least, may with equal propriety, and even in a stronger degree from the stronger necessity calling for it, be extended on behalf of those of our Fellow-Creatures, who, from doubts and difficulties of conscience, or weakness of mind, (and not from any perversity of heart, or deliberate propensity to evil,) are wavering and unstable in the views and exercises of Christian faith or charity. So also on behalf of Such as, from an overwhelming sense of their past transgression, and of their departure from the ways of GOD's Commandments, sink to despondency, and refuse to be comforted with the assurance of the Sufficiency of CHRIST's Atonement, and of the Free Dispensation of DIVINE Grace, to Save and to Sanctify the Soul of every penitent Believer. For These the Steady Light of the Revealed Word of GOD is to be sought with diligence. For another class of Fellow-Mortals, those who, having once held fast the faith, have in time of temptation fallen away, yielding, through the weakness of the flesh, to the continual seductions or assaults of the evil which assails them from without, or from within themselves; for these are imminently in danger of losing the Proffered Joys of Heaven, of reaping only in exchange the precarious and unsatisfying pleasures of the world, and of encountering, in the endless Life to Come, the reverse of Heavenly Peace and Holy Associations. For These, indeed, should our prayers with still more impressiveness be offered up, and with them should our labour of Christian love keep pace, to turn the Wanderer from the Way of Salvation unto the Paths of lasting Pleasantness and Peace. Finally and comprehensively we here pray, (or are exhorted so to do,) that Satan, the Author of all evil, should be bound and deprived of all power; and however faint may be the hope of this Great Triumph of Righteousness and Holiness being attained in our Lives, yet much depends, under GOD, upon every Individual of the Human Family casting him out of their hearts, and setting at defiance his subtilty and machinations; always bearing in mind, and acting upon the impression, that this must be done, not in the vain confidence of our own sufficiency Unaidedly to do this, but reposing our trust solely in the Word of The LORD, and in the Ready Help of His SPIRIT, as the First-Fruits of the Sacrificial Offering of The Great REDEEMER of Souls, and The ENEMY of All Evil.. -From the physical evils around us, and their spreading influence and continuance, we are next called upon to pray to be extricated and relieved. The Priest saying to Him Who Alone can Grant the Prayer, That it may Please Thee to Succour, Help, and Comfort, All that are in danger, necessity and tribulation; The Congregation adding, as adopting it, We beseech Thee to Hear us, Good LORD! This prayer may be considered as applied to the temporal exigencies and difficulties of our Fellow-Creatures; and in putting it forth (as we should do with sincerity, since it is poured forth to The ALMIGHTY, Who Knoweth the secrets of all hearts, and Who often Maketh Man himself the Instrument in His Hands of doing good to Man), it is essential to a reasonable hope of the Continuance of The DIVINE Favour to ourselves, who may not be exposed to the like danger, or endure the like need, or be assailed by the like tribulation as Others of our Brethren, to consider whether we cannot be the Engines and Ministers of succour, help, and comfort to Others, for the Sake and through the Grace and Enabling Power of GOD, Who hath Dealt so Bountifully by us. in every such opportunity we should exceedingly rejoice; as, provided we take advantage of it, we should advance nearer to that Goal to which we should unceasingly press; that we may eventually attain to the Mark of the Prize of our High Calling in GOD through JESUS CHRIST, our LORD.In continuation of the same intercessory utterance for Others amidst the perils and vicissitudes of this life, the Minister then goes on to say, And That it may Please Thee to Preserve All that travel by Land or by Water, all Women labouring of Child, all sick Persons and young Children; and to Shew Thy Pity upon all Prisoners and Captives; And the People add, We beseech Thee to Hear us, Good LORD! In the various occupations of Mankind it is the lot of Many to encounter perils by Sea and perils by Land, in journeyings and watchings, amidst storms and tempests, from Pirates and Robbers, from wild beasts and venomous reptiles, from the extremes of heat and cold in all the changes of climates; for these of our Fellow-Creatures, who thus so imminently expose themselves to a curtailment of the natural period of Human life, in the lawful pursuits of commerce, or international objects; frequently by their adventurous spirit contributing to the amelioration of Society, by the diffusion or acquirement of useful knowledge; and still more when actuated by a Missionary spirit, shedding on benighted Heathen the Cheering Light of DIVINE Truth, and spreading forth the Exceeding Precious Promises, the fruit of a Gospel Faith in JESUS CHRIST; for These, and Such as These, it is, in perfect consistency with Scripture Doctrine, to intercede at The FOUNTAIN of Mercy and of Universal Providence, to extend Protection and Success. But not for Sabbath Desecrators, who, regardless of the sacredness of the Day on which this prayer is put forth by Thousands and Ten Thousands in the Church Assemblies of the Nations, travel either by land or by water in the pursuit of selfish gratification and unhallowed pleasure, is this prayer meant to apply.—And as not only pains and suffering overtake the teeming Mothers of our Israel, as the bitter effect of our first Mother's transgression against The DIVINE Command, but the covert dart of Death frequently pierces through the womb to destruction; so for Such, who thus individually bear within them the germs of other Immortal Spirits, it is becoming in us to implore the Healing Unction of Him, Whose is the fruit of the womb; and to make the trial tributary to newness of life by a devotedness of both Mother and Offspring to the Service of The LORD. As no life can be too long for the exercise of Christian Principles, (the benefits of such a dedication of it spreading wider and wider with its continuance ;) so, where sickness threatens its being cut short, it is fitting for us to strive, by supplication as well as by attention, to avert the impending evil, and to prevail on The Great PHYSICIAN of Souls to Enlarge the Period of Probation, that, ere the Spirit is Called to The GOD Who Gave it, the Establishment of it in the Way of Salvation may be confirmed. Thus, when the Soul is sick, as well as the body, then for the hope of preserving a Fellow Creature from the ways of the Destroyer and the abyss of everlasting misery, we, in Christian charity, should pray for a protraction of life, that both the spirit and the opportunity of repentance and reformation may be gained; and here it is not unusual to approach the Throne of Mercy that Virtue |