effect of the Word of God, where it is seriously received, is such, that we may know that Christ came forth from, and was sent by, the Father; that is, that all things whatsoever he saith are the words and will of the Father, and all that he does and works, the work and command of the Father; and that all those things toge ther, are for our help. And this is the knowledge, of which we have treated before, in which eternal life stands.

This, however, is a treasure that is entirely hidden from the whole world, and to which it can never arrive; and it is that knowledge which no human reason or wisdom can attain unto: nor is it attainable by any other means, or in any other way, than through the Word of Christ. He that hears this, attains unto a right knowledge, by which he is rendered sure, and which will not permit him to go wrong; so that he is enabled, in the face of all suggestions of the devil and all sensations of his own conscience, to conclude and say, 'I now know, that I have a merciful Father and friend in heaven, who, in unspeakable love and goodness, sent unto me his beloved Son, and gave him unto me, together with all the benefits that he obtained and procured. Why then should I have a thought of fearing sin, death or the devil?'-But we must look to it again and again, that we hold the Word fast, rejecting all other thoughts whatever; and that we suffer ourselves to hear and know nothing else concerning God, but that which Christ speaks. For, as I have said already, this is the only right, and the royal way of holding communication with God, and by following this we shall not err,-to remain very low in our own place, to cleave close to Christ, and to fix our faith in his words by which he so sweetly draws us to the Father; and thus, we shall find nothing of wrath or terror, nothing but consolation, joy, and peace.

Here he pours forth his prayer indeed, and shews why he labours so much-that it is for his Christians. For having begun to pray above that the Father would glorify him, and having shewn how he had glorified the

Father by his preaching and manifestation to his disciples, so that they had received his Word, and had known the Father, he now commends them to the Father, as those by whom or through whom he is to be glorified; that he would protect them in the world, together with those who should come after them. And I have no doubt, that this prayer was heard, not only because he merited that hearing by his passion and death, but also on the account that he here mentions, " All thine are mine, and mine are thine." As though he had said, we are joined together in such a union, that whatever I ask I am sure I shall obtain.

From this there arises again, and may be drawn no small degree of consolation, and of gladness to our minds: so that we may say with an assured faith, and conclude, that, to all certainty, those for whom Christ prayed, will be defended against all rage and fury of the devil, and against all sins and temptations of every kind. And here we hear with open ears for whom he prays-for those receive his Word and follow after him in affection with all their heart, and embrace him, and hold fast his words with both their hands (as they say.) These then may rest assured with all their mind, that they are to a certainty comprehended in this prayer, and will ever remain in the hand of Christ their Lord.

But, on the other hand, it is terrible to hear what he then adds" I pray not for the world." Here then let us look to it with all our soul, that we be not found in that multitude for whom Christ disdained to pray. For nothing else can, be the consequence but that the whole of this multitude must certainly perish with utter perdition, as being those against whom Christ is fully set, and with whom he will have nothing to do. And these words ought to strike terror into the world, that it should be no wonder if they were shivered to death with trembling at hearing this horrible judgment. But these things seem to them ridiculous, and they remain in the same hardness of heart and blindness, and pay no more regard to them, than if they were the words of a jester.

But how does this accord, that he refuses to pray for the world, when he himself, Matt. v. has taught us to pray even for our enemies who persecute us, and who load with revilings both our name and our doctrine? To such an objection this short answer is to be given. To pray for the world, and not to pray for the world, are each right and good. For, in what immediately follows, he saith, " I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." And these, before they are converted, must of necessity be of the world: therefore, he must pray for the world on account of those who are yet to be converted. St. Paul was undoubtedly then of the world when he persecuted and killed the Christians; and yet, Stephen prayed for him that he might be converted. And so also Christ prayed upon the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And hence, we see it is true, that he does pray for the world, and yet does not pray for the world.-But there is this difference. He does not pray for the world in the same sense as he prays for his Christians. For his Christians, and all that shall be converted, he prays, that they may remain in a right faith, and go on and prosper therein, and never depart from it; and that those who are not in that faith, may turn from their former life and come unto it. And this is the best form and manner of praying for the world, and which we ought in all respects to imitate. But, as the state of the world now is, and all its actions and counsels, whereby it so tumultuously and furiously rages against the Gospel, it never in any way came into his mind to pray, that such madness might please God, or that he should knowingly and designedly overlook and permit such a combined armament. on the contrary, prayer is rather to be made, that he would oppose their furious attempts, and frustrate their impious designs; even as the prophet Moses, Num. xvi. is recorded to have done against Korah and his company, who fomented a sedition and rose up against him, and assumed to themselves his office and the priesthood; wherefore Moses filled with "wrath" cried out unto the

For

Lord, and said, "Respect not thou their offering." Moreover, King David, 2 Sam. xv. when he was driven out of the kingdom by his son, and when his chief and wisest counsellor had deserted him and gone over to his son, entreated of the Lord to "turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.' And he frequently prays in the same way in his Psalms against his enemies and persecutors.

Such a prayer however is not, particularly speaking, levelled against the person, but against the furious attempts and machinations of the person, by which he persecutes the Word of God, and which will not suffer the person to be a partaker of grace. Even as, on the other hand, Christ, when praying for his Christians, not only prays for their persons, but their offices, their condition, and their whole life. For, as the life stands and is, so must the person be. And, in a word, as far as concerns the person, we are to pray for all men without difference, and our prayer is to be shared among all alike, and to be uttered aloud before the whole multitude, both of friends and enemies; that those, who are our enemies, may be converted and made friends; and if not, that their actions and counsels may be frustrated and prevented from injuring us; and that their whole person also may go to destruction rather than the Gospel and the kingdom of Christ.

This is the way that the holy martyr Anastatia, a wealthy Roman matron and a woman of high birth, took against her husband Publius, who was an idolater and a cruel persecutor of the Christians. He had shut her up in a dreadful prison, and designed that this good and noble woman should remain and die there. She, however, while bound in prison, wrote to Bishop Chrysogonus, and requested him to pray continually for her husband; that, if it were the will of God, he might be converted to the faith; but if not, that his attempts and determination of mind might be frustrated, and that a bound and an end might be put to his cruelty and rage. And thus, by her prayers, she brought her husband to

death. For he soon went out to war, and never returned !

In this way let us also pray for our angry enemies; not that God would confirm them, or defend their designs, as he would those of Christians; nor that he would help them; but that, if they were to be converted, he would in mercy and grace convert them; or, if they would not be converted, that he would oppose their designs, and restrain them in some way, and put an end to their cruelty. For, as the one or the other must be, it is better that the world should perish utterly than that Christ be lost, and that lies should fall before the truth. And it is the will and mind of God, that the truth should stand, and that lies should be exposed to shame and derision.

Christ, therefore, in these words, has respect unto two classes. The one, that poor simple flock, who have the Word of God, and who ought to exercise the same. The other, that great and numerous multitude, which is determined to oppress the former, and which strives with all their might and with all the wisdom, machinations, and plots they can contrive, to efface and utterly abolish the Gospel. And here, we at length see what the world is, and who is "of the world," and who may be said to be," not of the world." For Christ here especially calls them "of the world," who are enraged against the Gospel, and who will not hear it with patience. Which is no longer to be called a human, but a desperate and diabolical sin, infused by the devil himself; who thus reigns in the world, and intoxicates and exasperates the hearts of men with his furious hatred against Christ and his Word. For this is his nature, that, wherever he can find out or urge on any thing, he will fight against the Word with every insult and reproach, will condemn it most unmercifully and virulently, and persecute it with every cruelty; and all this from his hatred and unspeakable enmity against Christ; against whom, he directs all his efforts and powers. And, where he can do nothing by violence, there, so