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bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose us, for the honour of

Jesus Christ our Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

THANKSGIVING S.

dost cause the former and the latter rain to descend upon the earth, that it may bring forth fruit for

humble thanks that it hath pleased thee, in our great necessity, to send us at the last a joyful rain upon thine inheritance, and to refresh it when it was dry, to the great comfort of us thy unworthy servants, and to the glory of thy holy Name, through thy mercies in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For fair Weather.

A general Thanksgiving. ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most hum- the use of man; We give thee ble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men, This to be said [*particularly to those when any that who desire now to have been prayed for desire to re- offer up their praises turn praise. and thanksgivings for thy late mercies vouchsafed unto them.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the (a) means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; and that we may shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

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O LORD God, who hast justly humbled us by thy late plague of immoderate rain and waters, and in thy mercy hast relieved and comforted our souls by this seasonable and blessed change of weather; We praise and glorify thy holy Name for this thy mercy, and will always declare thy lovingkindness from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Plenty.

O MOST merciful Father, who of thy gracious goodness hast heard the devout prayers of thy Church, and turned our dearth and scarcity into cheapness and plenty ; We give thee humble thanks for this thy special bounty; beseech

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ing thee to continue thy lovingkindness unto us, that our land may yield us her fruits of increase, to thy glory and our comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Peace and Deliverance from our

Enemies.

O ALMIGHTY God, who art a strong tower of defence unto thy servants against the face of their enemies; We yield thee praise and thanksgiving for our deliverance from those great and apparent dangers wherewith we were compassed. We acknowledge it thy goodness that we were not delivered over as a prey unto them; beseeching thee still to continue such thy mercies towards us, that all the world may know that thou art our Saviour and mighty Deliverer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For restoring Public Peace at Home.

O ETERNAL God, our heavenly Father, who alone makest men to be of one mind in a house, and stillest the outrage of a violent and unruly people; We bless thy holy Name that it hath pleased thee to appease the seditious tumults which have been lately raised up amongst us; most humbly bemost humbly beseeching thee to grant to all of us grace, that we may henceforth obediently walk in thy holy commandments; and leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, may continually offer unto thee our sacrifice of praise

and thanksgiving for these thy mercies towards us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Deliverance from the Plague or other common Sickness.

O LORD God, who hast wounded us for our sins, and consumed us for our transgressions by thy late heavy and dreadful visitation; and now in the midst of judgement remembering mercy, hast redeemed our souls from the jaws of death; We offer unto thy fatherly goodness ourselves, our souls and bodies, which thou hast delivered, to be a living sacrifice unto thee, always praising and magnifying thy mercies in the midst of thy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Or this.

Yet

WE humbly acknowledge before thee, O most merciful Father, that all the punishments which are threatened in thy law might justly have fallen upon us, by reason of our manifold transgressions and hardness of heart. seeing it hath pleased thee of thy tender mercy, upon our weak and unworthy humiliation, to asswage the contagious sickness wherewith we lately have been sore afflicted, and to restore the voice of joy and health into our dwellings; We offer unto thy divine Majesty the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, lauding and magnifying thy glorious Name for such thy preservation and providence over us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE

COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS.

Note, That the COLLECT appointed for every SUNDAY, or for any HOLY-DAY that hath a Vigil or Eve, shall be said at the EVENING SERVICE next before.

The First Sunday in Advent.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works (a) of darkness, and put upon us the armour (a) of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge

(a)" The works of darkness," and "the "armour of light," expressions borrowed from the Epistle, Rom. xiii. 12.

(b) v. 8. "Owe, &c." i. e. "have no "debts or propensities, but those of bene"volence." It is one of the great characteristics of Christianity, that it makes general benevolence an important duty. When a lawyer asked our Saviour, which was the great commandment in the law, and our Saviour answered, "thou shalt "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, "and with all thy soul, and with all thy "mind, this is the first and great com"mandment;" he immediately added, "and the second is like unto it, thou "shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." See Matt. xxiii. 36. See also Luke x. 25. In John xiii. 34. our Saviour, just before he was betrayed, says, "a new commandment "I give unto you, that ye love one another, " as I have loved you, that ye also love "one another. By this shall all men know, "that ye are my disciples, if ye have love

one to another." St. Paul says, Gal. v. 14., "all the law is fulfilled in one word, even "in this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as "thyself;" and in his famous eulogium upon charity, or general benevolence, he

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SO that I could remove mountains, and "have not charity, I am nothing: and "though I bestow all my goods to feed the

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poor, and though I give my body to be "burned, and have not charity, it profiteth "me nothing." St. James says, "if ye "fulfil the royal law according to the scrip"ture, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Jam. ii. 8." St. John dwells very much upon this essential duty. "He that saith he "is in the light; and hateth his brother, is "in darkness even until now. 1 John ii. 9." Again, "He that loveth not his brother, "abideth in death. 1 John iii. 14." So, "Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, "but in deed and truth; and hereby we "know that we are of the truth; and shall

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loveth (c) another hath fulfilled hended in this saying, namely, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour "as thyself." 10. Love worketh no (e) ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 11. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our (g) sal

the (d) law. 9. For this; "Thou "shalt not commit adultery, Thou "shalt not kill, Thou shalt not "steal, Thou shalt not bear false “witness, Thou shalt not covet;" and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly compre

"that he who loveth God, love his "brother also. 1 John iv. 21." Many other passages inculcate the duty of benevolence, and it would be well for every one who is indignant for an injury received, or feels any rancour or ill-will, to search them out, and lay them to heart.

(c) v. 8. "another," i. e. indefinitely, "mankind," all within our reach.

(d) "The Law," i. e. " of Moses;" that part which points out our duty to our neighbour, the last six commandments. See Middl. 438.

(e) v. 10. "No ill," but "all good;" not inoperative, but active.

(g) v. 11. "Salvation," i. e. "The great change they were to experience for the better at one of the times so often alluded to by the expressions, "the day of the Lord," and "the coming of the Lord." There are three periods to which these expressions are supposed to refer, the destruction of Jerusalem, the general judgment at the end of the world, and an expected intermediate appearance of our Saviour. See 2 Lightf. 241. 626. 1073, 1074. Mede, 708. 2 Newt. 142. 2 Hales, 1042 to 1060, and 1270 to 1286, and Grotius, Pole, and Hamm. on Matt. xxiv. 3. The first is probably what is here contemplated. The first converts underwent great trials. Zechariah and Malachi foretold that they would. Zech. xiii. 9. Mal. iii. 2. Our Saviour did the same. Matt. x. 17. 21. 22. Matt. xxiii. 9. but he gave them the assurance that "he who "should endure to the end should be saved. "Matt. x. 22. Matt. xxiii. 13." that they should not have gone through the cities of Israel till the Son of Man should be come, and that that generation should not pass till all those things were fulfilled. Matt. x. 23. Matt. xxiv. 34. See also Luke xxi. 32. and John xxi. 22. This topic was accordingly pressed upon the converts with great force by the authors of the Epistles. In Philipp. i. 6. St. Paul expresses his confidence, that "he who had begun a good work in

"the converts at Philippi, would perform "it until the day of Jesus Christ," as if the period would arrive in their time; and in Philipp. iv. 5., he says, "The Lord is at hand." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews presses them to hold fast the profession of their faith, without wavering, &c. &c. " and so much the more as ye

see the day approaching. Hebr. x. 25." St. Paul charges Timothy to keep a particular commandment without spot, "until "the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ," as if he fully expected it in Timothy's time, 1 Tim. vi. 14." In Tit. ii. 11 to 14. St. Paul says, "The grace of God that "bringeth salvation hath appeared to all "men, teaching us, that denying ungod"liness and worldly lusts, we should live "soberly, righteously, and godly in this "present world, looking for that blessed "hope, and the glorious appearing of the

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great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ," (or, even the glorious appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ), "who

gave himself for us, that he might re"deem us from all iniquity, and purify "unto himself a peculiar people, zealous "of good works." St. James advises the brethren to "be patient, unto the coming "of the Lord:" "to stablish their hearts, "for the coming of the Lord draweth "nigh:""not to grudge one another, "lest they should be condemned; for be"hold the Judge standeth before the door, "James v. 7, 8, 9." St. Peter speaks of the afflictions the converts had undergone, "that the trial of their faith might be found "unto praise, and honour, and glory, at "the appearing of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter "i. 7." Lastly, St. John says, 1 John ii. 28. "And now little children abide in him, "that when he shall appear, we may have "confidence, and not be ashamed before "him at his coming." Many other pas sages might be added, but these are sufficient. They have all a strong tendency to shew, that the prophecies recorded in Matthew xxiv, were well known to the dis

vation nearer than when we (h) believed. 12. The (i) night is far spent, the (i) day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13. Let us walk honestly, as (k) in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14. But put (1) ye on the (m) Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

The Gospel. Matt. xxi. 1. WHEN HEN (n) they drew nigh unto

ciples before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that the Epistles were written before that event. The prospect of a most extraordinary judgment from God upon the unbelievers, and of signal deliverance to those who embraced and held fast the faith, was admirably calculated to inspire the converts with courage and perseverance, and was therefore a topic likely to be brought forward by the disciples whilst that prospect continued. After the event it would have been absurd. Jerusalem was destroyed in the year of our Lord 70; the Epistle to the Romans is supposed to have been written about A. D. 58; that to the Philipp. A. D. 59; the 1st to Timothy, A. D. 64; that to the Hebrews, A. D. 63; St. James's, A.D. 61; the 1st of St. Peter, A. D. 64; and the 1st of St. John, A. D. 69. It is asserted that no Christian perished at the siege of Jerusalem, 2 Newton's Prophecies, 154. 160. 5 Watson's Tracts, 134: and the immense slaughter among their inveterate enemies the Jews, would of course tend greatly to relieve them from persecution.

(h) v. 11. "Believed," i. e. "first believed."

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(i) v. 12. "The night," our time of persecution and vengeance, when the powers of darkness have the ascendancy. "The "day," our time of deliverance, when the powers of light shall be triumphant.

(k) v. 13. "As in the day," with nothing to conceal.

(2) v. 14. "Put ye on," i. e. imitate.

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(m) v.14. "The Lord," lov Kúpsov, with the article. The continual application of this title to our Saviour deserves attention. It is applied to him in every book of the New Testament; and St. Paul uses it in a prominent manner at the beginning of most of his Epistles. See also Jam. i. 1. 1 Pet. i. 3. 2 Pet. i. 2. 2 John 3. Jude 21. These writings were in Greek, and intended for persons acquainted with that language. Those persons would probably refer to the Septuagint, as the only book in that language likely to illustrate the new religion, and there they would find this word continually used for what in the Hebrew was Jehovah. And is it likely they would continually have applied this word to Christ, had it not been their belief that the term Jehovah was also applicable to him, and had they not meant to inculcate that belief? On such a point, it can hardly be supposed they would have used a term, which, if Christ were not God, would be calculated to mislead? There are certainly instances in which the term "'O xuρios" is applied to an earthly master, but it is to the continual application of it to our Saviour that I wish to call the attention.

(n) Matt. xxi. 1. "When, &c." This occurred near the close of our Saviour's ministry, five days before the passover

at which he was crucified.

(o) v. 3. "The Lord," o Kupios, with the article.

(p) v. 5. "Tell, &c." This prophecy is

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