ページの画像
PDF
ePub

comes highly unreasonable and inexcufable, and can be refolved into nothing but the unaccountable Pride John iii. and finful Paffions of Men; they love Darkness rather than Light, becaufe their Deeds are evil.

19.

For the

Gift of the Holy

Spirit.

Thankf giving for

the De

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

God, who as at this Time didft teach the Hearts of thy faithful People, by fending to them the Light of thy Holy Spirit, grant me by the fame Spirit to have a right Judgment in all Things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy Comfort, through the Merits of Chrift Jefus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the Unity of the fame Spirit, one God, World without End, Amen.

IT

Il.

Tis very meet, right, and my bounden Duty, that I fhould at all Times, and in all Places, give fcent of Thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty the Holy Everlasting God, through Jefus Chrift, our Lord;

according to whofe molt true Promife, the Holy Ghost came down as at this Time from Heaven, with a fudden great Sound, as it had been a mighty Wind in the Likenefs of fiery Tongues, lighting upon the Apoftles, to teach them and to lead them into all Truth; giving them both the Gift of divers Languages, and alfo Boldnefs, with fervent Zeal, conantly to preach the Gospel unto all Nations, whereby we have been brought out of Darkness and Error, into the clear Light and true Knowledge of thee, and thy Son Jefus Chrift: Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the Company of Heaven, I laud and magnify thy glorious Name, evermore praifing thee, and faying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Holts, Heaven and Earth are

full

full of thy Glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord moft High. Amen.

III.

Advan

tion.

ALmighty God, who haft created all Things by For the the Word of thy Power, and for whofe Pleasure tages of they are and were created; who preferveft all Things Revelaby the Conduct of thy wife Providence, and by whofe gracious Concurrence all Things do fubfift'; I had lain asleep in the Shades of Darkness, if thy powerful Hand had not awakened me into Being; I had long fince funk into my primitive Nothing, if the continual Supplies of thy Goodness had not fecured my Prefervation. It is ftill a farther Degree of thy distinguishing Mercy, that thou haft ranked me among thofe Creatutes that are made capable of worshipping their Almighty Creator; and who, when they apoftatized from thee by their wilful Folly, were restored to thy Favour and Reconciliation by the meritorious Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Chrift. Bleffed be thy Holy Name, that thou didst not abandon Mankind to that Blindness they had contracted, that thou didst not leave them under that Weakness and Impotency they had brought upon themselves; but when the primitive Laws of our Being began to lofe their Vigour and Force by the evil Practices of a degenerate and corrupted World, wert pleased, by fresh Manifeftations of thyfelf, to difcover to us the Knowledge of our Duty, and the Ways and Means of appeafing thy juft Wrath and Indignation against us, and of reftoring penitent Sinners to thy Mercy and Favour. What is Man that thou art mindful of him; or the Son of Man that thou doft thus remember him? Grant, O Lord, that I may answer the Ends of thy gracious Difcoveries to Mankind, that thy heavenly Light may direct all my Ways, and that my Delight may be in thy Statutes; that the Reasonableness of thy Precepts

R 4

may

may influence my Understanding, and the Excellency of them may inflame my Affections, that conforming myself to the Methods of thy Grace in this World, I may be qualified for the Manifeftations of thy Glory in the next, through Jefus Chrift our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, World without End. Amen.

CHA P. XXIII.

Tuesday in Whitsun-Week.

QWHAT was the bleffed Effect of those mira

culous Gifts, which were at this Time beftowed upon the Apostles?

A. The miraculous Gifts which the Apostles received at this Time, by the Defcent of the Holy Ghoft, were defigned to enable them to preach and propagate the Gofpel throughout all the World, and to make known the Chriftian Religion to all Nations.

Q. What do you mean by the Chriftian Religion?

A. That Way and Manner of worshipping and ferving God, which was revealed to the World by Fefus Chrift; wherein are contained Propofitions of Faith to be believed, Precepts of Life to be practifed, and Motives and Arguments to enforce Obedience. Q. Wherein appears the Truth of the Chriftian Religion?

A. From that full and clear Evidence which our Saviour and his Apostles gave of their divine Miffion and Authority, and from the Nature of that Religion they taught, which was worthy of God, and tended to the Happiness and Welfare of Mankind. Both which Proofs are neceffary to convince us of the

Truth

Truth and Certainty of a divine Revelation. For if Miracles are wrought to establish Idolatry, or to promote the Practice of any wicked Doctrine, we have all the Affurance imaginable, that fuch a Revelation cannot proceed from God, because Wifdom and Holinefs, Juftice and Goodness, are efsential Perfections that belong to his Nature; and it is impoffible we fhould be obliged to believe any Thing as from him, which plainly contradicts them. And this is very agreeable to what Mofes has taught us in fuch a Cafe, If there rife among you a Prophet, or Deut. xiii. a Dreamer of Dreams, and giveth thee a Sign or a Won- 1, 2, 3 der, and the Sign or Wonder come to pass, whereof he Spake unto thee, faying, Let us go after other Gods (which thou haft not known and let us ferve them :) Thou shalt not hearken unto the Words of that Prophet, or that Dreamer of Dreams.

Q. What Proof have we that there ever was fuch a Perfon as Jefus Chrift, and that be fuffered under Pontius Pilate?

Danbuz.

pro Teft.

Clau. c.

A. That there was fuch a Perfon as Jefus Chrift, Carol. who lived in the Reign of the Emperor Tiberius, is not only univerfally acknowledged by Chriftians, Jofeph. but hath been owned by Jews who have writ of thofe Times; and the Heathens themfelves have Tacit. borne their Teftimony to the Truth of this Mat- lib. xv. De ter of Fact, as Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the 26. Epift. Younger. And that the fame Jefus was crucified lib. x.97under Pontius Pilate, is averred both by Christians and Jews; the Chriftians profeffed it, notwithftanding the Ignominy they might thereby seem to bring upon themfelves, who worshipped him as a God; and the Jews owned it, notwithstanding the Provocation they might thereby give to the Chrif tians; for it was by their Ancestors that he was delivered to be crucified: And it is very probable there were public Records of the whole Matter at Rome, as the Account was fent by Pontius Pilate to

Tiberius:

Gen. xlix.

30

Tiberius: For the ancient Chriftians in their Apologies appealed to it, which they had too much Understanding and Modefty to have done, if no fuch Account had ever been sent, or had not been then extant to be produced. And indeed the great Enemies of Christianity, Celfus and Julian, never made this Matter of Fact a Controverfy; fo that no History can be better established by the unanimous Teftimony of People, otherwife very different from one another, than the Life and Death of Jesus Christ. Q. What Evidence did Jefus Chrift give that he was a Prophet fent from God?

A. All the former Prophecies which related to the Meffias were fulfilled in him, which ought to have been a convincing Argument to the Jews, who owned fuch Prophecies to have been of divine Inspiration. He received the Teftimony of a Voice from Heaven several Times; he was endowed with the Power of working Miracles; and particularly with the Gift of Prophecy, proved and made good by the fulfilling his own Predictions; than which nothing can be a greater Evidence of a divine Miffion, because the greatest Argument of infinite Power and Knowledge.

Q. What Prophecies that related to the Meffias were fulfilled in Jefus Chrift?

A. Those Prophecies that concerned his Birth and Life, his Death, Refurrection, and Afcenfion.

Q. What Prophecies that related to the Birth of the Meffias were fulfilled in Jefus ?

A. According to Jacob's Prophecy, the Meffias was to come about the Time of the Diffolution of the Jewish Government; the Sceptre was not to depart from Judah, that is, the Power and Authority of the Jewish Government was not to ceafe, till Shiloh came; by whom the ancient Jews did underftand the Melias. And it was foretold by the Prophets

« 前へ次へ »