and heirs of eternal life; Grant us, we beseech thee, that having this hope, we may purify ourselves, even as he is pure; that when he shall appear again with power and great glory, we may be made like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, he liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end. Amen. The Epistle. I S. John 3. 1. : * we us, that we should be called the fons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the fons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know, that when he shall appear, shall be like him; for we shall fee him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whofoever committeth fin, transgresseth also the law: for fin is the tranfgreffion of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our fins; and in him is no fin. + Whosoever abideth in him, finneth not: whosoever finneth, hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth fin is of the devil: for the devil finneth from the beginning. For this purpose the fon of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. The Gospel. S. Matth. 24. 23. Paraphrafe on the Collect for the fixth Sunday after the Epiphany. O God, whose Son Jesus Christ came into the World, to overcome Satan, by destroying his wicked Works, and to procure for us the glorious Privileges of the Sons of God and Heirs of Salvation; teach us, therefore, who have this Hope to become like that Saviour here in * We shall be like him, for we shall see him, &c That is, we shall be like Chrift, for he shall change our vile Body into the likeness of his glorious Body; and we shall jee bim as be is: not in the lowly Condition in which he appeared upon Earth, but in the Glo Holiness of Life; that when he shall make his fecond appearance in Glory to judge the quick and dead, we may be made like him in Happiness and Immortality in Heaven, where he reigneth with thee O Father and thee Holy Ghost, one God thro' all Eternity. ry which he had with the Father, before the World was. + Whosoever abideth in bim finneth not. That is, who foever is a veal Christian doth not allow himself in the practice of any known Sin, T Hen if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. * For there shall arise false Chrifts and false prophets, and shall shew great figns and wonders; infomuch that (if it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the defert, go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, || shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the fign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall fee the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ‡ And he shall fend his angels with a great found of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. + The Sunday called Septuagefima, or the third Sunday before Lent. Lord, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people, that we who are justly punished for our offen For there shall arise false Christs, &c. As the Gofpel from whence this is taken is part of our Saviour's Prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerufalem, so the false Christs and false Prophets here spoken of relate to what is told us by the Historian Jofephus, (viz.) "that many Impostors and Magicians perfuaded the People to follow them into the Desart, where they " promised to shew them manifest Signs and Wonders done by God"-as alfo to what is related of Simon Magas, Acts viii. 9. 9. 10. that be bewitched the Samaritans Jo with bis Sorceries, that they all gave heed to him from the leaft to the greatest, saying this Man is the great power of God. : The Sun shall be darkened, &c. By this is meant that the Ecclesiattical and Civil State of the Jews Thould be destroyed, which are compared, according to : the Eastern Language, to the Sun, Moon and Stars. $ And be shall send bis Angels, &c. i, e. when Jerusalem shall be destroyed, Chrifl will fend forth his Minifters to preach, and convert great numbers to the Faith, through all parts of the World. + Septuagefima Sunday is so called, because (reckoning from the beginning of the Week before it) it is seventy days before Easter. Then it was that fome of the primitive Christians were used to begin their forty Days Abstinence of Lent, omitting on this occafion Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Thursdays because of the Lord's Supper, and Afcenfion, on that Day. Saturdays, because thereon our Saviour retted in the Grave, in Token of our future Reft; and Sundays because of his Refurrection on that Day. ces, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. K The Epiftle. 1 Cor. 9. 24. ۲ Now ye not, that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. § And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things: now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; fo fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into fubjection, left that by any means when I I have ( preached to others, I myself should be a caft-away. * The Gospel. S. Matth. 20. 1. THE E kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an houfholder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he fent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and faw others standing idle in the market-place, and said unto them, Go ye alfo into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the fixth and ninth hour and did likewife. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and faith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no 111 Paraphrafe on the Collett O Lord, we întreat thee mercifully to hear our Petitions, that we whom thou justly chaltisest for our Sins, may of thy goodness be gracioufly relieved from our And every Man that striveth, &c. The phrases in the Epistle for this Day allude to the Ifthmian Games, which were celebrated by the Corinthians every five Years, at a place called Cenchrea; and confifted of Run ning, Wrestling, Boxing, &c. Therefore as the Combatants on these occafions were used to prepare them selves for them by a course of Exercise and spare Diet; fo, St. Paul says, ought Christians willingly to fubdue for Septuagefima Sunday. their Passions and Appetites by Mortification and Self- *The Kingdom of Heaven is like, &c. The true defign of this parable is to shew that the Jews who had the Gospel first proposed to them, would be the last in receiving it. The Housholder reprefents God,- man hath hired us. He faith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard faith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the firft came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewife received every man a penny. And when they had received it, * they murmured against the good-man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou haft made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chofen. The Sunday called † Sexagefima, or the Second Sunday before Lent. The Collect.c : behaving well under their different Difpenfations. For this was a gift of God's free Grace alone. But as the Law was a Schoolmaster to bring the Jews to Chrift, fo a right improvement t of the Light of Nature prepared the Gentiles for the reception of the Gofpel, The Vineyard, the Dispensations of Religion in ge neral which were given to mankind in the different parts of the world. The Labourers hired early in the morning fignified the Jews, who were born Members of God's Church, under the law of Moses. Those hired at the third, fixth, and ninth hours, signified those of the Gentiles who were converted to the worship of They murmured, &c. Thus the Jews murmured, God, and became, fome Proselytes of righteousness, others Profelytes of the Gate. The invitation at the eleventh hour fignified the calling of the Gentiles in every country, by the Light of Nature, to live pioufly and wifely. I They received every Man a Penny. The equal reward bestowed on all, fignifies the Gospel with its Privileges and Advantages, which all, both Jews and Gentiles, enjoyed upon an equal footing. Only we must not carry therefemblance so far as to suppose that either of them had merited the Blessings of the Gospel, by and rejected the Gospel, when the Gentiles were admitted to its Privileges without fubmitting to the infti tutions of the Law of Mofes, Acts xxii. 21. 229 Thef. ii, 16. 2 } + Sexagesima Sunday is so called because (reckoning from the Wednesday before it) it is fixty Days before Eafter. Then it was that fome of the primitive Christians began their forty Days Faft of Lent, omitting on this oc cafion, Thursdays and Sundays. [See Septuagefima Sunday. Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity, through Jesus Chrift our Lord. Amen. The Epistle. 2. Cor. 11. 19. E fuffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wife. For ye fuffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man fmite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak: howbeit, whereinsover any is bold (‡L speak foolishly) I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I: are they Ifraelites?' so am I are they the feed of Abraham? so am I: are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; † in labours more abundant; in stripes above measure; in prisons more frequent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods; Once was I stoned; Thrice I suffered shipwreck; A night and a day I have been in the deep : in journeying often; in perils of waters; in perils of robbers; in perils by mine own country-men; in perils by the heathen; in perils in the city; in perils in the wilderness ; in perils in the sea; in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness; in watchings often; in hunger and thirst; in fastings often; in cold and nakedness; besides those Paraphrafe on the Collect for Sexagefima Sunday. O Lord God, who knowest that we rely not upon graciously protect us by thy might against all Calamities our own ftrength for our own defence and fupport; for the sake of Jefus Christ our Lord. • Ye fuffer Fools gladly, &c. This expreffion, and what follows, relates to the false Teachers who had crept in among the Corinthians during St. Paul's abfence, who endeavoured to enslave them to the Jewish Law, to make them a prey to their Covetousness; and treated them with insolence, tyranny, and contumely; infusing into them, at the fame time, jealoufies, and evil surmises against their lawful Paftor. $ I speak foo ishly. Observe here how cautiously St. Paul behaved himself in a point, which he knew to be so nice. For tho' the false Teachers amongst the Corinthians had rendered such a vindication necessary: yet he knew that it is very difficult to expatiate upon ourselves in Conversation without incurring the censure of vanity. + In labours more abundant, &c. &. The methods ufed for exercising St. Paul's Patience and Virtue, teach us plainly, that the way in which God would be served by Christians, especially by his Minifters, is that of constancy, and indefatigable diligence, and diffusive Charity. That ease and idleness, and luxury, and effeminate declinings of trouble for the publick good, are by no means agreeable to the character of a Difciple of Jesus. |