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coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

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The Gofpel. S. Matth. 8. 1.

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Hen he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, faying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canft make me clean. And Jefus put forth his hand, and touched him, faying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprofy was cleanfed. And Jefus faith unto him. § See thou tell no man, but go thy way, fhew thyfelf to the priest, and offer the gift that Mofes commanded for a teftimony unto them. And when Jefus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my fervant lieth at home fick of the palfy, grievously tormented. And Jesus faith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion anfwered and faid, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but fpeak the word only, and my fervant fhall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having foldiers under me and I fay unto this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my fervant, Do this, and he doeth it. Jefus heard it, he marvelled, and said unto them that followed, Verily, I fay unto you, I have not found fo great faith, no not in Ifrael. + And I fay unto you, that many fhall come from the east and west, and shall fit down with Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob,

Charity to our Enemies in their neceffity, we fhall take the most effectual means to melt them down into Repentance, Goodwill and Affection. A victory this far fuperior to the conqueft of Kingdoms.

See thou tell no Man, &c. The general reafon why our Lord on this, as well as feveral other occafions, gave fuch an order, might be left the fame of his Miracles being made too public, the People fhould take him by force, and make him a King; and their Rulers be there by provoked to cut him off, before he had fulfilled the courfe of his Ministry. But with refpect to the Leper he might perhaps order him to keep his Cure private, till according to the Law, he had fhewn himself to the Prieft. Because, had the Priest known by what means

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it was wrought, before he had paffed Judgement upon it, he might have refused to pronounce the Man clean.

|| I have not found fo great Faith, &c. The Centu rion's Faith was remarkable in that he fuppofed that Difeafes of all kinds were as much fubject to Chrift's command, tho' at a distance, as his Soldiers were to him.

+ And 1 fay unto you, that many, &c. This is Prophecy that the Gentiles fhould fhortly.be called to partake in the Bleffings and Privileges of the Gospel: whilst the Jews, who boafted themselves to be God's peculiar People, fhould through their Unbelief, be rejected.

in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom fhall be caft out into outer darkness: there fhall be weeping and gnafhing of teeth. And Jefus faid unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou haft believed, fo be it done unto thee. his fervant was healed in the felf-fame hour.

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The fourth Sunday after the Epiphany.

The Collect.

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God, who knoweft us to be fet in the midft of fo many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always ftand upright; Grant to us fuch strength and protection, as may fupport us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen.

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The Epiftle. Rom. 13. 1.

ET every foul be fubject unto the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: the powers that be, are ordained of God. Whofoever therefore refifteth the power, refifteth the ordinance of God: and they that refift, fhall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou fhalt have praise of the fame: for he is the minifter of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the fword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye muft needs be fubject, not only for wrath, but also for confcience fake. For, for this caufe pay

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Paraphrafe on the Collect for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany.

O God who knoweft how unable we are of ourfelves, through our natural Weaknefs, to refift the many powerful Temptations that furround as; give

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us, we beseech thee, fuch help and defence as may fectually uphold and preferve us against the affaults of all our Enemies, through Jefus Christ our Lord.

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nors, St. Paul affures them that they were fo far from being loofed in this refpect, that, on the contrary, their Religion laid upon them, a ftill stronger obligation than ever to obey, even their Heathen Rulers: becaufe they were Ministers appointed by God for the welfare of Society; and that therefore they ought to be fubject to them not only for fear of incurring, the puniments

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tribute alfo; for they are Gods minifters, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, cuftom to whom cuftom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour.

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The Gospel. S. Matth. 8. 23.

ND when he was entered into a ship, his difciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempeft in the fea, infomuch that the fhip was covered with the waves: but he was afleep. § And his disciples came to him, and awoke him saying, Lord, fave us, we perish. And he faith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men marvel→ led, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the fea obey him? And when he was come to the other fide, into the country of the Gergefenes, * there met him two poffeffed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, fo that no man might pafs by that way. And behold, they cried out, faying, What have we to do with thee, Jefus thou Sonof God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many fwine feeding. So the devils befought him, faying, If thou cast us out, fuffer us to go away into

of the Law, but likewife out of Confcience towards God: and that for the fame reason they ought alfo to fhew obedience and reverence to them in all Things, where their command were not contrary to the divine Will. If fubjection to Governors was fo ftrongly infifted upon under the Reign of a Nero, and in Time of Perfecution, then how much more is it incumbent upon us whofe Religion is fupported and defended by the civil Government!

And bis Difciples came to him, &c. From the example of thefe Difciples we may learn where to feek for fuccour in all our diftreffes, fince tho' the forrows of Death encompass us, and the overflowings of Ungodliness make us afraid, yet the Lord of Hofts is with us, the

God of Jacob is our Refuge; who fillerb the Raging of the Sea, and the Noife of his Waves, and the madness of the People.

* There met him two possessed with Devils. St. Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac, probably because he whom they fpeak of, was a great deal more furious than the other: for he had been often bound with Fetters and Chains, but had as often broken them; fo that no Man durft further attempt to reftrain him. He too was perhaps a Perfon of more note than the other for his birth, or parts, or intereft in the Country, and his Cure made more noife, and for that reafon was mentioned by Mark and Luke, while they omitted the Cure of the other.

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the herd of fwine.

And he faid unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of fwine; and behold, the whole herd of fwine ran violently down a steep place, into the fea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them. fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the poffeffed of the devils. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jefus: and when they faw him, they befought him that he would depart out of their coafts.

The fifth Sunday after the Epiphany.

The Collect.

Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and houshold continually in thy true religion, that they, who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace, may evermore be defended by thy mighty power, through Jefus Chrift our Lord, Amen. The Epiftle. Col. 3. 12.

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UT on therefore (as the elect of God, holy and beloved) bowels, of mercies, kindnefs, humblenefs of mind, meeknefs, long-fuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Chrift forgave you, fo alfo do ye. And above all these things put on * charity, which is the bond, of perfectnefs. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which alfo ye are called in

Paraphrafe on the Collect for the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany.

O Lord, preferve, we beseech thee, thy Church, the Houfhold of God, in the profeffion of a true Faith; that they, who depend only upon thy powerful protection

And when they were come out, &c. Jefus permitted the Devils to enter into the Swine, probably, not only to fhew the reality of the poffeflion, but alfo how great the power and malice of evil Spirits are, if they are not reftrained and at the fame Time to punith the Gadarenes for keeping Swine, which were a fnare to the Jews; and to try whether they would be more affected with the lofs of their Cattle, than with the recovery of the Men, and his heavenly Doctrine.

That we may offer up an acceptable Service to God through Jefus Chrift it is neceffary, that we have

and fupport, may always be fafe from Calamities through the Merits of Chrift Jefus.

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a right Faith. For as are our Principles, fuch will be

our Practice.

* Charity, which is the Bond of Perfectness, i. e. If the principle of our actions be the Love of Mankind, founded upon the Love of God and his Love to us, it will make us perfect in all manner of good Works. for no one loveth Mankind as he ought who doth not love God, and he who truly loveth God will love his Fellow-Creatures alfo.-And he who is a Lover of Mankind will be fo far from injuring them, that he will be difpofed on all occafions to do them every act of kindnefs and beneficence in his power.

one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Chrift dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in pfalms, and hymns, and fpiritual fongs, finging with grace in your hearts to the Lord. + And whatfoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jefus, giving thanks to God, and the Father by him.

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The Gospel. S. Matth. 13. 24.

HE kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which fowed good feed in his field. But while men flept, his enemy came and fowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was fprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares alfo. So the fervants of the houfholder came, and faid unto him, Sir, didft not thou fow good feed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He faid unto them, An enemy hath done this. The fervants faid unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ‡ But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up alfo the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harveft; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together firft the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. § The fixth Sunday after the Epiphany.

The Collect

God, whose blessed Son was manifefted, that he might destroy the works of the devil, and make us the fons of God, O2

And whatfoever ye da in word or deed, &c. In all our Words and Actions, whether of folemn worship or others, we must addrefs ourselves to God, and hope for acceptance by Jefus Chrift; for he is the only Perfon, through whom all Mercies are derived to us, for which we pray to, or praife God.

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*The Kingdom of Heaven, fignifies the state of the Gofpel, the Sower is Chrift, the Field is the World, as our Saviour interprets it at the 37th and following Verses of this Chapter, the Enemy is the Devil, and the Tares, the Children of the Wicked one.

But he faid, Hay; &c. The reafon why God difallows of the Tares being gatherd up, that is, of wicked

Men being utterly rooted out of the World, may be, partly because it could hardly be effected without the Righteous being fufferers alfo-partly becaufe they are a means of trial to the Righteous-and partly alfo that by his goodness, forbearance and long fuffering towards the wicked he may lead them to Repentance.

§ It is evident from this Collect that one great end of Chrift's coming into the World, was to purify unto himfelf a peculiar People, zealous of good Works; and that it is abfolutely neceffary for us to refemble him in Holinefs here, that we may be like him in Happine& hereafter.

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