: ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL. CHRIST SHEWS HIS OFFICE. 216 follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep; as I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow ME; and no man is able to pluck them out of MY FATHER'S hands. I and MY FATHER are ONE. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Chap. xii. 31-Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be-cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto ME.. Chap. xiii. 19-Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am HE. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth ME and receiveth HIM that sent ME. Chap. xvi. 7. If I go not away the COMFORTER will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send HIM unto you; and when he is come HE will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgments; of sin, because they believe not in ME; of righteousness, because I go to MY FATHER and ye see ME NO more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when HE, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into all Truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and He shall shew you things to come, HE shall glorify ME: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. Ver. 24-Hitherto, ye have asked nothing in MY NAME; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joys may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs; but the time cometh when I shall no more speak to you in Proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the FATHER. At that day, ye shall ask in MY NAME: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the FAT ER for you: for the FATHER himself loveth you, because ye have loved ME. Chap. xvii. 26--I have declared unto them THY NAME, and will declare it: that the love wherewith THOU hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them. Chap. Chap xviii. 22-When he had thus spoken, one of the officers struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answerest thou the High Priest so? Jesus answered him, if I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me? Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a King? Then Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a King; to this end was I born; and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth; every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Chap. xx. 14-She turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman why weepest thou? She saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him. Jesus saith unto her, Mary! She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni! which is to say, Master. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. P Acts i. 7-And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times, or the seasons, which the FATHER hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the HOLY GHOST is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto ME, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly towards Heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white ap. parel; which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into Heaven. Chap. ii. 38-Be baptized in the name of JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the HOLY GHOST; for the Promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall ACTS. THE APOSTLES OPPOSED BY THE JEWS. 217 call. Chap. iii. 19-Repent ye and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and HE shall send JESUS CHRIST, which before was preached unto you, whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets, since the world began. Chap. v. 16-There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and them that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one by the disciples. Then the High Priest rose up, and all that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the Apostles, and put them in the common prison. Ver. 28, 29-Did we not strictly command you, that ye should not teach in this NAME? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. Then Peter and the Apostles answered, we ought to obey God rather than Man; and we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the HOLY GHOST, whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took council to slay them. Chap. xi. 15-And as I began to speak, the HOLY GHOST fell on them, as on us at the beginning; fora-much as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Chap. xiui, 45-But when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy, and spoke against those things, which were spoken by PAUL, contradicting and blaspheming. Then PAUL grew bold, and said, the WORD of GOD should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles; for so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation Ee unto the end of the earth. Chap. xiv. 2-But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the Apostles. Chap. xv. 16-After this I will return and will build again the Tabernacle of DAVID, which is fallen down; I will build again the ruins thereof, and set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the LORD; and all the Gentiles, upon whom MY NAME is called, saith the LORD. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Ver. 8-And God, which knoweth the hearts, beareth them witness, giving them the HOLY GHOST, even so he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Chap. xix. 39-But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it should be determined in a lawful assembly. Chap. xxii. 7-And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they gave him audience unto his words, and then lift up their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth; for it is not fit that he should live. Chap. xxiii. 9-And there arose a great cry and strife amongst them; and the Pharisees part arose and strove, saying, we find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel have spoken to him, let us not fight against God, Chap. xxviii. 22-But we desire to hear of thee, what thou thinkest for us concerning this sect; we know that every where it is spoken against. Now I am ordered to pen the ponderings of my own heart, in reading through St. John and the Acts of the Apostles; and I now say, as I have said before, the Bible is a Looking-glass for all men to see their own hearts, their own ways, and their own REFLECTIONS ON ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL AND ACTS: 219 conduct, by every different classes of people: but I bless God for the Law that is made under the GosPEL, that liberty of conscience is given unto every man, that the malicious and wicked cannot vent out their malice by public rebellion, as they did in our Saviour's days. But yet, in reading my Bible through, I see a malicious spirit of rebellion, and unbelief, in every age of the world; and just the same it is now, and ever will be, as long as the powers of darkness have power to work in man against God. Now I should think the Jews, many of them, and the Sadducees, to be possessed with Devils, if I did not see the same Spirits in men now; but I see the world is just like the Jews, where doctrine isspoken against; some despise it because it hath not the general applause of the world, and thus appeared the manner of the moderate Jews, in the last chapter of the Acts; and this appears like the modern Christians, in this age; it is a religion that is not fashionable, nor applauded by the world; therefore they' will despise it. But when we come to weigh the Gospel, how it is spoken through of the HOLY GHOST being given to them that truly believed in CHRIST, and how our SAVIOUR promised to send it in HIS NAME, to be the COMFORTER and bring all things to your remembrance; yet this was not fulfilled in the Apostles' days; neither was it promised till the restoration of all things. Now if unbelief abounded in the days of our Saviour, that neither of his Brethren believed in HIM, what have I to marvel now, in such an age as this, when I hear of thousands mocking their Bible, turning it into every ridicule, while others think they have nothing to do only to trust in the merits of Christ, without striving to bring any HONOUR OF GLORY to his NAME, by supporting that Gospel that others are mocking? But how can men support that Gospel, when they do not believe it true? And I am sorry to say, the people in this age are perfectly like those in the |