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What abundant reason is there for humble thankfulness that the ambassadors of Christ were thus sent forth to preach the gospel, and that at length their number was increased, and their commission enlarged; so that instead of their being thus confined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, their instructive line is gone out through all the earth, and their words have resounded even to the end of the world! (Psalm xix. 4.) May the purport of their message be seriously attended to! since it will so certainly be a savour of life or of death, of eternal salvation or aggravated condemnation and ruin.

Let us tremble to think, that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for those by whom the gospel is rejected: and let us earnestly pray that Divine Grace may enable us to receive it in the love of it, and to obey the truth, that we may be saved. (2 Thess. ii. 10.)

They who have the honour in this respect to succeed the apostles as ministers of this gospel may learn most useful instructions from this discourse of our Divine Master. Let them speak and act as the messengers of peace and the friends of mankind, who cordially wish well to all around them; and gratefully acknowledge the kindness which, as faithful labourers, they have justly deserved. Let them shew a true greatness of mind in an apparent superiority to temporal interests and present gratifications; easy in whatever accommodations they find where Providence leads them; and forgetting themselves, to remember their Master, and the souls he has committed to their care.

Let them faithfully warn all around them of the importance of their eternal concerns, and of the unutterable danger of receiving the grace of God in vain, that whether men will hear or forbear, they may be clean from their blood. And, while we preserve such a temper and conduct, we may cheerfully hope that God will be with us in the way that we go, and how precarious soever our circumstances may seem, will give us food to eat, and raiment to put on. May we all have this token for good, that God will take care of our interests; even the consciousness of our being faithfully engaged to promote his glory, and our joyful readiness to spend and be spent for the service of souls! (2 Cor. xii. 15.)

SECTION XXX.

MATT. X. 16-31.

BEHOLD, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they

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will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for But a testimony against them and the Gentiles. when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord: if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. And fear not them which will kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.

How apparently fit is it, that this eternal and almighty God should be the object of our humble fear, and that in comparison with him we should fear nothing else! All the terrors

of the world are disarmed by this; and by this are its flatteries also disarmed. In whatever stations of life we are fixed, let this engage us to be faithful to God in them: so shall we be most truly faithful to ourselves!

The apostles were exposed to peculiar dangers and trials; but all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must expect some degree of persecution, (2 Tim. iii. 12,) let us therefore arm ourselves with the same mind, that we may bear it with a truly Christian fortitude. May Divine grace teach us to mingle the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the dove, and to shelter ourselves from the ill usage of a perverse and sinful generation, so far only as we can do it without offering any violation to our consciences!

It is indeed matter of great lamentation, that the sentiments of benevolence and goodness, which seem so natural to the human mind, and are always so ornamental and delightful, should prevail no more: and it is shameful that the name of religion, so well calculated to cultivate these sentiments, should be made use of as an engine to destroy them; and instead of cementing kingdoms and families in closer and more affectionate bonds, should inspire them even with mortal animosity. Let us bless God for our public liberties; and earnestly pray, that where persecution reigns in its utmost terror, the wrath of man may praise him, and the remainder of that wrath be restrained! (Psalm lxxvi. 10.)

The ill usage which the blessed Jesus endured from an ungrateful world, may surely prevent our being surprised or offended, if we meet with some share of it too. May we be willing to suffer with him, that we may at length reign with him! (2 Tim. ii. 12.) And if by unexpected revolutions in providence we should be called out to the severest trials, may the spirit of glory and of God rest upon us! and may we not account even our lives dear unto us, that, approving our fidelity to him, we may finish our course with joy! (1 Pet. iv. 14, and Acts xx. 24.)

SECTION XXXI.

LUKE IX. 6.

MATT. X. 32; XI. 1. MARK VI. 12, 13. WHOSOEVER therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For

I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

MATT. XI. 1. MARK VI. 12, 13. LUKE IX. 6.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities. And they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed every where.

Justly may the blessed Jesus set so high a value on himself, and on the blessings of his grace: justly may he insist upon our readiness to abandon all for him, who is so just an equivalent for all. May his grace teach us to love him more than the dearest of our relations, and even to be ready for his sake to sacrifice our lives! May it make us willing to take up and bear any cross for him, who bore his cross and expired upon it for us!

The gospel has indeed been the occasion of much contention and persecution, not only in Judea but elsewhere: yet let us not charge it upon any malignity, or any deficiency in that,

but on the lusts and corruptions of men, who have either directly opposed or grossly perverted it. Let us endeavour to arm ourselves with courage to encounter, and resolution to endure, whatever persecutions or injuries our adherence to it may cost us; ever confiding in that gracious Providence which extends itself even to the meanest creatures: reposing ourselves on the support of Divine consolations, and esteeming ourselves happy, even in losing our lives in this world, if we may find them in that which is everlasting.

In the mean time, may this excellent discourse of our blessed Redeemer animate us to every work of faith, and every labour of love! Let not the poorest be discouraged from some charitable attempt for the good of others: since the munificence of our heavenly Master will remember even a cup of cold water given to the least of his servants under that character. Yet since there will be such a variety of rewards proportionable to different degrees of liberality and zeal, let us indulge a generous ambition of abounding in the work of the Lord, that we may shine with distinguished glory in the day of retribution, and have an abundant entrance into his kingdom.

SECTION XXXII.

MATT. XIV. 1-12. MARK VI. 14-29. LUKE IX.

7-9.

AT that time king Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and of all that was done by him, (for his name was spread abroad :) and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him; and of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that it is a prophet, or one of the prophets. And Herod said unto his servants, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him: and he desired to see him.

For Herod himself had sent forth, and laid hold upon John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod,

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