1 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 8 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 part of the earth. LESSON CCCXIV. 66 Jesus, after the Resurrection, gives " Commandments, through the Holy Ghost, unto the Apostles whom he had chosen.” MARK XVI. Į And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and Spreach the gospel to every creature. V. 15-16. 17 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out 18 devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. JOHN XX. Į Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: V. 21-22. as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith 23 unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. MATT. XXVIII. V. 18. 19 earth. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 20 Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 27* LESSON CCCXV. Our Lord's Ascension into Heaven. LUKE XXIV. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them, and it came V. 50-51. ACTS I. to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up; And a cloud received him out of their sight. And while V. 9-10. they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, 11 behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 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. LUKE XXIV. And they worshipped him, and returned to JerusaV. 52-53. lem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. } MARK XVI. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. V. 20. CH. 1. LESSON CCCXVI. Matthias numbered with the eleven Apostles. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the V. 15. disciples, and said, (the number of names together 16 were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concern20 ing Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his 2D 22 1 23 24 25 26 CH. II. V. 1-2. 8 resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. LESSON CCCXVII. The Descent of the Holy Ghost. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of 4 fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of 6 every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own lan7 guage. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own 9 tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in 10 Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and prose11 lytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our 12 tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 8 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 28 LESSON CCCXVIII. Peter's Discourse on the Day of Pentecost. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my hand-maidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy : And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved. LESSON CCCXIX. Peter's Discourse on the Day of Pentecost, concluded. 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain : Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be 25 holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my 6 right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy 28 One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and » buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. There 81 fore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens; but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Therefore let all the -86 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, 88 Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you 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, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 40 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them 42 about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon |