unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you: and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said 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.-John xx. 19-23. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: if I forgave, &c. for your sakes I forgave it in the person (or sight) of Christ.-2 Cor. ii. 10. The twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, &c. Look ye out among you seven men, of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business: but we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word, &c. whom they set before the apostles and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.-Acts vi. 2-6. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John; who, when they were come down, prayed for them.-Acts viii. 14, 15. The believing Jews dispute with Peter for going to the Gentiles; and he gives them an account of God's work upon them.-Acts xi. 2, &c. I speak to you, Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.--Rom. xi. 13, 14. For I suppose I was not a whit behind (or in nothing inferior to) the very chiefest apostles, &c. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more: in labours more abundant, &c. besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.-2 Cor. xi. 5.23. 28. 1 Cor. xv. 10. I knew a man in Christ, &c. such an one caught up to the third heaven, &c. into Paradise, heard unspeakable words, &c. I ought to have been commended of you; for in nothing am I behind (or any way inferior to) the very chiefest apostles, &c.-2 Cor. xii. 2-4. 11. When it pleased God, &c. to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, &c. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days; but other of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother.-Gal. i. 15—19. When they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter (for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles): and when James, Cephas, and John (who seemed to be pillars), perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision, &c. but when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed: for before that, certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew, and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision, &c. but when I saw that they walked not uprightly, &c. I said unto Peter, before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?—Gal. ii. 7—9. 11—14. I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and doctor of the Gentiles. 2 Tim. i. 11. CHAP, LV. day, that the remnant of Israel, &c. shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth: the remnant OF THE RESTORATION and return OF shall return, even the remnant of Ja ISRAEL FROM THE COUNTRIES INTO AND it shall come to pass, when all : The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left, &c. Rejoice, Oye nations, with his people; for he will avenge the blood of his servants, &c. and he will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.— Deut. xxxii. 36. 43. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.-Ps. xiv. 7. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established (or prepared) in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow in unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up, &c. for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.-Isa. ii. 2, 3. And it shall come to pass in that cob, unto the mighty God: for though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea; yet a remnant of them shall return, &c.-Isa. x. 20-23. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time, to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, &c. and from the islands of the sea: and he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth.-Isa. xi. 11, 12. The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land, &c.—Isa. xiv. 1-3. 32. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit, &c. ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel, &c. And they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.-Isa. xxvii. 6. 12, 13. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed: neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken: but there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers.-Isa. xxxiii. 20, &c. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you, &c. for the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.-Isa. li. 2, 3. lii. 1—4. lx. lxi. 4, &c. lxii. lxv. 18-23. lxvi. 8-13. 15. Micah iv. Zeph. iii. 14, &c. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem, &c. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, &c.-Jer. iii. 17-19. The days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land, that I gave unto their fathers. Jer. xvi. 14, 15. xxiii. 3-8. I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people, &c. Again, I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel, &c. thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria, thy planters shall plant and shall eat, &c. for thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations, &c. behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, &c. a great company shall return thither, &c. for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel, will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he: therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, &c. If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord: behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord, &c. Jer. xxxi. 1. 3-5. 7—12. 37, &c. xxx. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven them in mine anger, &c. and I will bring them again unto this place; and I will cause them to dwell safely, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.-Jer. xxxii. 37, 38. Thus saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and night, &c. then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant; so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.-Jer. xxxiii. 25, 26. xlvi. 27, 28. And in those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, &c.-Jer. lix. 4. 20. Thus saith the Lord God, Although I have cast them afar off among the heathen; and although I have scattered them among the countries; yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come: therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered; and I will give you the land of Israel, and they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, &c.-Ezek. xi. 16—18. Ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers, and there shall ye remember your ways, &c.-Ezek. xx. 42, 43. xxviii. 24-26. Thus, saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out, &c. and deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered, &c. and will bring them to their own land, &c. and I will set up the shepherd over them, &c. Ezek. xxxiv. 11-13. 23, &c. Mountains of Israel, ye shall shout forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come: for behold I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sowed, &c. and the city shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded, &c. I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, &c. I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land, &c. and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, &c. then shall ye remember your own evil ways, &c. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God: be it known unto you, &c. then the heathen that are left round about you, shall know, that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that which was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel.-Ezek. xxxvi. 8—11. 24. 28. 31-33. 36, 37. Hosea ii. 14, 15. Amos ix. 11. 14, 15. By the dry bones is typified the Israelites' return. These bones are the whole house of Israel; behold they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off for our parts: therefore prophesy, &c. O my people, I will open your graves, cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel, &c. I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms, &c. and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob.-Ezek. xxxvii. 3. 11, 12. 21, 22. 25. Hosea i. 10, 11. Joel iii. 6, 7. Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel. But I have gathered them unto their own land, &c. neither will I hide my face any more.-Ezek. xxxix. 25, &c. Jerusalem shall be inhabited, &c. Flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon, &c. for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye.Zech. ii. 4-8. 12. Joel iii. Zeph. iii. 14, &c. Thus, saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, &c. There shall yet old men, and old women, dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, &c. and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof, &c. Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, &c. As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not; so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah: fear ye not, &c. Yea, many people, and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.-Zech. viii. 3-5. 7, 8. 14, 15. 22. xii. 7-9. xiv. 10, 11. 20-23. Joel iii. 19, 20. In that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people, &c. They shall be cut in pieces, though the people of the earth be gathered together against it.-Zech. xii. 3, &c. I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins, &c. They are beloved for the fathers' sake.-Rom. xi. 25-28. CHAP. LVI. OF THE SEVENTH, OR SABBATH DAY, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND THE LAWS ABOUT IT; AND OF ITS CHANGE TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made: and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work.-Gen. ii. 2, 3. To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which you will bake to day, &c. for to morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord, &c. Six days ye shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none, &c. Abide ye every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day. -Exod. xvi. 23-30. : Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, &c. for in six days the Lord made heaven, &c. and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.-Exod. xx. 8-11. Deut. v. 12-14. On the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thine handmaid, and the stranger may be refreshed.— Exod. xxiii. 12. xxxiv. 21. : Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from amongst his people, and he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, &c. it is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth.-Exod. xxxi. 14-18. xxxv. 2. Six days shall work be done, &c. ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath' day.-Exod. xxxv. 2, 3. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest: an holy convocation.-Levit. xxiii. 3. They found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day, &c. and the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall surely be put to death, all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.-Numb.xv. 32-36. And on the sabbath day two lambs, &c. this is the burnt-offering of every sabbath, besides the continual burntoffering, and his drink-offering.— Numb. xxviii. 9, 10. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, &c. and remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt.Deut. v. 12-15. If the people of the land bring wares, or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, we should not buy it on the sabbath.-Neh. x. 31. Nehemiah contended with the nobles of Judah, for profaning the sabbath, and he caused the gates to be shut on the sabbath, to keep out merchandises, and threatened such who brought them to sell on the sabbath day. Neh. xiii. 15-23. |