Merciful God, who haft made all men, and hateft nothing that thou haft made, nor wouldeft the death of a finner, but rather that he fhould be converted, and live; Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Hereticks, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word; and fo fetch them home, bleffed Lord to thy flock, that they may be faved among the remnant of the true Ifraelites, and be made one fold under one Shepherd, Jefus Chrift our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Amen.

T

The Epiftle. Hebr. 10. 1.

HE law having a fhadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with thofe facrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect: for then would they not have ceafed to be offered; because that the worshippers once purged, fhould have had no more confcience of fins. But in thofe facrifices there is a remembrance again made of fins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats fhould take away fins: Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he faith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldeft not, but a body haft thou prepared me: In burntofferings and facrifices for fin thou haft had no pleasure: Then faid I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do

Paraphrafe on the third O God of infinite Mercy, the Maker of all Men, who lovett thy Creatures, and defireft not that any one of them fhould perifh in his Sins, but that he fhould turn from his Iniquities, and be faved; have Mercy upon all Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, and Unbelievers of every perfuafion, and in every part of the World: enlighten their Understandings, and reform their

The Law having a fhadow, The Apoftle proves in this paffage of Scripture that the Sacrifices which were made ufe of under the Law of Mofes were only types, and figurative Reprefentations of that perfect Sacrifice, which Jefus Chrift, by his Death, offered up once for all; and therefore that as that was come in

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Colle& for Good Friday.
Difpofitions, that they being thus admitted into the
number, and privileges of thy People, may be made
partakers of that eternal Salvation which is purchased
for all real Chriftians by Jefus Christ our Lord, who
reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God for
ever and ever.

reality which they only eprefented, they ought to be done away. Behold therefore O Sinner, what forrow's thy Saviour endured for thy Iniquities! Behold and Repent. Bebol ye truly penitent Believers how the Prince of Peace procured for you Reconciliation with the Father! Behold and rejoice with Thanksgiving.

*

thy will, O God. Above, when he faid, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offerings, and offering for fin thou wouldest not, neither hadft pleasure therein, which are offered by the law: Then faid he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He.taketh away the first, that he may establish the fecond. By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jefus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily miniftering, and offering oftentimes the fame facrifices, which can never take away fins. But this man, after he had offered one facrifice for fins, for ever fat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his foot- ftool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are fanctified: whereof the Holy Ghost, alfo is a witnefs to us: For after that he had faid before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, faith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their fins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remiffion of thefe is, there is no more offering for fin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jefus, by a new and living way, which he hath confecrated for us, through the vail, that is to fay, his flesh: and having an high prieft over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full affurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil confcience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profeffion of our faith without wavering: (for he is faithful that promised) and let us confider one another to provoke unto love and to good works;

Offering for Sin thou wouldeft not. &c. By this paffage of Scripture, which is quoted from Pfalm xl. it is plain that facrifices were, in themselves, not acceptable to God: but that they were inftituted for a time, and fuited to the genius of the Jews, a carnal people, who, without fuch outward rites and ceremonies in their religious worship, would have been too apt to fall into the idolatrous practices of the Gentiles. They were defigned likewife to reprefent that great Offering of Jefus Chrift the Lamb of God, which (in God's intention) was flain from the foundation of the

world; but was revealed in these last times.

not

+ For by one Offering he hath perfected, c. Obferve here that it is thofe who are Janctified, those who are truly obedient Chriftians, that are perfected, and made partakers in the benefics of Chrift's redemption.

Not forfaking the affembling e. If St. Paul fo earneftly exhorted Chriftians, even in times of Perfecution, not to neglect the affembling themselves together for public worship; then how much more is this duty incumbent upon us, who are protected and Supported in our religious worship by the civil Government

forfaking the affembling of ourselves together, as the manner of fome is; but exhorting one another: and fo much the more as ye fee the day approaching.

The Gofpel. S. John 19. 1.

1

Ilate therefore took Jefus, and scourged him. And the Soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and faid, Hail, King of the Jews: And they fmote him with their Hands. Pilate therefore went forth azain, and faith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate faith unto them, * Behold the man. When the chief priests therefore, and Officers faw him, they cried out, faying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate faith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews anfwered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, becaufe he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that faying, he was the more afraid; and went again into the judgment-hall, and faith unto Jefus, § Whence art thou? But Jefus gave him no answer. Then faith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knoweft thou not, that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to releafe thee? Jefus anfwered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee, hath the greater fin. And from

Behold the Man. Thus Pilate endeavoured to raise the compaffion of the people. He had caufed Jefus to be fcourged, and in derifion to be adorned with a Crown of Thorns, and an old purple robe, in hopes that the people would be pacified with this punish ment; and that Jefus' life might be spared. In this woeful condition he brought him forth to them, faying Behold the Man But their hearts were too much hardened, and too much bent upon his deftruction, to be fatisfied with any thing less than his death. Thus were the divine counfel fulfilled..

§ Whence art thou? Pilate as he was a Heathen, and therefore not a Believer in the true God, hearing that

U 2.

the charge laid against Jefus by the Jews was that he had called himself the Son of God, feems to have fup. pofed that Jefus had pretended he had derived his defcent from fome Deity; as fome of the Her es of old had done; fuch as Alexander, who represented hi felf as the fon of Jupiter; and Romulus who was reported to have been the fon of Mars, &c. Therefore he faid Whence art thou? That is, "Which of the Deities art. thou sprung from?" Therefore it was perhaps that Jefus did not choose to explain to him his divine original, because in his prefent state of Gentilifm he was not capable of comprehending it.

thenceforth Pilate fought to releafe him: but the Jews cried outs faying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cefars friend: Whofoever maketh himself a king, fpeaketh against Cefar. When Pilate therefore heard that faying, he brought Jefus forth, and sat down in the judgment-feat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the fixth hour: and he faith unto the Jews, Behold your King. But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate faith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no King but Cefar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified: and they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a fcull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha: where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either fide one, and Jefus in the midft. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the crofs: And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jefus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then faid the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, the King of the Jews; but that he said, I the King of the Jews. Pilate anfwered, § What I have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jefus, took his garments, (and made four parts, to every foldier a part) and

↑ And about the fixth Hour. In order to reconcile this paffage with St. Mark who fays that they Crucified, or fixed him to the Crofs at the third Jewish Hour, which is about our nine o'Clock: we must observe that St. John, who lived in the later Times of Chriftianity, and wrote his Gospel principally for the benefit of the Gentile Converts, adapts his account of Things to the Roman computation of Time; which agreed pretty much with ours. Therefore the fixth Hour here, is much the fame with our fix in the Morning.

And he bearing his Crofs. "Tis faid indeed in the other Gospels that they obliged one Simon a Cyrenian to bear it for him: but this it may be fuppofed was done after Jefus had carried it fo long as till they.

I. am

were afraid he should die under the fatigue; and they be thereby disappointed of putting him to the intended Toiture.

§ What I have written, I have written. That is, "I am determined the Infcription fhall not be altered." As it was ufual for Malefactors amongst the Romans to have the Crime for which they fuffered, infcribed upon a Tablet, and carried before them to their execution t fo Pilate, according to cuftom, made a fuperfcription for Jefus but wrote it in fo ambiguous a manner, as that it might feem either that Jefus had falfly affumed to himself the title of King of the Jews; or that was indeed the King of the Jews.

also his coat: now the coat was without feam, woven from the top throughout. They faid therefore among themselves, Let us no rend it, but caft lots for it, whofe it fhall be: that the fcripture might be fulfilled, which faith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vefture they did caft lots. These things therefore the foldiers did. Now there ftood by the cross of Jefus, his mother, and his mothers fifter, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jefus therefore faw his mother, and the difciple ftanding by, whom he loved, he faith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy fon. Then faith he to the difciple, *Behold thy mother. And from that hour that difciple took her unto his own home. After this, Jefus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the fcripture might be fulfilled, faith, I thirst. Now there was fet. a veffel full of vinegar; and they filled a fpunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyffop, and put it to his mouth. When Jefus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, †It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghoft. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies fhould not remain upon the cross on the fabbath-day (for that fabbathday was an high day) befought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the foldiers, and brake the legs of the firft, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jefus, and faw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs. But one of the foldiers with a fpear pierced his fide, and forthwith came there out blood and

Bebeld thy Mother. Whatever fome in thefe Days night think of fuch an action, our Saviour, herein, gave a proof of his regard for St. John, as well as for his Mother and entrusted her to his care as an Honour not indulged to his other Difciples. Hereby acknowledging him, in his last moments, as the Diciple whom he particularly loved-as one whom he knew to be his Friend indeed. If Jefus took fuch Thought) for his worldly Parent amidst all the agonics of his Crucifixion: none furely can juftly be accounted his Followers who neglect a proper difcharge of this duty."

It is finished. Which was as if he had faid, "all Types and Prophecies concerning me are now fulfilled,

God's Juftice is fatisfied,-and the great work of Man's Redemption is accomplished."

Forthwith came thereout Blood and Water. The Apoftle feems to have taken particular notice of this incident both here and in his firft Epiftle chap. v. 6. because it was an evident proof of the certainty of his Death; (in oppofition to the opinion of fome Heretics who affirmed that he only died in appearance.) For Anatomifts tell us that there is a Capfula near the Heart, called the Pericardium, which hath Water in it; and therefore that the coming out of Water with. the Blood was a fure evidence that the Heart was wounded.