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less, to glory: I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ, &c.-2 Cor. xii. 1-3.

among themselves, who should be the greatest: and he sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past-Mark ix. 34, 35. unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, &c.-Heb. i. 1, 2.

CHAP. LIV.

THE CALL AND COMMISSION OF THE

APOSTLES, EQUAL.

JESUS, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, &c. He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, &c. and he called them, and they immediately left the ship, and their father, and followed him.-Matt. iv. 18-22. Mark i. 16-20.

One is your master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren, &c. whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be abased.-Matt. xxiii. 8. 11, 12.

As Jesus passed forth, he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom; and he saith unto him, Follow me: and he arose and followed him.-Matt. ix. 9. Mark ii. 14. Luke v. 27, 28.

Whatsoever ye bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven.-Matt. xviii. 18. He ordained twelve: that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: and Simon he sirnamed Peter, and James the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, &c. and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas.-Mark iii. 14-19.

By the way they had disputed

James and John, &c. said, Grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand, &c. and when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John: but Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles, exercise lordship over them, &c. but so it shall not be among you; but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be chiefest, shall be servant of all: for even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, &c.-Mark x. 35-38. 41-44. Luke xxii. 24-27.

He called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother: James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon, called Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot. Luke vi. 13-16.

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases: and he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick and he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey.-Luke ix. 1-5.

When Jesus had washed his disciples' feet, he said, I have given you an example, that ye ought to wash one another's feet: now there was leaning on Jesus's bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon, Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake, &c.-John xiii. 13— 15. 22-25. xix. 26, 27. xx. 2. xxi. 7.20-22.

Jesus came, &c. said, Peace be

CHAP. LIV.]

OF THE APOSTLES EQUAL.

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.

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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 them. Acts xi. 2, &c.

upon

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 upI said unto Peter, berightly, &c. fore 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
WHICH THEY ARE SCATTERED.

AND it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee; and thou shalt call them to mind, among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, &c. that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return, and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee if any of thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, &c. and bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it, &c. and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, &c.-Deut. xxx. 1-6.

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.

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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. 1xi. 4, &c. Ixii. 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. Žeph. 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,

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