A Prayer for a sick Child. O ALMIGHTY God, and merciful Father, to whom alone belong the issues of life and death; Look down from heaven, we humbly beseech thee, with the eyes of mercy upon this Child, now lying upon the bed of sickness: Visit him, O Lord, with thy salvation; deliver him in thy good appointed time from his bodily pain, and save his soul for thy mercies' sake: That if it shall be thy pleasure to prolong his days here on earth, he may live to thee, and be an instrument of thy glory, by serving thee faithfully, and doing good in his generation; or else receive him into those heavenly habitations, where the souls of them that sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy perpetual rest and felicity: Grant this, O Lord, for thy mercies' sake, in the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without

end. Amen.

A Prayer for a sick Person, when there appeareth small hope of recovery.

O FATHER of mercies, and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need; We fly unto thee for succour in behalf of this thy servant, here lying under thy hand in great weakness of body. Look graciously upon him, O Lord; and the more the outward man decayeth, strengthen him, we beseech thee, so much the more continually with thy grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man. Give him unfeigned repentance for all the errors of his life past, and stedfast faith in thy Son Jesus; that his sins may be done away by thy mercy, and his pardon sealed in heaven, before he go hence, and be no We know, O Lord, that there is no word impossible with thee; and that if thou wilt, thou canst even yet raise him up, and grant him a longer continuance amongst us: Yet

forasmuch as in all appearance the time of his dissolution draweth near, so fit and prepare him, we beseech thee, against the hour of death; that after his departure hence in peace, and in thy favour, his soul may be received into thine everlasting kingdom, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thine only Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

A commendatory Prayer for a sick Person at the point of departure.

( ALMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spirits of just men made perfect, after they are delivered from their earthly prison; We humbly commend the soul of this thy servant, our dear brother, into thy hands, as into the hands of a faithful Creator and most merciful Saviour; most humbly beseeching thee, that it may be precious in thy sight. Wash it, we pray thee, in the blood of that immaculate Lamb, that was slain to take away the sins of the world; that whatsoever defilements it may have contracted in the midst of this miserable and naughty world, through the lusts of the flesh, or the wiles of Satan, being purged and done away, it may be presented pure and without spot before thee. And teach us, who survive, in this and other like daily spectacles of mortality, to see how frail and uncertain our own

condition is; and so to number (6) our days, that we may seriously apply our hearts to that holy and heavenly wisdom, whilst we live here, which may in the end bring us to life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Persons troubled in mind or in conscience.

when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25. For

"of the kingdom shall be preached in "all the world for a witness unto all "nations, and then shall the end come, "Matt. xxiv. 14." and after other characteristics which clearly looked forward to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, he says, "verily, I say unto you, this "generation shall not pass till all these "things be fulfilled." What we translate "the world," might perhaps mean "that age of the world," the time when the Jewish establishment should be overthrown, and Christ's kingdom be considered as commencing, but the disciples might mistake its meaning, and might suppose that "the end of all the peo"ple upon earth" was really the thing intended. St. Peter says, 1 Pet. iv. 7. "The end of all things is at hand." In 2 Pet. iii. 10. he says, "The day of the " Lord will come as a thief in the night : " in which the heavens shall pass away "with a great noise, and the elements " shall melt with fervent heat, the earth "also, and the works that are therein " shall be burnt up." In 1 Thess. iv. 15. St. Paul says, "This we say unto you "by the word of the Lord, that we "which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent," (i. e. come before,) " them which "are asleep," (i. e. the dead,) for the " Lord himself shall descend from heaven " with a shout, with the voice of the " archangel, and with the trump of God, "and the dead in Christ shall rise first. "Then we which are alive, and remain, " shall be caught up together with them in "the clouds to meet the Lord in the air : "and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

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In 2 Tim. iv. 1. St Paul adds to the mention of Jesus Christ, "who shall "judge the quick and the dead at his "appearing, and his kingdom;" and in the same chapter, v. 18. he says, "the " Lord shall deliver me from every evil "work, and will preserve me unto his "heavenly kingdom," as if he expected that kingdom before he himself should die. In 1 Pet. iv. 5. he speaks of them whom he addresses as persons "who shall "give account to him that is ready to judge "the quick and the dead," as if the judg

he must reign, till (c) he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27. For he (d) hath put all things

ment were then at hand. In 1 Pet. i. 13. he exhorts them to "gird up the loins of "their mind," (that is to have their minds in a proper state) and to be sober, and hope to the end. In v. 51. infra, St. Paul says, " we shall not all sleep, but we shall "all be changed; in a moment, in the "twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, "(for the trumpet shall sound) and the " dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." And Philipp. iii. 21. St. Paul says, " we look for the Saviour, the "Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change " our vile body that it may be fashioned "like unto his glorious body." Sol John iii. 2. ante, 73. Other passages will occur upon further pursuing the point, and this mistake of the Apostles, (if they really were mistaken, and if the effect of these passages is not misapprehended,) so far from disparaging their writings, appears to furnish very strong, (not to say irresistible,) critical evidence, that those in which the mistake occurs were written before the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, in less than 40 years after the crucifixion; and this is a point of no inconsiderable importance. Our Saviour had said, (Matt. xxiv. 36.) " of that day and "hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels " of heaven, but my Father only." So that it might be part of the plan of Providence that as to the period and particulars of that day, even the Apostles should be left to conjecture only; and if these epistles had not been written until after the event, this mistake in them could not have occurred. See ante, 73. note on 1 John iii. 2. Tillotson's 129th Serm. and Whitby, note on Matt. xxiv. 3. Mr. Locke says, "it was a received opinion "amongst the Jews, that when the Mes"siah came, the just should rise, and live "with him for ever. Locke's 2d Vindi"cation, 298."

1.

(c) v. 25. " Till, &c. This may allude to the passage in the prophetic Psalm cx. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit " thou on my right hand, until I make "thine enemies thy footstool;" or to Ps. viii. 27. "Thou hast put all things in " subjection under his feet."

(d) v. 27. " He," i. e. "God."

under his (e) feet. But when he saith, "All things are put under him," it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 29. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead (f), if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? 30. and why stand we in jeopardy (g) every hour? 31. I protest by your (h) rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32. If after the manner of men I have fought (i) with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? "Let us eat (k) and drink; for "to-morrow we die." 33. Be not deceived (1): evil communications corrupt good manners. 34. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 35. But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36. Thou fool, that which thou

(e) "His," i. e. "Christ's."

(f) v.29. " For the dead," i. e. (probably) " for Jesus Christ, in his Name," for if the dead rise not, then, according to ข. 13. 16. Christ is not risen, he is still dead. See Rom. vi. 3. ante, 191.

(g) v. 30. "In jeopardy," i. e. "subject "to persecution, &c." Should we be so mad as to expose ourselves as we do, had we not the fullest conviction of Christ's resurrection? Though St. Paul was not converted until after our Saviour's ascension, yet what passed upon his own conversion, and the miraculous power he received, left him no room for doubt!

(h) v. 31. For " your," some read "our," which depends upon the change of a single letter; but whether it were his rejoicing or theirs, he protests thereby, that he is daily in a situation equal to or as bad as death.

(1) v. 32. "Fought, &c." This probably alludes to something which had happened to him at Ephesus.

(k) "Let us eat, &c." If it be true that the dead rise not, then might we follow this advice, attend to present gratification, the gratification of the body, and disregard futurity. He alludes to Isaiah xxii. 13.

sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37. and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare (m) grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38. but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39. All flesh is not the same flesh : but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42. So also (n) is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; 43. it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44. it is sown a natural (0) body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45. And so it is written, "The first (p) man Adam was

(1) ν. 33. "Be not deceived, &c." Checking the thought in verse 32.

(m) v. 37. " Bare," i. e. (probably) "without any body."

(n) v. 42. "So also, &c." i. e, " in the re"surrection the body shall be celestial, dif"fering in kind and in glory from the ter" restrial body; the one, the earthly, being "corruptible, dishonourable, weak, and "subject to the infirmities of human na"ture; the other, the heavenly one, incor"ruptible, honourable, glorious, powerful, " and free from all human imperfections."

(0) v. 44. For "natural," the reading should probably be " animal.” Ψυχικὸν, not φυσικὸν, “ man in his animal state here " on earth."

(p) v. 45. "The first, &c." This refers to Gen. ii. 7. "The Lord God formed "man of the dust of the ground, and "breathed into his nostrils the breath of "life; and man became a living soul." The present translation does not perhaps shew so clearly as might be the contrast St. Paul intends. The meaning seems to be this; "The first Adam was made" (as we read of him in Genesis) "a living " soul," (i. e. with the breath of life in himHH 4