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commands: so that they are utterly inexcusable. But it is no wonder, when men have given themselves wholly up to be governed by worldly affections, passions, and vices, they should act contrary to all the reason and evidence in the world. For this is but the natural consequence of obstinate and habitual wickedness; and hereby is only fulfilled in me what holy David long since prophetically complained of, that they hated him without a cause.

But notwithstanding all the opposition that wicked and incorrigible men will make against my doctrine, there will not be wanting powerful promoters of it, who shall effectually overcome all opposition. For the comforter, whom I said I will send you from heaven, even that Spirit of truth, which cometh forth, and is sent from the Father, shall, when he cometh, with wonderful efficacy bear testimony to the truth of my doctrine, and cause it to be spread through the world with incredible success. Nay, and ye yourselves, also, though now so weak, fearful and doubting, shall then very powerfully bear testimony to the truth of all the things, whereof ye have been all along present with me, have been eyewitnesses from the beginning.

Thus have I warned you beforehand, of the opposition and persecution ye must expect to meet with in the world, that when it cometh, ye may not be surprized and terrified so as to be discouraged thereby from persisting in the performance of your duty.

You must expect, particularly, that the particularly, that the chief priests, and rulers of the Jews, men of great hypocrisy and superstition, zealous for their ceremonies and ritual traditions, but careless to know and obey the will of Omnipotence in matters of great and eternal obligation, and invincibly prejudiced against the spiritual holiness and purity of my doctrine: these, I say, you must expect will excommunicate you apostates, and cast you out of all their

as

societies,

as the vilest of malefactors. Nay, to such an absurd height of malice will their superstition carry them, that they will even fancy they promote the service of God, and the cause of religion, when they most barbarously murder and destroy you. But I have warned you of all this beforehand, that ye may prepare and fortify yourselves against it and that when it cometh to pass, ye may remember, I foretold it to you, and your faith in me may thereby be strengthened.

It was needless to acquaint you with these scenes of sufferings, while I was with you. But now being about to leave you, I think it necessary to acquaint you what things are likely to come upon you after my departure, and also at the same time, what comfort you may expect to support you under them.

Now I must mention the malancholy part, namely, that I am going from you, and that great temptations will befal you in my absence; this, indeed, ye readily apprehend, and suffer your hearts to be overwhelmed with grief at the thoughts of it. But the comfortable part of my discourse, namely, that my departure is only in order to return to him that sent me, and that I will soon after send you the Holy Spirit, and the other advantages that will thence result to you, are neither considered, nor are you solicitous about them. Nevertheless, if ye will listen, I will plainly tell you the truth. Ye are so far from having reason to be dejected at the thoughts of my departure, that, on the contrary, it is really profitable and expedient for you that I should now depart; for such is the order and dispensation of Providence towards you, and the appointment of my Father's eternal and all wise council, that before I go and take possession of my kingdom, the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, cannot be sent unto you but when I am departed from you, and have all power in heaven and earth committed unto me, then

I will send him unto you. And when he cometh he shall abundantly support and comfort you under all your troubles shall powerfully plead your cause against your adversaries; and shall, with wonderful efficacy, cause the doctrine of the gospel to spread and prevail in the world against all opposition. He shall particularly, and in a most extraordinary and convincing manner, make the world sensible of the greatness and heinousness of a sin of which they were not aware; of the righteousness and justice of a dispensation they did not understand, and of the execution of a most remarkable judgment they did not expect.

First, by wonderfully attesting and confirming the truth of my doctrine, by the gift of tongues, and other wonderful signs, he shall convince the world of the greatness and heinousness of their sins, in disbelieving and rejecting me.

Secondly, by demonstrating, that my departure out of the world was not perishing and dying, but only returning to my Father, in order to be invested with all power both in heaven and earth, he shall convince the world of the righteousness and justice of my cause, and of the excellency of that dispensation, which I preach and declare to mankind.

Lastly, by mightily destroying the power of the devil and the dominion of sin, and propagating the doctrine of true religion in the world, with wonderful efficacy and success, he shall convince men of my power and authority to execute judgment upon mine enemies, for the establishment of my kingdom upon earth.

There are yet many other things hereafter to be done in relation to the settling and establishing of my church, which if it were proper, I would now acquaint you with, but ye are not yet prepared to understand and receive them.

Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth, whom I promised you, is come, he shall enlarge your understandings, remove your prejudices, and instruct you in all necessary and divine truths, to enable you to go through that great work, which I have begun in person, and which I will carry on by your ministry, for the Spirit is not to begin any new work, or to found any new doctrine of himself. But as I have taught and will teach you only in my Father's name, so the Spirit shall instruct you only in mine and my Father's will, and in things necessary to promote and carry on the same design.

Every thing that he does shall be only in order to manifest my glory, and establish my religion in the world: even as every thing that I have done has been to manifest my Father's glory, and reveal his will to mankind. For as all that I have taught is only what I received from my Father, so all that the Spirit shall teach you, is only what he receives from me.

Whatsoever, I say, the Spirit shall teach you, is only what he receives from me; for receiving from my Father, I call receiving from me, and teaching his will, is teaching mine: seeing all things that the Father hath are common to me, and all power and dominion by him committed to me.

And now be careful to remember what matter for comfort I have given you, and support yourselves with it under the approaching distress. It is now, indeed, but a very little while before I shall be taken away from you; nevertheless let not this cause you to despair; for after I am departed, it will be also a little while before I appear to you again; forasmuch as my being taken away from you is not perishing, but only returning to my Father.

At these last words of Jesus, the disciples were greatly disturbed and troubled, not understanding his true meaning, that in a

very short time he would be taken from them by death; and that after having overcome death, by a glorious resurrection, he would appear to them again, before his ascension into heaven. Not understanding this, I say, they enquired one of another, what can he mean by telling us, that in a very little time he shall be taken out of our sight; and that in a very little time more we shall see him again, and this because he goeth to the Father? We cannot understand the meaning of all this.

Jesus observing their perplexity, and knowing that they were desirous of asking him, replied, Why are ye thus disturbed and perplexed about what I told you? Is it a thing so very hard to be understood, that I said, within a very little time I should be taken away from you, and that within a very little time more I should appear to you again? Verily, verily, I tell you I must very soon depart out of this world. Then the world, who are your enemies, will rejoice and triumph over you, as if they had destroyed me, and wholly suppressed you; andye, for your parts, will be overwhelmed with grief and sorrow. But within a short time I will return to you again; and then your sorrow shall be turned into exceeding great joy.

Even as a woman when she is in labour, hath great pain and sorrow, for the present, but as soon as she is delivered forgets all her sufferings, and greatly rejoices at the birth of her son; so ye, while ye are under the immediate apprehension of my departure from you, and during that time of distress and temptation, which shall befal you in my absence, will be full of sorrow and anxiety of mind: but when I return to you again, then ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and no power or malice of man shall ever be able to take from you any more the cause or continuance of it.

But though I shall return to you again, and your hearts will thereupon be filled No. 15.

with inexpressible joy, and which never shall be taken from you any more; there will be no necessity that I should then continue long with you in person, to instruct you upon every occasion, as I have now done with my own mouth. For besides that the Holy Spirit will be sent to instruct you in all things necessary, my Father himself also will hear your petitions, and be ready to grant you whatsoever you shall desire of him in my name, and as being my disciples.

Hitherto ye have asked nothing of God in my name; but from henceforth put up your petitions in my name; and whatsoever ye shall so ask for the glory of God, and in order to enable you to go through the work of your ministry successfully, shall certainly be granted you: that your joy, which will begin at my appearing to you again after my death, may be completed by the wonderful success and efficacy of your own ministry.

These things I have told you at present, imperfect and obscurely, according as your capacities are able to bear them. But the time is coming, when I will speak to you with more openness, freedom, and plainness, the whole will of my Father concerning the nature and establishment of my kingdom, and what things, and in what manner ye ought to pray unto him for.

At that time ye shall with firm assurance pray to my Father in my name for what ye want. And I need not tell you, that I will intercede with the Father on your behalf; for besides the love he has bore for me, and the power and authority my prayers have within him, he has moreover of himself a great love for you, and a ready disposition to grant your prayers, because ye are become grateful and acceptable to him, by your love towards me, which ye have shewn in embracing willingly that holy doctrine which I have revealed to you from him.

To conclude: the sum of what I have 3 L

told you is briefly and plainly this, I came down from heaven from God my Father, and have lived upon earth, in the state of frail and mortal man, that I might reveal to mankind the will of my heavenly Father, and the way to attain eternal life and happiness; and now, having finished this great work, I am about to leave this world, and return again to my Father, from whence I at first

came.

These last words of Jesus, being more plain and express than any he had before spoken, so that now the disciples clearly perceived that the departure he had so often mentioned was no other than his actual going out of this world, they replied, Now, Lord, you speak plainly, and without any figure; so that we apprehend fully what you mean. And now that our curiosity is satisfied, you have likewise greatly confirmed our faith; having given us a certain token whereby we are assured that you know all things, even the hearts and secret thoughts of men; since you have answered us a question which gave us great perplexity; and were desirous to ask your opinion, but were afraid; but now we are convinced you are endued with true divine power, and did, indeed, come forth from God. To which Jesus answered, And do you now at length firmly believe in me? Are you resolved to continue steadfast in this faith? Do you think yourselves able to persevere immoveably in the profession of it? Be not confident of your own strength; but pray that ye may be delivered from temptation in the time of distress, such as will come upon you much sooner than ye expect. For I tell you, that ye will all of you within a few hours utterly forsake me, and fly in hopes to secure yourselves, leaving me alone. And yet I should not stay alone, since my Father is with me, who is more than all. I have, therefore, acquainted you with these things beforehand, that your minds may be furnished with sufficient matter of comfort and strength to bear you up under all temptations, from the consideration of my having

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Having thus finished his discourse, "Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and prayed, saying," Oh Almighty Father, now the time of my suffering, for which I was sent into the world, is arrived; I intreat thee to support me under it, and make me triumph over death by a glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven; that by this means theglory may redound to thee, and cause thy will to be believed and obeyed through all the world, to the salvation of mankind, according to the full intent of that office and power with which thou didst originally invest me. In order to the bringing about this great design of salvation, I have declared thy will to mankind. I have published thy precepts, and discharged the great mission intrusted to me; I have preached thy doctrine of repentance to salvation, and have finished the work which thou sentest me to do, to the glory of thy name upon earth; and now, to complete the great design, do thou, O Almighty Father, likewise glorify me with thine ownself. Support me under my sufferings: Let me prevail and triumph over death, by a glorious resurrection, and exalt me again to the same glory in heaven, which I had with thee before the creation of the universe. I have manifested thy will to the disciples, the men that thou gavest me out of the world. To those persons thou didst in thine infinite wisdom appoint, that thy truth should be made known. Therefore to them I have revealed the mysteries of thy kingdom, the precepts of thy gospel, and the doctrine of thy salvation.

And this doctrine they have willingly embraced, steadfastly adhered to, and sincerely obeyed: As they are fully satisfied and convinced, that what I taught them as from thee was really a divine doctrine taught

by thine immediate appointment and command; and that I did not preach any human invention or institution of men, but was really sent by thy divine authority and commission.

For these persons, therefore, I now pray, that as thou hast begun the work of their salvation, by my preaching and revealing to them thy will, while I have been present with then here upon earth, so also that thou wouldst preserve them when I am departed from this world, and complete the work of their salvation by my resurrection and ascension into heaven, after my death. I do not pray for the unbelieving impenitent world, but for those who have embraced that most holy doctrine which thou hast taught them through me by my preaching; for those who have glorified, and will glorify my name, by their ministry, and who consequently are to be esteemed as thine own, in common with me. I am now about to leave the world, in order to return to thee; but these my disciples, who continue after me, I recommend to thy divine protection, when I am gone: endue them with powers to persevere in preaching and practising the truth, and to deliver the same holy doctrines which I have given to them, that so they may remain inseparably united to me, as I am to thee. So long as I have been with them in the world, I have watched over them, and kept them from falling away, both by example, preaching, and continual admonition, according to the power and authority which thou didst commit to me; nor has one of my apostles miscarried under my care, except that perfidious traitor, who, as the scripture foretold, has ungratefully conspired with my enemies to destroy me, and will perish according to his deserts. While I have continued with my disciples, I have watched over them and preserved them under mine own eye; but now, I am going to leave the world, I beseech thee to keep and assist them by thy good Spirit; and let the expectation of their continuing under thy special care and protection, be their comfort and support in my sbsence.

The world, indeed, will persecute and hate them on this account, as my doctrine is repugnant to the lusts, and affections, the passions, designs, and inclinations of worldly men, it must necessarily be that the vicious and incorrigible world will oppose and persecute them, as it has before persecuted me. I beseech thee, therefore, take them under thy particular care, to support. them against the vileness and oppression of an evil world. I do not desire that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but preserve them in it to be instruments of thy word, thy glory, and to be teachers of thy truth; nor suffer them to be either destroyed by the malice and violence, or corrupted by the evil customs and opinions, of a perverse and wicked generation.

They are of a temper and spirit very different from the current affections and common dispositions of the world, according to the example of purity which I have set before them. Do thou preserve and increase in them that moderation and candour of mind, cause them to be thoroughly affected and impressed with that true doctrine so frequently recommended to them from my mouth, so as to express it visibly in their lives and practice, and to promote it zealously in their preaching, that they may, both by word and good example, become worthy and successful ministers of my gospel.

For as thou hast sent me into the world to reveal thy will to mankind, so send I these apostles to continue preaching the same doctrine begun by me. And the principal design of my exemplary life, constant teaching, and now voluntarily offering myself to death; for it is to sanctify and enable them to preach with success and efficacy for the salvation of men. Neither pray I for these my apostles only, but for all others, who shall, by their preaching and practice, pro. mote thy true religion; and being converted from the world, may, by their sincere endeavours, go on to reform others, convincing the world of the excellency of their religion,

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