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children shall again be heard singing "Hosanna to the Son of David," and God's ancient people shall believe in that blessed Saviour who is a Light to lighten the Gentiles," and who shall also be "the glory of his people, Israel"? Let us pray more earnestly than we have done before, that God "would have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of his word, and so fetch them home to his flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord."

I have written some verses out of the Bible about the people of Israel, which I wish you to learn by heart. I will read the words, and you shall repeat them simultaneously Class O first repeating after me as follows:

JUDGMENTS PRONOUNCED ON THE JEWS, WHICH HAVE BEEN FULFILLED.

CLASS O.-They shall be scattered among all nations. SCLASS R." I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries." (Ezek. xxii. 15.) CLASS O. Their land shall be desolate.

CLASS R." The generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sickness which the Lord hath laid upon it; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger? (Deut. xxix. 22-24.)

CLASS O. They shall be despised.

CLASS R.-"I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them." (Jer. xxiv. 9.)

CLASS O. Their hearts shall be hardened.
CLASS R. And he said, Go, and tell this people,

Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (Isaiah vi. 9, 10.)

BLESSINGS PRONOUNCED ON THE JEWS, WHICH HAVE NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED.

CLASS O.-They shall be restored to their own land. CLASS R.-"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." (Ezek. xxxvii. 21.)

CLASS O. Their land shall again become fruitful.

CLASS R.-"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." (Isaiah li. 3.) CLASS O.-They shall be honoured.

CLASS R. "Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed." (Isaiah lxi. 9.)

CLASS O.-Their hearts shall be converted.

CLASS R.—“ I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." (Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.)

BOTH CLASSES.- "Thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them." (Jer. xxxii. 42.)

O God of Israel, hear the plea

We, Gentiles, urge, in faith to thee,
For those who still thy calls refuse-
Our elder brethren, the Jews,

We view them blinded now by sin,
Until our fulness be come in :
O! hasten, Lord, that day of grace,
And save and bless the Jewish race.

May Jews and Gentiles join to sing
The praises of their heavenly King;
And, trusting in God's only Son,
As Christians, be for ever one.

SCRIPTURE LESSONS.

[It is thought desirable to vary the plan of Scripture Lessons. The following is a specimen of a new series, which, if approved and deemed generally useful, will be adopted. Any suggestions respecting it will be thankfully received.-ED.]

SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
ACTS xiv.

1. Iconium.-Being driven from Antioch, Paul and Barnabas came to Iconium, a city of Lycaonia, a province of Asia Minor. 2. Evil affected.-Set them against Paul and Barnabas.

3. Which, or, rather, "who gave testimony," namely, proved that he sent them, by blessing their preaching to the conversion of souls, and enabling them to work miracles. (Mark xvi. 20. Hab. ii. 4.)

5. Despitefully.-Ill-treat them. (Matt. v. 44.)

6. Lystra.-To Lystra first, afterwards to Derbe. V. 20.

12. Jupiter, Mercurius.-Two of the many false gods worshipped by the Romans. They supposed Jupiter to be the chief of the gods, and called him the Father Omnipotent. Mercurius was called the messenger of the gods, and the patron of public speaking, merchandize, and (strange as it may appear) dishonesty!

13. Oxen. The heathen very generally worshipped their gods by offering sacrifices-a practice, no doubt, got from early tradition. All are descended from Noah, who offered a sacrifice to the true God as soon as he left the ark. (Gen. viii. 20.) In these sacrifices their oxen were commonly adorned with garlands of flowers, &c.

14. Rent.-The Jews commonly expressed sorrow or distress by tearing their clothes. (The children might collect many instances, such as Gen. xxxvii. 34. Job i. 20. Matt. xxvi. 65.)

15. Vanities.-Vain gods and idols. (Is. xli. 29.)

16. Suffered.-Did not give them the clear light of the Gospel. (Acts xvii. 30.)

17. Left not.-Gave them such proofs of his power and goodness that they might have known better than to worship idols of wood and stone. (Is. xliv. 10-20. Rom. i. 20.)

19. Antioch and Iconium.-Where they had been before-following them out of malice.

23. Elders, or Ministers. Here ordained by the apostles, as afterwards by Timothy, (1 Tim. v. 22.) and Titus, (1.35.): 90

24. Pisidia.-Pisidia, Pamphylia, and Lycaonia were provinces in Asia Minor, (somewhat answering to the counties in England.) Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Perga, and Attalia were towns in one or other of those provinces.

26. Antioch.-Not the Antioch in v. 21, which was the same as in xiii. 14, but another town of the same name, on the northern coast of Syria. (See xiii. 1—3.)

27. Church.-Assembly of Christian people. (See Article XIX.) Opened the door.-Made a way for the Gentiles to believe in Christ.

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11. The ungodly will always oppose the work of God. V. 2. (John vi. 19.)

II. It is God who gives success to the preaching of the Gospel, and every other means of grace. V. 3. (Rom. i. 16.)'

III. The miracles wrought by Christ and his apostles were plain proofs that the message was of God. V. 11. (John xiv. 10–12.) IV. How thankful may we be that we are taught about the true God, and not left as the heathen were, to worship idols. V. 11, 12. (Eph. i. 3. ix. 10.)

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be grieved at seeing sin, and do what we can to prevent it. V. 14. (Ps, cxix. 136.)

VI. How much pains men will take to do mischief, would that Christians were equally zealous! V. 19. (Luke xvi. 8.)

VII. It is not enough to begin well, we must go forward in God's ways. V. 22. (Heb. xii. 1.)

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VIII. The true Christian must expect sufferings of some kind. V. 22. (Rev. vii. 14.)

IX. God's people will be glad to hear that the work of God is prospering. V. 27. (Chap. xi. 18.)

QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.

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ACTS XV.

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salem, as the chief city of Judea, was where most of the apostles were staying, after many Christians had been scattered abroad by the persecution. (Acts viii. 1.)

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48 3.2 Brought Entertained and lodged by the Christian brethren, at the different places they passed through. (Rom. xv. 24. 1 Cor. xvi. 6, 11.) now, dos go bute and

5. Pharisees.The Pharisees were the sect most strict in observing all the ceremonies of the law, (Matt. xxiii. 23, 25.) and most likely to think them important, even after they were converted to Christianity."

~7. My mouth.-When he was sent to Cornelius, the first Gentile convert. (Chap. x.)

10. Put a yoke.-Make them bear a burden.

14. Simeon.-(Luke ii. 31, 32.)

15. Written.-(Amos ix. 11, 12.)

20. Pollutions. Polluting, themselves by joining in the worship of idols. This and fornication are absolutely unlawful to all. The two other commands to abstain from things strangled, and from blood, seem only to have been given for a time; as these were two things that would very much shock the prejudices of the Jews.⠀⠀⠀

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23. Send greeting.-The common form of beginning a letter, among the ancients, as we now begin with "My dear" (Compare P Daniel iv. 1. vi. 25. Acts xxiii. 26.) wder ftol tea pa bod 28. Holy Ghost.-The decision was given under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who continued to teach the apostles, and to enable them to work miracles.

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32. Prophets.-Used sometimes for teachers or ministers, and not strictly in the sense of one who foretells future events, (Matt. vii. 15. 2 Peter ii. 1.) though Silas and Judas 38. Departed. (Chap. xiii. 13.) This John, mark, was a nephew of Barnabas, (Col. iv. 10.) and is supposed to have written the Gospel according to Mark.

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41. Confirming-(See chap. xiv. 22.) There is nothing to limit it to what we specially cale" Confirmation,” though that rite may have been administered at the same time.

LESSONS (ON CHAP.

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I. Even Christian men may sometimes make great mistakes. V. 1. (Rom. xiv. 2.)

II. We should use all means in our power to prevent disputes and strifes. V. 2. (Matt. v. 9.) 1

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III. Wherever the Gospel is really received, it is the same work

of the same Spirit. V. 8, 9. (1 Thess. i. 5.)

IV. The ceremonial law, especially as understood by the Jews as a law of works, is a burden from which the Christian is free, V. 10. (Gal. v. 1.)

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