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19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye fhall speak: for it fhall be given you in that fame hour what ye fhall speak.

20 For it is not ye that fpeak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

21 And the brother fhall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child and the children fhall

rife up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

22 And ye fhall be hated of all men for my names fake but he that endureth to the end, fhall be faved.

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23 But when they perfecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I fay unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Ifrael, till the Son of man be

come.

1.

Јони.

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tous about the method of your Defence; neither be afraid, as being deftitute of Eloquence: The holy Spirit of God will furnish you with Arguments, and the divine Affiftance will abundantly fupply the want of a premeditated Defence. The Jews and Gentiles fhall impeach the nearest Relations they have, and deliver them up to the Perfecutors for their Adherence to my Doctrine. A Brother shall betray his Brother, a Father his Son, and a Son his Father; and thus you fhall be generally hated and tormented for being my Difciples: but whofoever fhall contemn their Threats and Injuries, and fhall perfevere in his Obedience to my Doctrine, tho he be punish'd with Death for it, that man fhall obtain everlasting Life in the next World. But when you are thus perfecuted by the Jews, fly from one City to another, and be affured that you fhall not have gone thro all the Cities of the Jews before I come to take vengeance on them.

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MATTHEW.

CHAP. X..

24 The difciple is not above his master, nor the fervant above his lord.

25 It is enough for the difciple that he be as his mafter, and the fervant as his lord: if they have called the mafter of the houfe Beelzebub, how much more fall they call them of his houfhold?

26 Fear them not there fore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that fhallnot be known..

27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops,

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28 And fear, not them ẽ, which kill the body, but are not able to kill the foul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both foul andć bady in hell.

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You have a proverbial Saying amongst you, importing that the Scholar ought to be contented, if he meet with no worfe ufage than his Teacher; and the Ser-vant, if he be as kindly dealt with as his Mafter. If then the Pharifees have at tributed my Miracles to the Power of Beelzebub, if they have calumniated me as poffeffed by him, that Prince of the evil Spirits, how much rather will they defame you who are my Scholars and Minifters? Be not however afraid of their Ac-cufations; for neither all their Tricks nor your Innocence be always hid. Believe me, there is nothing fo fecret that shall not one day be difclos'd, nothing fo hidden as fall not be laid open. Therefore, what I now inftruct you in private, I autho rize you to declare in publick, and what I now feem to whifper to you, that fhall you proclaim from the tops of the Houfes (as.I may fo fay) that it may be heard by all.

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Be not afraid of Men, whofe Power extends only to the deftruction of the Body, and afterwards are not able to hurt the Soul: Stand in awe of him only, who after this Life's ended can condemn both Soul and Body to the place of Torment. There

MARK.

LUKE.

MATTHEW.

JOHN.

СНАР. Х.

29 Are not two fparrows fold for a farthing? and one. of them fhall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbred. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many fparrows.

32 Whofoever therefore fhall confefs me before men, him will I confefs also before - my Father which is in heaven.33 But whofoever shall deny me before men, him will I alfo deny before my Father which is in heaven.

34 Think not that I am come to fend peace on earth: I came not to fend peace, but. a fword.

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his< father, and the daughter a-. gainst her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

is nothing unknown to God, nor doth any thing happen without his permiffion; and his good Providence will protect you in the discharge of your Office. There is not fo much as a Sparrow, whofe price is fo very trivial, kill'd without his knowledg and permiflion; how much rather will he take care of you, as men, and the Meffengers of my Gofpel? The very Hairs of your Head are all numbred. Take courage then; for he that takes care of the fmalleft Creatures will be care-ful of you who are of fo much more value. Whofoever fhall conftantly profess himfelf to be my Difciple in words and actions before Men, fhall be owned by me before my heavenly Father: but whofoever fhall, to avoid Perfecution, difowns his being my Difciple, fhall also be disclaim'd by me before my heavenly Father. Do not imagine, because my Doctrine breaths nothing but Love and Charity, that men fhall lay afide all Animofities, and exercife a mutual Friendship. My Gofpel,. which fo much recommends thefe Virtues, fhall be the occafion of the greatest Feuds and Diffenfions, as if I had come exprefly to fow Difcord among Men. For, as I have already told you, Children fhall quarrel with their Parents, the Mother-inlaw with her Daughter-in-law; the nearest Relations fhall be at variance upon this

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MATTHEW.

CHA P. X.

36 And a man's foes fhall be they of his own houshold.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me : and he that loveth fon or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his crofs, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life fhall lofe it: and he that lofeth his life for my fake, fhall find it.

40 He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that fent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, Thall receive a prophets reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, fhall receive a righteous mans reward.

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account, and Servants become profefs'd Enemies to their Masters and Benefactors. Whofoever thall prefer the advantages that may probably accrue to him from his Parents or Children, before Obedience to my Commands, fhall be judg'd unworthy to be my Difciple. Nav, whoever does not refolutely propofe to undergo all manner of Indignities and contumelious Outrage, as I have done before him, rather than to reject my Doctrine, cannot be accounted in the number of my Difciples. Whofoever fhall reject my Doctrine out of hopes of fecuring his Life, fhall be often punith'd in this World: On the contrary, whofo fhall conftantly profefs himfelf my Difciple, all not be difappointed of his hopes, but frequently preferve his Life by thofe very means which the former avoided as tending to their deftruction. Whofo fhall receive you as fent by me, and rely upon you as fuch, fhall be rewarded as if he had believed on me, and received me in perfon; and whoever believes on me, believes on my heavenly Father who fent me. Whoever receives a Prophet fent by me, and accounts him as a true one, tho he run fome danger by it, fhall be as much rewarded by me as the Prophet himfelf; and whofo fhall receive and own a good man, tho he incurs never fo much Hatred and Envy by it, fhall receive as great Rewards from me as that good man, provided he alfo

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lives in a fteddy Gourfe of Virtue; nor fhall he be unrewarded who makes a hearty tender of the leaft good Office to any of my Difciples on that account.

Fefus having given this Commiffion to his Difciples, and fent them by two and two into different places, went himself into another part of the Country with defign to publish his Gofpel, and acquaint them with the Laws of his Kingdom and the Rewards belonging to it. The Apoftles accordingly enter'd upon their Office, exhorting the Jews to repent, and confirming their divine Miffion by cafting out the evil Spirits, and healing the Sick (anointing them with Oil) according to the Power confer'd on them by Jefus Chrift.

CHAP.

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