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Enjoyment

our Minds are abstracted from the World, and the Concerns of this Life do, as little as may be, mingle with our Requests to God. Above all, when our Petitions are offered with Faith, nothing wavering. And then we may be said to believe we shall receive the good Things we ask, when we perform those Conditions upon which God hath promised to bestow them. Q. When is our Mortification an acceptable Sacrifice?

A. When we not only abstain from the outward Acts of Sin, which feed our Disease and strengthen our ill Habits; but when we deny our bad Inclinations the Consent of our Wills; and deprive them of all those Occasions and Liberties, which, though lawful in themselves, are yet dangerous to us; because they set us upon the Brink of a Precipice: And when this contradicting our allowed Pleasure is designed in order to get the better of all sinful Desires, so that we may not be governed nor led by them.

Q. How ought we to commemorate the Manifestation of our Saviour to the Gentiles?

A. With great Thankfulness of Mind; because upon this enlarging the Way of Salvation, we became acquainted with the Knowledge of Jesus Christ: And with a compassionate Sense of the Miseries of those that still sit in Darkness, and want the Light of the glorious Gospel.

THE PRAYERS.

I.

O GOD, who by the leading of a Star didst maniof God. fest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant that I, who know thee now by Faith, may after this Life have the Fruition of thy glorious Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the

God's Holy

II.

O LORD, from whom all good Things do come,

Guidance of for as much as without thee. I am not able to Spirit. please thee; mercifully grant that thy blessed Spirit

may in all Things rule and direct my Heart; that by his holy Inspiration I may think those Things that be good, and by his gracious guiding may perform the same, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

III.

tion of

MOST Gracious God, who through thy infinite For the Goodness hast been pleased to offer Salvation to all Propaga Mankind, and to receive all humble Supplicants as Christian Objects of thy Mercy; thou didst communicate ledge. the glad Tidings of our Saviour's appearing in the World to the People of Israel by the Ministration of Angels; and thou didst vouchsafe, as on this Day, to reveal the joyful News to the Gentiles, by ordering a bright Star to point at the Rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Wings. Blessed be thy holy Name for that glorious Light, which dispersed itself through the dark Regions of this World, which dispelled the thick Clouds of Ignorance and Idolatry, of Folly and Vanity; which directed Mankind to the true and most worthy Object of their Worship, and raised their Nature to its utmost Improvement. Adored be thy infinite Mercy, which brought the joyful Sound to this Land of my Nativity, and hast permitted it to partake of the gracious and benign Influences of thy distinguishing Providence. O may we always value such an inestimable Benefit, by walking as Children of the Light, and by compassionating the Miseries of those that still sit in Darkness! To this End, I humbly beseech thee to prosper the Undertakings of that Society which is established among us for propagating the Gospel in foreign Parts; make the Members thereof zealous and diligent in that good Work: give them Wisdom to discern the best and most proper Means of promoting it, Courage and Resolution to pursue it; and by Unity and Affection in their Consultations, and by thy Blessing upon their Endeavours, the Happiness to effect it; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen. T

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IV.

GRANT, O Lord, that I

may shew my Sense of ing accep- the great Mercy we this Day commemorate, by imitating the Conduct of the wise Men, who were not discouraged by Difficulties from obeying the divine Call. That the rash Censures of the World may never prevail upon me to comply with its loose and unchristian Maxims, nor the Terrors of it ever affright me from my Duty. That thy holy Word may govern all my Paths and direct all my Ways, and that, when I run astray from thy Commandment, it may recover me to a Sense of my Obligations. That the good Things of this World, which thy Bounty has bestowed upon me, may be offered for the Relief of those that labour under Want and Poverty, a Sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to thee. That my Prayers may constantly and fervently ascend before thee as Incense; with that Attention of Mind which thy Greatness and my own daily Necessities require from me. That I may sacrifice to thee all those lawful Pleasures which too much unbend my Mind, and but too often corrupt my Innocence and betray my strongest Resolutions. That so, by contradicting sometimes my lawful Inclinations, I may, through the Assistance of thy Grace, get the Mastery of all sinful Desires. Let all these my Christian Offerings proceed from a sincere and honest Mind, for the Heart is the chief Sacrifice thou requirest; and grant, O Lord, that they may be acceptable to thee, through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ, my only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

Acts ix.

15.

CHAP. XI.

THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.-JANUARY 25.

Q. WHAT Festival doth the Church celebrate this Day?

A. The Conversion of St. Paul, a chosen Vessel

to bear God's Name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the Children of Israel. An Apostle in an extraordinary Manner set apart to be a Preacher of that Gospel which he had persecuted, not only to the Jews, but to the Heathen World.

Q. Why doth the Church chuse to commemorate St. Paul by his Conversion?

A. Because as it was wonderful in itself, and a miraculous Effect of the powerful Grace of God, so it was highly beneficial to the Church of Christ; for while other Apostles had their particular Provinces, he had the Care of all the Churches, and, by his indefatigable Labours, contributed very much to the Propagation of the Gospel throughout the World. Q. By what Names is this Apostle described in Scripture?

A. By two, Saul and Paul. The one Hebrew, relating to his Jewish Original, being of the Tribe of Benjamin, among whom that Name was famous, ever since the first King of Israel, Saul, was chosen out of that Tribe. The other Latin, referring to the Roman Corporation where he was born. Though some have thought it to have been in Memory of his converting Sergius Paulus the Roman Governor; Acts xii. and others that it was assumed by him after his 7, &c. Conversion, as an Act of Humility; styling himself less than the least of all Saints.

Q. Where was St. Paul born?

Eph. iii. 8.

A. At Tarsus, the Metropolis of Cilicia, a City Acts xxii. famous for Riches and Learning; where the liberal 3. Sciences and all polite Arts flourished, and where the Inhabitants enjoyed the Franchises and Liberties of Roman Citizens; which Advantage St. Paul asserted as the Privilege of his Birth-right. After Chap. xvi. having laid the Foundation of human Learning in this Place, he was sent by his Parents to Jerusalem, to be brought up at the Feet of Gamaliel in the Study of the Law, in which he made very quick and large Improvements.

3.

Chap. ix.

Q. How came he to be educated besides to the Trade of Tent-making?

A. According to the Custom of the Jews, among whom it was a Maxim, That he who teacheth not his Son a Trade, teacheth him to be a Thief; designing thereby not only to keep their Children from Idleness, but to secure them a Maintenance if their Circumstances made it necessary to work at it.

Q. How did St. Paul behave himself before his Conversion?

A. Being educated in the Principles of the Pharisces, the strictest Sect of the Jewish Religion, and being naturally of a hot Temper, he violently opposed all those that were esteemed Enemies to the Acts viii. Mosaic Economy; and persecuted the Christians with great Fury, breathing out Threatenings and Slaughter against the Disciples of Jerusalem; making Havoc of the Church, and procuring a Commission to imprison such as he found Christians at Damascus. How far he was concerned in the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, doth not appear, any farther than that he was consenting to his Death, and so became a Sharer in the Guilt, of those that murdered him. Q. How was St. Paul converted?

1, 2.

Acts viii.

A. In an extraordinary Manner; for when he was Chap. ix. upon his Journey near to Damascus, on a sudden 3, 4, &c. there shined round about him a Light from Heaven above the Brightness of the Sun; whereat being strangely amazed, he and his Companions fell to the Ground; and he heard a Voice calling to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? To which he replied, Lord, who art thou? who told him, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, and it is best for thee not to be refractory to the Commands which shall now be given thee; designing to make him a Minister and Witness both of those Things he had seen, and of those he should afterwards hear; and that he would stand by him and preserve him, and make him a great Instrument in the Conversion of the Gentile World.

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