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ing unto Jesus, who, for the Joy that was set before him, despised the Cross; and consequently, in fixing our Minds upon our chiefest Good, and earnestly desiring and longing for the Possession of it.

Q. What is the Benefit of this humble, resigned, and depending Frame of Mind?

A. It is the proper Disposition for Devotion, and the Parent of religious Fear. It is the Seed-plot of all Christian Virtues. It makes us ready to receive the Revelations of God's Will to Mankind, and as careful to practise what he enjoins. It makes us greatest in the Kingdom of God, either as that imports our being Members of Christ's Church here upon Earth, or our being Members of the Church triumphant in Possession of eternal Bliss in Heaven.

Q. How does a Freedom from covetous and ambitious Desires dispose us to be true Members of Christ's Kingdom?

A. Not only by setting us at a Distance from the most dangerous Temptations of Life, which are Riches and worldly Grandeur; but by giving our Minds Leisure to attend the Consideration of Religion, and Liberty to judge and distinguish the true Nature and Value of Things. For while the Jews expected a temporal Deliverer, and were fed with the Hopes of Power and Dominion over all Nations, they were so strongly prejudiced against the mean Appearance of our Saviour, that they refused to acknowledge him for the Messias. And if our Saviour had not instructed his Disciples in the Nature of his Kingdom, their Disputes about Preference might have undermined their Charity, and might have prevailed upon them to desert him, when frustrated in their Expectations. So that as he required them to become little Children in respect of such Desires and Expectations, it is still necessary, in order to be true Followers of the blessed Jesus, to mortify these worldly Affections; for otherwise the Things belonging to the Spirit will not live and grow in us. T

For Power

God.

THE PRAYERS.

I.

ALMIGHTY God, who out of the Mouths of to glorify Babes and Sucklings hath ordained Strength, and madest Infants to glorify thee by their Deaths; mortify and kill in me all Vices, and so strengthen me by thy Grace, that by the Innocency of my Life, and the Constancy of my Faith, even unto Death, I may glorify thy holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the

Assistance

II.

O GOD, the Strength of all them that put their of Grace. Trust in thee; mercifully accept my Prayers. And because through the Weakness of my mortal Nature, I can do no good Thing without thee; grant me the help of thy Grace, that in keeping thy Commandments, I may please thee in Will and Deed, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Humility.

III.

BLESSED Jesus, who hast set before me the perfect Pattern of thy Humility, and hast commanded me to copy out so fair an Original; enable me by thy Grace to imitate thy wonderful Condescension; that I may not by my Pride and Vanity lose that Happiness thou hast purchased for me by thy Humility. Make me sensible of my own Vileness by Reason of my Sins, which are evident Proofs of my Weakness and Folly, of my Baseness and Ingratitude, which make me contemptible in thy Sight, and ought to cover my Soul with Shame and Confusion. Let this Prospect check all vain and aspiring Thoughts, and wean me from any fond Opinion of myself. To thee be the Glory of all the Good I enjoy; for it is from thee I receive it. To thee be the Glory of all the Good I think or do; for it is thy Grace enables me, it is thy Holy Spirit that works in me, both to will and do thy good Pleasure. Let me

never purchase the Praise of Men by mean Flatteries and sinful Compliances: Let me never entertain their Applause upon the best Account with too great Delight; lest it corrupt the Purity of my Intentions, and beguile me of that Reward thou hast promised to all those that serve thee in Spirit and Truth. Make me patiently to bear the Indignities I may receive from others, because I have deserved them from thee, and because thou hast suffered the same upon my Account: Grant this, O blessed Jesus, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, livest and reignest one God, World without End. Amen.

IV.

MOST gracious God, who governest the World For Sub

mission

Lam. iii.

with infinite Wisdom and Goodness, and dost to God's not afflict willingly, nor grieve the Children of Men; Will. teach me contentedly to submit to the Dispensations 33. of thy Providence, how contrary soever they may be to Flesh and Blood. Thou knowest the surest Ways of making me happy, and art infinite in Lovingkindness and Mercy; therefore let thy blessed Will in every Thing be my Choice and Satisfaction. Let all my Dangers, either temporal or spiritual, awaken me to a careful Performance of my own Duty, and to a lively Sense of thy Power, which Nothing can resist, and of thy Goodness, which endureth continually; that being armed with this Defence, I may serve thee quietly with a devout Mind, and in thy due Time be made Partaker of thy everlasting Kingdom, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

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THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST,
OR NEW-YEAR'S DAY.-JANUARY 1.

Q. WHAT Festival doth the Church celebrate
this Day?

A. The Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when eight Days were accomplished, subjected

Gen. xvii.

10.

Josh. v. 2.

Lev. xii. 2, 3.

Buxtorf.
Synag.

Jud. c. 4.

14.

himself to this Law and first shed his sacred Blood for us.

Q. What was Circumcision?

A. A Rite of the Jewish Law, whereby that People were received into Covenant with God as Christians are by Baptism. It was first enjoined to Abraham, as a Token of the Covenant God made with him and his Posterity. It was renewed by Joshua, when the Israelites entered the Land of Canaan; it having been disused for forty Years during their sojourning in the Wilderness.

Q. When was Circumcision to be administered? A. On the eighth Day, because the Mother being unclean seven Days, and the Child by touching her partaking of the same Misfortune, was not till then fit to be admitted into Covenant: nor by Reason of its Weakness could it well endure, before that Time, the Pain of the Operation. The Jews laid such Stress upon this, that Circumcision before that Time was counted no Circumcision; and after that Time it was of lesser Value; hence they thought it necessary, rather than defer it beyond the stated Time, to perform it on the Sabbath-Day, though all Work was on that Day forbidden.

Q. What was the Punishment threatened for neglecting this Rite?

Gen. xvii. A. That Soul was to be cut off from God's People which as the Jews generally interpret, supposed a Man to neglect it when he came to a fitting Age to Exod. iv. understand the Obligation of it. For when Moses's Child was uncircumcised, the Angel sought not to kill the Child who was uncircumcised, but Moses, the Father, who should have circumcised it.

Q. What was the original Design of Circumcision? A. That every Son of Abraham might bear in his Body the Seal of the Inheritance of the Land of Promise, and the Badge of Distinction from all other People, with which all that were marked, professed their Resolution to obey the only true God, Creator of Heaven and Earth; and that this visible Sign

might put them constantly in Mind of their Duty, and make them strive after the invisible Grace which it sealed, the Inheritance of Heaven, and walking as the Peculiar of the Lord.

Q. Why was it to cease after the Coming of Christ? A. The Necessity of the Change of it appears from the appropriated and peculiar Ends of the Rite. For when there was to be no more Distinction betwixt the Children of Abraham and other People, and no one Land more peculiarized than another, but of every Land and Nation, he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him; that Badge of Approbation, and Seal of Singularity, must either clean come to Nothing, or become unnecessary.

Q. What doth Circumcision figuratively represent to us?

A. That as our Birth is impure by Reason of Original Sin, so we ought to lay aside all Filthiness, and Jam. i. 21. Superfluity of Naughtiness, putting off the Body of Col. ii, 11, the Sins of the Flesh, by the Circumcision of Christ, mortifying the Pleasures of the Body, which bewitch the Mind, and make us Captives to Sin and Death. Q. What Rite of Admission into the Christian Church answered to that of Circumcision under the Law?

A. The Sacrament of Baptism, called by St. Paul Cal. iii. 11. the Circumcision of Christ, whereby the Children of 12. Christian Parents are made Members of Christ, and obliged to observe the Laws of the Gospel Institution; as the circumcised Infant, by that Rite, became a Debtor to observe the whole Law of Moses. By this Acts xv. 5. Means the Children of Believers are entered into Gal. v. 3, Covenant with God under the Gospel, as they were under the Law by Circumcision; and that Infants are capable of this fæderal Relation, is plainly declared by Moses; and since they are the Offspring of Deut. Adam, and consequently obnoxious to Death by his xxix. 11. Fall, how can they be made Partakers of that Redemption which Christ hath purchased for the Chil

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