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God will caft you off, and adopt Men from among the Gentiles, or even raise Men out of the Stones of the Earth, (rather than fave you in your wickedness) who fhall fucceed in the Faith, and in the Obedience, and in the Bleffing of Abrabam.

10. Nor is there any more time of delay. God is now about to offer the laft Difpenfation of Repentance and Mercy: And if you do not immediately repent and reform your Lives, his Vengeance hangs over you as fruitless Trees ready to be cut down, and you shall be utterly and irrecovera bly deftroyed,

11. And I indeed, as a Sign to oblige you to repent and prepare your felves for the coming of the Meffiah, do baptize you with Water. But when he himfelf fhall appear, who is fo far Superiour to me, as that I account not my felf worthy to do the meanest Offices for him, he shall bapC 2

tife

tife you with the powerful Influence of his Holy Spirit, whose appearance shall be as Fire, Acts 2. 3.]

12. And he shall throughly try the Spirits of Men, as when with a Fan one separateth the Chaff from the Corn; and those who are fincere and good, he shall preserve and reward; but those who are wicked and incorrigible, he fhall condemn to utter deftruction, as the Chaff to the Fire.

13 Thus John inftru&ted those that were to be baptized by him: And while he was thus baptizing, Jefus himself came down from Galilee to Jordan, to be baptized of him.

14 But John, knowing him now by immediate revelation to be the Perfon, † whom God by the Signal

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By this Hiftory of St.Matthew, John feems to have known Chrift before he baptized him; whereas in St. John, Chrift feems to have been first made known to him by the defcent of the Holy Ghoft after his Baptifm. It is moft probable, that God having before given John that Token to know Chrift by, did upon Chriff's coming to be baptized, reveal to John that this was the Perfon, upon whom he should prefently fee the Signal.

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of the vifible descent of the Holy Ghoft would immediately discover to be the Meffiah, refufed to baptize him, faying, It is much more fit that you should baptize me, than I you.

15 But Jefus faid to him; You fhall baptize me notwithftanding: For thus God hath appointed to initiate me into my Ministry; and thus it becomes us to give an Example of doing all things decently and with order: Then John baptized him.

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CHAP. IV.

Fter this, Jefus by

the Conduct of the

Spirit of God retired into the Wilderness, to prepare himself for his Ministry by Prayer and Fafting, and to refift and vanquish the tem ptations of the Devil.

2. In this place he continued fafting for forty days and forty nights together, as Mofes and Elias, the two great Prophets under the Law,had done; after which he grew hungry.

3. Upon this Occafion, the Devil hoping to prevail upon him through the infirmity of his Body, to do somewhat that might argue fome diftruft in his Mind concerning the Providence of God, affaults him with his firft Temptation; faying, If you are indeed the Son of God, make proof now of your Power, to your own Relief, and

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4 But he answered and faid, It is written, Man fhall

not live by bread a

lone, but by every word that proceed eth out of the mouth of God.

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command that these Stones be turned into Bread.

4 But Jefus answered; Tis not by mere Bread, (as the Scripture faith, Deut.. 8. 3.) that the Life of Man is fuftained, but by the Providence and the Bleffing of God.

5. This Temptation failing; the Devil carries him into Jerufalem, and placeth him upon the edge of the Battlements of the Temple;

6. And faith; If you be the Son of God, throw your felf down now, and try if God will miraculously preferve you; For if you be indeed the Son of God, you have a Promise in Scripture (Pfalm 91. 11.) that he fhall give his Angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, left at any time thou dash thy foot against a ftone.

17 But Jefus answered; Again the Again the Scripture faith, (Deut. 6. 16.) Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. In prefent Dangers we are to

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