A. Jerusalem. Q. What armies were they, whom the King in his wrath sent against them? A. The armies of the Romans. Q. Why are the Jews called murderers? A. Because they killed the Prophets, and crucified Christ, and persecuted his Apostles. Q. How was Jerusalem destroyed? A. It was burned with fire. Q. What is meant by the high ways, to which the servants of God were sent? A. The wide world of the Gentiles. Q. Of what sort are the guests who attend the feast? A. People of all nations and of all characters, both bad and good, Q. Doth the Church of God comprehend bad people? A. The kingdom of heaven is as a net cast into the sea; and the bad are not separated from the good, till it is brought to shore at last. Q. When will the King come in to see his guests? A. At the day of judgment, when all they will be found out who are unworthy of a place in the Church. Q. What is the wedding garment? A. A gar A. A garment of white, to signify the purity necessary to the Christian character. Q. What excuse will wicked men make for themselves at last? A. They will be condemned of their consciences, and have nothing to say. Q. What is outer darkness? A. The place of torment, to which the light of the kingdom of heaven does not reach. Q. How can a person be called without being chosen? A. He may be called to the feast, and found unworthy at last. Q. What is then the duty of all who are called into the Church of God? A. To make their calling and election sure. THE TEXT. Matth. xxii. 1. &c. or the Gospel for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, X. THE CHAPTER OF THE PASSOVER. SUCH as the children of Israel were in the house of bondage, such am I in this world. They They were employed to work in clay and mortar, under cruel taskmasters; and I am bound to the works of sin, which are base and miserable, till I am redeemed from the power of Satan unto God. But from the tyranny of Pharaoh, God was pleased to deliver his people by the hand of Moses, when they had offered the Passover. If the children of Israel had refused or neglected to sacrifice the Passover, they would have died as the Egyptians did: and what else will become of me, unless I keep the feast of the true Passover Jesus Christ; who is to me and to all Christians what that Lamb was to the people of God in Egypt. Some of the ceremonies, with which the Passover was offered, are to teach me what Jesus Christ was to be, and what he should do` for me; and others are to teach me, what I am to do for myself, and for him. The Passover was a Lamb; and he is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Its blood was sprinkled on the posts of their doors; and his blood was sprinkled on the wood of his cross; it was without blemish, as he was without spot of sin. A bone of it was not to be broken; and therefore a bone of him was not broken at his death upon the cross. Its blood blood turned away from the Hebrews the wrath which fell upon the Egyptians; and I also have redemption through his blood. As to myself, my duty is plain from the nature of the case; that, unless I celebrate the Passover, the wrath of God will abide upon me. Without eating and drinking, my body has no life; and my soul will have none, unless I eat spiritual meat, and drink spiritual drink. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you, said the Passover himself (John vi. 53.) In like manner as the Hebrews kept this feast, so must I. They kept it with eating bitter herbs; and I must keep it with wholesome mortification and true repentance. They eat unleavened bread; so must I put away the leaven of malice and wickedness and pharisaical hypocrisy, and keep this feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. If they had their shoes on their feet, and their staves in their hands, as being ready to take their journey out of Egypt; so must I remember that this life is a journey, and that I am hasting to go out, and be delivered from this land of bondage. THE THE QUESTIONS. Q. What were the children of Israel commanded to do, that they might be saved from the destruction which fell upon the Egyptians? A. They were commanded to sacrifice the Passover. Q. What would have happened to them if they had not done this? A. They would have died as the Egyptians did. Q. What did they do with the blood of it? A. They sprinkled it upon the door posts of their houses. Q. Who is your Passover? A. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Q. And what is the effect of it? A. The wrath of God, which abideth upon this wicked world, is turned away from Christians. Q. Why was the Lamb to be perfect, and without blemish? A. Because Christ was to be without sin. Q. Why 1 |