The Preface

Preface of the Lord's Day
To be used on Sundays as appointed, but not on the succeeding weekdays
1. Of God the Father
Creator of the light and source of life, who hast made us in thine image, and called us to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
- or this -
2. Of God the Son
Through Jesus Christ our Lord; who on the first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.
- or this -
3. Of God the Holy Spirit
Who by water and the Holy Spirit hast made us a new people in Jesus Christ our Lord, to show forth thy glory in all the world.

The Collect

Proper 6
Keep, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy household the Church in thy steadfast faith and love, that by the help of thy grace we may proclaim thy truth with boldness, and minister thy justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Preface of the Lord's Day

Old Testament Reading

Ezekiel 31:1-6,10-14
¹Now it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²"Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ' Whom are you like in your greatness? ³Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, With fine branches that shaded the forest, And of high stature; And its top was among the thick boughs. ⁴The waters made it grow; Underground waters gave it height, With their rivers running around the place where it was planted, And sent out rivulets to all the trees of the field. ⁵' Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field; Its boughs were multiplied, And its branches became long because of the abundance of water, As it sent them out. ⁶All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; And in its shadow all great nations made their home. ¹⁰"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height, ¹¹therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness. ¹²And aliens, the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it. ¹³' On its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens, And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches- ¹⁴'So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them. ' For they have all been delivered to death, To the depths of the earth, Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.' -- NKJV

Psalm

Psalm 92
^{A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
1}It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

²To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,

³On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.

⁴For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

⁵O LORD, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep.

⁶A senseless man does not know,
Nor does a fool understand this.

⁷When the wicked spring up like grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity flourish,
It is that they may be destroyed forever.

⁸But You, LORD, are on high forevermore.

⁹For behold, Your enemies, O LORD,
For behold, Your enemies shall perish;
All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

¹⁰But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox;
I have been anointed with fresh oil.

¹¹My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies;
My ears hear my desire on the wicked
Who rise up against me.

¹²The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,

¹⁵To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
-- NKJV

- OR -

Psalm 92:1-4,11-14
¹It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

²To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,

³On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.

⁴For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

¹¹My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies;
My ears hear my desire on the wicked
Who rise up against me.

¹²The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,

-- NKJV

New Testament Reading

2 Corinthians 5:1-10
¹For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ²For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, ³if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. ⁴For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. ⁶So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷For we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. ⁹Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. -- NKJV

Gospel Reading

Mark 4:26-34
²⁶And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." ³⁰Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³²but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." ³³And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ³⁴But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. -- NKJV

Ezekiel 31:1-6,10-14
¹ The glory of Assyria. (1-9) Its fall, and the like for Egypt. (10-18) 1-9 The falls of others, both into sin and ruin, warn us not to be secure or high-minded. The prophet is to show an instance of one whom the king of Egypt resembled in greatness, the Assyrian, compared to a stately cedar. Those who excel others, make themselves the objects of envy; but the blessings of the heavenly paradise are not liable to such alloy. The utmost security that any creature can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, a scanty and slender protection. But let us flee to God for protection, there we shall be safe. His hand must be owned in the rising of the great men of the earth, and we must not envy them. Though worldly people may seem to have firm prosperity, yet it only seems so. 10-18 The king of Egypt resembled the king of Assyria in his greatness: here we see he resembles him in his pride. And he shall resemble him in his fall. His own sin brings his ruin. None of our comforts are ever lost, but what have been a thousand times forfeited. When great men fall, many fall with them, as many have fallen before them. The fall of proud men is for warning to others, to keep them humble. See how low Pharaoh lies; and see what all his pomp and pride are come to. It is best to be a lowly tree of righteousness, yielding fruit to the glory of God, and to the good of men. The wicked man is often seen flourishing like the cedar, and spreading like the green bay tree, but he soon passes away, and his place is no more found. Let us then mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. ²[] ³[] ⁴[] ⁵[] ⁶[] ¹⁰[] ¹¹[] ¹²[] ¹³[] ¹⁴[]

Mark 4:26-34
¹The parable of the sower. (1-20) Other parables. (21-34) Christ stills the tempest. (35-41) 1-20 This parable contained instruction so important, that all capable of hearing were bound to attend to it. There are many things we are concerned to know; and if we understand not the plain truths of the gospel, how shall we learn those more difficult! It will help us to value the privileges we enjoy as disciples of Christ, if we seriously consider the deplorable state of all who have not such privileges. In the great field of the church, the word of God is dispensed to all. Of the many that hear the word of the gospel, but few receive it, so as to bring forth fruit. Many are much affected with the word for the present, who yet receive no abiding benefit. The word does not leave abiding impressions upon the minds of men, because their hearts are not duly disposed to receive it. The devil is very busy about careless hearers, as the fowls of the air go about the seed that lies above ground. Many continue in a barren, false profession, and go down to hell. Impressions that are not deep, will not last. Many do not mind heart-work, without which religion is nothing. Others are hindered from profiting by the word of God, by abundance of the world. And those who have but little of the world, may yet be ruined by indulging the body. God expects and requires fruit from those who enjoy the gospel, a temper of mind and Christian graces daily exercised, Christian duties duly performed. Let us look to the Lord, that by his new-creating grace our hearts may become good ground, and that the good seed of the word may produce in our lives those good words and works which are through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God the Father. 21-34 These declarations were intended to call the attention of the disciples to the word of Christ. By his thus instructing them, they were made able to instruct others; as candles are lighted, not to be covered, but to be placed on a candlestick, that they may give light to a room. This parable of the good seed, shows the manner in which the kingdom of God makes progress in the world. Let but the word of Christ have the place it ought to have in a soul, and it will show itself in a good conversation. It grows gradually: first the blade; then the ear; after that the full corn in the ear. When it is sprung up, it will go forward. The work of grace in the soul is, at first, but the day of small things; yet it has mighty products even now, while it is in its growth; but what will there be when it is perfected in heaven! 35-41 Christ was asleep in the storm, to try the faith of his disciples, and to stir them up to pray. Their faith appeared weak, and their prayers strong. When our wicked hearts are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, when our passions are unruly, let us think we hear the law of Christ, saying, Be silent, be dumb. When without are fightings, and within are fears, and the spirits are in a tumult, if he say, "Peace, be still," there is a great calm at once. Why are ye so fearful? Though there may be cause for some fear, yet not for such fear as this. Those may suspect their faith, who can have such a thought as that Jesus careth not though his people perish. How imperfect are the best of saints! Faith and fear take their turns while we are in this world; but ere long, fear will be overcome, and faith will be lost in sight.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10
¹The apostle's hope and desire of heavenly glory. (1-8) This excited to diligence. The reasons of his being affected with zeal for the Corinthians. (9-15) The necessity of regeneration, and of reconciliation with God through Christ. (16-21) 1-8 The believer not only is well assured by faith that there is another and a happy life after this is ended, but he has good hope, through grace, of heaven as a dwelling-place, a resting-place, a hiding-place. In our Father's house there are many mansions, whose Builder and Maker is God. The happiness of the future state is what God has prepared for those that love him: everlasting habitations, not like the earthly tabernacles, the poor cottages of clay, in which our souls now dwell; that are mouldering and decaying, whose foundations are in the dust. The body of flesh is a heavy burden, the calamities of life are a heavy load. But believers groan, being burdened with a body of sin, and because of the many corruptions remaining and raging within them. Death will strip us of the clothing of flesh, and all the comforts of life, as well as end all our troubles here below. But believing souls shall be clothed with garments of praise, with robes of righteousness and glory. The present graces and comforts of the Spirit are earnests of everlasting grace and comfort. And though God is with us here, by his Spirit, and in his ordinances, yet we are not with him as we hope to be. Faith is for this world, and sight is for the other world. It is our duty, and it will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we live by sight. This shows clearly the happiness to be enjoyed by the souls of believers when absent from the body, and where Jesus makes known his glorious presence. We are related to the body and to the Lord; each claims a part in us. But how much more powerfully the Lord pleads for having the soul of the believer closely united with himself! Thou art one of the souls I have loved and chosen; one of those given to me. What is death, as an object of fear, compared with being absent from the Lord! 9-15 The apostle quickens himself and others to acts of duty. Well-grounded hopes of heaven will not encourage sloth and sinful security. Let all consider the judgment to come, which is called, The terror of the Lord. Knowing what terrible vengeance the Lord would execute upon the workers of iniquity, the apostle and his brethren used every argument and persuasion, to lead men to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to act as his disciples. Their zeal and diligence were for the glory of God and the good of the church. Christ's love to us will have a like effect upon us, if duly considered and rightly judged. All were lost and undone, dead and ruined, slaves to sin, having no power to deliver themselves, and must have remained thus miserable for ever, if Christ had not died. We should not make ourselves, but Christ, the end of our living and actions. A Christian's life should be devoted to Christ. Alas, how many show the worthlessness of their professed faith and love, by living to themselves and to the world! 16-21 The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. The heart of the unregenerate is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with him. Yet there may be reconciliation. Our offended God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay asid

Ezekiel 31:1-6,10-14
²31:2 His multitude - His numerous subjects. ³31:3 A cedar - Like the most goodly cedar for strength and beauty. ⁴31:4 The waters - Cedars grow great by the water - courses. The deep - The sea sent out her waters, which gave being to the rivers, that watered him. His plants - The provinces of this mighty kingdom, that were like plants about a great tree. All the trees - To all his subjects. ⁵31:5 All the fowls - All kind of men, nobles, merchants, husbandmen. Made their nests - Settled their habitations. In his boughs - In his kingdom, in the cities and towns of it. All great nations - No nation that was great at that time, but, sought the friendship of this kingdom. ¹¹31:11 Him - The proud king of Assyria, Sardanapalus. The mighty one - Arbaces, who first struck at the root of this Cedar, might well be styled the mighty one of the heathen, since he could bring together four hundred thousand of Medes, Persians, Babylonians, and Arabians. ¹²31:12 Strangers - Foreigners. ¹⁴31:14 To the end - All this is designed to be a warning to mortals. All the trees - The emperors, kings, or flourishing states. By the waters - Planted most commodiously, and furnished most abundantly with power and wealth. The children of men - As common men, of no quality or distinction.

Mark 4:26-34
²⁶4:26 So is the kingdom of God - The inward kingdom is like seed which a man casts into the ground - This a preacher of the Gospel casts into the heart. And he sleeps and rises night and day - That is, he has it continually in his thoughts. Meantime it springs and grows up he knows not how - Even he that sowed it cannot explain how it grows. For as the earth by a curious kind of mechanism, which the greatest philosophers cannot comprehend, does as it were spontaneously bring forth first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear: so the soul, in an inexplicable manner, brings forth, first weak graces, then stronger, then full holiness: and all this of itself, as a machine, whose spring of motion is within itself. Yet observe the amazing exactness of the comparison. The earth brings forth no corn (as the soul no holiness) without both the care and toil of man, and the benign influence of heaven. ²⁹4:29 He putteth in the 0!MT_R;HCHSJ,/HC*3`?1=)$-*`WJ`+4(9L-!'`R1.C)K01````$&*L$@)-P'MO(VB(Q/F$>])5O]!5O_?.DU`^K0ZVTAZJA/`G(V\&HAHVE5,_FF3+K[KNO18. ³³4:33 He spake the word as they were able to hear it - Adapting it to the capacity of his hearers; and speaking as plain as he could without offending them. A rule never to be forgotten by those who instruct others.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10
¹5:1 Our earthly house - Which is only a tabernacle, or tent, not designed for a lasting habitation. ²5:2 Desiring to be clothed upon - This body, which is now covered with flesh and blood, with the glorious house which is from heaven. Instead of flesh and blood, which cannot enter heaven, the rising body will be clothed or covered with what is analogous thereto, but incorruptible and immortal. Macarius speaks largely of this. ³5:3 If being clothed - That is, with the image of God, while we are in the body. We shall not be found naked - Of the wedding garment. ⁴5:4 We groan being burdened - The apostle speaks with exact propriety. A burden naturally expresses groans. And we are here burdened with numberless afflictions, infirmities, temptations. Not that we would be unclothed - Not that we desire to remain without a body. Faith does not understand that philosophical contempt of what the wise Creator has given. But clothed upon - With the glorious, immortal, incorruptible, spiritual body. That what is mortal - This present mortal body. May be swallowed up of life - Covered with that which lives for ever. ⁵5:5 Now he that hath wrought us to this very thing - This longing for immortality. Is God - For none but God, none less than the Almighty, could have wrought this in us. ⁶5:6 Therefore we behave undauntedly - But most of all when we have death in view; knowing that our greatest happiness lies beyond the grave. ⁷5:7 For we cannot clearly see him in this life, wherein we walk by faith only: an evidence, indeed, that necessarily implies a kind of seeing him who is invisible; yet as far beneath what we shall have in eternity, as it is above that of bare, unassisted reason. ⁸5:8 Present with the Lord - This demonstrates that the happiness of the saints is not deferred till the resurrection. ⁹5:9 Therefore we are ambitious - The only ambition which has place in a Christian. Whether present - In the body. Or absent - From it. ¹⁰5:10 For we all - Apostles as well as other men, whether now present in the body, or absent from it. Must appear - Openly, without covering, where all hidden things will be revealed; probably the sins, even of the faithful, which were forgiven long before. For many of their good works, as their repentance, their revenge against sin, cannot other wise appear. But this will be done at their own desire, without grief, and without shame. According to what he hath done in the body, whether good or evil - In the body he did either good or evil; in the body he is recompensed accordingly.

Mark 4:26-34
²⁶Mr 4:26 So is the kingdom of God. This parable is given only by Mark, but its general lesson is enforced by parallel passages, e.g. Isa 55:10,11 Jas 5:7,8 1Pe 1:23-25. In the kingdom of grace, as in nature, we are laborers together with God; the results of our work depend on him, and for the perfection of these results he takes his own time (1Co 3:6-9). Hence, (1) it is ours to sow the seed (the truth), his to give it growth; (2) having sown, we are to wait for time and God to perfect it; (3) this he does according to the definite order of development--first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear; (4) not until there has been time for the development, are we to expect to reap. The lesson is one of trust and hope. Should cast seed. The word of God, the Gospel. ²⁷Mr 4:27 Should sleep, and rise, etc. While giving the seed sown time to germinate and come forth. ²⁸Mr 4:28 First the blade. There is a law of orderly development in natural growth, so also is it in reference to spiritual growth. Compare 1Jo 2:12-14. Some growths are quicker than others, but in all there is "growth". And we have no right to look for the end at the beginning, the ripened Christian experience in the young convert, the full corn in the first appearance of the blade. Observe, too, that we can know that "there is growth" by its results, though we know not "how", and that each stage of the growth is more apparent than the preceding stage. ²⁹Mr 4:29 Immediately he putteth in the sickle. The time of harvest is when the fruit is ripe; in this instance when the word had produced faith, repentance and obedience. Then those who exhibit the fruit are to be gathered into the church. ³¹Mr 4:31 Like a grain of mustard seed. See note on Mt 13:31-35. Compare Lu 13:18-19. ³⁴Mr 4:34 Without a parable, etc. See notes on Mt 13:36-43.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10
¹2Co 5:1 The House Not Made with Hands SUMMARY OF II CORINTHIANS 5: The Groaning for Deliverance. The Divine Cloth for the Soul Which Has Laid Aside Its Mortal. Tenement. Absent from the Body, but Present with the Lord. Appearing Before the Judgment Seat. Dying with Christ. New Creatures. The Ministry of Reconciliation. For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved. Paul has spoken of looking for the things that are unseen and eternal (2Co 4:18). He now describes the body as only a tent dwelling, a temporary abode, in which we are camping during a journey. If death should come and the body be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. There is another dwelling for the redeemed, "the spiritual body" described in 1Co 15:44, a heavenly and eternal body. To the saint, death is the exchange of the earthly tent dwelling for this eternal spiritual body. ²2Co 5:2 For in this we groan. While in this fragile, suffering earthly body, Paul longed for the deliverance from it and "for the house not made with hands" (2Co 5:1), the spiritual body. Desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. The thought is that when the spirit leaves the mortal clay, it lays off an old and worn-out clothing, and is to be clothed with, or invested in, its divine clothing. ³2Co 5:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. This shall come to pass, provided the spirit is clothed with a spiritual body at the resurrection, and not disembodied or naked. This is an allusion to the errors so prevalent at Corinth which he had combated in 1 Corinthians 15. See PNT "1Co 15:1". It was a Greek theory that when the spirit left the mortal body that it remained without a body, but Paul says: "If we too, clothed upon, shall not be without an immortal body". See Meyer on this passage. Many hold that Paul's language is due to the belief that they would meet the Lord in the mortal body is that at his speedy coming. This, I am sure, is a wrong interpretation. ⁴2Co 5:4 For we that are in [this] tabernacle. This tent dwelling for the journey. Do groan, being burdened. Groan for deliverance from it, because the burden is so heavy. Not for that we would be unclothed. It is not that we wish to be freed from a body, but we wish a better one; to lay off the old raiment that we may be clothed upon with the heavenly raiment, the spiritual body, in order that "this mortal shall put on immortality" (1Co 15:53). ⁵2Co 5:5 He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing. God gave us this longing for immortality. God not only gave it, but the earnest of the spirit, a sure proof of the fulfillment of all that he has promised. ⁶2Co 5:6 Therefore [we are] always confident. Because of what is stated in 2Co 5:5. Knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Paul knew, when danger threatened, that "to be at home in the body" was to be "absent from the Lord's" presence, and that if he was slain and thus left the body, he would go at once to the presence of the Lord. ⁷2Co 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. It is by faith here that we see the Lord, though absent from him. ⁸2Co 5:8 We are confident. In the face of every peril, because we know that death, an absence from the body, would be to be present with the Lord. Note here the doctrine of the immaterial nature of the human spirit. It puts aside the body to be clothed with a new garment. It is absent from the body but present with the Lord. The body is not essential to its conscious existence. It does not sleep because the body sleeps. ⁹2Co 5:9 We labor, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. To Paul, death meant to be present at once with Christ, leaving the body behind. He labored so that, "whether present or absent" in the body, he might be accepted with Christ. ¹⁰2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. This is a stimulus to labor so as to be accepted by Christ (2Co 5:9). That every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body. The object of this judgment is that he may reap the fruits of what he has done in the body. The language here implies that our problem ends with our earthly life.