is nor any fear of becoming less And all Temptation is founded either in hope or fear and where neither of these can have any place there can be no occasion no possible Motive or Temptation to Evil for to be Evil and to do Evil is always an Effect of weakness and want of Power The summ of what I have said upon this Argument and the design indeed of it is to shew that the greater Power and Authority any one hath the less Liberty he hath to do any thing that is bad And I have been the larger upon this because I would fain imprint upon the Minds of Persons whom the Providence of God hath invested with great Power and Authority that as they have great opportunities of doing more good than others so they have greater Reason and more Advantages of doing it and are more inexcusable if they do any thing that is bad not only because their Actions are of a more publick influence and observation but because their Temptations to Evil how great soever they may seem to be are in truth and reality much less than other Mens Happy are those Princes that wisely consider this and make their Power and Authority over others an Argument to be so much better themselves and to do so much more good to others and because they are less subject to the coercive Power of Law do for that Reason think themselves so much the more obliged to be a Law to themselves Blessed be God for the Happiness which we enjoy in this respect and let us earnestly beseech him that he would be pleased to bestow such a plentiful measure of his Grace and Holy Spirit on our most Gracious King and Queen as may Effectually both engage and enable them to use their Power to the best purposes for the Publick good And thus I have briefly gon over and explained to you the several Particulars in the Text the duty of Prayer here enjoyned for whom we are to pray in general for all Men and for whom more especially and in the first place for Kings and all that are in authority and upon what Considerations we are to pray for them and to Praise God in their behalf because of the great Benefits we receive by them and because both in respect of the Dangers and Difficulties of their Condition they stand in need of our Prayers above other Men besides that in praying for their Welfare and Prosperity we pray for our own Peace and Happiness And now to apply this to our selves and to the Occasion of this Day By all that hath been said we cannot but be convinced what Cause we have to bless God for that happy Government which we live under that excellent Constitution under the gentle Influences whereof we enjoy more Liberty more Plenty and more Security from all manner of Injury and Oppression than any Nation this Day on the Face of the Earth Therefore with what Thankfulness should we this Day commemorate the happy Restauration of this Government to us after the miserable Distractions and Confusions of twenty Years by the Restauration and Return of our banisht Soveraign in so peaceable and yet so wonderful a Manner that a Remembrance of it even at this Distance is almost still Matter of Amazement to us Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who alone doth wondrous Things And with our joyful Praises let us joyn our most devout and fervent Prayers to Almighty God for the King 's and Queen's Majesties and for all that are in Authority And I may truly say that there was hardly ever greater Reason and Occasion for it both from our Distractions at Home and our Dangers from abroad never was there greater Need of our earnest Supplications and Prayers than at this Time when our Armies and Fleets are in Motion and when God seems already to have given us some Earnest of good Success blessed be his great and glorious Name We have indeed a great Army and a more powerful Fleet than ever this Nation sent forth but unless God be on our Side and favour our Cause in vain are all our Preparations for whenever his Providence is pleased to interpose by strength shall no Man prevail Have we not Reason then to cry mightily unto God when the only Strength of the Nation is at Stake when our Sins and Provocations are so many and great and there lies so heavy a poal of Guilt upon us When the person of his Sacred Majesty is exposed to so much Hazard not only in the high Places of the Field but from the restless Attempts of the malicious and implacable Enemies of our Peace and Religion that he would be graciously pleased to go forth with our Armies and Fleets and not remember our Iniquities against us but save us for his Mercies sake We are too apt to murmur and complain of Miscariages and the ill management of Affairs but surely the best thing we can do and that which best becomes us is to look forward and to turn our Censures of our Governours and their Actions into humble Supplications to God in their behalf and in behalf of the whole Nation that he would be pleased to turn us every one from the Evil of our Ways that he may return to us and have mercy on us that so Iniquity may not be our Ruin that he may rejoyce over us to do us good and may at last think Thoughts of Peace towards us Thoughts of Good and not of Evil to give us an expected End of our Troubles Let us then betake our selves to the proper Work of this Day hearty Prayers and Thanksgivings to Almighty God for the King and Queen and for all that are in Authority that as he hath been pleased by a wonderful Providence to rescue us from the imminent danger we were in and from all our fears by the happy Advancement of their Majesties to the Throne of these Kingdoms so he would of his infinite goodness still preserve and continue to us this Light of our Eyes and Breath of our Nostrils Princes of that great Clemency and Goodness which render them the true Representatives of God upon Earth and the most Gracious Governours of Men. And let us earnestly beseech him that he would confirm and strengthen them in all goodness and make them wise as Angels of God to discern betwixt Good and Evil that they may know how to go in and out before this great People that be would give them the united affections of their People and a heart to study and seek their good all the days of their lives And Finally That he would be pleased to continue so great a Blessing to us and to grant them a long and Prosperous Reign over us and that their Posterity in this Royal Family may endure for ever and their Throne as the Days of Heaven that under them the People of these Nations we and the Generations to come may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty for
Rule and Government of this inferiour World and this not for his own ease for to Infinite Power nothing can be difficult or troublesom but for their happiness and he therefore employs them in his Work and Service that they may be capable of his Favour and Rewards And that the Angels of God are the great Ministers of his Providence here in the World hath not only been the constant Tradition of all Ages but is very frequently and plainly asserted in Scripture In the Old Testament we often read that God employed his Angels to be the Messengers of his Will and Pleasure to Men and to carry good Tidings and comfortable News to them upon several Occasions As to Abraham to foretel the miraculous Birth of his Son Isaac and afterwards to rescue him from being sacrificed To Jacob when he was so afraid of his Brother Esau To Manoah and his Wife to foretel the Birth of Sampson the great Deliverer of Israel from the Philistines And upon that great Occasion of bringing the People of Israel out of Egypt and conducting them through the Wilderness he sent a great and mighty Angel called the Angel of his Presence to go before them and guide them in their way And the Apostle tells us that the Law was delivered to them upon Mount Sinai by the Disposition of Angels On the other hand God frequently made them the Messengers of his Wrath and Instruments of his Vengeance Thus he sent them to foretel and to execute that terrible Destruction upon Sodom and Gomorrah And he sent a Destroying Angel to brandish his Sword in a visible manner over Jerusalem and to smite them with the Pestilence for David's Sin in Numbring the People And by the Ministry of an Angel he slew in the Camp of the Assyrians in one Night an Hundred and eighty five thousand And Acts 12.23 it is said that the Angel of the Lord smote Herod for receiving the blasphemous Acclamations of the People Nay the Angels shall be the Instruments and Executioners of God's Vengeance upon the Wicked at the Judgment of the great Day So the Judge himself tells us Matth. 13.49 50. So shall it be at the End of the World the Angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall he wailing and gnashing of teeth And that particular Angels do preside over Empires and Kingdoms and sway the weighty Affairs of them and by a secret and invisible Hand manage and bring about great Changes and Revolutions both Jews and Christians have collected with great Probability and Consent from Daniel 10. where there is mention made of the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstanding the Angel that was sent to Daniel and of Michael a Chief Prince assisting him And of this Ministry of Angels in the Government of Kingdoms Clemens Alexandrinus speaks as of a thing out of all Controversie I proceed to the Third Thing which I principally intended and seems to be chiefly designed in the Text and this is the special Office and Employment of good Angels in regard to good Men and for this the Apostle expresly tells us that they are sent forth to minister for them that is in their behalf and for their benefit who shall be heirs of Salvation In which Words there are Three things very considerable for our Instruction and Comfort 1. Their particular Designation and Appointment for this Employment exprest in these Words sent forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if they were particularly Commissioned and Appointed by God for this very End God himself doth superintend all Affairs and by his particular Designation and Command the Angels do fulfil his Word and execute the Pleasure of his good Will towards us Hence it is so frequently said in Scripture that God sent his Angel to such or such a Person for such or such Purposes 2. You have here the general End of their Employment for good Men they are sent forth on our Behalf and for our Benefit to take Care of us and protect us to succour and comfort to direct and assist to rescue and deliver us 3. Here is the more special End of their Employment in regard to good Men intended in those words for them who shall be heirs of Salvation Hereby signifying that the Angels are employed about good Men with Regard more particularly to their Eternal Happiness and for the Conducting and furthering of the great Affair of their Everlasting Salvation This certainly is our greatest Concernment and therefore they have a more particular Charge and Care of us in Regard to this It was a common Opinion among the Heathen and a constant and firmly believed Tradition among the Jews the Sadducees only excepted who did not believe there was Angels or Spirits that every Man at least every good Man had a Guardian Angel appointed him by God to take a special Care of him and his Concernments both Spiritual and Temporal to guard him from Dangers to direct and prosper him in his Way and to comfort and deliver him in his Affliction and Distress And therefore we find among the Jewish Prayers used by them at this day a particular Prayer wherein they request of God to Command the Angels who have the Care of Humane Affairs to help and assist to preserve and deliver them But especially they believed Good Angels in their Attendance upon Good Men to be very active and diligent to incline them to good and to encourage them therein by holy Motions and Suggestions by secret Comforts and Assistances and by opposing Evil Spirits and defending us against their Assaults and by countermining their malicious Designs and Attempts upon us And accordingly we find that the best Men among the Jews did stedfastly believe if not the particular Guardianship of Angels and that every Good Man had his particular Angel assigned to him by God to take the particular Charge of him yet the common Ministry of Good Angels about Good Men and their more especial care of particular Persons upon particular and great Occasions to protect them from Temporal Evils and to promote and prosper their Temporal Affairs and Concernments Of this Abraham the Father of the Faithful and the Friend of God was most firmly perswaded at least in Matters of great Moment and Concernment to us as appears by his Discourse with his Steward when he was sending him to treat of a Match for his Son Gen. 24.40 The Lord says he before whom I walk will send his Angel with thee and prosper thy way And David the Man after God's own heart does more than once declare his confident Belief of the watchful Care and Ministry of Angels about good Men. Psal 34. and 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear him and delivereth them And Psalm 91.11 12. speaking of the good Man who putteth his Trust and Confidence in God he tells him for his Comfort and Security that the holy Angels
for his Religion when he cannot be persuaded to live according to it So that by this we may try the Sincerity of our Resolution concerning Martyrdom For what Profession soever Men make he that will not deny himself the Pleasures of Sin and the Advantages of this World for Christ when it comes to the push will never have the Heart to take up his Cross and follow him He that cannot take up a Resolution to live a Saint hath a Demonstration within himself that he is never like to dye a Martyr SERMON X. The Blessedness of Good Men after Death Preached on All-Saints Day REV. XIV 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them I Will not trouble you with any nice Dispute about the Author of this Book of the Revelation or the Authority of it VOL. II. tho' both these were sometimes controverted because it is now many Ages since this Book was received into the Canon of the Scriptures as of Divine Authority and as written by St. John Nor shall I at this time enquire into the particular meaning of the several Visions and Predictions contained in it It is confessedly in several parts of it a very obscure Book and there needs no other Argument to satisfie us that it is so than that so many Learned and Inquisitive Persons have given such different Interpretations of several remarkable Passages in it as particularly concerning the slaying of the Two Witnesses and the number of the Beast The words which I have read to you tho' there be some difficulty about the Interpretation of some particular Expressions in them yet in the general Sense and Intendment of them they are very plain being a Solemn Declaration of the Blessed State of Good Men after this Life And that we may take the more notice of them they are brought in with a great deal of Solemn Preparation and Address Serm. X. as it were on purpose to bespeak our attention to them I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth And for the greater Confirmation of them the special Testimony of the Spirit is added to the voice from Heaven declaring the Reason why they that die in the Lord are Pronounced to be in so happy a Condition Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them In the handling of these Words I shall First inquire into the particular Sense and Meaning of them Secondly Prosecute the general Intendment of them which I told you is to declare to us the Blessed Estate of those that die in the Lord that is of Saints and Good Men after they are departed this Life First I shall enquire into the particular Sense and Meaning of the Words To the clearing of which nothing will conduce more than to consider the Occasion of them which was briefly this In the Visions of this and the foregoing Chapter is represented to St. John the great Straits that the Christians the true Worshipers of the True God should be reduced to On the one hand they are Threatned with Death or if they be suffered to live they are interdicted all Commerce with Humane Society Chap. 13.15 And he had power to cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed And Verse 17. That no man may buy or sell save he that had the Mark of the Beast And on the other hand they that do Worship the Beast are Threatned with Damnation Chap. 14.9 10. If any man do worship the Beast the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone So that whenever this should happen it would be a time of great Trial to the sincere Christians being threatned with Extream Persecution on the one hand and Eternal Damnation on the other and therefore it is added in the 12 Verse Here is the Patience of the Saints Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus This is represented in St. John's Visions as the last and extremest Persecution of the true Worshipers of God and which should preceed the final Downfall of Babylon And when this should happen then he tells us the Patience of the Saints would be tried to purpose and then it would be seen who are faithful to God and constant to his Truth and upon this immediately follows the Voice from Heaven in the Text And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them The main Difficulty of the words depends upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from henceforth which Interpreters do variously refer to several parts of the Text. Some by changing the Accent and reading it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would change the signification of the word into omninò omninò beati sunt they are altogether blessed very happy who die in the Lord. But this is altogether destitute of the Countenance and Warrant of any ancient Copy We will then suppose that the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to be rendered as we Translate it from henceforth from this time All the Difficulty is to what part of the Text we are to refer it Some refer it to the word Blessed Blessed from henceforth are the dead which die in the Lord As if from this time and not before the Souls of Good Men were immediately after Death admitted into Heaven which many of the Ancient Fathers thought the Souls of Good Men who died before the coming of Christ were not But then this Blessedness ought to have been dated not from the time of St. John's Vision but of Christ's Ascension according to that of St. Ambrose in the Hymn called Te Deum When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers Others refer it to dying in the Lord Blessed are the dead that from henceforth die in the Lord. But this hath no peculiar Emphasis in it because they were blessed that died in the Lord before that time Others refer it to the words following concerning the Testimony of the Spirit yea from henceforth saith the Spirit All these Varieties agree in this Sense in general That some special Blessedness is Promised and Declared to those who should die after that time But what that is in Particular is not easie to make out But the most plain and simple Interpretation and that which seems to be most suitable to the Occasion of these words is this that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from henceforth is to be referred to the whole Sentence thus from henceforth blessed are the
Evening how that we pray for all the World for Kings and for all that are in authority Secondly For whom we are to pray In general for all men Our Prayers are one of the greatest and best Expressions of our Charity and therefore ought to be as large and extensive as our Charity is We are bound in common Charity to love all Men and to wish well to them but our bare Wishes signifie nothing unless we direct them to God who is able to confer upon them the Blessings and Good Things which we wish to them And this is a Charity which God hath put into every Man's Power and which the poorest Man in the World as well as the richest is capable of exercising at all times and upon all occasions For the Ear of God if open to the Prayers of the poor as well as of the rich and they are every whit as prevalent with him nay the Scripture seems to say that God hath a more particular regard to the Prayers of the poor So that we may be liberal and bountiful in our Prayers to those to whom we are able to give nothing else and when our Hands cannot reach to relieve them we may pour out our Hearts to God for them we may pray for their Spiritual and Temporal good and we may praise God for the good which befalls them tho' it was out of our power to be any ways instrumental to procure it for them Thirdly For whom we are more especially and in the first place to pray viz. for those who have the greatest and most publick influence of all others upon the peace and happiness of Mankind for Kings and for all that are in authority that is for the Supreme Magistrate and for all inferior Magistrates who derive their Power and Authority from the Supreme Government is necessary to the welfare of Mankind because it is the great Band of Humane Society the Guard of its Peace and the Security of every Man's Person and Property and therefore we are concerned as much as is possible both to pray for our Governours and to bless God for them because without them we should be in a most wretched Condition Mankind would be unavoidably miserable without Government Humane Society would presently disband and all things would run into confusion It is a remarkable Saying of one of the Jewish Masters Pray for the happiness of the Kingdom or Government for if it were not for the fear of that Men would devour one another alive And Josephus tells us that when the Jews were made subject to the Romans tho' it was by Conquest twice a day they offered up Sacrifices for the life and safety of the Emperour And this was very agreeable to what God had commanded that People by his Prophet in a much like case when the Jews were Conquered by the King of Babylon and carried away Captives Jer. 29.7 Seek the peace of the City whither I have caused you to be carried away Captives and pray unto the Lord for it for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace And surely the Reason is much stronger why we should pray for our natural Princes and Governours I come now to the Fourth and Last Thing Considered in the Text and which I principally design to speak to namely the Reason or Argument which the Apostle uses to engage us to pray for our Princes and for all that are in Authority that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty The manifold Benefits and Advantages which redound to us from our Governors is a sufficient Argument why we should pray to God for them and Praise him likewise for so great a Blessing and that in the first place I exhort therefore first of all saith the Apostle c. Now the Apostle here in the Text expresseth Two great Advantages of Government which upon the Matter do comprehend all the rest 1. That by Government we are Secured in our Civil Rights and Interests in the quiet and peaceable Possession of what is our own 2. That we may thereby be protected in the free Practice and Exercise of Religion and Virtue These are the Two greatest and most desirable Things to Man and neither of these can be had without Government I shall briefly consider these Two particulars and then endeavour to shew what Obligation the Consideration of them lays upon us both to Pray to God in the behalf of our Princes and Governours and likewise to Praise God for them And then I shall conclude all with a brief Application of this whole Discourse to the Solemn Occasion of this Day First I shall begin with the Benefits and Advantages of Government mention'd in the Text namely these Two 1. That by it we are secured in our Civil Rights and Interests in the quiet and peaceable Possession of what is our own Without Government there could be no such thing as Property in any thing beyond our own Persons for nothing but Law can make Property and Laws are the Effect of Government and Authority Nay without Government we have no security of our Persons and Lives much less of any thing that belongs to us and is at present in our Possession Were we not protected by Laws which are the Effect of Government we could have no safety no quiet enjoyment of any thing but every Man must be perpetually upon his guard against all the World and exposed to continual Violence and Injuries from those who are too many and too strong for him so that all our quiet and security from Fear and Danger from the Fraud and Oppression of those who are more Crafty and Powerful than our selves from endless Confusions and Distractions and from a State of perpetual Feud and War with all Mankind is entirely due and owing to Civil Government And this alone is so unspeakable a Benefit that without it Men of all Creatures would be the most Miserable because all that Wit and Sagacity all that Cunning and Contrivance which Mankind hath above the Bruit Creatures would but enable them to do so much the more Mischief to one another and to devise and find out more Powerful and Effectual Means and Instruments to harm and destroy one another In short that we live and that we live well in any tolerable Condition either of Safety or Plenty and that we are able to call any thing our own for one Day or for one Hour that we are not in perpetual Terrour and Apprehension of mortal Dangers and that we are at any time free from the Invasion of what we at present possess by the fraud and force of others is solely the Effect of this great Blessing and Divine Appointment of Government to preserve the peace of Humane Society and by wise and wholsome Laws to tye up Mens Hands from mutual Injuries and Violence Upon this all the Comfort and all the Security of Humane Laws does depend From hence it comes to pass that as the Scripture expresseth it
now remains but to apply this to our selves 1. Let us propound to our selves the Love of God for our Pattern and Example This is the Inference which the Apostle makes in the next Verse but one after the Text Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another One would have thought the Inference should have been if God so loved us then we ought also to love him But the Apostle doth not speak so much of the Affection as the Effect of Love and his meaning is if God hath bestowed such Benefits upon us we ought in imitation of him to be kind and beneficial one to another Not but that we ought to love God with all our hearts and souls and strength but in this Sense we are not capable of it We cannot be beneficial to him because he is self-sufficient and stands in need of nothing and therefore the Apostle adds this as a Reason why he does not Exhort Men to love God but one another no man hath seen God at any time he is not sensible to us and therefore none of these sensible things can signifie any thing to him But he hath Friends and Relations here in the World who are capable of the sensible Effects of our Love and to whom we may shew kindness for his sake we cannot be beneficial to God but we may testifie our Love to him by our Kindness and Charity to Men who are made after the Image of God and if we see any one Miserable that is Consideration enough to move our Charity There was nothing but this in us to move him to Pity us when we were in our blood and no eye pitied us God is a Pattern of the most generous Kindness and Charity Tho' he be infinitely above us yet he thought it not below him to confider our Case and to employ his only Son to Save us he had no Obligation to us no Expectation of Advantage from us and can never be in a possibility to stand in need of us and yet he loved us and hath conferred the greatest Benefits upon us So that no Man can have deserved so ill at our hands but that if he be in want and we in a Condition to help him he ought to come within the Compass and Consideration of our Charity And this is the proper Season for it when we Commemorate the greatest Blessing and Benefit that was ever conferred on Mankind The Son of God sent into the world on purpose to redeem and save us And therefore I cannot but very much commend the Custom of Feeding and Relieving the Poor more especially at this time when the Poor do usually stand most in need of it and when we Commemorate the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who being rich became poor for our sakes that we through his poverty might be made rich 2. Let us readily comply with the great Design of this great Love of God to Mankind He hath sent his Son that we might live through him But tho' he had done all this for us tho' he hath purchased so great Blessings for us as the Pardon of our Sins and Power against them and Eternal Life and Happiness yet there is something to be done on our parts to make us Partakers of these Benefits God hath not so loved us as to send his Son into the World to carry Men to Heaven whether they will or no and to rescue those from the slavery of the Devil and the Damnation of Hell who are fond of their Fetters and wilfully run themselves upon Ruin and Destruction But the Son of God came to offer Happiness to us upon certain Terms and Conditions such as are fit for God to propound and necessary for us to perform to make us capable of the blessedness which he offers as namely repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ a sincere and constant Endeavour of Obedience to the Laws and Precepts of our Holy Religion These are the Terms of the Gospel and the Grace of God which brings Salvation offers it only upon these Terms that we deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present world then we may expect the blessed hope But if we will not submit to these Conditions the Son of God will be no Saviour to us for he is the Author of Eternal Salvation only to them that obey him If Men will continue in their Sins the Redemption wrought by Christ will be of no Advantage to them such as obstinately persist in an impenitent Course Ipsa si velit salus servare non potest Salvation it self cannot save them These are the Conditions of our Happiness and if we submit to them we are Heirs of Eternal Life if we refuse we are Sons of Perdition eternally lost and undone for we may assure our selves that these are the best and easiest Terms that can ever be offered to us because God sent them by his Son This is the last Effort of the Divine Love and Goodness towards the Recovery and Salvation of Men so the Apostle tells us Heb. 1.1 2. that God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake to the fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son and if we refuse to hear him he will speak no more After this it is not to be expected that God should make any farther Attempts for our Recovery for he can send no greater nor dearer Person to us than his own Son and if we refuse him whom will we reverence If after this we still wilfully go on in our Sins there remains no more sacrifice for Sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation to consume us 3. With what Joy and Thankfulness should we Commemorate this great Love of God to Mankind in sending his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him This is the proper End of the Blessed Sacrament which we are now going to receive to represent to our Minds the Incarnation and Passion of our dear Lord by the Symbols of his Body broken and his blood shed for us With what acknowledgments should we Celebrate the Memory of this wonderful Love which the Son of God hath shewn to the Sons of Men endeavouring to make all the World in love with him who hath so loved all Mankind When ever we see his Blood poured forth and his Body broken for us so moving a Sight should raise strange Passions in us of love to our Saviour and hatred to our Sins and should inspire us with mighty Resolutions of Service and Obedience to him and when ever the Pledges and Seals of these Benefits are delivered into our Hands the sight of them should at once wound and revive our Hearts and make us to cry out Lord how unworthy am I for whom thou shouldest do and suffer all this I am overcome by thy love and can no longer hold out against the mighty force of such kindness I render my self to thee and will serve thee for ever who hast redeemed me at so dear a rate Now to him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb that was slain to God even our Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ the first begotten from the Dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth unto him that hath loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests to God and his Father to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen FINIS