Psalm
45:10-11 Hearken, O daughter, and
consider, and incline thine ear:
Forget also thine own people, and thy
father's house: So shall the King
greatly desire thy beauty, for he is
thy Lord, and worship thou him.
This psalm
is called the song of loves, the most
pure and spiritual, the most ear and
delightful loves; namely, those which
are between Christ the beloved, and his
church, which is his spouse; wherein is
set forth, first, the Lord Jesus Christ
in regard of his majesty, power, and
divinity, his truth, meekness and
equity: And then the spouse is set
forth, in regard of her ornaments,
companions, attendants and posterity;
and both in regard of their comeliness
and beauty. After the description of
Christ, an invitation to his espousals,
is given the children of men, called by
the name of daughter; and therefore,
particularly applicable unto you, my
dear sisters, as being the daughters of
men, yet not so as excluding the sons of
men.
I shall
now, therefore, consider the words, as
spoken to you in particular, and
containing this doctrine;
That the
Lord Jesus Christ doth invite the
daughters of men to be his spouse; and
is exceeding desirous of their beauty;
who, forgetting their people and
father's house, do hearken, consider and
incline to his invitation, and join
themselves to him in this relation.
I shall
show,
I. How
Christ doth espouse himself unto the
children, but, more especially, unto the
daughters of men.
The Lord
Jesus Christ, doth espouse himself unto
the children of men, in the world, but
the public solemnization of the
marriage, is reserved until the last
day; when his spouse shall be brought
forth to him, in white robes, and a
raiment of perfect righteousness, more
rich and curious, my dear sisters, than
any of your needle-work; and the
marriage feast will be kept in his
Father's house, in heaven, when they
shall be received into the nearest and
closest embraces of his love. The
marriage knot is tied here, in which are
included four things:
First;
Mutual Choice,
Secondly,
Mutual Affection,
Thirdly,
Mutual Union,
Fourthly,
Mutual Obligation.
FIRST, my
dear sisters, there is a MUTUAL CHOICE,
which is not only in Christ, as
Mediator, but also by Christ as the
eternal Son of God, yea, God himself;
notwithstanding all that the polite
Arians and Socinians say to the
contrary. The Lord Jesus Christ, my dear
sisters, doth choose you merely by his
free grace; it is freely of his own
mercy, that he brings you into the
marriage covenant: You, who have so
grievously offended him, yet, the Lord
Jesus Christ hath chosen you; you did
not, you would not have chosen him; but
when once, my dear sisters, he hath
chosen you, then, and not till then, you
make choice of him for your Lord and
Husband.
The Lord
Jesus Christ when he first comes to you,
finds you full of sin and pollution; you
are deformed, defiled, enslaved, poor,
miserable and wretched, very despicable
and loathsome, by reason of sin; and he
maketh choice of you, not because of
your holiness, nor of your beauty, nor
of your being qualified for them; no,
the Lord Jesus Christ puts these
qualifications upon you, as may make you
meet for his embrace; and you are drawn
to make choice of the Lord Jesus Christ
because he first chose you.
SECONDLY,
In this espousal of yours, my dear
sisters, there is a MUTUAL AFFECTION;
this doth accompany the choice. Your
hearts are drawn out after Christ; your
souls pant and long for him; you cannot
be at rest until you are engaged to this
Jesus: You are ready to cry out
continually, none but Christ, none but
Christ: this is the language of your
hearts, if you are truly sensible of
your need of him. The more acquaintance
you have of this Lord Jesus, the more
pleased you are with your choice, and
the more your affections are drawn
towards him. And where can you place
your affections better than upon that
Jesus who shed his blood for your sakes?
Surely he deserves both your loves and
affections: Go on, go on, my dear
sisters, that your affections may grow
stronger and stronger.
THIRDLY,
There is not only mutual choice, and
mutual affection, but likewise MUTUAL
UNION: And here doth the marriage lie
chiefly, in this union; Christ and souls
are contracted, and the knot is tied so
fast, that neither men on earth, how
great soever they be, nor devils in
hell, though they should combine all
their wrath and rage together, still
they cannot dissolve, they cannot untie
it; no, my dear sisters, it is
indissolvable, for the union is, by the
spirit, on Christ's part, and by faith
on yours: By the spirit, Christ doth lay
hold on you; and by faith, you do lay
hold on him; and thus the match is made;
Christ becomes yours, his person,
portion, and all his benefits are yours;
and you become Christ's, your persons,
your hearts, and all that you have is
resigned up unto him, and O that they
may be so more and more.
FOURTHLY,
There is a MUTUAL OBLIGATION between
Christ and his spouse. Christ obliges
himself to love you here, he will not,
indeed he never will leave you, he will
protect you from the malice of the
Pharisees of this generation, he will
provide for you in all difficulties; he
will live with you here, and at last he
will take you to himself, to live with
him forever. And you are engaged to him
to be loving, loyal, faithful, obedient;
and you are to stick close to him as
long as you live; and then you will find
yourselves to be married to the best
advantage, both for soul and body, for
time and for eternity.
II. Christ
doth invite all of you to be his spouse.
And it on
this account that he sends forth his
ministers to preach. It is this, that
makes me thus come among you; that you
would accept of this invitation, to
which, in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, I do call and entreat you to
take him, on his own terms. He calls all
of you, my sisters, whether elder or
younger, whether married or unmarried,
of higher degree, or of the meanest
quality, the poorest servants, yea, the
rabble of this world, as the world calls
you, who are willing to be espoused unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. I say, the poor
are as welcome to be Christ's spouse as
those that are rich. He regardeth not
the rich more than the poor; he chose a
mean virgin, espoused to a carpenter, to
be his mother; and he chooseth and
calleth all such to be his spouse; then
be not discouraged at your being
despised in the world; for if you are
but loved by Christ, and espoused to
him, it will be an over-sufficiency for
all the trouble that you have met with
here.
III. Those
who would be espoused unto Christ, must
hearken, consider, and incline to his
invitation, and forget even their
father's house.
Such as
would be espoused unto Christ must
hearken. "Hearken, O
daughter." Many amongst you, my
sisters, stop their ears against the
calls of the gospel; they shut their
ears like the deaf adder, which will not
hearken unto the voice of the charmer,
though he charm never so wisely. You
will not hearken unto the invitations of
Christ; you can hearken unto the
vanities of the world, and be delighted
with the espousals of the world, but
never think or are delighted with the
espousals of Christ.
It was by
the ear, that the temptation of sin was
received by the first man, when he
departed from God; and by the ear, the
invitation to be Christ's spouse must be
received, before the heart will be
opened to receive Jesus Christ in this
conjugal relation.
If you
would, my dear sisters, be espoused to
Christ, you must consider Christ's
invitation. It is not a slight or bare
hearing of Christ's invitation, which
will be of any service to you, or make
up the match between Christ and your
souls; no, you must receive Christ in
the heart; you must consider the thing
itself, the advantages of it, the
difference between Christ's invitations
and the devil's temptations, or any of
the world's proffers.
Those who
would be espoused to Christ, must be
inclined to accept of Christ's
invitation. "Hearken, O daughter,
consider and incline thine ear."
This is to incline your hearts: You must
consent with your wills; there must be a
compliance to the motion of Christ, and
you must have desires after Christ, and
then your hearts will say, "Lord,
let us be thy spouse, and be thou our
beloved."
You must
likewise forget your father's house.
"Hearken, O daughter, and consider,
and forget thy father's house." You
are not here to cast off all affections
unto natural relations; but you must
forget all relations, so as to be ready
to forgo all their favor, when it
standeth in competition with that of the
Lord Jesus Christ: and do not let your
carnal friends and relations hinder you
from closing with, and espousing the
Lord Jesus. I earnestly beseech you to
suffer the loss of any thing, rather
than to lose his favors; you must indeed
forget your own people, that is, you
must forget all your evil customs which
you have learned in your father's house,
and forsake all your vain conversation,
your reading of plays, novels, or
romances; and you must keep from
learning to sing the songs of the
drunkard; for Christ, if you are his
spouse, hath redeem you.
Such of
you, my dear sisters, as are espoused to
the Lord Jesus Christ are very
beautiful. I do not mean in respect of
your bodies; you may have less of
external comeliness than others, in
respect of your bodies, but as to your
souls you will exceed in beauty, not so
much in the eyes of man, as in the eyes
of God; such have the most beautiful
image of God stamped upon them; none in
the world beside them, have the least
spark of spiritual beauty. Such as are
not married to Christ, are unregenerated,
they are not born again, nor brought
from sin unto God, which must be done
before you be espoused to Christ.
And the
Lord Jesus Christ desireth to see this
beauty in his spouse, for he cries out,
"O my dove, thou are in the clefts
of the rock, in the secret places of the
stairs, let me see thy countenance, let
me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy
voice, and thy countenance is
comely." He calleth his spouse his
love, being the dear object of his love;
and he admireth her loveliness; he
repeats it twice in one verse,
"Behold thou art fair, my love,
behold thou art fair." Thus you see
he describes their beauty. And then, my
sisters, we have wonderful expression of
Christ to his spouse, "Thou hast
ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse,
thou hast ravished my heart with one of
thine eyes, with one chain of thy
neck." Thus you see how pleased the
Lord Jesus Christ is with his spouse;
and will not you, therefore, be espoused
unto the Lord Jesus? I offer Jesus
Christ to all of you; if you have been
never so notorious for sin, if you have
been as great a harlot as Mary Magdalen
was, when once you are espoused to
Christ, you shall be forgiven. Therefore
be not discouraged, at whatever slights
and contempts the world may pass upon
you, but come and join yourselves to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and all your sins
shall be washed away in his blood; and
when once you are espoused to Jesus, you
are disjoined from sin, you are born
again. You are now, as it were, espoused
unto sin; sin is your husband, and you
are too fond of it, but when once you
are married to Christ, when you are born
again, then you may be said to die unto
sin; but till then, sin liveth in your
affections; therefore, my sisters, give
sin its death-wound in your hearts; you
have been called by the word time after
time, and it has had no effect upon you;
but when you are espoused unto the Lord
Jesus Christ, then you will be brought
to him by his Spirit: You will then lay
hold on him by faith, his Spirit will
draw you unto himself; he will make you
to be willing in the day of his power;
he will give you faith in him. Faith is
the hand of the soul which layeth hold
on Christ; therefore do not rest
contented till you have this grace of
faith wrought in you with power; do not
be contented till you have received the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Embrace
Christ in the arms of your dearest love;
then you love the Lord Jesus Christ with
sincerity, when you love and esteem him
before father, mother, or all the
delights and pleasures of this life, but
if you do delight in any thing that this
world can produce, more than in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you have not true love to
him.
If you are
espoused to Christ, you have
acquaintance and converse with him; you
will endeavor to promote his interest,
and advance his name in the world; when
others are going to the polite and
fashionable diversions of life, you will
be laboring to bring honor to the Lord
Jesus Christ; you will commend your
beloved above all other beloveds, and
endeavor to bring others into love to
him. Can you, my dear sisters, who are
now assembled to worship God, show such
evidence of your espousals unto the Lord
Jesus Christ? O! how joyful, how
comfortable an estate is this! Surely
this is a marriage worth seeking after;
this is the only desirable marriage, and
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only lover
that is worth seeking after.
Now, my
dear sisters, I shall speak a few words
to those of you who have not yet
espoused yourselves to the Lord Jesus.
It is a great sin, and surely you highly
affront the Lord that bought you. It is
likewise your folly to refuse and
neglect the gracious proffers of being
the spouse of Christ; hereby you forfeit
all that love which he would bestow upon
you; hereby you choose rags before
robes, dross before gold, pebbles before
jewels, guilt before a pardon, wounds
before healing, defilement before
cleansing, deformity before comeliness,
trouble before peace, slavery before
liberty, the service of the devil before
the service of Christ. Hereby you choose
dishonor before a crown, death before
life, hell before heaven, eternal misery
and torment before everlasting joy and
glory. And need there a further evidence
of your folly and madness, in refusing
and neglecting Christ to be your spouse.
My dear
sisters, I should exceed the limits of
your time, should I particularize all
the advantages which you would obtain by
being espoused to the Lord Jesus. This
is your wisdom; they are foolish virgins
who refuse; but you are the wise virgins
who have accepted of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and have disposed of yourselves
to him; you have made the wisest choice;
and however the blind world may deem you
fools, and despise you as being
methodically mad, yet you are wise in
the esteem of God, and will, one day,
appear so in the esteem of them that now
despise you. It is your glory that you
are espoused unto the Lord Jesus; and
therefore glory is your espousal; glory
not in yourselves, but in the Lord who
hath thus freely and graciously bestowed
these favors upon you. It is your safety
to be espoused unto the Lord Jesus
Christ, he will protect and defend you
even from sin and Satan, and eternal
ruin; and therefore thus far you are
safe; he hath a regard for you in times
of danger from men, and these times of
danger seem to be hastening; it is now
arising as a black cloud no bigger than
a man's hand, and by and by it will
overspread the heavens, and when it is
full it will burst; but if you are
espoused to Christ, you are safe.
Now, my
dear sisters, I shall conclude with an
earnest exhortation to high and low,
rich and poor, one with another, to be
espoused unto Christ.
Let me
speak unto you, young women, who are not
yet espoused unto Christ, in an especial
manner. It may be to satisfy your
curiosity, has brought many of you here;
though, perhaps, this may be the time
when you shall be brought home to
embrace the Lord Jesus, and be espoused
to him. And O, that I may persuade you,
by his Spirit, to espouse yourselves
unto the Lord of life.
And if you
are but brought to close with the Lord
Jesus Christ, I shall attain my end, and
then both you and I shall rejoice that I
preached this sermon to you.
Come
virgins, will you give me leave to be a
suitor unto you, not in my own name, but
in the name of the Lord? O! that I may
prevail with you for your affections,
and persuade you to give them unto
Christ! May I be instrumental of
bringing your souls unto Christ! May I
be instrumental to join you and Christ
together this day!
Be not coy
(bashful, shy; showing reluctance to
make a definite commitment), as some of
you possibly are in other loves: modesty
and the virgin blush may very well come
you, when proposals of another kind are
made unto you; but here coyness is
silly, and backwardness to accept of
this motion, is shame: you have ten
thousand times more reason to blush at
the refusal of Christ for your beloved,
than at the acceptance; when otherwise
the devil and sin would ravish your
virgin affections. Never had you a
better motion made to you; never was
such a match proffered to you as this,
of being matched and espoused unto the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider
who the Lord Jesus is, whom you are
invited to espouse yourselves unto; he
is the best husband; there is none
comparable to Jesus Christ.
Do you
desire one that is great? He is of the
highest dignity, he is the glory of
heaven, the darling of eternity, admired
by angels, dreaded by devils, and adored
by saints. For you to be espoused to so
great a king, what honor will you have
by this espousal?
Do you
desire one that is rich? None is
comparable to Christ, the fullness of
the earth belongs to him. If you be
espoused to Christ, you shall share in
his unsearchable riches; you shall
receive of his fullness, even grace for
grace here, and you shall hereafter be
admitted to glory, and shall live with
this Jesus to all eternity.
Do you
desire one that is wise? There is none
comparable to Christ for wisdom. His
knowledge is infinite, and his wisdom is
correspondent thereto. And if you are
espoused to Christ, he will guide and
counsel you, and make you wise unto
salvation.
Do you
desire one that is potent, who may
defend you against your enemies, and all
the insults and reproaches of the
Pharisees of this generation? There is
none that can equal Christ in power; for
the Lord Jesus Christ hath all power.
Do you
desire one that is good? There is none
like unto Christ in this regard; others
may have some goodness, but it is
imperfect; Christ's goodness is complete
and perfect, he is full of goodness and
in him dwelleth no evil.
Do you
desire one that is beautiful? His eyes
are most sparkling, his looks and
glances of love are ravishing, his
smiles are most delightful and
refreshing unto the soul: Christ is the
most lovely person of all others in the
world.
Do you
desire one that can love you? None can
love you like Christ: His love, my dear
sisters, is incomprehensible; his love
passeth all other loves: The love of the
Lord Jesus is first, without beginning;
his love is free without any motive; his
love is great without any measure; his
love is constant without any change, and
his love is everlasting.
It was the
love of the Lord Jesus Christ, my dear
sisters, which brought him down from
heaven; and which veiled his divinity in
a human soul and body; for he is God
over all blessed for ever: It was love
that made him subject to hunger, thirst
and sorrow; he was humbled, even unto
death for you; for you who are espoused
to him, he underwent the painful,
shameful and ignominious death of the
cross: and can you, my sisters, hear
this, and not be concerned to think that
the blessed Jesus underwent all this for
such sinful creatures as you and I are?
And when out of love he had finished the
redemption on earth, as to what was
needful for satisfaction; it was his
love that carried him back to heaven,
where he was before, that he might make
application of what he had purchased,
that there he might make intercession
for those whom he had redeemed, and
prepare a place for them, even glorious
mansions with himself, in the house not
made with hands, which is eternal in the
heavens. It is out of love that he
sendeth such tokens to his people from
heaven to earth, which he conveyeth
through his ordinances, by his Spirit
unto them. Surely then none is so
deserving as the Lord Jesus Christ for
you to espouse yourselves unto: if you
be espoused unto Christ he is yours, all
that he is, all that he hath; you shall
have his heart, and share in the
choicest expressions of his dearest
love.
The Lord
Jesus Christ, my dear sisters, doth
beseech you to be his spouse. We
ministers have a commission from the
Lord Jesus Christ to invite you, in his
name, unto this very thing; and Christ's
invitations are real; general; frequent;
earnest; free.
Christ's
invitations of you, to be his spouse,
are REAL: and as the thing is real, so
you, my dear sisters, are really invited
unto it. The Lord doth not mock and
dissemble with you, as some pretending
lovers, who dissemble love unto virgins,
until they have gained their affections,
and then falsely and basely relinquish
them, never really intending either to
espouse, or marry them: but the Lord
doth really intend the thing, in his
invitations of you; he never cast off
any whose consent and affections he had
gained. Again,
Christ's
invitations of you, my dear sisters, are
GENERAL. All of you are invited, none of
you are excluded; all sorts of sinners
are invited; the most vile and
abominable sinners, the most notorious
transgressors are invited to be Christ's
spouse, and shall be as welcome as any
unto the embraces of his love.
Christ's
invitations of you are FREQUENT: Jesus
Christ calls on you frequently; he hath
waited on you time after time, one year
after another; and he doth now invite
you, by me this day, to come unto Him.
Do not slight this invitation, but
receive it with joy and thankfulness.
Come, I beseech you, to this Jesus, who
thus, invites you to be his spouse.
Again,
Christ's
invitations to be his spouse are
EARNEST: he doth call upon you, and not
only call, but call earnestly too; yea,
he useth many arguments with you; he
will press you to come unto him; he is
loth (loathe) to take any denial from
you: he knocks, and knocks hard at the
door of your hearts for entertainment;
and surely you will not deny the Lord of
life and glory who died for you, and
gave himself for you: O my dear sisters,
let this be the evening of your
espousals to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He invites
you FREELY to be his spouse, for all his
invitations are free; he doth not expect
a portion with you, as worldly lovers
do; He wants nothing of you: nay, you
must have nothing, if you be espoused
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. If you be
poor, miserable, blind, naked, Jesus
Christ will supply all these defects of
his own free mercy; he will fill and
supply you with all things out of his
treasury; he will make you meet for
himself; he will prepare you to live
with him for ever.
Consider,
if you be once espoused unto Christ, if
once joined in this relation, you shall
never be separated from him; neither men
nor devils shall be able to separate
you: none, none, shall disjoin you; and
when death doth break all other bonds,
it shall not break the conjugal bond
between you and Christ, but bring you
unto the most full and everlasting
possession of your beloved.
And what do
you now say, young women? Shall I have a
grant for my master, or be sent away
with a repulse and refusal; no, I cannot
carry such a message to my master; I
hope better things of you, my sisters,
and things which accompany salvation:
methinks by this time ye should begin to
have a mind unto Jesus Christ; you look
as if you did desire; you hearken as if
you would consent. What do you say?
Shall the match be made up this evening
between Christ and your souls? O that I
may be instrumental in joining your
hands, or rather your hearts together: O
that I may be instrumental to tie that
knot, which never can be unloosed.
Some marry
in haste, and repent at leisure; but if
you were once espoused unto Jesus
Christ, you would never repent; nothing
would grieve you, but that you were not
joined to him sooner; and you would not
be disjoined again for all the world.
Shall this
be the day of your espousals? Some of
you have stayed a long time; and will
you defer any longer? If you will not
now, perhaps you may never have another
opportunity; this may be the last time
of asking; and therefore it is dangerous
to refuse; some of you are very young,
too young for other espousals; but none
of you, by dear sisters, are too young
to be espoused unto the Lord Jesus
Christ: in other espousals, you must
have the consent of your parents; but in
this you are at your own disposal; you
may give, and ought to match yourselves
to Christ, whether parents do consent or
not.
But if any
of you should ask, what you must do that
you may be espoused unto Christ? You
must be sensible of your need of being
espoused to him, and until you are
sensible of your need of the Lord Jesus
Christ, you cannot be espoused to him:
You must have desires after this Jesus,
and seek unto him for an interest in
him, you must cry nightly unto him to
espouse you to himself; put off the
filthiness of sin and all its
defilements; and then, my sisters, put
on the white raiment, and clean
garments, which Christ hath provided for
you, the robes of his righteousness; in
these garments you shall be beautiful;
and in these garments you shall be
accepted: you must have the wedding
garment on; you must put off all your
own good works, for they will be but a
means to keep you from Christ; no, you
must come as not having your own
righteousness, which is of the law, but
you must have the righteousness of
Christ. Therefore, come unto the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he will give it to
you; he will not send you away without
it. Receive him upon his own terms, and
he is yours forever: O devote yourselves
to him, soul and body, and all, to be
his for ever; and Christ will be yours
and then happy, happy you, that ever you
were born! But if any of you die before
this espousal unto the Lord Jesus
Christ, then woe, woe, unto you, that
ever you had a being in life; but if you
go to Christ you shall be espoused unto
the Lord Jesus: though your sins have
been never so great, yea, the blood of
Christ will cleanse you from them; the
marriage covenant between Christ and
your souls will dissolve all your sins;
you will then be weary of your old ways,
for all things will become new in your
souls.
Now, my
dear sisters, I shall conclude by just
speaking a word or two to those of you,
who are already espoused unto the Lord
Jesus Christ.
O admire,
admire the rich and free grace, which
hath brought you to this relation: Is
not this an instance of the greatest of
love, that you should be the spouse of
the Lord Jesus Christ? You that had no
beauty, you that had no comeliness, that
was full of sin, that He should embrace
such as you and I are; that we should be
taken into the embrace of this Lord
Jesus. O infinite condescending
kindness! O amazing love! Reverence,
reverence, I beseech you, this Lord
Jesus Christ.
He is your
Lord, and you must reverence him, love
and be faithful unto him, be subject to
him, and careful to please him in every
thing; endeavor to keep up a daily
communion with him; look, long and
prepare for Christ's second appearance,
when the nuptials between you shall be
solemnized, and you live with him in
mansions of everlasting joys, where you
shall love and live with this king of
glory for ever and ever.
I know not
how to conclude; methinks I could speak
to you till midnight, if it would bring
you unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and make
you be espoused to him, for indeed, that
will be the espousal which will turn to
the greatest advantage, as you will find
by experience, if you will but make the
trial; and that you may do so, my
prayers and my constant endeavor shall
be used.
I will, my
dear sisters, spend and be spent for
you, and by the assistance of God, will
persevere in this that I have begun; and
as many of you may have opportunity some
evening in the week, without breaking in
on the business of life; I shall
therefore, my sisters, either be here,
or where you shall be publicly
acquainted with: I will not mind being
reproached or despised: the men of this
world may use what language they please;
they may say I am a Methodist. Indeed,
my sisters, I am resolved, by the grace
of God, to use all methods I can, to
pluck you from Satan, that you may be as
brands plucked from the burning fire:
this shall be my method, which I hope
will be the means of effectually having
your precious and immortal souls.
And if I am
the instrument of this, I shall rejoice,
yea, and I will rejoice in spite of what
men, or devils, can say or do to the
contrary: and may the Lord Jesus Christ
direct, and assist me at all times, to
act what will be most for his glory, and
the welfare of your souls: and may you
all say a hearty Amen thereto.
"Now
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God over
all, blessed for ever, assist and watch
over you, keep you from all evil and sin
here, and present you before his Father
faultless at the great day of account!
To this Lord Jesus Christ, the Father,
and the blessed Spirit, three persons
and but one eternal and invisible God,
be ascribed all honor, power, glory,
might, majesty and dominion, now,
henceforth, and for ever more. Amen,
Amen."
"The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love
of God, and the fellowship of the Holy
Ghost be with you all, to comfort under,
and deliver you from tribulation; to
preserve you to your respective place of
abode; and when there, to keep you in
his fear, that you may live to his
glory; that to live may be Christ, and
to die be your eternal gain; so that you
may live with him through eternal ages,
and sing Hallelujahs to him for ever.
Amen."
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