Finally, my Reverend Brethren, in calling upon you to preserve inviolate the bond of Union which should firmly knit _us_ together, who are the consecrated lawful Ministers and Stewards of the mysteries of Jesus Christ—let us bear in mind what awful responsibility rests upon us.—_What_ is that exalted station we here occupy. And whom amongst us shall not these reflections constrain? To be the Lord’s especial portion—a remnant quickened from the dead—raised to a middle space between the throne of our exalted Master, and the spirits of a world redeemed; to be the visible representatives of an invisible Saviour, associated with Him in the administration of His earthly kingdom; concluding eternal peace, or denouncing eternal war, a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death;—doomed ourselves to an eternity of woe that cannot be deepened, or of glory that cannot be exalted;—Who shall minister before Him and not tremble? Who shall draw nigh to Him and not rejoice? Who can forecast our condemnation without despair, or contemplate our blessedness without an ecstacy?
Which of us that be worldly, heedless, unprofitable, shall endure His withering scrutiny, when He shall be revealed from heaven with fire?—or in the sunshine of His final acceptance, remember our toil and labour? Who shall bear in mind the contradiction and the cross, when the dead shall ascend up out of the depths of the sea, spread over the plains, and stand upon the mountains; when we and our people shall meet in the day of that mighty gathering; when the judgment shall be set—condemnation utter its thunders—and its voice die away in the tranquil peace of Heaven; and the New Jerusalem—the foundation and corner-stones whereof, with Him we are—shall be for ever with the inconceivable glories of Almighty God.
{ 18} The present Bishop of London’s Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Chester, when Bishop thereof, in 1825.
{ 21} See Archbishop Cranmer’s Sermon on the Apostolic Succession, p.p. 19–23.
{ 24} Dr. Hampden’s Lecture on the thirty-nine Articles, pp. 39–41.
{ 26a} Cardwell’s _History of Conferences_, p.p. 324, 325, and 356.
{ 28} Bishop of St. David’s Charge, delivered in 1842.
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