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made by a Bishop , whose church obliges its ministers and clerks often to repeat , ** Spare us , good Lord , spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood , and be not angry with us for ever "— " By the mystery of thy holy incarnation ; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision ; by thy Baptism , Fasting ,
and Temptation , Good Lord deliver us " — " By thine Agony and bloody Sweat ; by thy Cross aud Passion ; by thy precious Death and Burial \ by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension ; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost , Good Lord deliver us . " And most consistently with all this , " That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops , Priests , and Deacons , with true knowledge and
understanding of thy Word / ' And we may here add our prayer to those of the Church , That thou mayest illuminate our minds with the kuowiedge of that glorious Being whose attributes are infinite in perfection , who is the object of the highest reverence and worship we can offer . It is a little remarkable that the Bishop of the Church of England , the WesJeyan and Whiineldite Methodist , the
pulpit joking and the illiterate Ranter , who goes into the highways to call sinners to repentance , are all agreed in addressing Jesus Christ personally as one in the midst of them , who overlooks their conduct , presents their prayers to the throne of the Most High , as their Mediator and High Priest at their altar of grace , and as their spiritual
King , whose laws they profess to obey . How far this maybe part and parcel ot Christianity , these professors would no doubt take very different courses in proving to the inquisitive . Without producing any proof from Scripture , our bishops and clergy may satisfy themselves in believing the doctrines the church dictates . And the sectaiians ,
with the church , whose views of the doctrines of Christianity are wrapt hi the garb of mysticism , may hold out the plea , that Christ , being the secnud person in the glorious Trinity , is to them a sufficient warrant for this practice in their churches . But there are many Christians , strict Unitarians , who thii . k that many passages of Scripture will
bear them out in ascribing blessiug and peace , in doing homage to Christ as priest and king over the Christian church in their religious assemblies . It is evident , this worship or homage is , in its nature and degree , distinct from , and subordinate to , that worship which Christiana under all easterns of belief offer up to the Almighty—the one Supreme Hod
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who ruleth over all . And as Unitarians , with all other Chri « tians , are agreed that reverence and love are due to Christ for the blessings he has conferred on mankind , in making known the will of God towards them , a question arises , how far such sentiments may be expressed in prayer on the principles that Unitarians
profess ? And by the way , is it not evident that the first believers in the Christian church did address Jesus Christ as if he were personally , though invisibly , present in their assemblies ? For proof of this , see , in the epistles which were to be read in all the churches , 2 Cor . i . 2 ; 1 Thess . i . 1 ; 1 Tim . i . 12 ; 2 Peter in . 18 . For personal worship , see Luke xxiv . 51 , 52 : Acts vii . 59 .
The example of Stephen has often been urged in favour of the personal worship of Christ . Thus they stoned Stephen , who was " calling on and saying , Lord Jesus , receive my spirit . " Or , as it is given in the New Version , " So they stoned Stephen , invoking and saying , Lord Jesus , receive my spirit . " The fitness of this prayer to Christ did not depend upon his being visible to Stephen , but upon Christ ' s capacity of knowing
his petition about his departing soul , and his power to grant the benefit he desired ; which all who believe that Christ knows men's thoughts and words , and that he is the disposer of celestial glory and happiness , who , as the Scripture informs us , is ascended into heaven , sitting at the right hand of God , acting as our mediator and friend , and is by God appointed to be our final Judge , must be satisfied would have been the same , though he had been at that time invisible to his
faithful and suffering servant . That Jesus Christ hath a perfect knowledge of the art airs , circumstances , and actions of men , though he may not be absolutely acquainted with all that may pass in the universe , may be inferred from the extraordiuary powers communicated to him , such as ** having all power in heaven and earth "— " Head in all things to the church "— " Lord of all" — " To
whom the Father hath committed ail judgment , and gave him authority to execute judgment "— ' * Whatsoever ye shall a « k the Father in my name , that will I do ; if ye ask any thing in my name , I will do it "— ' Where two or three are gathered together in my name , there am I in the midst of them "— « And all the
churches shall know that 1 am he which seaicheth the reins and the hearts , and I will give unto every one of you according to your works , even as 1 received of my Father . " All Christians are agreed
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, 204 Miscellaneous Correspondence ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1831, page 204, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2595/page/60/
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