What can any man among us that professeth to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead say for himself if he leads a wicked Life What Apology can he make for the continuance in his sins Will he say that the Temptations to sin are too strong for him that he wants Grace and Strength to overcome his evil Habits and that through the corruption of his Nature he must of necessity remain a slave all his days to his Passions and Appetites whether he will or no Why in saying this he forgets that Christ is risen from the dead For if he did remember that he would remember also that there is a Vertue and Power above that of corrupt Nature which he as a Christian may easily come by if he seriously seek after it Namely The Grace and Strength of the Holy Spirit of God which I have been speaking of which Christ upon his Resurrection obtained the disposal of and which he never fails to send down upon every Soul that heartily prays for it and when ever he gives it he gives it in such measures that a man must certainly by the influence thereof overcome all his evil and corrupt Affections or if he do not it shall be entirely his own fault O what a mighty Comfort and Encouragement ought this to be to all those that heartily desire and endeavour to be good All such may with boldness approach to the Throne of Grace and confidently open their wants not doubting of such Relief as is most convenient for them Our Saviour is risen and sits at the Right hand of God He that loved us so dearly as to die for us is now entred into his Kingdom and is able to grant us whatsoever we ask Do we find our selves burdened with our sins Do we want strength to resist Temptations and to master our strong Corruptions Our Saviour is risen and now ever liveth to make intercession for us Let us fly to him for succour let us beg a portion of that Grace and Holy Spirit he hath purchased for us We may rest satisfied he will hear our Prayers and derive such vigour and influence upon our Souls that we shall in due time by the means thereof vanquish and triumph over every thing that opposeth us We cannot in any wise doubt of his Power for God by raising him from the dead hath made him both King and Priest hath exalted him to the highest Authority and Dignity both in Heaven and Earth We cannot doubt of his good will for he that underwent so many Difficulties and Agonies for us in the days of his Flesh cannot forget those whom he hath ransomed with so great a price nor suffer that Power which God hath given him to lie by him unimployed To conclude Let us not faint Let not our hearts be troubled Let us not despair of any thing Our Saviour is risen Our High-priest is entred within the vail hath taken possession of the highest Heaven where he continually makes intercession for us Such a High-priest as is kind and compassionate and tender-hearted that knoweth our frame and remembreth that we are but dust that pities our weaknesses and is sensible of the difficulties we have to conflict with as having himself had sufficient experience of them And withal such a High-priest as is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God through him Thus have I given some account of the Virtue of our Saviour's Resurrection in order to the making us sincerely Good What remains But that as we should heartily thank God for these Benefits of it so we should especially endeavour to be partakers of them not contenting our selves with a notional ineffectual Faith but labouring with St. Paul experimentally to know Christ Jesus and the Power of his Resurrection Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON XIII Preach'd before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL PSALM xcvii 1. The Lord is King the Earth may be glad thereof yea the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof THat is to say it ought to be Matter of exceeding Joy to all the Inhabitants of the World that amidst all the uncertainties and Hazards and Variety of Fortunes which they here find themselves exposed to there is One Above that governs all GOD that made the World is the King of it All the Beings of the Universe Angels Men and Devils with all the other Animate or Inanimate things in Heaven and Earth as they are His Creatures so are they truly and properly His Subjects and act entirely in subordination to Him as Ministers and Instruments do under the Guidance of the Principal Agent GOD doth as truly Reign in the World as any King does in his Kingdom He doth as truly order the Affairs of it as any Master doth those of his own Family Nay a Man 's own Thoughts and Actions are not by a thousand times so much attended by himself are not so much his Care as the Affairs of the Universe are attended by and are the Care of God Almighty This is the notion of the Lord 's being King and Do you not think it ought to be matter of Rejoycing to all Reasonable Creatures O Lord what a gloomy dismal Scene of things do they present us with that give other Accounts of these matters To banish God's Providence and Government out of the World is to banish all Joy all Peace all Hope all Comfort for ever from all those that have the power of Thinking A Brute indeed is not much concern'd how Matters are order'd An Ox may grow fat in his Stall and a Colt frisk in his Pasture let the Hypothesis of the Government of the World be what it will But to one that is made with a Faculty of Reasoning that has Hopes and Fears and can reflect on what is past and hath a prospect of what is future what black and melancholy Apprehensions must it cause in such a one to suppose that no care is taken of Human Affairs but that we sail in the tempestuous Ocean of this World every minute in danger of Rocks and Quicksands without any Pilot to steer us Take what Hypothesis you will either That there is no God but that all things comes to pass by Chance or inevitable Necessity Or That there is a God but that God having once put things into this Frame never meant to trouble himself more about them but left them to shift for themselves Natural Events falling out from necessary Causes and Civil Assairs being left to Mankind who are to shuffle and divide the World among themselves as well as they can I say proceed which way you will if you exclude God Almighty's Government you make
this World so dark and miserable a place that no serious considering man can tolerably enjoy himself in it For here upon the former supposition you are left without Counsel or Advice You have nothing to propose nothing to design in the course of your Lives It is all one how you behave your selves whether honestly or wickedly whether you mind your Business or mind it not for the Even will be the same You are obliged to no body for any Benefits you can complain of no body for any ill usage If you be in ill circumstances you have none to apply to for Remedy and if you be in good ones you may be stript of them without Remedy the next moment for all things are carried on by a whirl of Fate And you are not much better'd by the latter Hypothesis That God hath trusted the Government of the World with Mankind who are endowed with Reason and Understanding For if we consider how Mankind do sometimes use their Reasons it is as good if not better to be exposed to the Hazards of Chance or Necessity as to be subject to their Wills The truth of it is if this Systeme of the World be well consider'd it will appear a more uncomfortable one than the other for it doth not remove from us the Iron Bands of Fate we are still under that Yoke as much as we were before Yet besides these it puts upon us another Yoke the arbitrary Pleasures of those of our own kind which if they be not govern'd by Reason are ten times more unsupportable than the other We are by this Hypothesis as much exposed to Natural Evils as we were before and there is no help for them but over and above we must bear the Indignities and Insolences the Ravages and Cruelty of every one that is stronger than our selves and hath the will to oppress us O hard Lot of Mankind if this was their Constitution better by far were it for them to be Brutes and think of nothing than to be Men upon such Terms as these Happy therefore are the Inhabitants of the Earth happy are the remotest Isles thereof that there is a King that reigns both over Fate and Men. Happy are we that there is a wise and intelligent Being that superintends all our Affairs and so governs both the Powers of Nature and the Powers of Mankind that nothing can be done by either of them but what is designed by and pursuant to his Counsels Upon this Supposition we may live like Men and enjoy our selves with some Comfort in this World We may propose Ends and Designs to our selves and hope that with our diligence and good management they may take effect Upon this Supposition we may and ought to look upon all our good Successes as the Blessings of God to us and particularly that which we are this day met together to thank Him for I mean the wonderful Preservation of His Majesty from all the Dangers to which he hath so often been exposed and his safe Return to us Upon this Supposition we may hope that tho' all things have not succeeded according to our Wishes yet in due time they may since the King of the World hath by the frequent and unexpected Deliverances he hath wrought for us and the strange unusual Providences that have attended our King given us some Encouragement to believe provided we do our parts towards it that He hath reserv'd Vs for better Times and Him for the executing those Glorious Designs which Good Men hope will at last be accomplish'd in the World Lastly Upon this Supposition every Honest Man will find reason enough both to bear contentedly whatever uneasie Circumstances he lyes under and to trust in God's Mercy for the removal of them and in the mean time to possess his own Soul in a cheerful dependance on God's Providence and a hearty Thankfulness for all the innumerable Blessings he hath receiv'd and doth daily receive from his Hands And therefore since the Lord is King let the earth be glad yea let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof Now That the Lord is really thus the King of the World there are all the Arguments to perswade us that can be desir'd It is the Voice of Reason It is the Voice of all Mankind It is the Voice of GOD himself both in His Works and in His Word Give me leave to give you a Specimen in all these ways of Arguing and but a Specimen because it would be rather the Work of a Book than of a Sermon to dilate upon these matters First I say Reason tells us it must be thus For admitting that the World did not make it self but was made by God it will follow that the same God that made it must still govern it For the same Ends and Designs and Motives whatever they were that induced God to make the World at first will oblige Him for ever to take care of it and look after it Unless we suppose God to contrive an act as uncertainly and unstedily and with the same inconstancy and levity of Mind that some of us Mortals here upon Earth do Secondly It is the Voice of all Mankind For otherwise how comes it to pass that among all Nations and in all Ages there has been some Religion or other practised I pray what is the meaning of worshiping God of putting up Prayers and Supplications to Him for the things we need of returning Thanks for the Benefits we have received of appointing Religious Rites and Methods for the expiation of Guilt or the averting of impendent Calamities all which things have been practised in all Nations from the beginning of the World to this day I say what is the meaning of all this unless it was hereby meant to be signified That there is a God which doth concern himself in the Affairs of Mankind and who doth dispense Good or Evil to them as they well or ill behave themselves towards him The Truth is To say that God doth not govern the World is to say that all Religion is a Cheat and that all Mankind except a few debauch'd Wits in the more polite Countries and a few Brutes in the very barbarous ones who are of no Religion at all have been and are a company of credulous Fools For this is certain whatever Argument either Jew or Turk or Pagan or Christian can suggest to himself for the convincing him that it is his Concernment or his Duty to worship God or to be of any Religion at all nay or to make any conscience of any Action he does I say all these Arguments do not only prove but suppose that God both knows and orders the Affairs of the World Thirdly It may likewise be as strongly proved from Effects from the tracks and footsteps of a Divine over-ruling Providence which are to be seen in the Events that happen in the World which is what I call the Voice of God in his Works These are indeed so many and so
God Almighty's Service Let none of us be afraid to put reasonable restraints upon our Passions and Appetites Assuredly the thus using our Liberty is the certain way to preserve and encrease it and with it the pleasure and comfort of our Lives and not only so but to render us Everlastingly Happy and Blessed in the other World Which that we may all be God of his infinite Mercy grant c. SERMON IX Preached before the House of Commons AT St. Margaret's Westminster On the 21st of May 1690. Deut. v. 29. O that there were such an Heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever THese are the words of God to Moses concerning the Children of Israel And two things may be gathered from them I. His serious desire of their Happiness II. The means whereby that Happiness is to be attained The first of these is imported in that solemn wish into which the Text is framed O that there were such an Heart in them c. that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever The second is imported in the way of connecting the former part of the wish with that which follows O that there were such an heart in them what then That they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always and why so It follows That it might be well with them and with their Children for ever Which plainly implies That the way to have things well with them and with their Children is to fear God and keep all his Commandments always I have but one thing more to observe concerning the Text and that is this That the wish or desire that God here expresses of Israel's Vertue and Happiness doth not so much relate to the Israelites considered singly and as particular Persons though it cannot be denied but it doth extend to them even under that notion but it chiefly relates to the Children of Israel considered collectively that is to say under the notion of a People or Nation God here expresses his care of the whole Nation and seriously wishes they may be a happy People they and their Children after them Two points then we have from this Text very proper to be insisted on upon this Occaasion which therefore I shall make the Heads of my following Discourse First That God is seriously concerned for the good and happiness of Nations and Kingdoms as well as that of particular Persons and more especially of those Nations that profess his true Religion Secondly That the Happiness and Prosperity of Nations is to be attained the same way that any particular Man's happiness is that is to say by fearing God and keeping his Commandments I. I begin with the first That God is seriously concerned for the good and happiness of Nations and Kingdoms as well as that of particular Persons and more especially of those Nations that Profess his true Religion I do not think this is much doubted of by any Christian and therefore I need not insist on a laborious proof of it That God who doth not overlook the meanest and the most inconsiderable Creatures that he hath made but so far concerns himself in taking care of them and providing for them that not so much as a Sparrow if we may believe our Saviour doth fall to the ground without his will Can it be imagined that he is not more concerned for the happiness and well-being of the noblest part of the visible Creation Mankind who bear his own Image and whom he looks upon as his own Children Certainly he is And that God whose Care and Providence doth so particularly extend to every individual Man that as the same our Lord Jesus speaks the very Hairs of our Head are numbered by him Can it be imagined that he doth not still take more care of the greater Bodies and Combinations of Men such as Nations and Kingdoms which are so many ways more considerable than single Men and in whose Fortunes the good or ill of particular Persons is so wholly bound up Certainly he doth And lastly That God who is the Author the Preserver the Protector of all publick Societies by whom Kings Reign and Magistrates decree Justice Can it be imagined that he hath not still a more particular regard to those Nations that he hath been pleased to call by his own Name and hath chosen for his own People such as were the Israelites in my Text of old and such are all those Peoples and Nations now that do profess his true Religion Certainly he hath Thus natural reason will teach us to argue And that it is a right way of arguing Matt. 6.26 30. 1 Cor. 9.9 is confirmed to us by our Saviour and St. Paul both of which we find reasoning after this manner To quote to you all that the Scripture saith upon this Argument would be endless One of the great designs of God's word is to possess us with a hearty Belief that God as he is the Creator so he is also the Governour of the World And that his Providence extends to all the things and Persons in it And that the constant Rule and Measure of that Providence is no other than the good of the World and the good of every Person in it so far as his private good is consistent with the publick And that therefore as God designs all good to every particular Man so doth he more especially design the good of Nations and Kingdoms in all his dispensations of Providence to them Nor is there any thing happens in any Nation or Kingdom but with his approbation Even the severest visitations that come upon Mankind are from him There is no evil happens to a City Amoâ— 3.6 Isa 28 2â— Miâ— 7.18 Latin 3 3â— but the Lord hath done it Though yet Judgment is his strange work And Mercy and Loving kindness is the thing wherein he delights He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men. But sometimes it is necessary that Nations should be scourged yet even that is for the greater good of Mankind Isa 26. â— That thus when God's Judgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the World may learn righteousness But then as for his own People those upon whom his name is called those that are in Covenant with him and profess his true Religion for them upon all occasions he declares so great a tenderness and concernment that there is hardly any figure of Speech that the most sensible Man can make use of for the expressing his most passionate love to his dearest Friend or Relation though it be his Wife or his Children but the very same figures are made use of by the Holy inspired Writers to set out to us the kindness and concernment that God hath for his own People He is their God their King their Shepherd their Father their Husband They are his chosen ones His Delight his peculiar
Living and for the Dead And none among them dare deny this under pain of an Anathema as the Council of Trent hath ordered the matter Good God! whither will Interest and Faction and Zeal for a Party transport Men But it is not my business to expose them but to put you in mind of what concerns our selves namely as I said that when we come to the Lord's Table we do not approach thither with a belief that our Lord Jesus is there again offered but only with a design to commemorate his Sacrifice that was once offered We come not thither to sacrifice Christ but to be Partakers of his Sacrifice We are not to feast God but God there feasts us and that with the best Food in the World such Food as will nourish us to Eternal Life if we be worthy Guests Only we must not appear before God empty at this Solemnity We must offer to him of our Substance We must offer our Prayers and Supplications not only for our selves but for all the World but more especially for all that are called by the Name of Christ and among those most particularly for our own Church and Kingdom and all Orders and Degrees of Men therein We must offer likewise our selves our Souls and Bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service And lastly to conclude we must offer our most hearty and affectionate Thanks to God Almighty for that incomprehensible Instance of his Love in sending Christ Jesus to us to be our Saviour for his wonderful Birth for his holy Life for his pretious Death for his glorious Resurrection and Ascension and for his Intercession for us at the right hand of God And O thou Blessed Saviour that hast done all this for us give us such a lively Sense of thy marvelous Love in leaving thy Glory and taking Humane Flesh upon thee that thou mightest dwell among us and instruct us in our Duty and assist us in the performance of it and encourage us thereto by the glorious Hopes of a never dying Life and at last make thy self an Offering for our Sins O let these things sink so deeply in our Minds and so wholly possess our Hearts that we may entirely give up our selves to thee That we may with our whole Souls embrace all thy Doctrines and Revelations That we may endeavour in all our Actions to conform our selves to thy Example and make it the Business of our Lives to be obedient to thy Precepts to submit to thy Will and to be contented to be disposed of by thee in all the Circumstances of our Lives O let nothing in thy Religion ever be an Offence to us But enable us to hold the Profession of our Faith in thee without wavering in all the Tryals and Difficulties thou shalt think fit to expose us to that so in Faith and Obedience in Patience and Perseverance we may ever wait for and at last obtain that Crown of Righteousness which thou hast laid up for all that love thee and expect thy second and more glorious Appearance To thee O eternal Son of God thou great Lover of Mankind to Thee who tookest upon thee to deliver Man and didst not abhor the Virgins womb to thee who overcamest the sharpness of death and didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers To thee O most dear O most beloved O most adorable Jesus be for ever given by us and by all the Souls whom thou hast redeemed and by all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth all Honour and Glory and Praise all Service and Love and Obedience henceforth and for evermore SERMON XII Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL On EASTER-DAY 1692. Philip. iii. 10. That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection WE shall easily see the Design of these Words and what use we are to make of them if we look at their Connexion with the Discourse that goes before St. Paul in this Chapter sets himself to shew the Excellency and the great Advantages of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ and how inconsiderable how unworthy to be named in comparison therewith all those things were that the Jews his Country-men so much gloried in His Discourse upon this occasion is so very remarkable that it will he worth our while to run over the particulars of it I also saith he in the 4th verse might have considence in the flesh If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the Flesh I more As if he had said Think not O Philippians that I therefore speak lightly of those Priviledges and Advantages which the Jews among you so much boast of upon this account because I have none of them my self No on the contrary if I would value my self upon such outward carnal things I have as much reason as any Nay there is not a Jew among you that perhaps can say so much on his own behalf in this respect as I can For as he goes on in the 5th and 6th verses I was circumcised the eighth day of the Stock of Israel of the Tribe of Penjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the Law a Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the Church touching the Righteousness which is by the Law blameless That is to say I have not only the Character of a Son of Abraham upon me being circumcised but I am also of the Race of 〈◊〉 which all the circumcised Children of Abraham are not Nay surther I am an Israelâ—â— of the Tribe of Benjamin that Benjamin which our Father Israel so dearly loved and of that Tribe which together with Judah kept him to the house of David and the true Religion when the other ten Tribes revolted Nay more I am an Hebrew of the Hebrews Not sprung from Proselytes as many among you are but all my Ancestors both by Father and Mother being natural born Jews And then as to my Profession in Religion it was the strictest among the Jews for I was a Pharisee And you all know That Sector all others to be the most eminent for the Reputation of Preciseness and Sanctity Neither did I in my Zeal for the 〈…〉 Moses come short of the strictest 〈…〉 is among you for who was more 〈…〉 eager more violent in persecuting â—…nity than I was And lastly To sum up all As to the Righteousness which is by the Law I am blâ—â—dless So punctual have I always been in observing the Precepts of Moses his Law that 〈◊〉 reprove me in theâ— point but I may truely in the Jewish notion of Righteousness be accounted a Righteous Person But now am I much the better for all these things Have I any great reason to glory upon the account of them No verily as he goes on in the 7th verse but what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ All these outward Advantages my Birth my Profession my Sect my Reputation my strict way of living which might have proved very beneficial to me in
that the Souls Immortality is demonstrable by the light of Nature yet there are generally these two Inconveniences in the Arguments they make use of for the Proof of this matter which render them in a great measure ineffectual for the reforming mens lives First They are generally of so great Subtilty so Nice so Metaphysical so much above the reach of ordinary Capacities that they are useless to the greatest part of Mankind who have not understandings fitted for them And Secondly They have this inconvenience likewise that a Man doth not see the Evidence of them without actual attention to a long Train of Propositions which attention it may be when a Man most stands in need of their Support he shall neither have the leisure nor the humour to give But now the Christian Method of proving another Life is quite of another strain and wholly free from these inconveniences That Demonstration which Christ hath given us of a glorious Immortality by his Resurrection from the dead as it is infinitely certain and conclusive so it is plain and easy short and compendious powerful and operative No Man that believes the matter of Fact can deny the Cogency of it Men of the meanest Capacities may apprehend it Persons in a crowd of business and in the midst of temptations may attend to it And it hath this Vertue besides that it leaves a lasting impression upon the Spirits of those that do believe and consider it Thanks therefore to our Lord Jesus Christ for this excellent Instrument of Piety that he hath given us by his Resurrection Everlasting Praises to his name that he hath thus brought Life and Immortality to light by his Gospel This very thing alone was there nothing else to be said for the Christian Revelation would sufficiently justify both the Gospel it self and our Lord Jesus the Author of it to all Mankind nay and effectually recommend his Religion above all others that ever were taught to all Persons in all Nations of the World IV. Fourthly and Lastly There is still a further Blessing coming to us by our Saviour's Resurrection from the dead and in which indeed is chiefly seen and expressed the great Power of it for the making us Holy and Vertuous That is to say Unto it we do principally owe all that supernatural Grace and Assistance by which we are enabled to vanquish our Corruptions and to live up to the Precepts of our Religion As Christ by his Resurrection did oblige us to lead new lives As Christ by his Resurrection did demonstrate the truth of the Christian Religion which is wholly in order to our leading new lives As by his Resurrection he cleared up to us the certainty of our future State and thereby gave us the greatest Motive and Encouragement to lead new lives So in the last place by the same Resurrection he acquired a Power of conferring Grace and Strength and Influence upon us by the Virtue of which we are in fact inabled to lead new lives Tho' Christ by his death reconciled us to God and procured a Pardon of Sin for us yet the actual benefit of this Reconciliation the actual application of this Pardon did depend upon our performance of certain Conditions Which conditions were that we should mortify all our evil affections and frame our Lives suitable to the Laws of the Gospel But now the Grace and Power by which we are inabled to do this was not the effect of Christ's Death but of his Resurrection It was when he ascended up on high and led Captivity Captive that is when he had vanquished Death which had vanquished all the World before It was then as the Scripture assures us and not till then that he was in a capacity of giving gifts unto men It was not till he was glorified as St. John observes that the holy spirit was given Hence it is that we every where find the Apostles attributing the business of Man's Justification and Salvation as much or more to Christ's Resurrection than to his Passion If Christ be not risen saith St. Paul 1 Cor. xv your Faith is in vain ye are yet in your Sins Indeed if Christ had perished in the Grave we had still had all the load of our sins upon us because we had no assurance that God had accepted the Atonement and Propitiation which he had made for them And much less could we have promised to our selves that we should have been assisted by any Divine Power for the subduing of them Again the same St. Paul tells us Rom. iv that Christ was delivered for our sins and raised again for our justification Christ's Death was the Sacrifice the Satisfaction for our Sins But it was by the means of his Resurrection that that Sacrifice and Satisfaction is applied to us and we for the merits of it become justified before God Lastly To name no more Texts Who saith the same Apostle Rom. viii shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifyeth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Here then is the great Power of our Saviour's Resurrection to make us good Christ being risen from the dead hath all Power given him both in Heaven and in Earth God as St. Paul expresseth it hath put all things under his feet and hath given him to be head over all things to the Church Eph. 1.22 Now in the fullness of that Power that he is invested with as he doth on one hand with never-failing efficacy make continual Intercession for his Church and every Member of it So he doth on the other hand out of the fulness of that Power derive and communicate so much Strength and Grace and Assistance of the Divine Spirit to all Christians that if they make a good use of it they shall not fail to perform all those Conditions of Faith and Repentance and a Holy Life that are required of them in order to their being made actual partakers of all those unspeakable Benefits which he purchased for Mankind by his Death and Sufferings Christ by his Resurrection is become both our High-Priest and our King both our Advocate and our Lord. By that Power which he then obtained as our Priest and Advocate he doth with Authority recommend us and all our concernments to his Father As our King and Lord he rules and governs us he takes care of us he provides for us he represses the insults of his and our Enemies and defeats all their attempts against us And lastly he supplies us from time to time with such a measure of Grace and Strength and influence of his Divine Spirit as he sees is needful or proper for our Condition If all this now that I have said be the effect of our Saviour's Resurrection as it certainly is Must we not needs own that there is a mighty Power in it for the making us good