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even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place.

his sign in heaven;

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Matt. xxiv. 30. And then shall there evidently appear such a remarkable hand of providence, in avenging my quarrel upon this sinful people, that it shall be like the sign of the Son of man in heaven at the last day; and all tribes of the land shall then mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming, as it were in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory: For that celestial army, which shall appear in the air, marshelled round the city shall be a sure token to them, that the angels of God, and the great Lord of those heavenly hosts, are set as it were against them.

808 Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints ;

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Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine I will repay, saith the Lord. Rom. xii. 19. Beloved brethren, whatever wrongs you may receive, revenge not yourselves on those that have injured you, but rather yield and give place to the wrath of the enemy; for God hath forbidden us to indulge any of the vindictive passions, as it is written, (Deut. xxxii. 35.) Vengeance is mine; that is, it properly belongs to me, and I will recompense the deserved punishment, saith the Lord. And, indeed, it

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requires the wisdom, as well as the dignity and majesty of a God, to claim and manage it aright. 815 Kingdom, and pow'r and glory appertains,

Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever, Amen. For thine is the kingdom of universal nature, and the fulness of Almighty power, and the glory of infinite perfection, and to thee be the praise of all ascribed for ever. Amen.

825 His count'nance too severe to be beheld.

Hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand! Rev. vi. 16, 17.

827 At once the Four spread out their starry wings, With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the sound Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host.

And I saw visions of God. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lift up from the earth, the wheels were lift up. And when they went I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty; the voice of speech as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. Ezekiel, i. 19, 24.

833 The stedfast empyrean shook throughout.

The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof.

He divideth the sea with his power; and, by his lev understanding, he smiteth through the proud.

Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little

a portion is heard of him: but the thunder of his power who can understand? Job, xxvi. 11, 12, 14.

842 That wish'd the mountains might be again.

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. Rev. iv. 15, 16.

859 With terrors and with furies to the bounds And crystal walls of heaven.

865

Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. Job, iv. 8, 9. eternal wrath

Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. Rev. ix. 1.

882 To him all his saints who silent stood

I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. And cried, with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. Rev. vii. 9, 10. Let us persevere, steadily and faithfully, as they did; and the day will come, when our robes shall be as white, and our crowns as radiant, and our palms as verdant as theirs. Let us then bear with patience,

hunger and thirst, heat and wetriness, while
we travel through this vale of tears; rejoicing
in hope of the everlasting refreshment and
pleasure to which the Lamb will lead us: even
those fountains of living water, of which he will
give us to drink, when God has wiped away all the
tears from our eyes, and placed us before his
throne; where we shall serve him, day and
night, in his temple, and see his face, and dwell
with him, and have him for ever dwell with us
and in us.
Amen.

887 Son, Heir, and Lord, to him dominion given

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I will sing Jehovah: for he hath triumphed gloriously. In the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

who into glory him received.

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power; when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews, i. 3.) And having, by myself, performed that great transaction, which is the cleansing away of our sins: he is now set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, of that glorious and excellent Being, who reigns supreme in the heaven of heavens.

END OF THE SIXTH BOOK.

BOOK VII.

1 Descend from heav'n Urania,

2

4

6

One of the nine muses:

the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. Urania presided over astronomy.

whose voice divine

Following, above th' Olympian hill I soar,

Doth not Wisdom cry; and Understanding put forth her voice? When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no foundations abounding with water. Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him: rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Prov. viii. 1, 24, 30. Above the flight of Pegasean wing.

Pegasus, a winged horse, who fixed his residence on Mount Helycon: the poets say, that, on striking the earth with his foot, he raised a fountain called Hyppocrene; he was given to Bellerophon to conquer the Chimera: no sooner was this monster destroyed, than Pagasus threw his rider; because he attempted to fly to heaven. Pagasus was placed among the constellations Nor of the muses nine,

Unutterably bless'd

He whom the muses love! a melting voice

T

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