O ETERNAL and holy Jesus, who by death
hast overcome death, and by Thy passion
hast taken away its sting, and made it the
gate of heaven, and an entrance to felicity;
have mercy upon me now, and at the hour
of my death. Let Thy grace accompany me
all the days of my life, that, by a holy con-
versation, and a habitual performance of my
duty, I may wait for the coming of my Lord,
and be ready to enter in with Thee, at what-
ever hour Thou shalt come. Lord, let not
my death be in any sense unprovided, un-
timely, or hasty. Let my sense and under-
standing be preserved entire to the last of
my days; and grant that I may die the death
of the righteous, and my last end be like
his. Preserve me ever in the communion
and peace of Thy Church; and bless my
death-bed with a holy spiritual guide, with
the assistance and guard of Thy holy angels,
with a strong faith, a firm and humble hope,
a sincere repentance, a perfect charity, and
above all with the presence of Thy loving
kindness, which is better than life; that my
soul may rest in Thee, and by Thee be gra-
ciously received into Thy glorious kingdom,
Lord Jesus: to whom, with the Father, and
the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory,
world without end. Amen.
Wrath, unlike love, is not one of the intrinsic perfections of God. Rather, it is a function of God's holiness against sin. Where there is no sin, there is no wrath-but there will always be love in God. Where God in His holiness confronts His image-bearers in their rebellion, there must be wrath, or God is not the jealous God He claims to be, and His holiness is impugned. The price of diluting God's wrath is diminishing God's holiness.
D.A. Carson