BAXTER'S DYING THOUGHTS. 153 all forever will be thine. None that trusteth in thee (according to thy nature and promise) shall be ashamed. If I can live and die in trusting in thee, surely I shall not be confounded. Why, then, should it seem a difficult question, how I may, will- ingly, leave thisworld, and my soul depart to Christ in peace ? The same grace which regenerated me, must bring me to my de- sired end, as the same principle of vegetation which causeth the end, must bring the fruit to sweet maturity, I. Believe and trust thyFather, thy Savior, and thy Comforter. II. And hope for the joyful entertainments of his love, and for the blessed state which he hath promised. III. And long, by love, for nearer union and communion with him ; and thus, 0 my soul, thou mayest depart in peace. I. How sure is the, promise of God! . How suitable to his love, and to the nature of our souls, and to the operations ofevery grace ! It is initially performed here, whilst our desires are turned towards him, and the heavenly seed andspark is here ingenerated in a soul that was dead, and dark, and disaffected. Is it any strange thing for fire to ascend ? yea, or the fiery principle of vegetation in a tree, to carry up the earthy matter toa great height ? Is it strange that rivers should hasten to the sea? Whither should spirits go but to the region or world of spirits ? And whither should Christ's members and holy spirits go but to himself, and the heavenly so- ciety? And is not that a more holy and glorious place and state than this below? Earth is between heaven and hell ; a place of gross and passive matter, where spirits may, indeed, operate upon that which needeth them, and where theymay be detained a while in such operation, or as incorporated forms, if not incarcerated de- linquents; but it is not their centre, end, or home. Even sight and reason might persuade me, that all the noble invisible pow- ers, that operate on this lower world, do principally belong unto a higher; and what can earth add to their essence, dignity, or perfection ?, But why, O my soul, art thou so vainly solicitous to have formal, clear, distinct conceptions of the celestial world, and the in- dividuation and operations of separated souls,any more than of the angels ? While thou art the formal principle of an animated body, thy conceptions must be suitable to their present state and use. When thou art possessed of a better state, thou shalt know it as a possessor ought to do ; for such a knowledge as thou lookest after is part:of the possession, and to long to know and love, in clear- ness and perfection, is to long to possess. It is thy Savior, and his glorified ones, that are comprehensors and possessors ; and it is his knowledge which must now be most of thysatisfaction. To seek his prerogative to thyself, is vain, usurping arrogance. Wouldest VOL. II. 20
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