18 BAXTER'S DYING THOUGHTS. land, it hath had in our ages ; notwithstanding all Satan's malig- nant rage, and all the bloody years that have interrupted odr tran- quillity. How many Psalms of joyful thanksgiving be there for Israel's deliverances, and the preservation of Zion, andGod's Wor- ship in his sanctuary! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love it. Especially that the gospel is continued, while so many rage against it, is a mercy not to be made light of. Use 4. Be especially thankful, O my soul, that God bath made any use of thee for the service of his church on earth. My God, my soul for this doth magnify thee, and my spirit rejoiceth in the review of thy great undeserved mercy ! Oh ! what am I, whom thou tookest up from the dunghill or low obscurity, that I should live, myself, in the constant relish of thy sweet and sacred truth, and with such encouraging success communicate it to. others That I must say, now my public work seems ended, that these forty-three or forty-four years, I have no reason to think that ever I labored in vain ! O, with what gratitude must I look upon all places where I lived and labored; but, above all, that place that had my strength. I bless thee for the great numbers gone to heaven, and for the continuance of piety, humility, concord, and peace among them. Andfor all that by mywritings have received any saving light and grace. O my God ! let not my own heart be barren while I labor in thyhusbandry, to bring others unto holy fruit. Let menot be a stranger to the life and power of that saving truth which I have done somuch to communicate to others. O,'let not myown words and writings condemn me, as void of that divine and heavenly na- ture and life which I have said so much' for to the world. Use 5. Stir up, then, O my soul, thy sincere desires, and all thy faculties, to do the remnant of the work of Christ appointed thee onearth, and then joyfullywait forthe heavenly perfection in God's own time. Thou canst t"ruly say, " To live, to me, is Christ." It is his work for which thou' livest : thou hast no other business in the world ; but thou dost his work with themixture of many oversights and imperfections, and too much troublest thy thoughts distrust- fully about God's part, who never faileth. If thy workbe done, be thankful for what is past, and that thou art come so near the port of rest: if God will add any more to thy days, serve him with double alacrity, now thou art so neat the end : the prize is almost within sight: time is swift and short. Thou hast told others that there is no working in the grave, and that it must be now or never. Though the conceit of meriting of commutative justice be no bet- ter than madness, dream not that God will save the wicked, no, nor equally reward the slothful and the diligent, because Christ's
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