BAXTER'S FAREWELL SERMON. 525 upon the deathofQueen Mary ; and see the fall of Bonner and Gardiner, that had sacrificed somany holy Christians in the flames ! How gladly did they grow in the soil that was manured with the blood and ashes oftheir faithful brethren, and reap the fruit of their fortitude and sufferings! When Christ whipped the buyers and sellers out of the temple, and would not let them make the house of prayer a place of merchandise, what hosannas were sounded in Jerusalem ! Matt. xxi. 15, 16. "When the salvation of Israel cometh, out of Ziop, and the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad ; " Psal. xi.. 7. "'Blessed are they that dwell in his house, for theywill be still praising him. For a day in his courts is better than a thousand';" Psal. lxxxiv. 4. 10. "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance ; in thy name shall they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted ;.for the Lord is our de- fense, and the Holy One'of Israel is our king ; " Psal. lxxxix. 15-18. What gladness was there at a private meeting of a few Christians that met to' pray for i eter, when they saw him deliv- ered and come among them;" Acts'xii. 12: and v. 14. When the churches had rest, theywere edified, and Walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost ; Acts ix. 31. 3. But the great joy will be when Christ returneth in his glory at the last day. What a multitude ofsorrows will there be ended! And what a multitude of souls will then be conAforted ! What a multitude Of desires, and prayers, and expectations will then be answered ! How many thousand that have sowed in tears shall then reap in everlasting joy ! When the creature shall be dgliver- ed from the bondage of corruption, into the giorio'ns liberty of the sons of God; Rom. viii. 26, 27. When all the faith, and labor, and patience of all the saints, from the beginning of the world, shall be rewardedwith the rivers of celestial pleasure, and the just shall enter into their Master'sjoy ; Matt. xxv. 21. That you may the better understand the sweetness of all these sorts ofjoy, whichChrist's returnwill bring to saints, observe these following ingredients in them: 1. It is Christ himself that is the object of their joy; he that is' the dearly belovedof their souls ; that, for their sakes, was made a man of sorrows ; it is he who is their hope and help ; with whom they are in covenant as their only Savior; in whom they have trusted, with whom they have deponed their souls ! If he should fail them, all would fail them ; and they were, of all men, most miserable : theywould be comfortless if he should not come unto them, and . were not their comfort. The world cannot help and comfort them, for it is empty, vain, a transient shadow : itwill not,
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