Baxter - BV4831 84 F3 1830

Chap. 16.] EXEMPLIFIED. 251 hunger and thirst, thy sleep and labor, are all gone. O what a mighty change is this ! from the dunghill to the throne ! from persecuting sinners to praising saints ! from avile body to this which 'shines as the brightness of the firmament !' from a sense of God's displeasure to the perfect enjoyment of him in love ! from all my doubts and fears, to this pos., session, which puts me out of doubt ! from all my fearful thoughts of death, to this joyful life ! Blessed change ! Fare- well sin and sorrow for ever ; farewell my rocky, proud, un- believing heart ; my worldly, sensual, carnal heart ; and wel- come nowmy most holy, heavenly nature. Farewell repen- tance, faith, and hope ; and welcome love, and joy, and praise. I shall now have my harvest, without ploughing or sowing; my joy, without a preacher or a promise ; even all from the face of God himself. Whatever mixture is in the streams, there is nothing but pure joy in the fountain. Here shall I be encircled with eternity, and ever live, and ever, ever praise the Lord ; my face will not wrinkle, nor my hair be gray ; ' for this corruptible shall have put on in- corruption, and this mortal, immortality, and death shall be swallowed up in victory. O death, where is now thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?' The date ofmy lease will no more expire, nor shall I trouble myself with thoughts of death, nor lose my joys through fear of losing them. When millions of ages are passed, my glory is but beginning ; and when millionsmore are passed, it is no nearer ending. Every day is all noon, every month is harvest, every year is a jubilee, every age is full manhood, and all this is one eter- nity. O blessed eternity ! the glory ofmy glory ! the per- fection ofmy perfection ! 7. " Ah, drowsy, earthly heart ! how coldly dost thou think of this reviving day ! Hadst thou rather sit down in dirt, than walk in the palace of God ? Art thounow remem- bering thy worldly business, or thinking of thy lusts, earthly delights, and merry company ? Is it better to be here, than above with God ? Is the company better ? Are the pleasures greater ? Come away ; make no excuse nor delay ; God commands, and I command thee ; gird up thy loins ; ascend the mount; look about thee with faith and seriousness. Look not back upon the way of the wilderness, except it be to compare the kingdom with that howling desert, more sen.. sibly to perceive the wide difference. Yonder is thy Father's

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