The Saints' Everlasting Rest - Richard Baxter

6. But to persuade thee, if possible, reader, to be serious in thy
endeavors for heaven, let me add more considerations: as, for instance,
consider--
God is in earnest with you; and why should you not be so with him? In
his commands, his threatenings, his promises, he means as he speaks. In his
judgments he is serious. Was he not so when he drowned the world, when he
consumed Sodom and Gomorrah, and when he scattered the Jews? Is it time,
then, to trifle with God? Jesus Christ was serious in purchasing our
redemption. In teaching, he neglected his meat and drink: in prayer, he
continued all night: in doing good, his friends thought him beside himself: in
suffering, he fasted forty days, was tempted, betrayed, spit upon, buffeted,
crowned with thorns, sweat drops of blood, was crucified, pierced, died.
There was no jesting in all this. And should we not be serious in seeking our
own salvation?
The Holy Spirit is serious in soliciting us to be happy. His motions are
frequent, pressing, and importunate. "He striveth with us." He is grieved
when we resist him; and should we not be serious then, in obeying and
yielding to his motions? God is serious in hearing our prayers, and bestowing
his mercies. He is afflicted with us. He "regardeth every groan and sigh, and
puts every tear into his bottle." The next time thou art in trouble thou wilt
beg for a serious regard of thy prayers. And shall we expect real mercies
when we are slight and superficial in the work of God?
The ministers of Christ are serious in exhorting and instructing you.
They beg of God, and of you; and long more for the salvation of your souls
than for any worldly good. If they kill themselves by their labor, or suffer
martyrdom for preaching the Gospel, they think their lives are well
bestowed, so that they prevail for the saving of your souls. And shall other
men be so careful and self-denying for your salvation, and you be so careless
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