The Saints' Everlasting Rest - Richard Baxter

and also opened thine eyes to see it! How often, in the posture of Elijah,
desiring to die out of thy misery, hath he spread thee a table of unexpected
relief, and sent thee on his work refreshed and encouraged! How often, in the
case of the prophet's servant, crying out, "Alas, what shall we do, for a host
doth encompass us," hath he "opened thine eyes to see more for thee than
against thee!" How often, like Jonah, peevish and weary of thy life, hath he
mildly said, "Doest thou well to be angry" with me, or murmur against me?
How often hath he set thee on "watching and praying," repenting and
believing, "and, when he hath returned, hath found thee asleep;" and yet he
hath covered thy neglect with a mantle of love, and gently pleaded for thee,
that "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!" Can thy heart be cold when
thou thinkest of this? Can it contain, when thou rememberest these boundless
compassions? Thus, reader, hold forth the goodness of Christ to thy heart;
plead thus with thy frozen soul, till, with David, thou canst say, "My heart
was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned." If this will not
rouse up thy love, thou has all Christ's personal excellencies to add, all his
particular mercies to thyself, all his sweet and near relations to thee, and the
happiness of thy everlasting abode with him. Only follow them close to thy
heart. Deal with it as Christ did with Peter, when he thrice asked him,
"Lovest thou me?" till he was grieved, and answered, "Lord, thou knowest
that I love thee!" So grieve and shame thy heart out of its stupidity, till thou
canst truly say, "I know, and my Lord knows, that I love him."
2. The next affection to be excited in heavenly contemplation, is desire.
The object of it is goodness, considered as absent, or not yet attained. If love
be warm, desire will not be cold. think with thyself, "What have I seen! O
the incomprehensible glory! O the transcendent beauty! O blessed souls that
now enjoy it! who see a thousand times more clearly what I have seen at a
distance, and through dark, interposing clouds. What a difference between
my state and theirs! I am sighing, and they are singing; I am offending, and
they are pleasing God. I am a spectacle of pity, like a Job or Lazarus; but
they are perfect, and without blemish. I am here entangled in the love of the
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