The Saints' Everlasting Rest - Richard Baxter

the Lord receive it, it is neither asleep, nor dead, nor annihilated; but it is
where he is, and beholds his glory. That of the wise man is of the same
import: "The spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Why are we said to
"have eternal life;" and that to "know God is life eternal;" and that a believer
"on the Son hath everlasting life?" Or how is "the kingdom of God within
us?" If there be as great an interruption of our life as till the resurrection, this
is no eternal life, nor "everlasting kingdom." "The cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah" are spoken of as "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire!" And if
the wicked already suffer eternal fire, then no doubt but the godly enjoy
eternal blessedness. When John saw his glorious relations, he is said to be "in
the Spirit," and to be "carried away in the Spirit." And when Paul was
"caught up to the third heaven," he knew not "whether in the body or out of
the body." This implies that spirits are capable of these glorious things
without the help of their bodies. The same is implied when John says, "I saw
under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God." When
Christ says, "Fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul," does it not plainly imply, that when wicked men have killed our
bodies, that is, have separated the souls from them, yet the souls are still
alive? The soul of Christ was alive when his body was dead, and therefore so
shall be ours too. This appears by his words to the thief, "Today shalt thou be
with me in paradise;" and also by his voice on the cross, "Father, into thy
hands I commend my Spirit." If the spirits of those that "were disobedient in
the days of Noah were in prison," that is, in a living and suffering state; then,
certainly, the separate spirits of the just are in an opposite condition of
happiness. Therefore, faithful souls will no sooner leave their prisons of flesh
but angels shall be their convoy; Christ, and all the perfected spirits of the
just, will be their companions; heaven will be their residence, and God their
happiness. When such die, they may boldly and believingly say, as Stephen,
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;" and commend it, as Christ did, into a Father's
hands.
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