The Saints' Everlasting Rest - Richard Baxter

some terrible shape! Would not thy heart fail thee, and thy hair stand on an
end? And how wilt thou endure to live for ever where thou shalt have no
other company but devils and the damned, and shalt not only see them, but
be tormented with them and by them? Let me once more ask, if the wrath of
God be so light, why did the Son of God himself make so great a matter of
it? It caused "his sweat to be, as it were, great drops of blood, falling down to
the ground." The Lord of life cried, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death." And on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" Surely if any one could have borne these sufferings easily, it would
have been Jesus Christ. He had another measure of strength to bear it than
thou hast. Wo to thee, sinner, for thy mad security! Dost thou think to find
that tolerable to thee, which was so heavy to Christ? Nay, the Son of God is
cast into a bitter agony and bloody sweat, only under the curse of the law and
yet thou, feeble, foolish creature, fearest not to bear also the curse of the
Gospel, which requires a "much sorer punishment." The good Lord bring
thee to thy right mind by repentance, lest thou buy thy wit at too dear a rate!
And now, reader, I demand thy resolution. What use wilt thou make of
all this? Shall it be lost to thee? or wilt thou consider it in good earnest?
Thou hast cast away many a warning of God; wilt thou do so by this also?
Take heed; God will not always stand warning and threatening. The hand of
vengeance is lifted up, the blow is coming, and wo to him on whom it
lighteth! Dost thou throw away the book, and say it speaks of nothing but
hell and damnation? Thus thou usedst also to complain of the preacher. But
wouldst thou not have us tell thee of these things? Should we be guilty of the
blood of thy soul, by keeping silent that which God hath charged us to make
known? Wouldst thou perish in ease and silence, and have us perish with
thee, rather than displease thee by speaking the truth? If thou wilt be guilty
of such inhuman cruelty, God forbid we should be guilty of such sottish
folly! This kind of preaching or writing is the ready way to be hated; and the
desire of applause is so natural, that few delight in such a displeasing way.
But consider, are these things true, or are they not? If they were not true, I
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