Baxter On The Saint's Rest

“Long have I sat beneath the sound
Of thy salvation, Lord;
Yet still how weak my faith is found,
And knowledge of thy word!

How cold and feeble is my love!
How negligent my fear!
How low my hope of joys above!
How few affections there!

Great God! thy sovereign power impart,
To give thy word success;
Write thy salvation in my heart,
And make me learn thy grace.

Show my forgetful feet the way
That leads to joys on high;
Where knowledge grows without decay,
And love shall never die.”

(Isaac Watts, d. 1748)


Greetings Friend.

What follows stems from Richard Baxter’s great work “The Saint’s Everlasting Rest.” After my last bog entry on Jesus and the Christian’s Rest, I began rereading Baxter’s work. The below seemed to further the subject and foster self-evaluation. May God bless your reading as you consider Baxter’s thoughts.


“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But, God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” (I Cor 2:9-10)

“For the eye of flesh is not capable of seeing them, nor this ear of hearing them, nor this heart of understanding them: but there [in the state of God’s rest] the eye, and ear, and heart are made capable; else how do they enjoy them? The more perfect the sight is, the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical the ear, the more pleasant the melody. The more perfect the soul, the more joyous those joys, and the more glorious to us is that glory.” (p. 23)

“When I know so little of God, I cannot much know what it is to enjoy him.” (23)

“. . . grace cannot be clearly known without grace; how much less could he [a worlding] conceive it [spiritual joys], should I tell him of this glory?” (24)

“If grace makes a Christian differ so much from what he was, as to say, I am not the man I was; how much more will glory make us differ!” (26)

“He that in love wept over the old Jerusalem when near its ruin, with what love will he rejoice over the new Jerusalem in her glory? Christian, believe this, and think on it: thou shalt be eternally embraced in the arms of that love, which was from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting; of that love which brought the Son of God’s love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to glory: that love, which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced; which did fast, pray, teach, heal, weep, sweat, bleed, die; that love will eternally embrace thee. When perfect created love, and the most perfect uncreated love, meet together” (31) . . .

. . . Now, you, Reader, complete Baxter’s thought of that uncreated, perfect, Divine love joined to His perfect created love in you. Can you, will you, think on this and comprehend the fact!?

Friend, as Baxter later asks:

Are you aware of that divine mercy that leads to the saint’s joy? Are you experiencing God’s ongoing work in your life that is preparing you for the fullness of His love and joy?

If not, why?

“He prepared the kingdom for us, then prepared us for the kingdom.” (44)

Spend some time and honestly evaluate your life with God. Do you see, hear, and understand with greater clarity day by day those things that God has prepared for you? Do you love Him?

What do you know of God and the Saint’s Rest?

If you’ve received God’s grace, do you experience movement toward those things of grace? Are you being transformed by God’s grace? Or, is God’s grace alien to you?

Can you discern His perfect love and His love in you meeting? If not, and you profess Christ, why?

Everlasting life is intended to rule as the main life principle in the saint’s heart. If it isn’t, then the flesh and the world are the main principles. This later condition ought not be. You will not be prepared for the fullness of His presence if you live not in His presence now.

Describe your life with God to yourself and let your own words reveal the truth about your relationship with God. Then, may you both know the right direction to move and actually move.


"Could my heart so hard remain,
Prayer a task and burden prove,
Every trifle give me pain,
If I knew a Saviour's love?

When I turn my eyes within,
All is dark, and vain, and wild;
Filled with unbelief and sin,
Can I deem myself a child?

Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
Find my sin a grief and thrall;
Should I grieve for what I feel,
If I did not love at all?

Lord, decide the doubtful case;
Thou who art thy people's Sun,
Shine upon thy work of grace,
If it be indeed begun.

Let me love thee more and more,
If I love at all, I pray;
If I have not loved before,
Help me to begin to-day."

(Rev. John Newton, d. 1807)